Strengthening the Ummah: the importance of learning deen
Ayah 122 of Surat at-Tawbah is a very important ayah and a major point of reference for scholars.
۞وَمَا كَانَ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنُونَ لِيَنفِرُواْ كَآفَّةٗۚ فَلَوۡلَا
نَفَرَ مِن كُلِّ فِرۡقَةٖ مِّنۡهُمۡ طَآئِفَةٞ لِّيَتَفَقَّهُواْ
فِي ٱلدِّينِ وَلِيُنذِرُواْ قَوۡمَهُمۡ إِذَا
رَجَعُوٓاْ إِلَيۡهِمۡ لَعَلَّهُمۡ يَحۡذَرُونَ,
It is not necessary for the believers to march forth all at once. Only a party from each group should march forth, leaving the rest to gain religious knowledge then enlighten their people when they return to them, so that they ˹too˺ may beware. [9:122]
Protecting the deen
This ayah comes after a numerous verses about nafeer (marching out) – encouraging believers to protect their land and their people. There was a big reward for following Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) into battle to fight for the community, and in fact it was a sin not to go with him.
Importantly, Allah has created balance in all things, and here He is saying that not everyone has to go on every expedition to fight: a group of people should stay behind to learn the deen and seek deep understanding. Alongside the encouragement to protect people and country, this verse is talking about protecting the deen itself.
It’s not enough for a body to have muscles, i.e. the fighters, but it needs to have a brain as well – and the brain of the ummah is sincere scholars who are committed to Allah. Not fake scholars or so-called ‘Scholars for Dollars’, but those who can create deep understanding in Islam and get the ummah back on track.
Individual responsibility vs communal responsibility
Scholars have divided obligations into two categories: fard ‘ayn, individual obligation, and fard kifaya, communal obligation.
Fard ‘ayn are things like salah and siyam: things you have to do for yourself and cannot delegate to someone else. Fard kifaya are things that are an obligation on a community, but not everyone has to be present for them. For example, performing the janazah for someone who has died: a community collectively will all be sinful if no one does this, but if you as an individual can’t attend a janazah, you will not be sinful for not going.
Seeking knowledge: fard ‘ayn or fard kifaya?
Seeking knowledge can be fard ‘ayn or fard kifaya, depending on the situation. There is a level of knowledge that all individuals need – e.g. knowing how to do salah correctly, how to conduct transactions, rules about halal and haram.
On the other hand, there are some niche things that not everyone needs to know: the rulings on surrogate mothers in Islam; how to pray in space; whether cryptocurrency is allowed. This kind of knowledge is not an obligation on everyone, but there is a group of scholars who do need to know it. If you are dealing with these specific situations, it then becomes an individual obligation.
We need specialists in deen
In this ayah, Allah is saying there needs to be a group who dedicate their lives to seeking knowledge. Any specialist field needs dedicated people who understand it, whether that is medicine or astrophysics. It’s the same for deen: we need specialists who can read and understand the Quran and Sunnah.
There are so many hadith about this topic that scholars have compiled entire books on the virtues of seeking knowledge. One of the commonly quoted authentic hadiths says:
When Allah wishes good for someone, He bestows upon him the understanding of Deen. [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
For someone to seek knowledge of deen and understand it is a sign of goodness and care of Allah.
People used to dedicate their children to deen
Allah says we need a group of people to seek knowledge: one is not enough. In the old days, every household would dedicate at least one child to study deen. One of my teachers had ten children, and all of them are top muftis and scholars, both the girls and boys. Although this level is above and beyond, but we should still have one from each family – or these days at least one from each community. It is a necessity for the ummah to get more people to learn.
These days people don’t want to study Shariah, as it doesn’t earn as much money as studying medicine or other fields. Nevertheless, Allah will dedicate sincere people in each generation who will spread the message of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) and follow in his footsteps. There is also nothing wrong with having two specialties: these days there are plenty of people who are both a doctor and a scholar, or an architect and a scholar, etc.
Have the right intention to encourage someone in your family to go and seek knowledge. Don’t force them, but encourage them, and let them do it if they have an interest.
Delivered by Shaykh Haytham Tamim on 21st Ramadan 2025. Transcribed by H Khan.
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