Assignment BTQ

BASIC THEMES OF QURAN ASSIGNMENT
2012

ARTICLE REVIEW
KNOWLEDGE

Article: Knowledge and Scholarship
Book: Islam, Philosophy and Ideology
Author: Dilshad Hasan

“And those who strive for Us - We will surely guide them to Our ways. And indeed, Allah is with the doers of good.”
(surah al Ankabut;29:69)

MEMBERS:

MUHAMMAD NUR FAIZ B MUSA
MOHD ALIF HUSSAINI B HAYAZY
MUHAMAD SYAHIR B ABU BAKAR
NIK MOHAMED FAIQ BIN MAT HASAN
INTRODUCTION TO KNOWLEDGE
Since the early creation of man , knowledge is the basic need in order to live in this world . We can see from the start, since the creation of Adam , Allah gives him knowledge that differ man and their creation such as angel and animals . By having knowledge, it has been a privilege and honor to man .As the time passed, the branch of knowledge has grown. If thousand years ago, human only can make a pot from clay or a knife from steel, but with more knowledge that has now, human can make a very technological and more complicated gadget.
اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ
Read ! In the name of your Lord who has created you ! (96:1) This ayah is the first revelation that given to Prophet Muhammad clearly shows the importance and necessity to seek for knowledge.
“Seek knowledge from cradle to the grave” This is the hadith that comes from Prophet Muhammad. He reaffirmed the teaching from Quran by stressing that , to find knowledge , we must start from the very beginning and never stop until our last breathe .Before we start seeking more about knowledge, we must know what is exactly knowledge, is all about.. Actually, knowledge is a wide concept. It is very difficult to formulate a concrete and firm meaning about what is knowledge. Even in Islamic world, knowledge has been define differently by Islamic scholars. Knowledge or Al-ilm is literally means to understand, to know, to perceive, that derived from the root word ‘alima . From the literal meaning, we can understand that Al-ilm is something like information to us about something.

But when we want to derive the meaning technically, it a bit complicated, because the secular and religious knowledge are intermingled. Technically, knowledge is something that covers all the aspects and elements in this world, that acquired by man with absolute uncertainty. This is supported by the literal meaning given my Al-Jurjani . *****************
In the mind of Muslim, knowledge includes everything which reason and revelation can unearth for the spiritual and material betterment of mankind . Knowledge includes the spiritual knowledge that requires for the life hereafter. The knowledge includes about Allah , His messenger , Quran , ibadah , law , and any other knowledge about Islam that will help Muslim to succeed in the Day of Judgment . This makes a different with the meaning of knowledge with other religion, or by atheist.
Although the meaning of knowledge is bewildering diversity, however a belief that knowledge in essence is one continued to persist in the world of Muslim scholarship, All branches of knowledge were interconnected and in order to understand the realities of life and resolve baffling complexities which hampered the solutions of problems it was essential to use maximum amount of information from all branches of knowledge

MANNER IN SEEKING KNOWLEDGE. ISLAMIC THEORY OF EDUCATION

Main Sources Summary
Books title : Islam, Philosophy and Ideology
Section : Knowledge and Scholarship / page 7
Author : Dilshad Hasan
Publisher : Anmal Publication PVT.LTD New Delhi, India

Islamic Theory Of Education

In Islam, knowledge is something that really special. With knowledge, someone can be really respected by people surrounding them. Thus, there are manners in obtaining the knowledge. In this book, the writer has come out with a few manners while seeking the knowledge. First of all, the writer mentioned that a Muslim student should be hard work in order to gain knowledge that can lead someone to Certainty (Yaqin).In fact, when we obtain the knowledge that shows us the right path towards the Mighty Creator, it can strengthen our Iman or Faith. Basically, according to the Quran, there are three distinct level of knowledge which are ilm al yaqin, (through information), ‘yn al yaqin (experience) and haqq al yaqin (through being). Among this there level of knowledge, haqq al yaqin is the highest level which gives understanding to someone with certainty without any doubtfulness.

Secondly, the writer bring out with another idea. He said that the Muslim student should have good intention in the search of knowledge. This is really important as it will determine our final objective. If we have bad intention, our hard work would be useless. The knowledge should lead us to nearness of Allah; however, our evil intention has altered the pureness of the knowledge. It brings us astray from Allah. Based on the Quran concept “good is not only on justice (adl) but also on the principle of Ihsan ”.

The next idea is Muslim student is blessing. We can assume blessing is a product of our good intentions, hard work and the grace of our teachers. Our knowledge will remain incomplete as we do not take concern the adab (respect) with the teachers. Last but not least, in order to comprehend the knowledge, the writer states that we should purify our heart from spiritual ill and evil. Good intention cannot be possessed as our heart is till dirty. Quran uses the word Fuad to mention about heart. It also means mind and heart.

Lastly, the most important manner that we have to bear in mind in perceiving the knowledge is du’a (pray). When we have acquired all the knowledge, it might give us some risk as we may be brought to the doubt about the Truth. Thus, the most perfect way in order to overcome this is by praying to Allah. Asking for His help so we are protected by His blessed from any doubtfulness that syaitan always try to put in our heart.

Supporting Source
Books title : A Guide Book of Basic Themes of Al Quran
Section : Adab of Seeking Knowledge (page 45)
Author : Ustaz Muhadir Haji Joll
Publisher : IRKHS Department Centre Foundation Studies International Islamic University Of Malaysia

In this book, the writer has listed some manners that mentioned by Imam Al Ghazali in his Ihya’ ulum al Din.

According to Imam Al Ghazali, a Muslim student should keep himself free from any bad habit. Knowledge cannot be attained unless we remove all the bad habits and evil attributes from ourselves. The Prophet said, “Religion has been built on cleanliness”. Thus, it is important for us to keep our inner and outer clean without any spiritual dirt. He also stated that a student should reduce his worldly affair. This is because Allah only bestowed us with one mind and one heart. One cannot divide his attention and focus into two business in one time. Not only that, the process of searching knowledge might be imperfect.

Another thing that must be take a look is a student should not pay attention to the numerous differences of opinion and try to gain knowledge from any branch as much as he can. This can be referred from:

قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِن كَانَ مِنْ عِندِ اللَّهِ وَكَفَرْتُم بِهِ وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِّن بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَلَى مِثْلِهِ فَآمَنَ وَاسْتَكْبَرْتُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ

Say, "Have you considered: if the Qur'an was from Allah , and you disbelieved in it while a witness from the Children of Israel has testified to something similar and believed while you were arrogant... ?" Indeed, Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people. (al Ahnaf 46:10)

From this ayah, we can conclude a student should increase his knowledge in order to answer all the things that exist in his life. With this knowledge, it will lead those people to Allah or to know deeper about our Mighty Creator.

Other than that, Imam Al Ghazali also mentioned that a Muslim student should manage his time to learn the knowledge. They cannot learn all the knowledge in one time as this might be confusing them. This relates to another adab which is a student should finish his study before proceed with another new knowledge. We have to master some particular knowledge before we can continue with another new knowledge. This will assure us to understand it with haqq al yaqin.

As a student, we should know how to distinguish between two fields of knowledge. This has been stated in Ihya’ ulum al Din written by Imam Al Ghazali that religion knowledge will help us to have a happy life in hereafter, while other knowledge is to gain a temporary life. Last but not least, our mind and actions must be purified with virtues. This will exhibit the beautifulness of Islam which is seeking knowledge only to gain nearness of Allah, not for the worldly matter or pride. Lastly, Imam Ghazali said that, a student must keep good manner with the teacher. Knowledge cannot be gained only from the book, however; we need someone to open the door of knowledge and protect us from doing mistakes.

Article Review

After we read article “Knowledge and Scholarship” from Islam, Philosophy and Ideology book written by Dilshad Hasan, specialize in topic of “Manner in Seeking Knowledge”, we recognized a few strengths and also weaknesses in this article.

In my opinion, In order to make the reader understand thoroughly the content, Dilshad Hasan has taken some effective initiatives in his article. First and foremost, in explaining a point, he tried to give some example that related to the point. For instance, for point “Blessing”, he included about the relation between the teacher and student. It is really efficient because the bond that existed between them will cause the blessing from Allah. Thus, it would open the student’s heart to accept all the knowledge easily.

However, for us, it is hard for someone to make that his or her works perfectly without any weakness. Same goes to Dilshad Hasan in his article. The first mistake that we identify is verse from Al Quran. We can see throughout his article that he did not mention the verses from Quran in order to strengthen his point in the article. If we compared to the supporting article from the “Guide Book of Basic Themes of Quran”, it is quite contradict to the main article in context of dalil from Quran. The point in the supporting article is always come out with the dalil from Quran. For example, if we look back to the fifth point, the writer used the verse from surah al Ahqaf (46:10) in case to strengthen his point and also make it interesting to be read. Relation between the point and this verse is really parallel. Another weakness that presents in the main article is insufficient points. The number of points that has been listed in this book is far few compared to the supporting article. In our opinion, insufficient of points could make the reader feels dissatisfied when reading the article, especially ourselves who always thirsty to gain a new knowledge. If we refer to the supporting article, the point that listed is quite much. This makes the article is more interesting. It attracts such people to read it.

The conclusion is in order to make the main article more interesting and knowledgeable, a few step must be taken. After discussing, we recommend that the main article must be included with more prove or dalil from Quran and also hadith of The Prophet Muhammad. For instance, the writer can put together the verse of Quran from surah al-Ankabut 29:69 in the first point.

وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمَعَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ

“And those who strive for Us - We will surely guide them to Our ways. And indeed, Allah is with the doers of good.”

The ayah says that for those who work hard to get the pleasure of Allah such as knowledge, Allah will guide them and make it easier. Our second recommend is the writer, Dilshad Hasan should add more point that relate to the topic. It is some advantage if it has more information. We as a reader would always choose the article that give more information.

IMPORTANCE OF KNOWLEDGE COMPARISON BETWEEN ISLAMIC AND WESTERN’S VIEWS

Main sources
Books title : Islam, Philosophy, and Ideology
Section : Knowledge and Scholarship / page 7
Author : Dilshad Hasan
Publisher : Anmal Publication PVT.LTD New Delhi, India

Islamic’s view From the Islamic point of view, knowledge and religion are dependent on each other. Both of them cannot be treated separately and must always comes together. It is clearly stated in the Quran in the chapter Al-Adaq (The Clot) which is considered among the earliest revelation;

1. Read: In the name of thy Lord who createth,
2. Createth man from a clot,
3. Read: And thy Lord is the Most Bounteous,
4. Who teacheth by the pen
5. Teacheth man that which he knew not. (al Alaq 96:1-5) In this ayah, Allah has related the Quran with knowledge of science which is the creation of man. In the Quran, it has been estimated that the word ilm (knowledge) is told 750 times. This shows that Islam through its Holy Book stressed unto its believers to seek knowledge. The great Muslim’s scholar, Al Bukhari in his monumental work attributes a tradition to the Prophet which says that ‘the disappearance of knowledge and absence of scholars from society would spell the demise of human civilization’. Abu Dawud said ‘the position of the scholar among people, in his opinion, is same as that of the moon among stars. He also emphasizes that knowledge, particularly religious knowledge, should not be sold for wordly gains’. There are many ayah in the Quran and a lot of hadith (the sayings of the prophet Muhammad saw) which related to the importance of knowledge. This indicates that religion and knowledge are two main pillars of human’s life.

There has never been any doubt in Islamic history that knowledge is a benediction of God and it is fully integrated into iman (belief). A verse in Quran reads as follows: “God will lift up by degrees those among you who have come to belive and those who have been given knowledge”
.
Furthermore in Islam, search for knowledge is an act of piety or ibadah; it is equivalent to prayer. In short, the knowledge plays a big role in shaping a human character. It is considered to be the source of strength in human. From this book th knowledge enlightens the soul, enriches the mind, and solidifies faith and belief in the revealed word of God. Knowledge is also the guardians of soul, architect of morality, and custodian of values and ideals which are the major determinants of human destiny both here and hereafter.

The knowledge in other word can narrow the gap between God and man. The man can think and act with maximum ability when they use their secular and spiritual knowledge. The entire world of knowledge is a fit subject for research. The strength of faith of the believers could be increases when they conduct a lot of research with various fields of knowledge as they realize the God’s power and wisdom as The Creator.

Supporting source
Book title : Islam; Ideology and the way of life
Author : Afzalur Rahman
Publisher : A.S Noordeen, Malaysia

Islamic view

Islam has considered that the key to develop a huge and great civilization is through knowledge. Allah has raised the status of man who is created by clay over the angel due to the knowledge given to man. As stated in the Quran; “After this, He thought Adam the names of all things. Then He asked the angels, ‘Tell Me the names of all these things if you are rights (in thinking that the appointment of a vicegerent will cause disorder) ‘. They replied, ‘Glory be to You! You alone are free from defect. We possess only as much knowledge as You have given us.’ Then God said to Adam, ‘Tell them the names of these things.’“(2:31)

According to Islamic spiritual experience, for a human being to obtain happiness in their life is necessarily linked with the knowledge of God. The knowledge of God and His Attributes is vital, because without it man’s belief and faith remain meaningless. The Holy Prophet always stressed that his followers should spend more time in seeking knowledge and made it a duty of every Muslim, man and woman to acquire knowledge. According to him, ‘the learned are the heirs of the Prophets of God’. The Prophet also said ‘The ink of the scholar is more holy than the blood of the martyr’. Moreover, religion knowledge are also requiring a study of sciences. According to this book the relation between knowledge of science and ibadah are as follows, for the service of worship, the face is turned towards Mecca, to get accurate direction, this requires knowledge of geography and astronomy. Fasting also requires the understanding of natural phenomena, such as the appearances of the dawn, the setting of sun, etc. The Pilgrimage necessitates knowledge of the routes and the means of transport in order to proceed to Mecca. Payment of ‘zakat’ requires knowledge of mathematics. It is also important to understanding the Quran in the light of historical facts and allusions and references to the science contained therein. In fact, the study of the Quran requires first of all the knowledge of the language in which it is compiled (linguistic science); its references to peoples demand knowledge of history and geography, and so on and so forth. Thus Islam and its faith have included almost all branches of knowledge and research. For example, ethics, theology, history, astronomy, archaeology, medicine, physics, economics, racial psychology, etc. This shows very clearly that a ‘Muslim’ faith in God is based on knowledge and research, and the intellect of human being can penetrate all those branches of knowledge. This book has concluded that, when the spiritual and intellectual activities of man are organised in accordance with the teachings of Islam, the internal nature of man becomes sound and healthy. And when man is internally secure and sound his external life will be of the same nature.

Sources : Islam, Philosophy, and Ideology and Islam; Ideology and the way of life.

Western view

The western view about knowledge is totally different from Islam. Islam believe that the main source of knowledge is the revealed word of God, Quran, and the only purpose the knowledge has is to strengthen the faith of the believer. Such an approach is different from the Western views on knowledge, which insist that all scientific learning is meant to refute religious dogma, and find ways of interpreting and understanding the realities of life, which have no spiritual connotations. According to this book; ‘judging strictly from western standards knowledge is an end in itself and not a means to an end. In Islam on the other hand, knowledge is only a means to an end. Muslim writers in their opinion were trapped in dogma, and their mind and thought revolved with a few exceptions around unalterable stereotypes. Their capacity to widen the horizons was limited by inflexible and insurmountable theological barriers. These impressions could be the result of prejudice or misunderstanding or may be both. The approaches of the Muslim scholars were far from being perfect. They had numerous faults of methodology, and many of them were patently careless in collection data’.

The overall view of the western about knowledge is that the source of knowledge is only depends in their intellect. For example the Darwin’s theory that has been accepted by some of the professors in western mostly the atheist that shows there are no connection between religion and knowledge. On their thought, everything in this world even the universe occurred by coincidence and not been created by God. The importance of knowledge from their view is to upgrade the possessors in the eyes of the human being. Knowledge to them just for worldly affairs. The religion becomes their obstacles in seeking knowledge because there are some statements in the Bible itself that shows contradiction to sciences.

The religion also limited their uses of knowledge because naturally most religion that exists promotes equalness among the believer and only God that can raise their status. But from the western view the one who possess knowledge and have power can control the weak one even though without proper manners. In conclusion, the western scholars emphasize that knowledge and religion are two things that are not related to each other.

Article review

The main source of our research, book; Islam, philosophy, and Ideology has emphasized that in Islamic point of view, knowledge and religion are two things in a box, means that they are related closely to each other. The great Muslim scholar, Al-Ghazzali says, “Whoever thinks faith alone will suffice him is ignorant of the meaning of faith”. Knowledge without faith is far more disaster towards human being and nature as it can lead to misused of knowledge. For example, the knowledge about chemistry and physics has lead man to created nuclear bomb that demolished the entire Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In addition, the book also stress on the effect of combination of religion and knowledge towards its possessors.

Firstly knowledge can increase the person faith. For example as a Muslim, it is not necessary for us to find evidence for the truth of what Allah said in nature, neither do we have to find evidence for what is stated in nature in the Quran or the sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH), but it sometimes increases a person’s belief. Especially when the scientists discover something in the 20th century and the theory is in line with the ayah in Quran and sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh), it will eventually increase the person belief. Knowledge when it is combining with religion will enlighten the soul of the possessors. It can bring a sense of relief and happiness. The possessors also will have a good attitude and characteristics. Our second source, book; Islam: Ideology and the way of life have explained to us the relation between knowledge and religious in the scope of ibadah. There is no direct order from the God for human being to study biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, geology, etc, but Allah has order the mankind to prostrate and worship Him as the supreme legislator. Allah did not mention directly to us to study geology and astronomy, but He has order us to perform our prayers in the direction towards the Kaabah in Mecca. So in order to fulfil this task it is a must for some of us to make a research and study that kind of knowledge. Here we can see how much the knowledge is related to religion. For the western view, both of our sources come out with the same conclusion which is, knowledge and religion have no connection at all. The Muslim main sources of knowledge are the Quran and the sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh), which are absolutely right. If there is a scientific theory against them the theory cannot be accepted at all. But for the western who believe in Bible, there is a verse in the Bible which says that the rabbit chews. This is not true, we know that the rabbit does not chew the food but it swallow them. So the Bible can’t be their main source of knowledge. That’s why the western separated the religion from knowledge and take their own intellect as the main source of knowledge. In conclusion, the Islamic and western views on knowledge are contradict to each other. Nowadays, we can see the destruction of human civilization when most of the people now did not implement the value of Islamic knowledge in their life. The morality of human being keeps falling down. The only solution for this is only when the man returns to his nature (fitrah). The nature of man is he needs religion in their life to control their intellect. It is God Who created us so He knows what best for us. Wallahua’lam. ‘And He has perfect knowledge of all things.’(surah al Baqarah;2:29)
KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

Main sources
Books title : The Ethical Philosophy Of Al Ghazali
Section : Knowledge of God
Author : Prof. M. Umaruddin
Publisher : A.S Noordeen

KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

Knowledge of God includes the knowledge of the creator and the creation comprising the universe, the soul, the circumstances attending after death and so on. Knowledge can be acquired through taqlid (such example are tradition, revelation) , observation , logical reasoning, contemporary and intuition .
Only God owns and possesses the perfect and complete knowledge . Our knowledge will never be able to compare with God . As perfect knowledge is possessed by God , so the more one’s knowledge is true and complete , the more one approaches God .The knowledge may be either changing or eternal . the knowledge of circumstances change . But the eternal knowledge is knowledge of essential truths , that is of the qualities and action of god .
The knowledge of the things of the world is an essentials step towards the knowledge of God for two reasons. The first being, people are convinced by the wisdom of the wonderful design of the world, which is the existence of a creator who is ALL-Merciful, Wise and ALL-Powerful. Next, they are capable to understand the value and importance of the world in relationship to themselves.
In this chapter of article, al-Ghazali also lays down that spiritual knowledge is the key to the knowledge of God. It can master all arts and sciences and also be able to know the mysterious of the things that lie between the heaven and the earth. It works in two direction, in relation to the spriritual world and the physical world .
The Knowledge of God helps man to perfect himself . It sublime glory , immortal existence , unlimited power , undying joy , unfailing and penetrating vision .

REVIEW BASED ON
THE ETHICAL PHILOSOPHY OF
AL-GHAZALI: KNOWLEDGE
KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

Either Muslims , Christians or Jews , all of us emphasize the true meaning and application of knowledge . Most notably the meaning and the understanding of the divine knowledge , The knowledge as God . As Muslim ourselves , It’s is remarkably known as the knowledge of Allah . Based on Al-Ghazali’s observation, as conclusion, he implies that Knowledge of God includes the knowledge of the Creator and the creation comprising the universe , the soul , the circumstances , attending after death , and so on .

As the servants, obviously the level of the knowledge of Allah , is unattainable . Legend has said that if we could gather all the sea and the ocean on this land, it is not enough to write and explain the knowledge that Allah owns. As mentioned by our prophet,

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "God, His angels and all those in Heavens and on Earth, even ants in their hills and fish in the water, call down blessings on those who instruct others in beneficial knowledge." - Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 422

Al-Ghazali also states that to understand the knowledge of God , it can be required through Taqlid , such examples are tradition , revelation , observation , logical reasoning , contemplation , and intuition . That which is gained through Taqlid has to be verified by intuition . Logical reasoning cannot create , the feeling of uncertainty , when applied to supersensory realities , as a simple example , GOD .

Looking at this article , we can see that the writer , Al-Ghazali has strengthened that no one can ever possess the knowledge of Allah . Some knowledge of Allah , such example are , that could not be able to , the knowledge of creating human beings , and other living things such as te plants and the animals .
In this article, al-Ghazali also mentions that any type of knowledge on this world , such example , sciences knowledge , also relates to God . Remember Al-Khwarizmi , the father of mathematics ? He’s pious and at the same time , he is very good also at the knowledge of mathematics . Allah gives him the best knowledge and the best appreciation for him. If you don’t forget him, either in pursuing knowledge and other things, Insha’Allah , Allah will grant you with the best result that will never upset you .
As be mentioned by allah ,

Comparison of the two parties (disbelievers and believers), as the blind and deaf to the people who can see and hear. Are there two parties are the same circumstances and nature?. So do not you take a lesson (rather than the comparison)?.
From the above ayah , we can conclude that the different between the one who believes Allah , and the non believers . In a short , we should have not forgotten Allah while seeking knowledge , that is apparently His knowledge .
Thus , we can also say that , in seeking knowledge , there is also some different between Islam view and western(the non-muslim) view . In Islam , the muslims have already known that some of the knowledge are impossible to be acquired by them . such example , the creation of living things . Because only Allah knows this knowledge , so the muslims will never tries to attempt this project . even though we tries for hundreds millions of times , allah will never allow and grant that wish .

As for the non-Muslim , Allah has also granted that with the intuition of seeking knowledge .