IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING DEEN (RELIGION)

All praise is due to Allah. We praise Him, seek His help and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from evil within our sous and harms of our deeds Whomever Allah guides, none can misguide and whomever He sends astray, none can guide. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah  alone, with no partner, and I bear witness  that Muhammad (peace be upon him) is His servant and Messenger.

Allah (swt) says in the Quran : I did not create the jinn and mankind except for My worship (Quran 51:56).

The deen has a great significance in a Muslim’s life, we are in a time which abounds all types of fitna and temptations, many people have fall into errors and misguidance in the name of practicing the religion, but this is due to their ignorance. As individuals, we should learn and understand our deen so as to do things properly.

Importantly, among the greatest deeds that one can involve in is to seek knowledge, because the virtues of seeking knowledge are very great.

 "Abu Hurairah RA  reported: The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, Allah makes the way to Jannah easy for him who treads the path in search of knowledge" (Sahih Muslim).

The one who posses knowledge of the religion and act upon it is the one whom Allah wishes good for.

 "Mu’awiya reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “If Allah intends goodness for someone, he gives him understanding of the religion.” Source: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 71, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1037 

Another parable from the Quran on the importance of seeking knowledge of Deen was that the first word revealed upon the holy Prophet (pbuh) in the cave of Hira was ‘Iqra’ (read). By learning and then acting on beneficial knowledge of the deen, we are free from ignorance and we will do everything in accordance to the way they are established in the religion, and we will be free from falling into innovations which leads to misguidance.  

As a Muslim , learning the deen is incumbent upon us. The Prophet said;

"Seeking ilm’ (Knowledge is incumbent upon every Muslim)". (Ibn Hahar Al-Asqalani, Al-Matalib al’Aliyah)

The prophet told us about the superiority of those who seek knowledge and possess knowledge:

"Abu Umamah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “The superiority of the learned over the devout worshipper is like my superiority over the most inferior among you (in good deeds).” He went on to say, “Allah, His angels, the dwellers of the heaven and the earth, and even the ant in its hole and the fish (in water) supplicate in favour of those who teach people knowledge.” [At-Tirmidhi]  

Allah also says: "Are those who know equal to those who know not?”’ (39:9)

Without learning deen, our society would become lost. Many Muslims in this present time are not learning the religion, thereby they don’t practice it correctly. They have preferred their desires over this what is in the Qur’an and Sunnah. We even have Muslims who want to mordernise Islam and practice it in a more civilized manner as it seems to them, therefore they fall into errors and  innovations and following the steps of non-Muslims.

The Prophet (pbuh) said that “whoever imitates a people he is one of them.” Sunan Abu Dawood (4031).

It is through seeking the knowledge of the deen that we can get to know Allah, strengthen our relationship with our creator and worship Him properly, through seeking knowledge; we can attain piety and our rank increases in the sight of Allah.

Allah says: “It is only those who have knowledge among His slaves that fear Allah.” (35:28)

The prophet in his beautiful sayings said;   “You should be a scholar, or a student, or a listener, or a lover of ‘Ilm (knowledge) and scholars, and you should not be the fifth which makes you perish. ‘Ata’ said, Mis’ar said to me: You added a fifth point which we do not have.
The fifth point is: To hate ‘Ilm and its people.”
(At-Tabarani, Al-Bazzar)

We ask Allah (swt) to make us among those who love beneficial knowledge and seek it, and grant us goodness through it.

Abdullah Khan