The mighty Pen: A lost heritage of Muslims

Gaining knowledge has great importance in Islamic traditions. And writing is a way of preserving knowledge.

“Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous, Who taught by the pen, taught humanity what they knew not.” (Quran 96:3-6)

“Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim.”(Hadith)

Very early in history, Islamic literature was mainly in the form of writing of the Quran and poetry to defend Prophet Muhammad (s) and attack the disbelievers intellectually. The order by the Prophet to establish a mimbar for Hassan ibn Thabit (r) for reciting poetry is a prominent example. Poetry had a significant role among the Arabs, in wars, politics, and for spreading news. This tradition was well-used by the Muslims later.

The Preservation of Hadith

By the 3rd century of Hijrah, composing and collecting hadith became popular among scholars. Till then, hadith was being preserved through verbal circulation. People memorized hadith with the narrators’ names, their truthfulness, piety, etc.

Along with the compiling of hadith, commentary of the Quran was being written. One of the earliest physical tafsir was written around 100 AH. Keep in mind that, paper and ink weren’t easily available at that time.

Works of Famous Imams

Imam Ibne Taymiyyah, known as Shaykh al Islam, was born at the time of the Mongolian invasion whilewas a massive pandemic during that time. He wrote more than 300 books during his lifetime.

His fatwa compilation is of more than 30 volumes; Minhaj as Sunna is more than 2000 pages; Response to Christian Theology: 7 volumes, etc. He was a teacher, a warrior, and a hadith expert.

Imam Ibne Taymiyyah worked on his tafsir and other books while he was in prison.According to some historians, many of his works are lost, which included a 40-volume commentary of the Quran!

Imam at-Tabari, born in the 9th century CE , is popular for his works on history and tafsir. He wrote on varieties of topics like grammar, mathematics, poetry, world history, and medicine. One of his most prominent works is Tafsir-at-Tabari, which is published in 30 volumes. His “The History of Prophets and Kings”, is published in 13 volumes.

Al-Khatib al Bagdadi, is an 11th-century lecturer, historian, hadith scholar, and author.He wrote nearly about 90 books, some in many volumes. His “The History of Baghdad” is in 20 volumes. He wrote several books on the terminology of hadith and narrators of hadith.

Imam Al-Bukhari is one of the most popular names among Muslims. His most renowned work is Sahih-al Bukhari which is a collection of more than 9 thousand narrations from the Prophet(s). He wrote three books discussing the narrators of hadith.

Imam Bukhari traveled more than three thousand kilometers in search of knowledge. He wrote “A Book of History…”and “About the Companions and the Tabi’un and their Statements…” when he was 18.

He wrote several books on Uloom-ul-Hadith (knowledge of hadith). Some of his other well-known works are Al Adabul Mufrad (hadith on ethics and manners) and At-Tarikh al Kabir (the great history).

Collecting hadith with the names of narrators takes a lot of effort. There is a saying that Imam Bukhari prayed Istekhara Salat before he wrote down any hadith. If he felt that the hadith is strong, only then he recorded it in his book.

Conclusion

The Prophets, the Companions, and the Imams are our role models. In our personal lives, in our social life, and in any other aspect. They wrote in the name of Allah, to please Allah. The intention was to spread beneficial knowledge and to make knowledge easy to access, to change hearts.

They didn’t write for fame, money, or even respect. They wrote for Dawah. They acted upon what they preached, and that is why their works are still relevant, celebrated, and understood.

In terms of writing or any other form of dawah, we should follow those who are blessed by Allah in this way.

Knowledge is something given by Allah so that we act upon it and spread it among others. Writing can change a lot of people.

Muslims must preach what they know. Muslims who have the knowledge must spread it among others.

Those who have the potential to write can do dawah through writing. And Inshallah, we will be rewarded for every kind of good action in the hereafter.