Means of Combating Ignorance and Illiteracy, and the Difference Between Them
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Our brother asks and says: How do we combat ignorance and illiteracy? Are they two different things, or does each have a specific limit, and what is it? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer: Ignorance and illiteracy are combated by knowledge, through learning, understanding the religion, reflecting upon the Noble Qur'an, attending gatherings of knowledge, and asking the people of knowledge. This is how ignorance is combated and illiteracy is combated. The believer, male or female, reflects upon the Qur'an and increases their reading of the Qur'an with reflection, understanding, and benefit. Likewise, by reviewing the hadiths of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and paying attention to what the people of knowledge mentioned in the interpretation of the Qur'an, and in explaining the hadiths and what they indicate. And so on, by attending gatherings of knowledge and circles of knowledge. And so on, by keeping the company of the righteous among the people of knowledge. And so on, by asking the people of knowledge, as Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Nahl: 43]. It was narrated from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that when a group issued a ruling out of ignorance, he said: Sunan al-Bayhaqi 1:995. This is how ignorance is combated and illiteracy is combated.
Ignorance is broader than illiteracy. Every illiterate person may be ignorant, but not every ignorant person is illiterate. So ignorance is broader. One may be educated and not illiterate, yet be ignorant of many issues. Many issues may be hidden from him. The cure for that is learning and understanding the religion until the ignorance is removed. One may be knowledgeable about prayer but ignorant about zakah. One may be knowledgeable about prayer and zakah but ignorant about the rulings of fasting. One may be knowledgeable about creed, prayer, zakah, and fasting, but ignorant about the rulings of Hajj. One may be knowledgeable about acts of worship but ignorant about the rulings of transactions, ignorant about the rulings of divorce and marriage, and so on.
So knowledge is partial, and ignorance is partial. The cure for ignorance in general is learning and understanding the religion. The cure for illiteracy is likewise learning and understanding the religion. Yes.
The presenter: So, describing the Ummah of Islam as illiterate, what does that mean, if you would be so kind, Shaykh Abdul Aziz?
The Shaykh: That is the original state of them. The original state of this Ummah is that it is illiterate.
The presenter: The original state, the original state.
The Shaykh: Meaning the absence of knowledge. This is the original state. And our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was illiterate; because he did not have knowledge before it was revealed to him (peace and blessings be upon him). He did not read or write, as Allah Mighty and Majestic said: [Al-'Ankabut: 48]. So he was not a reader, he was not a poet, and he did not write, until Allah taught him and revealed to him this great Book. The illiterate person is named after his mother, meaning: he remained in ignorance, he has no sciences and he has no writing. So if he learns knowledge, he is not illiterate. And if he writes knowledge and transmits scientific issues and is good at writing, he is not illiterate. Rather, the illiterate person is one who is not good at reading and not good at writing, until he benefits from the knowledge he was taught or from what he writes about the scholars. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was, as Allah said: [Al-Duha: 7], ignorant of the sciences that the revelation brought. He did not have knowledge of what Allah legislated for him in His great Book. He did not have knowledge of the sciences of the previous messengers. And he did not write or draw until this great good and great revelation came to him (peace and blessings be upon him). So every person who has not learned and has not written is called illiterate. And the Arab Ummah was mostly illiterate, not writing and not reading. This was the majority of the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good.
Answer: Ignorance and illiteracy are combated by knowledge, through learning, understanding the religion, reflecting upon the Noble Qur'an, attending gatherings of knowledge, and asking the people of knowledge. This is how ignorance is combated and illiteracy is combated. The believer, male or female, reflects upon the Qur'an and increases their reading of the Qur'an with reflection, understanding, and benefit. Likewise, by reviewing the hadiths of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and paying attention to what the people of knowledge mentioned in the interpretation of the Qur'an, and in explaining the hadiths and what they indicate. And so on, by attending gatherings of knowledge and circles of knowledge. And so on, by keeping the company of the righteous among the people of knowledge. And so on, by asking the people of knowledge, as Allah the Exalted said:
So ask the people of the message if you do not know.
فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ لا تَعْلَمُونَWhy did they not ask when they did not know? Indeed, the cure for ignorance is asking.
ألا سألوا إذ لم يعلموا، إنما شفاء العي السؤالIgnorance is broader than illiteracy. Every illiterate person may be ignorant, but not every ignorant person is illiterate. So ignorance is broader. One may be educated and not illiterate, yet be ignorant of many issues. Many issues may be hidden from him. The cure for that is learning and understanding the religion until the ignorance is removed. One may be knowledgeable about prayer but ignorant about zakah. One may be knowledgeable about prayer and zakah but ignorant about the rulings of fasting. One may be knowledgeable about creed, prayer, zakah, and fasting, but ignorant about the rulings of Hajj. One may be knowledgeable about acts of worship but ignorant about the rulings of transactions, ignorant about the rulings of divorce and marriage, and so on.
So knowledge is partial, and ignorance is partial. The cure for ignorance in general is learning and understanding the religion. The cure for illiteracy is likewise learning and understanding the religion. Yes.
The presenter: So, describing the Ummah of Islam as illiterate, what does that mean, if you would be so kind, Shaykh Abdul Aziz?
The Shaykh: That is the original state of them. The original state of this Ummah is that it is illiterate.
The presenter: The original state, the original state.
The Shaykh: Meaning the absence of knowledge. This is the original state. And our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was illiterate; because he did not have knowledge before it was revealed to him (peace and blessings be upon him). He did not read or write, as Allah Mighty and Majestic said:
And you did not recite before it any scripture, nor did you inscribe one with your right hand. Otherwise the falsifiers would have had [cause for] doubt.
وَمَا كُنْتَ تَتْلُوا مِنْ قَبْلِهِ مِنْ كِتَابٍ وَلا تَخُطُّهُ بِيَمِينِكَ إِذًا لارْتَابَ الْمُبْطِلُونَAnd He found you lost and guided [you],
وَوَجَدَكَ ضَالًّا فَهَدَىThe presenter: May Allah reward you with good.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.