Summary of Sunni concepts | 24- Concepts about legal science and worldly sciences

0:00 A summary of the concepts held by the Ahl al-Sunnah.

0:09 The purpose of categorizing knowledge into religious and worldly branches.

0:15 Knowledge can be categorized, in terms of terminology only, into religious knowledge and worldly sciences.

0:21 Religious knowledge is the knowledge of what Allah revealed to His Messenger, peace be upon him, in the Book.

0:29 It also includes what has been transmitted from the Messenger, peace be upon him, in terms of his sayings, actions, and approvals.

0:35 This knowledge manifests clear proofs, establishes monotheism, guidance, and the criterion between truth and falsehood.

0:42 It also secures people's interests in this world and the Hereafter and establishes the proof of Allah over mankind.

0:49 Included under religious knowledge are what are termed "servant sciences" or "instrumental sciences."

0:56 Such as linguistics, the principles of jurisprudence (usul), the terminology of hadith, and everything that serves the study of the Book and the Sunnah.

1:04 It clarifies their implications, while worldly sciences encompass everything that benefits people in their worldly life.

1:13 It contributes to development and prosperity, such as the sciences of medicine, engineering, physics, and so on.

1:21 All knowledge is a gift from Allah; therefore, it is fitting for every person of knowledge to recognize its source and praise Allah for it.

1:36 One should also employ it in ways that please Allah; when worldly sciences are linked to piety and faith,

1:42 they then fall under the category of praiseworthy knowledge for which Allah praises both the knowledge and its possessors.

1:50 Allah the Almighty says: ﴿Do you not see that Allah sends down rain from the sky, and We produce thereby fruits of varying colors?﴾

2:02 ﴿And in the mountains are tracts, white and red of varying colors and [some] extremely black. And among people and moving creatures and grazing livestock are various colors likewise.﴾

2:17 Thus, He mentioned matters of worldly science, then praised those who know them and benefit from them in their fear of Allah the Almighty.

2:26 “And of men and beasts and cattle, in like manner, divers hues? The erudite among His bondmen fear Allah alone. Lo! Allah is Mighty, Forgiving.” (35:28)

2:35 As for the knowledge that distances the heart from its Lord, it is corrupt knowledge, straying from its source and purpose.

2:43 It does not yield true happiness for its possessor or for people; rather, it results in destruction and misery for all of humanity.

2:52 The aftermath of atomic and hydrogen bombs and weapons of mass destruction is not far from us.

3:00 Most people prioritize worldly sciences over the Hereafter.

3:06 Because people have magnified the world and preferred it over the Hereafter, they have prioritized the worldly sciences that preserve their bodies and livelihoods

3:16 over the religious knowledge that preserves their Hereafter and their worldly life and heals their hearts.

3:23 This is despite the fact that worldly sciences demand payment from them, while religious knowledge comes to them for free.

3:31 Allah the Almighty says: ﴿And when their messengers came to them with clear proofs, they rejoiced in what they had of knowledge.﴾

3:41 ﴿And they were encompassed by what they used to ridicule.﴾

3:46 The inability of science to grasp matters of the Unseen.

3:51 Science and scientists should acknowledge their inability to grasp matters of the Unseen.

3:58 This is not only regarding the Hereafter, Paradise, and Hellfire.

4:03 Rather, it applies to everything considered unseen to them, even within their own reality and daily life, such as the soul (ruh), for example.

4:11 Allah the Almighty says: ﴿And they ask you, [O Muhammad], about the soul. Say, "The soul is of the affair of my Lord."﴾

4:18 “They are asking thee concerning the Spirit. Say: The Spirit is by command of my Lord, and of knowledge ye have been vouchsafed but little.” (17:85)

4:23 Scientists must realize that the knowledge they possess is nothing in comparison to the knowledge of Allah,

4:30 except like what a bird takes with its beak from the ocean.

4:35 The inability of science to grasp certain matters does not necessitate rejecting them.

4:48 Nor does it mean rejecting them outright.

4:50 Just as it does not mean accepting them outright,

4:53 or submitting to every superstition and chasing after every myth.

4:58 Rather, science and its people should adopt a middle path regarding such matters.

5:02 They should suspend judgment until they are able, through available means, to grasp what they might have been unable to understand,

5:10 or acknowledge that there are things in the matter beyond their capacity and limits.

5:15 They must account for the unknown in this universe.

5:19 Among the examples that clarify this is that a person may see a vision in their sleep,

5:25 and it occurs in the future just as they saw it.

5:28 Worldly science is unable to explain such a thing,

5:32 yet the religious law has testified to the validity of its occurrence.

5:36 The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:

5:38 "When the time draws near, the dream of the believer will hardly be false."

5:43 "And the dream of the believer is one of forty-six parts of prophecy."

5:49 Narrated by al-Bukhari.

5:51 Among the examples that clarify this is what is known as the phenomenon of telepathy,

5:57 where thoughts occur between two people despite the distance between them.

6:03 An example of this is what occurred between 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him,

6:09 and the Companion Sariyah ibn Zunaym al-Du'ali, may Allah be pleased with him.

6:14 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, was delivering the Friday sermon on the pulpit in Medina.

6:20 At the same time, Sariyah was fighting the Persians in Nahavand.

6:26 It occurred to 'Umar that Sariyah was being besieged by the Persians,

6:31 and that his army was about to be defeated.

6:34 So 'Umar called out at the top of his voice:

6:36 "O Sariyah, the mountain, the mountain!"

6:39 Meaning: seek protection by the mountain.

6:42 There was a mountain next to Sariyah and his army.

6:46 Sariyah heard a voice calling out what 'Umar had said,

6:51 so he took refuge by the mountain and confronted the Persians.

6:54 It was only an hour later that Allah granted him victory.

6:59 Science is also unable to explain such an event.

7:03 It is considered one of the miracles (karamat) of the saints (awliya').

7:06 It is among the extraordinary occurrences that Allah manifests at the hands of some of His saints,

7:12 to strengthen them upon the truth and to grant it victory.

7:16 The condition for the validity of a miracle is that it must come from a saint of Allah the Almighty.

7:23 Every pious believer is one of the saints of Allah the Almighty.

7:28 Allah the Almighty says:

7:30 “Lo! verily the friends of Allah are (those) on whom fear (cometh) not, nor do they grieve?” (10:62)

7:36 ﴿Those who believed and were fearing Allah.﴾

7:40 Perhaps such telepathy or other things may occur,

7:44 such as influencing people's senses and thoughts,

7:48 which may be of the nature of magic and sorcery,

7:51 and seeking the assistance of the jinn devils.

7:54 The Qur'an has confirmed both magic,

7:57 and the extraordinary feats performed by the jinn,

8:00 and has provided guidance on how to seek protection from that.

8:08 Knowledge must precede action.

8:12 Because knowledge is the scale by which sayings and actions are weighed.

8:17 This is a fundamental principle in the methodology of the salaf.

8:21 Al-Bukhari included a chapter in his Sahih, in the Book of Knowledge,

8:25 titled: "Knowledge precedes speech and action."

8:29 He provided as evidence the saying of Allah the Almighty:

8:32 “So know (O Muhammad) that there is no Allah save Allah, and ask forgiveness for thy sin and for believing men and believing women. Allah knoweth (both) your place of turmoil and your place of rest.” (47:19)

8:36 “So know (O Muhammad) that there is no Allah save Allah, and ask forgiveness for thy sin and for believing men and believing women. Allah knoweth (both) your place of turmoil and your place of rest.” (47:19)

8:41 where Allah the Almighty mentioned knowledge,

8:44 and placed it before seeking forgiveness, which is an action.

8:49 Knowledge is the insight for calling to Allah (da'wah).

8:52 Whoever rushes to call to Allah without knowledge,

8:57 calls without insight and will not achieve their goal.

9:01 Even if they claim sincerity in their call,

9:04 their call will not bear fruit.

9:07 Allah the Almighty says:

9:09 “Say: This is my Way: I call on Allah with sure knowledge. I and whosoever followeth me - Glory be to Allah! - and I am not of the idolaters.” (12:108)

9:13 ﴿I and those who follow me.﴾

9:16 “Say: This is my Way: I call on Allah with sure knowledge. I and whosoever followeth me - Glory be to Allah! - and I am not of the idolaters.” (12:108)

9:20 Thus, He stipulated insight, which is the requirement of knowledge,

9:24 for following the path of da'wah.

9:28 Learning knowledge does not hinder action.

9:32 Learning religious knowledge does not hinder action;

9:36 rather, learning itself is an action necessary for the beginning of the path.

9:41 The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:

9:44 "Whoever follows a path seeking knowledge therein,"

9:48 "Allah will make easy for him a path to Paradise."

9:52 Narrated by Muslim.

9:56 The requirement of knowledge is action.

10:00 The primary purpose of religious knowledge

10:03 is to act upon what one learns of their religion.

10:07 In that is elevation from Allah for the possessor of knowledge,

10:11 and protection for them from Satan.

10:14 As for the one who abandons acting upon what they have learned,

10:17 they give Satan power over them,

10:20 and they follow their own desires, thus descending to the lowest of the low.

10:24 Allah the Almighty says:

10:27 “Recite unto them the tale of him to whom We gave Our revelations, but he sloughed them off, so Satan overtook him and he became of those who lead astray.” (7:175)

10:31 “Recite unto them the tale of him to whom We gave Our revelations, but he sloughed them off, so Satan overtook him and he became of those who lead astray.” (7:175)

10:35 ﴿So he became of the deviators.﴾

10:38 “And had We willed We could have raised him by their means, but he clung to the earth and followed his own lust. Therefor his likeness is as the likeness of a dog: if thou attackest him he panteth with his tongue out, and if thou leavest him he panteth with his tongue out. Such is the likeness of the people who deny Our revelations. Narrate unto them the history (of the men of old), that haply they may take thought.” (7:176)

10:41 “And had We willed We could have raised him by their means, but he clung to the earth and followed his own lust. Therefor his likeness is as the likeness of a dog: if thou attackest him he panteth with his tongue out, and if thou leavest him he panteth with his tongue out. Such is the likeness of the people who deny Our revelations. Narrate unto them the history (of the men of old), that haply they may take thought.” (7:176)

10:44 ﴿And followed his desire.﴾

10:48 The environment has an effect on the type of knowledge and its characteristics.

10:52 The people of the Hijaz,

10:55 because they were close to the place where revelation descended,

10:58 and because events and occurrences among them

11:01 were somewhat limited,

11:04 the school of the people of hadith emerged among them.

11:07 Exegetes and hadith scholars became numerous among them,

11:10 and they were the people closest

11:13 to the texts of revelation,

11:16 and the traditions of the Companions and the Tabi'un.

11:19 As for Iraq, it was a land of disagreement and sects,

11:22 and it was afflicted with the Rawafid and the doctrine of Qadar (predestination).

11:25 Translation (of foreign works) was common among them,

11:28 from the philosophers and the theologians (mutakallimun),

11:31 and there was much mixing with non-Arabs.

11:34 Numerous incidents arose from that.

11:38 When all of that happened,

11:41 the school of opinion (ra'y) emerged,

11:44 and analogy (qiyas) and ijtihad became frequent for issuing rulings

11:47 on the events and new issues that arose,

11:50 for which there was no specific text.

11:53 The land of the Levant (al-Sham) was a land of jihad and ribat (guarding the frontiers),

11:56 so among its people and scholars, there emerged

11:59 discussion of the great battles and tribulations (fitan).

12:02 Just as the environment influences the scholar,

12:05 it may even change some of their opinions and ijtihad.

12:08 Imam al-Shafi'i, for instance, has two schools of thought:

12:11 one in Iraq,

12:14 and the other in Egypt.

Summary of Sunni concepts | 24- Concepts about legal science and worldly sciences | Concepts (368-377)

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