I mentioned in the last article about the groundbreaking verdict by Prophet Muhammad to free any prisoner of war who could teach 10 Muslims. It was never done before in the history of mankind and the prisoners were always either made slaves for the rest of their lives or killed or ransom was sought for their release. It is important to note that it was the first time ever that the Muslims faced the phenomenon of capturing prisoners in a war and did not know what to do with them.
The generous offer from Prophet Muhammad must have astonished the prisoners themselves since they were expecting the worst treatment but in a split second, they were put on a high pedestal of being the teacher. Many accepted Islam instantly, feeling so highly indebted to Prophet Muhammad. In fact, during captivity, all the prisoners praised the treatment meted out to them by the Muslims where they were given better food such as bread, which was a sought-after diet, but the hosts ate dates and that they were clothed well and were treated with dignity and were never forced to accept Islam.
A companion, Abu Darda, confirmed that he heard Prophet Muhammad saying that if a person travels on a road in search of knowledge, Allah will cause him to travel on one of the roads to paradise. The scholars deduced that seeking knowledge by Muslims is akin to earning a place in paradise.
Is that not enough of an illustration to prove the highest importance Islam has given to education? No doubt, religious education is foremost in Islam which includes that a Muslim child should be able to read the Quran in Arabic, the language of its revelation. Nevertheless, the seeking of worldly education is also fairly emphasized. Understandably, the non-Muslim prisoners must have not parted with religious knowledge to the Muslims in lieu of their freedom. Certainly, it must have been the Arabic language or worldly education such as mathematics or history or geography, etc.
There are many other Quranic verses and sayings of Prophet Muhammad urging Muslims to excel in learning and education and that has been the main reason for the Islamic world to produce stalwarts such as Al Khwarizmi – the great mathematician, Omar Khayyam – the master of astronomy, Ibn Sina – the founder of modern healthcare on which I have written article 218, Ibn Al Haythem – the father of contemporary optics, Al Biruni – the brilliant physicist, Al Razi – the chemist par excellence, Abu Musa Jabir – the pharmacist, Al Jazari – the mechanical engineer, Al Kindi – the cosmologist and meteorologist and many others I can continue to count.
On the religious front, there were four luminaries, namely Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Shafai, Imam Hanbal and Imam Malik. They are considered the zenith of religious research in the Quran and the Hadith and did not leave any problem a person may face in life without providing an appropriate solution. They are the chieftains of the four schools of thought or Madhhab which are followed by the Muslims in different parts of the world.
The four Imams laid the foundations of Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh) and made it easy for a common man to understand and to be able to adhere to the Shariah law in whatever they want to do or the day-to-day situation they may face. You may refer to it as the standard operating procedures or SOPs in modern terminology. Some people love to highlight their differences, but they are of secondary nature and that all four are on the same page when it comes to the essentials of the Islamic faith.
Having a difference of opinion is proof that you are alive and using the grey matter effectively. This is similar to every person having a different nature conferred by the Creator. Even twins have different characteristics although they were born at the same time and share the same parents. The three kittens in my house all have different colors as well as varying characteristics. Therefore, the four Imams contrasting on certain secondary matters does not take away the great accomplishment by them in the field of Islamic jurisprudence.
Also, the four Imams enjoyed great respect among themselves. Although they were born at different times and places, they respected the work of the earlier Imams. In chronological order, the first one was Imam Abu Hanifa Al-Noman (699–767 AD), followed by Imam Malek Ibn Anas (715–796 AD), Imam Mohamed Ben Idris El-Shafai (766–820 AD) and the last one Imam Ahmed Ibn Hanbal (780–855 AD).
Moreover, the golden Islamic era produced the great learning seats, notably Al Azhar in Cairo, Al Mustansiriya in Baghdad, Madrasa in Cordoba, Zaitoona in Tunis, Dar Ul Aloom in India and many others. These learning seats were regarded in the same league at the time as the status currently enjoyed by Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard, Stanford, Yale, etc, with the difference that foreign students were not charged any fee and were provided with free boarding and lodging.
In this sterling background, it is a shame to see the current wretched state of education in the Islamic world.
The purpose of this educative series and the article is not to hurt any religious or commercial sentiments either consciously or even unwittingly.
Sohail Zubairi is an Islamic finance specialist, AAOIFI-certified Shariah advisor and auditor as well as CIAE-certified Islamic arbitrator and expert. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Next week: Discussion on SDG 4 shall continue.