Knowledge That Does Not Benefit and Ignorance That Does Not Harm, and the Story of the Abrogation of the Book of Daniel
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Fatwa No. ( 9882 ):
Q1: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) entered the mosque and saw a group of people gathered around a man, so he asked, "What is this?" They said, "O Messenger of Allah, he is a man of knowledge." He said, "And what is
knowledge?" They said, "He is the most knowledgeable of people regarding Arab genealogies, the most knowledgeable of people regarding Arabic language, the most knowledgeable of people regarding poetry, and the most knowledgeable of people regarding what the Arabs differed over." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This is knowledge that does not benefit and ignorance that does not harm," or as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said. The question is: Does this hadith mean that if a person learns these things—Arabic and poetry—for their own sake, they are blameworthy, or does it mean something else? What are the things and meanings that might be misunderstood on the surface of this hadith? Are there any hadiths that contradict this hadith?
A1: Many hadiths have been narrated regarding the condemnation of poetry, some authentic and some not. Among the authentic ones is what was narrated by the Imam Ahmad, al-Bukhari, Muslim, and the authors of the Sunan, from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said:Sunan Ibn Majah 3759Sahih (Darussalam). And among the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) were poets, the most famous of whom was Hassan (may Allah be pleased with him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) approved of his poetry and even commanded him to defend the Prophet with it, so he would attack the polytheists with his poetry. The Imam Ahmad and Abu Dawud narrated from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 872. Based on this, it becomes clear that not all poetry is blameworthy; rather, what is blameworthy is that which is frivolous, or negates a right, or supports falsehood, or distracts from a right, or is a lie, or the like of that. And what is the opposite of that is praiseworthy. Poetry is of the same kind as speech, and the original ruling for it is permissibility
until something comes that takes it out of that. Refer to the introduction of [Dala'il al-I'jaz] by Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani. As for genealogies, hadiths encouraging their learning have been narrated, both authentic and otherwise. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was knowledgeable about genealogies, as were some of the Companions. People need to know them for maintaining family ties, fulfilling the rights of inheritance to their rightful owners, bearing blood money, and the like. What is blameworthy is knowing them for the sake of boasting, tribalism, and supporting falsehood. The hadith mentioned in the question was cited by the author of the book [Al-Bayan wa al-Ta'rif fi Ma'rifat Asbab Wurud al-Hadith] Ibn Hamzah al-Hasani, who said: "This is knowledge that does not benefit and ignorance that does not harm." It was narrated by al-Dailami from Ibn Abbas and Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with them). Its occasion, as in [Al-Jami'], is from Baqiyyah from Ibn Jurayj from Ata' from Ibn Abbas and Abu Hurayrah: ... and he mentioned it. End of quote. This chain is weak because Baqiyyah, who is Baqiyyah ibn al-Walid, is a mudallis (one who conceals defects in chains) and he used the style of 'an'anah (narration without explicit mention of the source), and its text is munkar (denounced).
Q1: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) entered the mosque and saw a group of people gathered around a man, so he asked, "What is this?" They said, "O Messenger of Allah, he is a man of knowledge." He said, "And what is
knowledge?" They said, "He is the most knowledgeable of people regarding Arab genealogies, the most knowledgeable of people regarding Arabic language, the most knowledgeable of people regarding poetry, and the most knowledgeable of people regarding what the Arabs differed over." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This is knowledge that does not benefit and ignorance that does not harm," or as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said. The question is: Does this hadith mean that if a person learns these things—Arabic and poetry—for their own sake, they are blameworthy, or does it mean something else? What are the things and meanings that might be misunderstood on the surface of this hadith? Are there any hadiths that contradict this hadith?
A1: Many hadiths have been narrated regarding the condemnation of poetry, some authentic and some not. Among the authentic ones is what was narrated by the Imam Ahmad, al-Bukhari, Muslim, and the authors of the Sunan, from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said:
If a man were to fill his stomach completely with pus until it destroyed him, that would be better for him than filling (his mind) with poetry.
لأن يمتلئ جوف رجل قيحًا حتى يريه خير له من أن يمتلئ شعرًاThere is some magic eloquence and some wisdom in poetry.
إن من البيان سحرًا وإن من الشعر حكمةuntil something comes that takes it out of that. Refer to the introduction of [Dala'il al-I'jaz] by Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani. As for genealogies, hadiths encouraging their learning have been narrated, both authentic and otherwise. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was knowledgeable about genealogies, as were some of the Companions. People need to know them for maintaining family ties, fulfilling the rights of inheritance to their rightful owners, bearing blood money, and the like. What is blameworthy is knowing them for the sake of boasting, tribalism, and supporting falsehood. The hadith mentioned in the question was cited by the author of the book [Al-Bayan wa al-Ta'rif fi Ma'rifat Asbab Wurud al-Hadith] Ibn Hamzah al-Hasani, who said: "This is knowledge that does not benefit and ignorance that does not harm." It was narrated by al-Dailami from Ibn Abbas and Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with them). Its occasion, as in [Al-Jami'], is from Baqiyyah from Ibn Jurayj from Ata' from Ibn Abbas and Abu Hurayrah:
That the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) entered the mosque and saw a group of people gathered around a man, so he said: "What is this?" They said: "O Messenger of Allah, he is a man of knowledge." He said: "And what is knowledge?" They said: "He is the most knowledgeable of people regarding Arab genealogies, poetry, and what the Arabs differed over." He said: "This is
أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم دخل المسجد فرأى جمعًا من الناس على رجل فقال: ما هذا؟ قالوا: يا رسول الله، رجل علامة، قال: وما العلامة؟ قالوا: أعلم الناس بأنساب العرب وبالشعر وبما اختلف فيه العرب، فقال: هذا
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.