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| Excerpts From Kashf al Mahjub |
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| Discourse on Knowledge |
| God hath said, describing the servants (ulama): �of those who serve God only the servants fear Him� (Qur�an, 35:25) The Prophet said: �To seek knowledge is obligatory on every Muslim man and woman�. And he said so: �Seek Knowledge even in China.� |
| Knowledge is immense and the life is short, hence it is obligatory for Muslims to learn all the sciences, such as Astronomy and Medicine, and Arithmetic etc. so much as it is requisite for acting rightly, to abstain from what is injurious. Allah condemns those who learn useless knowledge (Qur'an: 2-96). Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) said, �I take refuge with Thee from knowledge that profiteth naught.� Knowledge should not be separated from action. Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) had also said, �The devotee without divinity is like a donkey turning a mill�, because the donkey goes round and round over its own tracks and never makes an advance. |
| The object of knowledge should be to know God and His commandments. Knowledge of Time (ilm-e-waqt), and of all outward and inward circumstances of which the due effect depends on �time�, is incumbent upon everyone. This is of two types: Primary and Secondary. The external division of primary class consists in making the Muslim�s profession of faith; the internal division consists in the attainment of true cognition. The external division of secondary class consists in practice of devotion; the internal division consists in rendering one�s intention sincere. The outward and inward aspects cannot be divorced. The exoteric aspect of Truth without the esoteric is hypocrisy, and the esoteric without the exoteric is heresy. So with regard to Law, mere formality is defective, while mere spirituality is vain. |
| The Object of Knowledge |
| The knowledge of the Law (sharia�t) has three pillars The Qur'an The Sunnah The Consensus (ijma) of Muslim community |
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| The Knowledge of Truth (Haqiqat) has three pillars: Knowledge of the Essence and Unity of God Knowledge of the Attributes of God Knowledge of Actions and Wisdom of God |
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| Knowledge of the Essence involves recognition on the part of one who is reasonable and has reached puberty, that God exists externally by His Essence, that He is infinite not bound by Space, that his Essence is not cause of evil, that none of His creatures are like unto Him, that He has neither wife nor child, and That He is the Creator and Sustainer of all that your imagination and intellect can conceive. Knowledge of the Divine Attributes requires you to know that God has attributes existing in Himself, which are not He nor a part of Him, but exist in Him and subsist by Him, e.g. Knowledge, Power, Life, Will, Hearing, Sight, Speech, etc. Knowledge of the Divine Actions is your knowledge that God is the creator of mankind and all of their actions, that He brought the non-existent universe into being, that He predestines good and evil and creates all that is beneficial and injurious. Knowledge of the Law involves your knowing that God has sent us Apostles with miracles of an extraordinary nature; that our apostle Hazrat Muhammad (SAW), is a true messenger, who performed many miracles, and that whatever he has told us concerning the Unseen and the Visible is entirely true. |
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| Knowledge has been defined as "comprehension and investigation of the object known" but the right definition is "A quality whereby the ignorant are made wise." |
| Knwoledge is of two kinds: Divine and Human. The later is worthless in comparison to the former, because God's knowledge is an attribute of Himself, subsisting in Him, whose attributes are infinite; whereas our knowledge is an attribute of ourselves, subsisting in us, whose attributes are finite. God's Knowledge is that by which He knows All things existent and non-existent: He does not share it with man: it is not capable of division nor separable from Himself. The proof of it lies in the disposition of his actions (tartib-i fi`lash), since action demands knowledge in the agent as an indespensible condition. The Divine Knowledge penetrates what is hidden and comprehends what is manifest. It behoves the seeker to contemplate God in every act, knowing that God sees him and all that he does. |
| (Pages:11-15) |
| Muhammad b. Fadl al-Balkhi says, �Knowledge is of three kinds � from Allah, with Allah, and of Allah. Knowledge of Allah is the science of gnosis (ilm-ma�rifat) whereby He is known to all saints and prophets. One has to seek divine guidance to acquire it, as it is unattainable through ordinary means. |