The Importance of Education

Without knowledge, a person is limited. Knowledge is a treasure house of wisdom and deeper awareness. It helps one make proper use of one’s abilities.

The Prophet of Islam started his dawah work in Makakh. His dawah work involved conveying the message of God to people. This was a totally peaceful initiative, yet the Makkans unilaterally engaged in violence against him. Later, the Prophet left Makkah for Madinah along with his companions. Now Madinah became the centre for his dawah work. However, the Makkans did not rest content at that. They continued to launch aggression against him and as a result, a battle took place in 2 A.H. which is known as Battle of Badr.

In this battle God helped the Prophet and his companions, and he emerged successful against his opponents. A notable event pertaining to this battle was seventy Makkan people being taken as prisoners of war. According to the standards of that time, these people were educated, whereas the Madinans were not. So the Prophet of Islam, instead of asking for ransom money from these prisoners of war, asked each of them to educate ten Madinan children. After educating ten Madinan children in reading and writing, they would be set free. Therefore, many prisoners of war taught Madinan children and thus secured their release. (Sirah Ibn Kathir, v. 2, p. 512)

This was the first school in the history of Islam. This was the first occasion on which some system was established for the education of Muslim youths. All the teachers of this school were non-Muslims, that is, they belonged to the Quraysh, the tribe that had turned hostile to the Prophet.

This shows the great importance attached to education in Islam. In the light of this event one can conclude that education had to be sought in all situations, even if all the teachers belonged to the “enemy” community. A person, by birth, is gifted with many kinds of abilities but to avail these abilities and put them to use, education is a must. Education gives a person awareness. Education teaches him to make proper use of his abilities. Education enables a person to keep himself informed of the world all around him. Education makes it possible for him to study the experiences of other human beings by reading books. Education enables him to be aware of the successes and failures experienced by others throughout history.

Without knowledge, a person is limited. Knowledge is a treasure house of wisdom and deeper awareness.