ISLAM: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Knowledge Volume 11 of a Series of Islamic Books by Muhammad Saed Abdul-Rahman i Islam: Questions And Answers Volume 11 Knowledge i ii Islam: Questions And Answers Volume 11 Knowledge Muhammad Saed Abdul-Rahman B.Sc., DipHE MSA Publication Limited iii © Muhammad Saed Abdul-Rahman, 2003 ISBN for all volumes 1 86179 080 5 ISBN for volume 11 paperback 1 86179 306 5 ISBN for volume 11 hardback 1 86179 307 3 ISBN for volume 11 pdf eBook 1 86179 308 1 ISBN for volume 11 Microsoft eBook 1 86179 309 X ISBN for volume 11 Palm eBook 1 86179 310 3 All Rights reserved British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data. A Catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Designed, Typeset and produced by: MSA Publication Limited, 4 Bello Close, Herne Hill, London SE24 9BW United Kingdom iv Contents Introduction ..............................................................................1 Chapter 1...................................................................................3 32492: Are there any weak points in Islam that enable the kaafirs to attack it?.........................................3 27080: He wants a list of books on al-raqaa’iq (heart softening reports)..................................................6 20804: What is the madhhab followed when answering questions submitted to the site?.....................8 10675: The knowledge which is praised by Allaah in the Qur’aan and Sunnah..................................9 6524: Is it waajib (obligatory) for non-Arabs to learn Arabic? .............................................................11 11551: Women and teaching.........................................12 Chapter 2.................................................................................14 Seeking knowledge............................................................14 47273: Is it better to give the adhaan and take care of the mosque, or to seek knowledge? ..........................14 20191: How to seek knowledge....................................19 39771: al-Saabooni and his book Safwat al-Tafaaseer ...................................................................24 12841: Travelling to seek knowledge without parents’ permission........................................................28 31072: Studying in a society that does not adhere to Islamic sharee’ah...........................................30 9383: Women and the pursuit of knowledge.................32 31887: She wants to know how to acquire knowledge and act upon it.............................................35 3328: Ways to strengthen one’s memory and combat forgetfulness ..............................................39 v 5337: What field should he study at university?...........41 22317: Putting people off the books of modern daa’iyahs........................................................................42 22330: Acquiring Islamic knowledge from tapes .........44 22332: Where should one begin when wanting to memorize Qur’aan?...................................................45 22329: Is it possible to combine da’wah with seeking knowledge? ......................................................45 22311: The importance of learning Usool al-Fiqh for the one who wants to learn fiqh ..................50 10721: Feeling that something is not right with seeking knowledge................................................51 10678: Disadvantages of limiting oneself only to books.................................................................53 10693: Learning from Ash’ari shaykhs.........................55 10690: How should a Muslim deal with books of knowledge?...............................................................58 11558: When seeking knowledge conflicts with honouring one’s parents ........................................63 11562: Will a Muslim be rewarded for learning math?...............................................................64 10175: Conditions of traveling to kaafir lands in order to study...................................................65 10124: Is it possible to seek knowledge by using tapes?...................................................................66 13485: Which is better – devoting oneself to da’wah or seeking knowledge?.................................67 14082: Important books for the seeker of Islamic knowledge.........................................................68 20247: Learning from more than one shaykh ...............73 20092: What is the ruling on seeking Islamic knowledge? ...................................................................74 21590: He loves knowledge - how may he attain it?.........................................................................76 13637: “Seek knowledge even if you have to go as far as China” is a false hadeeth............................79 vi 10471: Knowledge in Islam ..........................................80 10356: Her husband is not interested in learning about Islam......................................................86 3704: The problem of forgetting Qur’aan.....................87 10217: When he has a question about some matter of religion, who should he ask? .........................91 3175: How to learn how to read the Qur’aan................92 3151: Learning from trustworthy scholars....................92 2999: Combining one’s secular specialty with Islamic knowledge ................................................94 2956: Conditions for studying abroad...........................95 4381: Acquire the knowledge of Quran and Sunnah....................................................................95 7413: A man giving a lecture to a group of women without partition...............................................97 Chapter 3...............................................................................100 Manners of Seeking Knowledge......................................100 10324: Etiquette of the seeker of knowledge..............100 21420: Is it obligatory to follow a particular madhhab? ....................................................................106 32670: Mixing of male and female students for a project required for graduation ...........................110 26298: Women meeting for halaqahs and study circles.................................................................111 22652: Our attitude towards differences among the scholars......................................................113 22242: He is asking about the length of Nuh’s ship ...................................................................117 22119: The problem of the one who memorizes Qur’aan and comments on it.......................................118 10195: Does feeling pleased with one’s grades contradict sincerity of intention in seeking knowledge?....................................................121 20163: Dealing with the lack of interest in seeking knowledge..................................................122 21643: Attending Graduation Ceremonies..................124 vii 10296: Those who follow madhhabs and refuse to learn..............................................................125 10215: Is it bid’ah for daa’iyahs and seekers of knowledge to get together on Friday nights to get to know one another and to study together? .................................................126 10202: Memorizing Qur’aan and Sunnah...................127 8971: Moving to another mosque after Fajr for a halaqah......................................................................128 5384: He wants to marry a girl but she wants to go to university and they live in a corrupt society................129 1946: Ruling on making bets in matters of shar’i knowl- edge .............................................................................131 Chapter 4...............................................................................133 Various branches of knowledge .......................................133 41869: A communist atheist is claiming that fasting is harmful........................................................................133 26855: The book Durrat al-Naasiheen ........................136 22051: Ruling on studying western theories that go against sharee’ah.........................................................137 22044: Learning English for the purpose of da’wah...139 10489: Ruling on learning worldly sciences and the manufacture of military hardware...............................140 20110: What is the ruling on Arabs learning English?141 1887: Islamic view of space exploration.....................142 1513: Doctor’s Knowledge of the Fetus .....................143 820: Benefits of the Internet in spreading knowledge.147 487: Scientific achievements of Islam ........................148 viii Introduction Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon His last Messenger, Prophet Muhammad, and on his family and his companions. This book, Knowledge, is the eleventh volume of a series of authoritative Islamic books entitled Islam: Questions And Answers. The overall series discusses issues relevant to Islam, and present accurate and reliable information based on the true beliefs and practices of the Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon Him) and his companions. The objectives of the various books include: to teach and familiarize Muslims with various aspects of their religion to be a source for guiding people to Islam to assist in solving the social and personal problems of the Muslims in an Islamic context The books are directed towards Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Subject areas include, but are not limited to, Islamic fiqh and jurisprudence, Islamic history, Islamic social laws (including marriage, divorce, contracts, and inheritance), Islamic finance, basic tenets and aqeedah of the Islamic faith and tawheed, and Arabic grammar as it relates to the Qur'an and Islamic texts. The books are compilations of questions and responses about Islam, from both Muslims and Non-Muslims. The responses are handled mainly by internationally re-nowned Islamic shaykhs and scholars, including Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah, Ibn Katheer, al-Albaani, Shaykh Ibn Baaz, Ibn al-Jawzi, Ibn al-Qayyim, Al- ‘Izz ibn ‘Abd al-Salaam, al-Nawawi, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Kareem, al Khudayr, Al-Dhahabi, al-Qurtubi, Al-Sindi, al-Shawkaani and al-Bastawi using only authentic, scholarly sources based on the Qur'an and sunnah. References, which include Haashiyat Ibn Maajah, Sharh Saheeh Muslim, Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 1