Kashaf-ul-haqaiq

CHAPTER 3: DO WE HAVE TO BE IGNORANT ALL THE TIME?

I do not know whether you consider ignorance as something which is good or bad, but I know that every person trains his child from the age of three or four. Then he spends time on the child and then money. He tries very hard to enable the child to be in a position to earn enough money in the battlefield of life. And if a child only manages to have a mediocre standard of education then he is reprimanded for it.

But, when it comes to religion the situation is totally opposite. The father tells the son: ‘My son, be ignorant, do not learn or reflect on any matter. I am ignorant, my father is ignorant, our forefathers were also ignorant people, and in fact our whole community is ignorant. So what is the problem? There are some people that we can ask from, and were they to tell us something wrong and we act upon it then Allah (s.w.t.) will question them and is not going to question us now is He?.’ Tell me the truth, is this not the situation?

And he (s.a.w.) has also said:

AL KAFI - AL KAFI H 35, Ch. 1, h1

Muhammad ibn Ya‘qub has narrated from Ali ibn Ibrahim ibn Hashim from his father from al-Hassan ibn abu al-Husayn al-Farisi from Abd’ al-Rahman ibn Zayd from his father from abu Abd’ Allah, recipient of divine supreme covenant, who has said the following: “The Messenger of Allah has said, ‘Seeking knowledge is obligatory for every Muslim. (People should) know that Allah loves those who seek knowledge.’”

But it is due to a conspiracy that has been established over centuries that the Shiites have been told not to worry. Acquisition of religious knowledge is not an obligation on you for this only for certain people. This is not ‘Wajib Ayni’, but it is ‘Wajib Kifayi’. You are the general public and are crippled and therefore not subject to questioning. You go and get jobs, run businesses and enjoy yourselves, and when you have a religious matter to sort out then come to us for we are the specialists. The reward for our efforts is that you should give us a fifth of our wealth (In whichever way you may have earned it) then you are free for a whole year and no more burdens are on you.

The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) did not leave a single stone unturned on this matter. He used the words ‘on every Muslim’ in the above tradition. So even if a single person were to opt out of the seeking of knowledge then he will no longer be a part of the whole.  If you are still not convinced then look at another tradition:

AL KAFI - H 49, Ch. 2, h6

Ahmad ibn Idris has narrated from Muhammad ibn Hassa’n from Idris ibn al- Hassan from abu Ishaq al-Kindi from Bashir al-Dahhan from abu ‘Abd Allah, recipient of divine supreme covenant, who has said the following: “O Bashir, there is nothing good in those of our people (followers) who do not acquire good understanding of religion (Fiqh). If someone among them may not have good understanding of religion he needs to ask those who oppose us. When he needs them they lead him astray without him even realising.”

I think there should not be any doubt that remains about this matter now. If you wish to be counted among the honoured ones, or if you want to be regarded as one who follows the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) and the Imams (a.s.) and if you do not wish to enter the door ignorance, then acquire religious knowledge and act on it, no less no more.

FROM WHOM SHOULD BE ACQUIRE KNOWLEDGE

Let it be clear that the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) did not tell us to acquire knowledge, rather he told us to seek it. Now it becomes necessary for us to find out whom to seek it from. Were we to seek it from the wrong source then our efforts would be in vain, time would be wasted and we would be sinners. Come, let us ask the Holy Quran as to whom we should seek knowledge from.

فَلْيَنظُرِ الْإِنسَانُ إِلَى طَعَامِهِ

[Shakir 80:24] Then let man look to his food,

It has been explained in Tafseer Safi that Imam Baqir (a.s.) was asked about the reference to food in this verse and he (a.s.) replied: This is man’s knowledge which he should seek. The commentator then said that what the Imam (a.s.) is saying is that knowledge should be acquired from the Ahl Ul Bayt (a.s.) in whose houses the revelation came down. Knowledge sought from other sources would be incomplete and weak.

In another tradition the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) has said: ‘Knowledge has been safeguarded with its inheritors and you have been Commanded to seek the whole of it from those that have it (The Ahl Ul Bayt (a.s.)).

In another tradition Imam Ja’far Al Sadiq (a.s.) has said: ‘The knowledge that the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) has left, we the Ahl Ul Bayt (a.s.) are its inheritors’.

WHO ARE THE SCHOLARS?

The term ‘knowledge’ is an attribute which mean ‘to know’, and ‘ignorance’ means ‘not to know’. People of understanding know that the majority are normally in the opposition. Two opposite things cannot co-exist at the same place e.g. fire and water, similarly, intellect and ignorance cannot be in the same person at the same time. If you consider someone knowledgeable then you have to deny every kind of ignorance in him. If he is considered knowledgeable in matters of religion then you will have to deny his ignorance in all matters of religion. Now, is there anyone who can make this claim of being knowledgeable? Does anyone have the right to call someone knowledgeable?

Apart from the Holy Infallibles (a.s.) everyone else gains knowledge, and the more they gain the less ignorant they become. Those who gain knowledge are not the knowledgeable ones but can only be referred to as seekers of knowledge. Compared to each other everyone is knowledgeable. I am knowledgeable compared to my son. Someone else is knowledgeable compared to me, and this chain has no bounds. The Holy Infallibles (a.s.) have clarified this matter so that everyone cannot wear this crown on their heads. I am only presenting two traditions here which are sufficient for those who wish to understand.

AL KAFI - H 56, Ch. 3, h4

Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from Muhammad ibn ‘Isa from Yunus from Jamil who has said the following: “I heard Imam abu ‘Abd Allah, recipient of divine supreme covenant, saying, ‘People become of three groups: Scholars, those who learn and garbled ones. We are the scholars. Our followers are the ones who learn. The rest of the people are garbled ones (who do not have any meaningful opinion in life).’”

“O Kumayl! Remember that there are three kinds of people: one kind is of those learned people who are highly versed in the ethics of truth and philosophy of religion, second is the kind of those who are acquiring the above knowledge and the third is that class of people who are uneducated. They follow every pretender and accept every slogan, they have neither acquired any knowledge nor have they secured any support of firm and rational convictions.” - Nahj Ul Balagah Saying No. 146