Causes of Students’ Lack of Enthusiasm for Sacred Knowledge
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Baz: Some people who are connected to the means of knowledge and learning say that there is a lack of enthusiasm among many students of knowledge for sacred knowledge compared to their enthusiasm for other sciences. Is this correct? And what are the reasons if it is correct?
Answer:
This is what has become well-known among people now, and it is correct with regard to many students. However, praise be to Allah, there are those who desire sacred knowledge and are eager for it. For this reason, you find a large number of students in the College of Sharia and the College of Principles of Religion, praise be to Allah, in the Islamic universities, in Imam University, in Umm al-Qura University, and in the College of Education at King Saud University. All of this, praise be to Allah. The College of Sharia at King Faisal University. The point is that there are, praise be to Allah, praise be to Allah, people who care about this matter. But other people may turn away from it. The majority, and Allah knows best, as it appears to me, are eager for jobs which they claim have higher salaries, and they are weak in their ability to be patient in receiving Islamic sciences. Some of them see that receiving other sciences is easier, and some see that it is better for obtaining a good livelihood than what teachers or readers or the like obtain. These ambitions differ; people’s ambitions are different and varied. But there is no doubt that the high ambition that prefers the sciences of religion and strives to be eager for the sciences of Sharia is undoubtedly a higher ambition than those others, and it is better, and its outcome is better, because Allah has chosen it. For people are in the greatest need of knowing the Shari'ah, meaning the creed and the sciences of Sharia. They are in greater need and greater necessity for them than for other sciences. So the presence of scholars in the science of Sharia, Islamic jurisprudence, and the Salafi creed is undoubtedly one of the most important matters, indeed it is the most important matter, and the need for it is the greatest need, indeed the greatest necessity. Especially in this age in which the majority have turned away from the scholars and the Shari'ah, and have occupied themselves with other sciences, and the sciences of Sharia have become heavy for them, or their desire for it has been lost due to the deviation of their creed, or due to the deviation of their behavior to what contradicts what the Shari'ah commands. There is no power and no strength except with Allah. Yes.
'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Baz: Some people who are connected to the means of knowledge and learning say that there is a lack of enthusiasm among many students of knowledge for sacred knowledge compared to their enthusiasm for other sciences. Is this correct? And what are the reasons if it is correct?
Answer:
This is what has become well-known among people now, and it is correct with regard to many students. However, praise be to Allah, there are those who desire sacred knowledge and are eager for it. For this reason, you find a large number of students in the College of Sharia and the College of Principles of Religion, praise be to Allah, in the Islamic universities, in Imam University, in Umm al-Qura University, and in the College of Education at King Saud University. All of this, praise be to Allah. The College of Sharia at King Faisal University. The point is that there are, praise be to Allah, praise be to Allah, people who care about this matter. But other people may turn away from it. The majority, and Allah knows best, as it appears to me, are eager for jobs which they claim have higher salaries, and they are weak in their ability to be patient in receiving Islamic sciences. Some of them see that receiving other sciences is easier, and some see that it is better for obtaining a good livelihood than what teachers or readers or the like obtain. These ambitions differ; people’s ambitions are different and varied. But there is no doubt that the high ambition that prefers the sciences of religion and strives to be eager for the sciences of Sharia is undoubtedly a higher ambition than those others, and it is better, and its outcome is better, because Allah has chosen it. For people are in the greatest need of knowing the Shari'ah, meaning the creed and the sciences of Sharia. They are in greater need and greater necessity for them than for other sciences. So the presence of scholars in the science of Sharia, Islamic jurisprudence, and the Salafi creed is undoubtedly one of the most important matters, indeed it is the most important matter, and the need for it is the greatest need, indeed the greatest necessity. Especially in this age in which the majority have turned away from the scholars and the Shari'ah, and have occupied themselves with other sciences, and the sciences of Sharia have become heavy for them, or their desire for it has been lost due to the deviation of their creed, or due to the deviation of their behavior to what contradicts what the Shari'ah commands. There is no power and no strength except with Allah. Yes.
Source
على طريق الدعوة — islamhouse.com (17:08)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.