Assalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh

Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim

1. Introduction

Friends whom Allah has blessed, if we examine history objectively, the glory of Islamic civilization in the past—in medicine, astronomy, mathematics, and beyond—was no coincidence. It was the fruit of a tradition of reading (iqra’) and deep research. From a social psychology perspective, a nation that abandons knowledge loses its self-confidence and easily drifts with the currents of other civilizations.Today, we face a troubling reality: the Muslim ummah is large in number, yet still lags behind in the quality of its mastery of science and technology. We have become consumers of knowledge, not producers of it.

Yet Allah ﷻ has warned us not to leave behind a weak generation—including one weak in intellectual capacity:

وَلْيَخْشَ الَّذِينَ لَوْ تَرَكُوا مِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّةً ضِعَافًا خَافُوا عَلَيْهِم فَلْيَتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَلْيَقُولُوا قَوْلًا سَدِيدً

“And let those [executors and guardians] fear as if they themselves had left weak offspring behind and feared for them. So let them fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice.” (QS. An-Nisa: 9)

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ also mapped out that the root of a society’s decline is when authority and guidance in life are handed over to the ignorant—those incompetent in their field of knowledge:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَقْبِضُ الْعِلْمَ انْتِزَاعًا يَنْتَزِعُهُ مِنَ الْعِبَادِ، وَلَكِنْ يَقْبِضُ الْعِلْمَ بِقَبْضِ الْعُلَمَاءِ، حَتَّى إِذَا لَمْ يُبْقِ عَالِمًا اتَّخَذَ النَّاسُ رُءُوسًا جُهَّالًا، فَسُئِلُوا فَأَفْتَوْا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ، فَضَلُّوا وَأَضَلُّوا

“Verily, Allah does not take away knowledge by snatching it from people’s hearts, but He takes away knowledge by taking the scholars. Until when no scholar remains, people will appoint ignorant leaders. When they are asked, they give fatwas without knowledge, so they go astray and lead others astray.” (HR. Bukhari & Muslim)

2. Lessons and Messages

The greatest moral message for us today is to restructure our intention in seeking knowledge. Many of us pursue knowledge only for a diploma, for social prestige, or merely to win arguments in social media comment sections. True knowledge should produce _khasyyah_—fearful awe of Allah—and genuine concern for others. If our knowledge does not make us contribute more to improving the condition of the ummah, then something is wrong with how we study.Let us reflect on the time when the great libraries of the Islamic world, such as Bayt al-Hikmah in Baghdad, were destroyed—so much so that the Tigris River turned black from the ink of millions of books thrown into it. That was a physical tragedy. But there is a sadder tragedy today: our libraries are intact, digital books are accessible with a single click, yet the ummah’s passion for reading has “died.” We are more comfortable spending hours scrolling through useless short videos, while books of knowledge and research journals sit untouched, collecting dust. We have lost our greatest heritage precisely when access to it has become so easy.

The condition of the Muslim ummah today regarding knowledge is like a billionaire who owns a vast oil field, yet dies of hunger and thirst on his own land. Why? Because he lacks the knowledge and technology to drill for that oil. In the end, he has to buy oil from foreigners at a high price, using borrowed money.The Muslim ummah possesses the Qur’an and a rich body of guidance, but because we are lazy to explore the natural sciences, social sciences, and technology, we end up letting other civilizations—which do master those fields—dictate our future.This is the phenomenon of many of our netizens today: they read little, but are the fastest to comment.

There is a story about a young man on social media who fiercely argued at length in the comments about quantum physics and contemporary fiqh. His argument was impressively long, accusing others of being wrong left and right.When someone gently asked, “Akhi, what book or journal reference are you using?” the young man casually replied, “Oh sorry, I just read the headline in my family WhatsApp group. I didn’t click the full text because I was low on data!”The lesson: That is a portrait of some of us. The spirit to debate reaches the sky, but the foundation of knowledge is only as deep as a provocative headline. Let us not become a generation that is “loud in noise, but empty in substance.”

3. Conclusion and Closing

Friends, the main diagnosis of the ummah’s decline today is not that we lack intelligent people or wealth, but that we have become disoriented in how we treat knowledge. There is no other solution: we must return to the study desk, revive the culture of literacy, master the sciences, and bind it all with the rope of faith. Only through knowledge can the dignity of this ummah be restored on the world stage.May Allah ﷻ touch all our hearts to return to being a resilient, learning ummah for the glory of Islam and the welfare of humanity.

والله أعلم بالصواب

الحمد لله رب العالمين

Wassalamu’alaikum Warahmaullahi Wabarakatuh.

ِAbu Sultan Al-Qadrie