Good Questioning is half of learning.
There is absolutely no doubt that Islam places great stress on intellect, wisdom and knowledge and Islam dislikes that its followers be brainless worshippers that reduce their religion to mere rituals. Islam is not just theory but it also practically teaches us how to gain knowledge and wisdom.
With the name of Allah, most Beneficient, ever Merciful.
Hazrath Ali (RA) reported that the messenger of Allah Sallallahu Allaihi Wa-Aalihi Wasallam said: “Learning is a treasure house whose keys are Queries.” Abu Nayeem… and Abu Huraria (RA) reported that the Prophet SAW said: “… good questioning is half of learning….” Bukhari.
Islamic literature quite often uses questions as a means of getting the reader to think. The Quraan and hadith are full of thought provoking questions. In studying and reading the narrations of Hazrath Moosa (AS) and Hazrath Ebrahim (AS) in the holy Quraan, we can learn that they also asked questions.
Read the Hadith kitabs and you would notice that the Companions of the Prophet Salallahu Alayhe Wasallam always questioned him.
Our murshid, Hazrath Poona Wale Shah Saib (RA) always stressed the importance of questions. He used the following examples to get us to ask questions. He used to say: “put petrol in the car then it would go,” or “put batteries in the radio then it would play.”
A question is very important in the learning process because it sets the learning process in motion. A question arises out of thinking and pondering. If we do not think and ponder then we would not ask questions and we would not learn.
If we do not search we would never find. Just listening to a lecture or reading a book is not good enough in the learning process if it does not provoke questions in our mind. We have to question because when we question then the answers we get are worth much more because we have made an effort by thinking.
We would also treasure the answers we get because we made an effort to get them.
Asking questions to “split hairs”, to test people, to trap them, to influence them, to try to show that we good or to bring out the faults within them are bad questions.
Good questions stem from a sincere desire to know. Not always will we get the answers immediately nor would our question be fully answered, but if we pursue the question then the answer would come.
Sometimes we may not understand the answers or the answerer may not express himself properly, but if we continue searching then we would eventually find the answers to our hearts content.
We are all born within a family and a community. which would influence our thinking and it is wise to question people from other backgrounds so as to get a different view which would broaden our thinking.
There is no guarantee that what we are taught by our parents and community is right and the responsibility of being rightly guided rests upon us.
The questions we ask will not always yield the answers we would like to hear and it is difficult to change but change we must or else the knowledge we gain would be of no benefit.
Not only must we question our surroundings, more importantly, we must question ourselves. If we behaved in a particular way then we must ask ourselves and search our conscience as to why we behaved in this manner.
Knowing and understanding ourselves is the key to understanding Allah subhanatallah.
What is soul? It is consciousness of good and evil, rejoicing in account of kindness, weeping on account of injury. Since consciousness is the inmost nature and essence of the soul, the more aware one is the more spiritual is he. Awareness is the effect of the spirit: anyone who has this in excess is a man of Allah. Matnawi Vol 6: 148
By questioning we would become Muslims by choice and not just Muslims by birth. There is a great difference between both.
Muslims by choice comes from hard work, learning and understanding while being Muslims by birth results in us getting our religion without effort because we are born to Muslim parents.
Consider any revert Muslim and you would learn that they have come to Islam because of their searching. The result is that they go that extra mile for Islam.
There are far fewer revert Muslims than born Muslims yet they stand out because of their outstanding service to Islam and they do this because they accept Islam from the bottom of their hearts after searching.
In continuing this same hadith that is quoted above, Abu Huraria (RA) reports that the Prophet Salallahu Alayhe Wasallam further said: “…love for people is half of wisdom…..” Bukhari.
Wisdom is something that is stemming from, not our brains and our thinking only, but it stems more from our spirituality and deep inner perceptions. As we discussed above, its an inner search where we put together or process all the different pieces of knowledge to arrive at the truth.
Loving and caring for people is a very important aspect of attaining wisdom. If we love and care for people then we would be sensitive to their feelings and we would know, feel, and sense what makes them happy and what makes them sad.
Such caring people are always mindful of others and by being considerate, a person learns human psychology and this, would not only help him to improve his character, but also to be an asset to society.
This is not only a process of learning but it is also a process of practicing what we learn and this practicing results in wisdom.
He learns from his good and bad experiences with others and tries to make others happy as he was made happy and tries not to hurt anyone like the way he was hurt.
If and when we can love and care for people then only would we be able to love and care for Allah Subhanatallah.
With asking questions we must always ask Allah Subahanatallah for His guidance. (Sura Al Fatiha). This is important because there are many out there to misguide us and they can be very convincing. (Read our article on discernment).
Apart from us starting to ask questions we must encourage our children to ask about Islam because they are naturally curious.
In Islam there is no compulsion in religion. Encourage them to search instead of just indoctrinating them for this would truly liberate their minds and souls. How much better it would be if someone sincerely prays to Allah Subhanatallah than if he was forced to pray. END
Peace and Salutations be upon Muhammad Salallahu Alayhe Wasallam.
Published by Anjuman e Waris e Mohammedi in 2011 – Author: Mohammed Hassan Gaffoor (WhatsApp +27849101486)