When the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) first brought the teachings of the Quran to the people of Mecca, most were not quick to accept him as a messenger of Allah. Many people saw his teachings as profane, while the city's most powerful figures were more concerned with how his criticisms of their actions would damage their status. In retaliation, Muhammad's enemies branded the Quran a forgery. It was a work of fiction, they said, produced by Muhammad and Muhammad alone. Muhammad's early followers leapt to his defense, insisting a man with his limited education could not have possibly conceived of something as wondrous as the Quran. Their argument was strong. After all, Muhammad was a lowly caravan trader who had little need to know about literature or poetry. On top of that, he had been orphaned at a young age and, as such, had no access to anything resembling a formal education.
Today, ardent Muslims come back to this argument again and again. How could a man just a notch above a peasant produce a book as magnificent as the Quran? Muhammad couldn't even read, yet the Quran is filled with scientific facts that were not known to the people of his time. Many of them were only confirmed within the past century. In many ways, Muhammad's total lack of education is the best argument for the truthfulness of the Quran. That being said, the Quran is quite clear in its support for learning. Over and over again, the Quran encourages Muslims to seek knowledge and understanding. Similar messages can be found in the Hadith, the documented sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. If you're a Muslim struggling to decide if further education is for you - or even if you should be paying a little more attention in high school - you've come to the right place. In today's article, we're going to be looking at what the Quran and the Hadith have to say about the merits of education.
Knowledge Comes Only From Allah
In Islam, it is regularly stressed that all things come from Allah. In some cases, such as the revelation of the Quran, they come directly from Him. In others, however, they come indirectly. Education is a good example of this. Although we may be taught by a teacher in the classroom, it is Allah who put the teacher in a position to pass on their knowledge. Even though that teacher likely learned the information they are sharing from their own teacher and so on, the original revelation of the facts came from Allah. This is stressed in the passages 1 - 5 of the Quran's 96th surah. They read as follows:
"Recite: In the name of thy Lord who created man from a clot. Recite: And thy Lord is the Most Generous Who taught by the pen, taught man that which he knew not."
- Quran, 96:1-5
Although this verse does not appear until late into the Quran, it was actually the very first to be revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. From the moment Allah began to speak to his people, He sought to stress the role He plays in education and the sharing of knowledge. It is also worth taking note of the first word in the passage, which provided the foundation upon which the entirety of the Quran was built: "Recite". Originally, this was a commanded directed towards the Prophet Muhammad exclusively. Today, however, it is a command to all Muslims. To be a dedicated follower of Islam, one must recite the Quran. In order to do this, of course, one must read the Quran. Reading and reciting the Quran both require proficiency in Classical Arabic. Classical Arabic is not actually the mother tongue of anybody - even native Arabic speakers - and so requires diligent study to master. The Quran contains a number of additional passages referencing the importance of learning Classical Arabic so that one may fully understand its message. These include:
"And thus We have inspired unto you (O Muhammad) an Arabic Qur'ân that you may warn the mother of the towns (Makkah) and all around it"
- Quran, 42:8
"Verily we have sent it down as an Arabic Qur'ân in order that you may understand"
- Quran, 12:2
"And truly this (the Qur'ân) is a revelation from the Lord of the 'Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists), which the trustworthy Ruh (Jibreel) has brought down upon your heart (O Muhammad) that you may be (one) of the warners, in the plain Arabic language"
- Quran, 42:192-195
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