Selections from Muḥammadan Traditions/Chapter 2
II
THE BOOK OF KNOWLEDGE
It is related from ʿAbduʾlláh bin ʿAmru that, 'The Apostle of God said, "Transmit from me, though it be but one verse, and relate from the children of Israel. There is no fault in that, but whoever wilfully relates from me falsely, let him find his resting-place in the fire."'—Al Bukhárí.
It is related from Samurah bin Jundub and Al Mughírah that, 'The Apostle of God said, "Whoever relates a tradition from me knowing it to be false, verily he is one of the liars."'—Muslim.
It is related from Abú Hurairah that, 'The Apostle of God said, "When a man dies, then his actions, except three, are dissociated from him, namely, his alms, which continue, or his knowledge by which men are benefited, or a good son who prays for him."'—Muslim.
It is related from Abú Hurairah that, 'The Apostle of God said, "Verily the first person who will be judged on the day of resurrection will be a man who died a martyr; and he will be brought and will be shown the benefits (he formerly received) and he will recognize them. And God will say, 'What didst thou with regard to these?' He will reply, 'I fought for Thee until I died a martyr.' God will say, 'Thou hast lied, rather thou foughtest in order that it might be said of thee, "A hero!" and all this has been said.' Then the order will be given concerning him, and he will be dragged on his face until he is cast into hell. Then a man will be brought who acquired knowledge and then taught it to others, and read the Qurʾán. And he will be brought and will be shown the benefits (he formerly received) and he will recognize them. And God will say, 'What didst thou with regard to these?' He will reply, 'I acquired knowledge and taught it to others, and I read the Qurʾán in Thy name.' God will say, 'Thou hast lied, rather thou acquiredst knowledge in order that it might be said to thee, "Thou art a learned man," and thou didst read the Qurʾán in order that it might be said of thee "He is a Qurʾán reader," and all this has been said. Then the order will be given concerning him, and he will be dragged on his face until he is cast into hell. Then a man will be brought whom God had enriched, and had given various kinds of wealth. And he will be brought and will be shown the benefits (he formerly received), and he will recognize them. Then God will say, 'And what didst thou with regard to these?' He will reply, 'I neglected not to spend in Thy name and in those ways in which Thou lovest things to be spent.' God will say, 'Thou hast lied, rather thou didst that in order that it might be said, "He is most generous," and all this has been said.' Then the order will be given concerning him, and he will be dragged on his face, and afterwards will be cast into hell."'—Muslim.
It is related from Kathír bin Qais that he said, 'I was sitting with ʿAbúʾl-Dardái in the mosque of Damascus when a man came to him and said, "O Abúʾl-Dardái, verily I have come to thee from the city of the Apostle of God for a certain tradition which, I have been informed, thou dost relate from the Apostle of God. I have come for no other purpose." He replied, "Verily I heard the Apostle of God say, 'He who walks a road, seeking knowledge therein, God will cause him to walk on one of the roads of paradise; for verily the angels spread their wings with pleasure for the seeker of knowledge, and verily whatsoever is in the heavens and on the earth and the great fishes in the bosom of the waters will pray for the forgiveness of his sins. And verily the pre-eminence of a learned man over a worshipper is equal to the pre-eminence of the moon at the night of full-moon over all the stars. And verily the learned men are the heirs of the prophets, and the prophets did not inherit a single dinar or a single dirham, but they only inherited knowledge; and whoever takes that takes an abundant portion."'—Aḥmad, At Tirmidhí, Abú Dáud, Ibn Májah.
It is related from Abú Umámahuʾl-Báhili that he said, 'Two men were mentioned to the Apostle of God: one of them a worshipper, and the other a learned man. Then the Apostle of God said, "The pre-eminence of the learned man over the worshipper is like my pre-eminence over the meanest of you." After that the Apostle of God said, "Verily God and His angels and the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth, even the ants in their holes, and even the great fishes certainly pray for the teacher of good to men."'—At Tirmidhí.
It is related from Anas that, 'The Apostle of God said, "The search after knowledge is an incumbent duty on every male and female Muslim; but the placing knowledge before one who does not appreciate it is like placing a necklace of pearls, jewels and gold on the necks of swine."'—Ibn Májah.
It is related from Abú Hurairah that, 'The Apostle of God said, "He who is asked a question concerning knowledge which he possesses, and then hideth it, will, on the day of resurrection, be bridled with a bridle of fire."'—Aḥmad, Abú Dáud, At Tirmidhí.
It is related from Ibn ʿAbbás that, 'The Apostle of God said, "Whoever speaks concerning the Qurʾán from his own opinion, let him find his resting-place in the fire."'—At Tirmidhí.
It is related from Ibn Masʿúd that, 'The Apostle of God said, "The Qurʾán was sent down in seven readings. In every verse of them are clear and hidden sentences, and for every boundary there is height."
It is related from Abú Hurairah that he said, 'Amongst, the things which I learned from the Apostle of God is that he said, "Verily God, the Exalted and Magnified, will send for the people at the end of every hundred years one who will rejuvenate for them their religion."'—Abú Dáud.
It is related from Abú Hurairah that, 'The Apostle of God said, "Verily amongst the things which reach the believer with rewards after his death from his works and good actions are knowledge which he acquired and dispensed to others, a good son which he left behind, or a Qurʾán which he bequeathed to others, or a mosque which he built, or a rest-house for travellers which he built, or a canal which he caused to flow, or alms which he bestowed out of his goods whilst in health and during his life-time."'—Ibn Májah.
It is related from Abúʾl-Dardái that, 'The Apostle of God was asked, "What is the degree of knowledge, which, if a man attains, he becomes a learned man?" The Apostle of God replied, "Whoever preserves for my followers forty traditions concerning their religion, God will raise him up as a learned man, and I will be for him, on the day of resurrection, both intercessor and witness."'
It is related from Al Aʾmasha that, 'The Apostle of God said, "The danger of knowledge is forgetfulness, and the loss of knowledge is that thou speak of it to one who does not appreciate it."'—Al Dárimi.
It is related from Sufyán that ʿOmar binuʾl-Khaṭṭáb said to Kaʿb, "Who are the possessors of learning?" He replied, "They who practise what they know." He said, "And what removes learning from the hearts of the learned?" He replied, "Avarice."'—Al Dárimi.
It is related from Abú Hurairah that, 'The Apostle of God said, "Take refuge with God from the pit of sorrow." They replied, "O Apostle of God, what is the pit of sorrow?" He replied, "A valley in hell from which hell itself seeks refuge four hundred times a day." It was said, "O Apostle of God, and who will enter it?" He replied, "Those readers of the Quʾrán who are hypocrites in their behaviour."'—At Tirmidhí.
It is related from ʿAlí that, 'The Apostle of God said, "The time is near which will come to man, when nothing of Islám will remain but its name, and nothing will remain of the Qurʾán but a trace of it. At that time mosques will be (used as) dwelling-places, and men will be devoid of guidance. Their learned men will be the most wicked under the surface of the heavens, for from them will go forth contention, and to them it will return."'—Al Baihaqi.
It is related from Ziyád bin Labíd that, 'The Prophet mentioned something and said, "That will take place at the time when knowledge will disappear." I said, "O Apostle of God, how will knowledge disappear when we are reading the Qurʾán and teaching the reading of it to our children, and our children are teaching the reading of it to their children till the day of resurrection?" He replied, "May thy mother weep for thee, Ziyád! Verily I thought thou wast one of the wisest men in Madína. Are not these Jews and Christians reading the Taurát and Injíl, but they observe nothing of what is in them."'—Aḥmad, Ibn Májah.