The quote for Day 24 of Ramadan from my
box of things to think about is:
“O beloved disciple, knowledge without action is madness and
action without knowledge can’t be” ~ Imam
Ghazali (RA) from Ayyuha ’l-Walad al-Muhibb (Advice to the Muslim Youth)
Alhamdulillah, one of the things we
often bring up in the weekly ladies Islamic circle is a reminder about the
importance of knowledge. Enough
knowledge to practice the basics of our faith in the right way – knowing what
is obligatory, what is halal (allowed) and haram (forbidden) and what is pure or
impure.
But we also talk about how knowledge
alone is not enough. There are lots of people
who have lots of knowledge but don’t act on any of it. There are people know the religion in detail
including all of the laws and rulings, but don’t even pray. So what needs to go with knowledge? It is
dhikr or remembrance of Allah (SWT). There is a tradition that dhikr purifies
and softens the heart:
Prophet Muhammad ṣallallāhu
'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
“There is a polish for everything that takes away rust; and the polish for the
heart is the remembrance of Allah.” (Bukhari)
This is the idea that remembrance if Allah
softens the heart enough so that even if we have a little knowledge we are
disposed to act on it. That dhikr or remembrance can be in the form of
recitation of the Quran, adhkar, salutations on the Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi
wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
Prophet Muhammad ṣallallāhu
'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “For you to go in the
morning and learn a single verse from the book of Allah (SWT) is better than
you offering 100 rakat of Salaah. For you to go in the morning and learn a
single chapter of knowledge, whether it is practiced or not, is better than
offering 1000 rakat in Salaah.” (Sunan ibn Majah)
No comments:
Post a Comment