"...it is only those who have knowledge (ilm) among his slaves that fear Allâh ..." 35:28.

And Allâh says,

He [Allâh ] grants wisdom to whom He pleases; and he to whom wisdom is granted indeed receives a benefit overflowing. But none will grasp the Message except men of understanding. 2:269

And,

...Allâh will raise up to (suitable) ranks (and degrees) those of you who believe and who have been granted knowledge. 58:11

And

Say: Travel through the earth and see how Allâh originated creation; so will Allâh produce the second creation (of the Afterlife): for Allâh has power over all things. 29:20

My brothers and sisters in Al Islâm, I often say, "Faith without knowledge is dangerous."Please cry out to your Lord in the day and the night, "O my Sustainer! Increase my knowledge." 20:114. Do not let yourself be mislead like those of old nor let yourself fall into the traps of the unscrupulous amongst us who are working so hard to destroy our great religion.

Most of you already know the story of how I came to Islâm. But I will put the highlights here for those who do not know. I was a part of a group of Christians who wanted to destroy Al Islâm. I was learning Qur’ân and sunnah in an effort to twist them so that I might mislead those who cared about their dîn even a little to make them believe that what I was proposing was Islamically correct.

You can see the results of people like me when you look to the misguided Muslims today who say that the woman's khymar need not cover the hair, only drape over the bosom. You can also see it in ploys like George Bush's when he quoted out of context, "...And if they incline to peace, incline thou also to it, and trust in Allâh ..." 8:61. Of course, Bush never bothered to mention that this verse was cradled in a lesson about inclining to peace if you have the power to maintain the peace. Why should he? He succeed in misleading the ignorant Muslims who followed his lead and were thrilled that he was even able to quote from the Qur’ân . It served its purpose.

Thus, we can see that faith without knowledge is dangerous. It opens the door for misguidance and straying from the dîn of Allâh . So what is a Muslim to do? The first step is to make a clear intention. We must want to seek knowledge for the sake of Allâh . We must recognize that Allâh has made it obligatory on us to have the basic knowledge of our religion, and then we must seek to acquire that knowledge for His sake and His sake only. This is of extreme importance. Remember the lesson about the first three who will be dragged into the hellfire.

Narrated Abu Hurayrah: It has been narrated on the authority of Sulayman ibn Yâsar who said: People dispersed from around Abu Hurayrah, and Natil, who was from the Syrians, said to him: “O Shaykh, relate (to us) a tradition you have heard from the Messenger of Allâh (peace_be_upon_him)”. He said: Yes. I heard the Messenger of Allâh (peace_be_upon_him) say:

“The first man (whose case) will be decided on the Day of Judgment, will be a man who died as a martyr. He shall be brought (before the Judgment Seat). Allâh will make him recount His blessings (i.e. the blessings which He had bestowed upon him) and he will recount them (and admit having enjoyed them in his life). (Then) will Allâh say: What did you do (to requite these blessings)? He will say: I fought for Thee until I died as a martyr. Allâh will say: You have told a lie. You fought so that you might be called a "brave warrior". And you were called so. (Then) orders will be passed against him and he will be dragged with his face downward and cast into Hell. Then there will be brought forward a man who acquired knowledge and imparted it (to others) and recited the Qur'ân. He will be brought, Allâh will make him recount His blessings and he will recount them (and admit having enjoyed them in his lifetime). Then will Allâh ask: What did you do (to requite these blessings)? He will say: I acquired knowledge and disseminated it and recited the Qur’ân , seeking Thy pleasure. Allâh will say: You have told a lie. You acquired knowledge so that you might be called "a scholar", and you recited the Qur’ân so that it might be said: "He is a Qâri" and such has been said. Then orders will be passed against him and he shall be dragged with his face downward and cast into the Fire. Then will be brought a man whom Allâh had made abundantly rich and had granted every kind of wealth. He will be brought, Allâh will make him recount His blessings and he will recount them and (admit having enjoyed them in his lifetime). Allâh will (then) ask: What have you done (to requite these blessings)? He will say: I spent money in every cause in which Thou wished that it should be spent. Allâh will say: You are lying. You did (so) that it might be said about (you): "He is a generous fellow", and so it was said. Then will Allâh pass orders and he will be dragged with his face downward and thrown into Hell.” Sahîh Muslim: Book 19, Number 4688

Second, we must recognize that there exists a lot of wrong information in our nation. Those who have transferred knowledge without foundation and those who have deliberately tried to destroy our dîn have been very busy over the centuries, and now, the search for the truth is a bit more complex, so we must learn the basics from scratch. Do not assume that because your parents were Muslims that everything you learned is correct. You must investigate for yourself. Once you reach an age where you can research it, you need to go back and verify from the original sources. Are you making salâh or wudû the way the Prophet did? Or are you making it according to the way your parents, your culture, your imam etc. did? One of the signs of the last day is that religious knowledge will be taken away and that we will be taught by those who have no knowledge.

Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Amr bin Al' آs: I heard Allâh 's Apostle saying,

"Allâh does not take away the knowledge, by taking it away from (the hearts of) the people, but takes it away by the death of the religious learned men till when none of the (religious learned men) remains, people will take as their leaders ignorant persons who when consulted will give their verdict without knowledge. So they will go astray and will lead the people astray." Sahîh Bukhari: Volume 1, Book 3, Number 100

This is a very real danger! We can already see this in our masjids and our homes. People find it so easy to say what they think is correct when they have never researched it for themselves. Most can not even tell you where they learned something or where you can find the dalîl (evidence) but they will fight you about its correctness, even when they are presented the Qur’ân and sunnah that proves the opposite. Allâh Preserve us!

I was once in a masjid when a sister who seemed to have good intentions said to the other sisters that regardless of what they choose to do on the outside, that when they make salâh, they need to be sure that they are properly covered. They need to make sure their headpiece is big enough and not see-through. They need to be covered with a loose dress of skirt that covers all the legs and the feet; they need to make sure their clothes is neither see-through or tight. This is so that their salâh will be accepted by Allâh . They must meet the minimum requirements.

The reaction was that a group of sisters got upset with her, and said to her, "Who are you to teach us our religion?" They claimed the religion of their fathers. They had come from the best Muslim countries and they knew right from wrong, and they did not have to go to these extremes. The sister was taken aback by this, but kept her calm long enough to show bring them the Qur’ân and a few of the hadîths that spoke of the minimum cover for women. The women literally waved the books away and said, " Don't give us this, what do the scholars say?" She tried to tell them the opinions of the four schools, and they rejected these. At this point, from all the insults that were coming from these women, the woman gave up, and went to a room to cry. She had been humiliated and insulted for bring forth the clear teachings of Allâh and His messenger. This is the state our nation has fallen to. Allâh guide us!

Brothers and sisters, Alhamdulillah, we still have the basic knowledge preserved. We have scholars who know the true Islâm and who teach it, and we need to take advantage of them while we still can. So many of our great scholars are aging. We need to seek out their knowledge and preserve it against a day when knowledge will be taken from us. A day that does not seem too far away. When we look around us, we can see this phenomenon of people taking "...as their leaders ignorant persons who when consulted will give their verdict without knowledge. So they will go astray and will lead the people astray." This is already a reality! We have forgotten the basics. Allâh says,

...Say: Are those equal, those who know and those who do not know? It is those who are endowed with understanding that remember (Allâh 's Message). 39:9

Third, we need to be sure that we are all educated, men and women. Seeking knowledge has its great blessings;

Narrated AbuHurayrah: Allâh 's Apostle (peace_be_upon_him) said,

"...He who treads the path in search of knowledge, Allâh will make that path easy, leading to Paradise for him and those persons who assemble in one of the houses of Allâh (mosques), recite the Book of Allâh and learn and teach the Qur’ân (among themselves). There will descend upon them tranquillity, mercy will cover them, the angels will surround them and Allâh will mention them in the presence of those near Him. He who is slow-paced in doing good deeds, his (long) descent does not make him go ahead." Sahîh Muslim: Book 34, Number 6518

But once we have learned, we can not allow it to remain stagnant. We must pass on this knowledge to our brothers and sisters.

Narrated AbuHurayrah: Allâh 's Messenger (peace_be_upon_him) said:

“When a man dies, his acts come to an end, but three, recurring charity, or knowledge (by which people) benefit, or a pious son, who prays for him (for the deceased).” Sahîh Muslim: Book 12, Number 4005

When we teach the correct knowledge to our husbands, wives, children, family, friends etc..., we will receive a continuing blessing. Imagine the blessing of teaching Fâtiha to a child or a new Muslim. Every time he/she says it in salâh, it is a blessing on your scale. Every time he/she teaches it to someone else, it is a blessing. This one small deed, done sincerely, can be for us a mountain of blessings on the day of Judgement while we know it not. But in teaching, we need to be very careful. We can not teach what we do not know. The scholars agree that half of knowledge is knowing when to say, "I don't know." We need to remain silent when we can not bring the dalîl. We must not teach that we can not verify. Instead, we lead the person to one of knowledge. We can not give fatwa unless we are trained to do so. Nor should we seek fatwa from one who is not trained. You would not go to a nurse and ask her to operate on you. You would go to a doctor. The nurse can help you with a limited service, but she is not trained for surgery. In the same way, you may ask a man or woman of limited knowledge for some basics which he/she can verify but you can not ask them for fatwa . And if you know you have limited knowledge, you must never give fatwa.

We must strive to be from the knowledgeable. They are among the two who we can actually envy for this purpose:

Narrated Ibn Masud: I heard the Prophet saying,

"There is no envy except in two: a person whom Allâh has given wealth and he spends it in the right way, and a person whom Allâh has given wisdom (i.e. religious knowledge) and he gives his decisions accordingly and teaches it to the others." Sahîh Bukhari: Volume 2, Book 24, Number 490

But, we must recognize our limitations. Islamic knowledge is not something you can acquire in a few days, months or years. It is a lifetime of study. Most scholars are not even experts in all, they specialize: Usûl al Qur’ân (Qur’ân ic Sciences), Usul al Hadîth (Hadîth Sciences), Islamic History, General principles of Islâm etc... It is not an easy matter. And remember, the sin for the insincere seeker of knowledge is so great because the responsibility is so large as is the reward.

Last but not least, I want you to notice that when it came to talking about the people of knowledge, I did not limit it to men. Some of our greatest scholars have been women. Women not only have the right to study and teach, it is their responsibility. We can not keep the woman from learning unless we want to kill our dîn. The woman is the primary teacher for the children. She spends the most time with them and is their first school. But her knowledge need not be limited to the basic knowledge she will pass on to her children. She is another source for teaching society. Throughout Islamic history, starting with Umm al Muminîn, Aisha, our women have been teachers and scholars for men and women. Most of our great scholars had at least one woman teacher - if not more. Read this small excerpt from a Khutbah by: Sheikh Abdullah Hakim Quick in Canada:

"The first shahîd, the first martyr in Islâm, Sumaiyyah, radiAllâh u 'anha, a WOMAN! The first person to give his life of this religion -- before the men -- the shahîd. Aiesha, radiAllâh u 'anha, reported the second most hadîth over 2,210 hadîths, authentic traditions. When you are reading hadîth you are mostly reading Abu Hurairah, or Aiesha, may Allâh be pleased with them. So a woman is not supposed to be educated??? A woman is not supposed to know "isnâd" (the chain of hadîth) ??? Not supposed to know tafseer??? When men used to come to her to learn about the tafseer. Shalaby reports that Nafîsah, who was a descendent of Ali, radiAllâh u anhu,karramAllâh u wajhu, was such a great authority of the hadîth traditions that Imam Ash-Shafi'ie, rahimahu Allâh , learned from her when he was in Al-Fustât, which is the original Cairo. Shalaby also reports that Kaîmah bint Ahmed Al Marwazi, may Allâh be pleased with her, was a transmitter and interpreter of Sahîh Al-Bukhari. Muhammed Al-Abrashi wrote that Ibn Asaakir, a famous hadîth transmitter, had over 80 women ("thamanîna mar'ah) among his highest regard of the 'ulema. 80 women who he regarded at the highest level of scholarship. It is also reported that for As-Sûyûti, rahimahu Allâh and Ibn Hazm, rahimahu Allâh some of their teachers were women. It is also reported: Fatima bint Mâlik Ibn Anas was a famous student of "Al Muwwata". And so we can go on and on speaking about women and education; the seeking of knowledge (tâlibul ilm) is farîda ala kulli Muslim -- all Muslims are supposed to seek knowledge male or female. If the woman in your house does not know halâl from harâm and you are out fi sabîlillah and you come home to eat food, the food that you eat may be harâm. If she doesn't know Qur’ân , if she doesn't know Sunnah and you are away, how will your children learn? Much of their time is spent with their MOTHER. And so an educated woman is a positive thing for Islâm; and it is ignorance, it is "jâhil" when the man is stopping her from Islamic education."

We must all learn the religion, and there is no proof (actually the contrary is proven) that a woman has a lesser ability to act as a teacher. As long as all Islamic etiquette is in place, it is both allowed and from the sunnah of our great companions who took Um al Muminîn, Aisha as their teacher.

Finally, I leave you all with this: Knowledge is incumbent upon us all. If we allow ourselves to remain ignorant or to follow whatever so-called scholar the wind blows in, we are a doomed nation. We must be able to differentiate between true knowledge and hogwash. A few hints: When your scholar starts saying, "I think..." or "I feel..." without giving Qur’ân and authentic hadîths, start worrying. When your scholar starts to teach you something that directly contradicts the words of Allâh or the sunnah of the prophet, get very worried. And when your scholar starts to have vision, run!!!!

May Allâh guide us all to the straight path. May He give us knowledge and faith and protect us in that faith till we die. And may we all die as Muslims loving, fearing and worshipping Allâh as He commanded us to do and taught us to do through our beloved prophet's teachings and examples. Amîn