Seeking authentic knowledge is an obligation for every Muslim Today’s topic is the imposters – those people who claim that they have knowledge and lead people with ignorance. The Prophet (peace be on him) mentioned in different narrations the importance of seeking knowledge and before all of this, the first verse which was revealed by Allah Almighty, was ‘Iqra!’ (Recite or read). ﴿١﴾ اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ Read: In the Name of your Lord, who created. ﴿٢﴾ خَلَقَ الْإِنْسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ Created man from a clinging clot. ﴿٣﴾ اقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ الْأَكْرَمُ Read: And your Lord is the Most Generous. ﴿٤﴾ الَّذِي عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَمِ He Who taught by the pen. ﴿٥﴾ عَلَّمَ الْإِنْسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ Taught man what he never knew. (Surat al-Alaq:1-5) If you delve into this ayah alone, you see the word ‘iqra’ is in the command form. It is not optional; it is an obligation. The very first command revealed to us was to seek knowledge – proper, authentic knowledge and divine knowledge. It is no coincidence that the first ayah of the Quran is based on knowledge as our deen (religion) is based on knowledge. Remember, this ayah was revealed in times of Jahiliya (ignorance), so we need to fight ignorance with knowledge and hence the command. The more you think about it, the more you realise the importance of seeking knowledge. Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be on him) said: عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ ‏ “‏ طَلَبُ الْعِلْمِ فَرِيضَةٌ عَلَى كُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ. ابن ماجه. “Seeking knowledge is a duty upon every Muslim. (Ibn Majah) There is no exception to this. Every believer has to seek knowledge. What knowledge? The knowledge which brings you … Continue reading The Imposters – protect yourself from being deceived by false knowledge