Continuation of the Chapter on the Virtue of Learning and Teaching for the Sake of Allah: Allah the Exalted said: “And say, My Lord, increase me in knowledge.” And He the Exalted said:

The reader: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
He (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “The Chapter on the Virtue of Learning and Teaching for the Sake of Allah. Allah the Exalted said:

and say, "My Lord, increase me in knowledge."

وقل رب زدني علمًا

[Taha 20:114]

And He the Exalted said:

Say, "Are those who know equal to those who do not know?"

قل هل يستوي الذين يعلمون والذين لا يعلمون

[Az-Zumar 39:9]

And He the Exalted said:

Allah will raise those who have believed among you and those who were given knowledge, by degrees

يرفع الله الذين آمنوا منكم والذين أوتوا العلم درجات

[Al-Mujadila 58:11]

And He the Exalted said:

Only those fear Allah, from among His servants, who have knowledge.

إنما يخشى الله من عباده العلماء

[Fatir 35:28]

”.

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The author al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his book *Riyad al-Salihin*:The chapter on the virtue of knowledge, both learning it and teaching it for the sake of Allah. We have previously discussed knowledge and clarified that the knowledge which is praised and carries reward is knowledge of the Shari'ah of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and whatever serves as a means to it, such as the science of grammar, morphology, and similar disciplines, which are means. The scholars have said:The means have the rulings of the ends. Religious knowledge is divided into two categories: a category that is an individual obligation (fard 'ayn) which every person must learn, and another category that is a collective obligation (fard kifayah) which, if fulfilled by a sufficient number of people, is lifted from the rest of the people. There is also a third category that branches off from the second, which is a recommended practice (sunnah); this is when a sufficient number of people fulfill the knowledge, in which case it becomes a recommended practice for the rest. As for the individual obligation (fard 'ayn) knowledge that every person must learn, it is for a person to learn what he needs regarding the obligatory matters of his religion. For example, he must learn what pertains to the oneness of Allah (tawhid) and the clarification of what contradicts and opposes it from all shirk (associating partners with Allah), whether obvious or hidden, minor or major. This is because this is obligatory upon everyone; every person must know the oneness of Allah and worship Allah the Exalted with what is specific to Him (Exalted and Majestic is He). Likewise, prayer (salah) is obligatory upon everyone and is never lifted from a Muslim as long as his mind is sound. Therefore, he must learn it and learn what is required for it, such as ritual purity (taharah) and other things, so that he worships Allah with knowledge. Zakah (the obligatory alms) is not required to be learned by everyone. Whoever has wealth upon which zakah is obligatory must learn what the zakatable wealth is, what the minimum threshold (nisab) is, what the amount of the obligation is, to whom the zakah is given, and so on. However, it is not obligatory for everyone to learn zakah if he is poor; why would we obligate him to learn the rulings of zakah when he has no wealth? Fasting (sawm) must be learned by everyone. A person must know what he is fasting for, what are the things that break the fast, what are the things that invalidate the fast, what diminishes it, and so on. Every person who fasts must learn this. Hajj (the major pilgrimage) is not required to be learned by everyone, but it is required for the one who is able to find a way to it to learn it so that he performs Hajj with knowledge. Unfortunately, many people do not learn what is obligatory upon them from the rulings of their religion, so they fall into difficulties, especially in Hajj. How many are there who ask about Hajj, and you find that they have fallen into great errors because they did not learn before they acted. For example, the rulings of sale (bay') are not required to be learned by every person, but whoever wants to trade, sell, and buy must learn what is the forbidden sale and what is the prescribed sale so that he is aware of his affair, and so on. It is now clear that religious knowledge is divided into two categories: the first is an individual obligation (fard 'ayn), and the second is a collective obligation (fard kifayah). It is recommended (mustahabb) for those who exceed the number that fulfills the collective obligation to learn, in order to preserve the Shari'ah (Islamic sacred law) of Allah, so that Allah guides His servants through it and people benefit from it. Nothing is more noble than knowledge. This is indicated by the saying of Allah Blessed and Exalted is He to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): Our Lord, Mighty and Majestic, says to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was in need of an increase in knowledge, and that indicates the virtue of knowledge, for Allah did not say to him, “Say, ‘My Lord, increase me in wealth,’” “increase me in wives,” or “increase me in children,” but rather He said to him: And among what indicates the virtue of knowledge is the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He: meaning: Say to the people a general statement The answer is self-evident: what is it that makes those who know equal to those who do not know? This is a matter negated by the nature of man and his fitrah (innate natural disposition); it is not the case that the one who knows is equal to the one who does not know. However, Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) mentioned it in the form of a question so that it would include a challenge, so that this negation would include a challenge. That is to say, bring me someone who says that those who know are equal to those who do not know. No one says that, and it is impossible for those who know to be equal to those who do not know, ever, even in the matters of this world. Those who know are not equal to those who do not know. And Allah the Exalted said: This also indicates the virtue of knowledge meaning: stand up and rise So if a person enters and the gathering is crowded with people sitting, and he says, “Make room,” then they should make room for him, and Allah will make room for you, meaning He will expand your affairs, because you were generous with this person who entered, so Allah will be generous with you. This is because the reward is of the same kind as the deed; so whoever treats his brother with something, Allah the Exalted will treat him with the like of it. If you make things easy for someone in difficulty, Allah will make things easy for him. If you relieve a believer of a hardship, Allah will relieve you of a hardship from the hardships of the Day of Resurrection. If you help someone, Allah will be in your help, and Allah is in the help of the servant as long as the servant is in the help of his brother. For this reason, he said: This means: when it is said, "Rise, rise," and in this there is evidence that there is no blame on a person for saying to the group with him, "Get up, go out, may Allah reward you, your work is done." There is no shame in that, no shame in this, and no offense to a person. Even regarding sitting, it is not befitting for them to be burdensome, not rising unless told to rise. A person should lighten his sitting with people as much as he is able, unless he knows from his companion that he likes him to stay with him, in which case there is no harm; otherwise, he should leave.