M14
Knowledge and seeking it
The first word revealed was "Recite" (96:1), and the Prophet (pbuh) was told: "say, 'My Lord, increase me in knowledge'" (20:114). The Quran asks: "Are those who know equal to those who do not know?" (39:9).
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ٱقْرَأْ بِٱسْمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ١ خَلَقَ ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ٢ ٱقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ ٱلْأَكْرَمُ٣ ٱلَّذِى عَلَّمَ بِٱلْقَلَمِ٤ عَلَّمَ ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ٥
Transliteration: iq'ra bi-is'mi rabbika alladhī khalaqa · khalaqa l-insāna min ʿalaqin · iq'ra warabbuka l-akramu · alladhī ʿallama bil-qalami · ʿallama l-insāna mā lam yaʿlam
Recite in the name of your Lord who created - Created man from a clinging substance. Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous - Who taught by the pen - Taught man that which he knew not.
Translation: Saheeh International
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So high [above all] is Allah, the Sovereign, the Truth. And, [O Muhammad], do not hasten with [recitation of] the Qur'an before its revelation is completed to you, and say, "My Lord, increase me in knowledge." 20:114
Arabic text and transliteration
فَتَعَٰلَى ٱللَّهُ ٱلْمَلِكُ ٱلْحَقُّ ۗ وَلَا تَعْجَلْ بِٱلْقُرْءَانِ مِن قَبْلِ أَن يُقْضَىٰٓ إِلَيْكَ وَحْيُهُۥ ۖ وَقُل رَّبِّ زِدْنِى عِلْمًا
fataʿālā l-lahu l-maliku l-ḥaqu walā taʿjal bil-qur'āni min qabli an yuq'ḍā ilayka waḥyuhu waqul rabbi zid'nī ʿil'man
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Is one who is devoutly obedient during periods of the night, prostrating and standing [in prayer], fearing the Hereafter and hoping for the mercy of his Lord, [like one who does not]? Say, "Are those who know equal to those who do not know?" Only they will remember [who are] people of understanding. 39:9
Arabic text and transliteration
أَمَّنْ هُوَ قَٰنِتٌ ءَانَآءَ ٱلَّيْلِ سَاجِدًا وَقَآئِمًا يَحْذَرُ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةَ وَيَرْجُوا۟ رَحْمَةَ رَبِّهِۦ ۗ قُلْ هَلْ يَسْتَوِى ٱلَّذِينَ يَعْلَمُونَ وَٱلَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ ۗ إِنَّمَا يَتَذَكَّرُ أُو۟لُوا۟ ٱلْأَلْبَٰبِ
amman huwa qānitun ānāa al-layli sājidan waqāiman yaḥdharu l-ākhirata wayarjū raḥmata rabbihi qul hal yastawī alladhīna yaʿlamūna wa-alladhīna lā yaʿlamūna innamā yatadhakkaru ulū l-albābi
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O you who have believed, when you are told, "Space yourselves" in assemblies, then make space; Allah will make space for you. And when you are told, "Arise," then arise; Allah will raise those who have believed among you and those who were given knowledge, by degrees. And Allah is Acquainted with what you do. 58:11
Arabic text and transliteration
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِذَا قِيلَ لَكُمْ تَفَسَّحُوا۟ فِى ٱلْمَجَٰلِسِ فَٱفْسَحُوا۟ يَفْسَحِ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ ۖ وَإِذَا قِيلَ ٱنشُزُوا۟ فَٱنشُزُوا۟ يَرْفَعِ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مِنكُمْ وَٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا۟ ٱلْعِلْمَ دَرَجَٰتٍ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ
yāayyuhā alladhīna āmanū idhā qīla lakum tafassaḥū fī l-majālisi fa-if'saḥū yafsaḥi l-lahu lakum wa-idhā qīla unshuzū fa-unshuzū yarfaʿi l-lahu alladhīna āmanū minkum wa-alladhīna ūtū l-ʿil'ma darajātin wal-lahu bimā taʿmalūna khabīrun
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And among people and moving creatures and grazing livestock are various colors similarly. Only those fear Allah, from among His servants, who have knowledge. Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Forgiving. 35:28
Arabic text and transliteration
وَمِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ وَٱلدَّوَآبِّ وَٱلْأَنْعَٰمِ مُخْتَلِفٌ أَلْوَٰنُهُۥ كَذَٰلِكَ ۗ إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى ٱللَّهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ ٱلْعُلَمَٰٓؤُا۟ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ غَفُورٌ
wamina l-nāsi wal-dawābi wal-anʿāmi mukh'talifun alwānuhu kadhālika innamā yakhshā l-laha min ʿibādihi l-ʿulamāu inna l-laha ʿazīzun ghafūrun
If you want to go deeper
4min read
What it means
ʿIlm. Knowledge, from the root ʿ-l-m, "to know, to mark". In classical usage it covers both religious knowledge and knowledge of the world. Farḍ ʿayn is what each individual must know; farḍ kifāya is what the community must have, so that if enough people know it, the rest are excused.
What the Quran says
The first revelation (96:1–5). "Recite in the name of your Lord who created — Created man from a clinging substance. Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous — Who taught by the pen — Taught man that which he knew not" (96:1–5), Meccan. ʿAʾisha (ra) tells how, in the cave of Hira, "The angel came to him and asked him to read", and he replied, "I do not know how to read"; after the angel pressed him, the verses came. He returned "with his heart beating severely" and said to Khadija, "Cover me! Cover me!" (Bukhārī 3 Ṣaḥīḥ (sound)). The first revelation is about reading and writing, given to a man who could not read.
Increase me in knowledge (20:114). "And, [O Muhammad], do not hasten with [recitation of] the Qur'an before its revelation is completed to you, and say, 'My Lord, increase me in knowledge'" (20:114), Meccan. The setting is revelation: be patient with it, and ask for more understanding.
Those who know (39:9; 58:11; 35:28). "Say, 'Are those who know equal to those who do not know?' Only they will remember [who are] people of understanding" (39:9). "Allah will raise those who have believed among you and those who were given knowledge, by degrees" (58:11). "Only those fear Allah, from among His servants, who have knowledge" (35:28) — the verse comes right after a description of the different colours of mountains, people and animals (35:27–28), so the "knowledge" in view includes knowledge of creation.
What the Prophet (pbuh) taught
"Seeking knowledge is a duty upon every Muslim." This often-quoted saying is in Sunan Ibn Majah 224, narrated by Anas (ra): "Seeking knowledge is a duty upon every Muslim, and he who imparts knowledge to those who do not deserve it…" — the rest compares that to putting jewels on swine. Its chain is graded ḍaʿīf (weak) by the Darussalam editors (thehouseofislam.com); other scholars have judged it acceptable through its many chains, but that has not yet been checked. Under this site's rules, no claim rests on it alone. The duty to learn what one needs for faith and practice is supported by the scholars below.
How scholars have understood it
Individual and communal knowledge. Shaykh Muhammad Abu Bakr Badhib explains that individually obligatory knowledge is "the knowledge that every Muslim, male or female, must acquire" — the meaning of the testimony of faith and the "essential rulings on purity, prayer, fasting, zakat, and pilgrimage" — and that communally obligatory knowledge includes "worldly sciences like medicine, engineering": "if some members of the community pursue it, others are exempt." He refers readers to al-Ghazali's Iḥyāʾ for detail; al-Ghazali's Book of Knowledge itself has not yet been consulted.
Ibn Rushd: the Law commands reasoned study. Ibn Rushd (Averroes, d. 1198), the Andalusian judge and philosopher, opens his Decisive Treatise by arguing that the Quran commands reflection on created things — citing 59:2 — which Hourani's translation of Ibn Rushd renders as "Reflect, you have vision" (not the Saheeh wording) and verses on studying "the kingdom of the heavens and the earth" — and concludes that "we are under an obligation to carry on our study of beings by intellectual reasoning", so that "the Law commands philosophy": its study is "either obligatory or recommended".
What research shows
Curiosity helps learning. [Moderate.] In Gruber, Gelman and Ranganath (2014), people rated their curiosity about trivia answers. When they were curious, they learned the answers better and also remembered unrelated faces shown during the wait, even after 24 hours; brain scans showed more activity in the dopamine reward circuit and the hippocampus (Cell Press press release; numbers not given there).
In daily life
Learn what you need for your faith first — prayer, fasting, purity, the meaning of what you recite — then go further.
Pursue a field that serves people — medicine, engineering, teaching, research — as a communal duty.
Ask "increase me in knowledge" (20:114) and mean it: read, ask questions, admit what you don't know.
Follow your curiosity. It is a gift that helps you learn.
For the heart and mind
If you struggle with reading or school, the first revelation came to a man who said, "I do not know how to read" (Bukhārī 3 Ṣaḥīḥ (sound)). Learning is open to everyone at every pace.
If you were made to feel your questions were wrong, the Quran praises "people of understanding" (39:9) and the Prophet (pbuh) asked for more knowledge. Asking is part of learning.
Questions readers ask next
Is "seeking knowledge is an obligation on every Muslim" authentic?
It is in Ibn Majah 224; its chain is graded weak by the Darussalam editors. The obligation to learn what one needs for faith is supported by the scholars.
Does "knowledge" mean only religious knowledge?
Classical scholars counted medicine and other sciences as communal duties (Badhib); 35:27–28 links knowledge to the study of creation.
What did Ibn Rushd argue?
That the Quran commands reasoned study of creation, so philosophy is obligatory or recommended for those able (Decisive Treatise).
Why was the first word "Recite"?
The verses speak of the pen and of teaching what was not known (96:4–5); the tradition reads this as a call to knowledge.
Why do some Muslim-majority countries lag in education?
For many historical, economic and political reasons; no data were checked.
Sources
- Saheeh International via the site's Tanzil data — 96:1–5, 20:114, 39:9, 58:11, 35:28.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 3 (sunnah.com), https://sunnah.com/bukhari:3 — the first revelation.
- Sunan Ibn Majah 224, with its grade, via thehouseofislam.com, https://www.thehouseofislam.com/hadiths/ibnmajah?n=224.
- Shaykh Dr. Muhammad Abu Bakr Badhib, "Is Seeking Knowledge an Individual or a Communal Obligation?", SeekersGuidance, https://seekersguidance.org/answers/seeking-knowledge/is-seeking-knowledge-an-individual-or-a-communal-obligation/.
- Ibn Rushd, The Decisive Treatise (Faṣl al-Maqāl), trans. George F. Hourani, https://users.manchester.edu/Facstaff/SSNaragon/Online/texts/316/ibn-Rushd,%20DecisiveTreatise.pdf — opening.
- M. J. Gruber, B. D. Gelman and C. Ranganath, "States of curiosity modulate hippocampus-dependent learning via the dopaminergic circuit", Neuron (2014), via the Cell Press press release on EurekAlert (2 October 2014), https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/500062.
- Gruber, Gelman & Ranganath, "States of curiosity modulate hippocampus-dependent learning via the dopaminergic circuit," Neuron 2014
- Al-Ghazālī, Iḥyāʾ, "Kitāb al-ʿIlm"; Ibn Rushd, Faṣl al-Maqāl
- Akram Nadwi, al-Muḥaddithāt: The Women Scholars in Islam
- UNESCO Institute for Statistics; UNESCO Science Report (named in the research; figures not yet added)