علم اور نیت

It is narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Knowledge by which the pleasure of Allah is sought (that is, the knowledge of religion and of the Book and the Sunnah) — if anyone acquires it in order to earn worldly wealth, he will not even smell the fragrance of Paradise on the Day of Judgement.”

Just as every living being has a soul, so the soul of worship is sincerity (ikhlas). Without a soul a living being is dead, and without sincerity worship is not accepted. However lofty a deed may be, without sincerity it has no effect. By pondering over the Qur'an and Hadith the importance of sincerity becomes easily clear. In the view of a Muslim the matter of sincerity of intention carries the utmost importance in both religious and worldly affairs, because all deeds proceed from it and are judged sound or corrupt in accordance with it.

Therefore it is necessary that before beginning any deed a person should examine his intention and make it purely for the sake of Allah Most High, so that the deed may be accepted by Allah Most High, become a means of His pleasure, and become a source of reward for the one who performed it.

There are numerous proofs of the importance of sincerity in the Qur'an and Hadith, and the scholars of Hadith, keeping its importance in view, placed the hadiths that point to sincerity at the very beginning of their compilations, so that the scholar or the student might correct his intention from the very outset — for without sincerity of intention knowledge will indeed be attained, but its purpose, which is the pleasure of Allah, will be missed.

Allah Most High says: “Beware! Worship is for Allah alone.” (Az-Zumar: 3) That is, this is an emphasis on that very sincerity of worship which is mentioned in many places in the Qur'an and Hadith. Sincerity is proof of a firm connection and true love with one's Lord. A sincere servant makes all his acts of worship and dealings pure for his Creator and Master, and in truth Allah Most High alone is worthy that one's deeds be made pure for Him and that He be truly loved.

Now whoever acquires the knowledge of religion merely so that through it he may amass worldly wealth and honour and make it a means of gaining the world — for him a severe warning has been stated in the blessed hadith.

However, if the knowledge is not religious but worldly, then to acquire it for the purpose of making it a means and a source of livelihood is not something bad; but even in this there is a condition: that the knowledge should not be of a kind whose acquisition the Shari'ah does not permit — such as astrology and the like, or other kinds of knowledge that adversely affect belief and practice.

In this blessed hadith, the Messenger of Allah's ﷺ saying that a scholar whose intention in seeking knowledge is not purely for the pleasure of Allah will not even be granted the fragrance of Paradise is an indication of being kept out of Paradise, and a hyperbole expressing deprivation of Paradise. What is meant is that such a person will not enter Paradise, together with the sincere and near servants, without punishment.

Knowledge, by its subtlety and luminosity, cannot bear the filth of ostentation, self-display, pride, arrogance and undue boasting. When the very first ray of knowledge desires to remove from a person's heart and mind every darkness of oppression and ignorance, how can it be borne that a scholar whose mind is filled with the light of knowledge should use that knowledge only to acquire the goods of this world?

We pray to Allah Most High that He make our intentions pure for His pleasure, and that Allah Most High grant those who carry the knowledge of religion the ability to keep the sayings and warnings of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ always before them. Amin!