Hadiths About Knowledge


Narrated Hasan: Knowledge is of two types. Firstly, knowledge perceived by the heart, and that is useful knowledge; secondly, the knowledge at on the tip of one’s tongue, and that is an argument from Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, against the children of Adam.
Transmitted by Darimi.
Al-Tirmidhi – Hadith 270 

Narrated Abdullah bin Amr: I heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) saying, “Allah will not deprive you of knowledge after he has given it to you, but it will be taken away through the death of the religious learned men with their knowledge. Then there will remain ignorant people who, when consulted, will give verdicts according to their opinions whereby they will mislead others and go astray.”
Sahih Al-Bukhari – Book 92 Hadith 410

Narrated Abdullah ibn Mas’ud: Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said to me: Acquire the knowledge and impart it to the people. Acquire the knowledge of Fara’id (laws of inheritance) and teach it to the people, learn the Qur’an and teach it to the people; for I am a person who has to depart this world and the knowledge will be taken away and turmoil will appear to such an extent that two people will not agree in regard to a case of inheritance distribution and find none who would decide between them.
Transmitted by Darimi and Daraqutni.
Al-Tirmidhi – Hadith 279 

Narrated Abu Juhaifa: I asked Ali, “Do you have the knowledge of any Divine Inspiration besides what is in Allah’s Book?” Ali replied, “No, by Him Who splits the grain of corn and creates the soul. I don’t think we have such knowledge, but we have the ability of understanding which Allah may endow a person with, so that he may understand the Qur’an, and we have what is written in this paper as well.” I asked, “What is written in this paper?” He replied, “(The regulations of) blood-money, the freeing of captives, and the judgment that no Muslim should be killed for killing an infidel.”
Sahih Al-Bukhari – Book 52 Hadith 283

Narrated Abu Musa:The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “The example of guidance and knowledge with which Allah has sent me is like abundant rain falling on the earth, some of which was fertile soil that absorbed rain water and brought forth vegetation and grass in abundance. (And) another portion of it was hard and held the rain water and Allah benefited the people with it and they utilized it for drinking, making their animals drink from it and for irrigation of the land for cultivation. (And) a portion of it was barren which could neither hold the water nor bring forth vegetation (then that land gave no benefits). The first is the example of the person who comprehends Allah’s religion and gets benefit (from the knowledge) which Allah has revealed through me (the Prophets and learns and then teaches others. The last example is that of a person who does not care for it and does not take Allah’s guidance revealed through me (He is like that barren land.)”
Sahih Al-Bukhari – Book 3 Hadith 79

Narrated Ibn Abbas: The Prophet (peace be upon him) embraced me and said, “O Allah! Teach him (the knowledge of) the Book (Qur’an).”
Sahih Al-Bukhari – Book 3 Hadith 75

Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “The Hour (Last Day) will not be established until (religious) knowledge will be taken away (by the death of religious learned men), earthquakes will be very frequent, time will pass quickly, afflictions will appear, murders will increase and money will overflow amongst you.” (See Hadith No. 85 Vol 1)
Sahih Al-Bukhari – Book 17 Hadith 146

Narrated Abu Huraira: I have memorized two kinds of knowledge from Allah’s Apostle. I have propagated one of them to you and if I propagated the second, then my pharynx (throat) would be cut (i.e. killed).
Sahih Al-Bukhari – Book 3 Hadith 121

Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-’As: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Knowledge has three categories; anything else is extra; a precise verse, or an established sunnah (practice), or a firm obligatory duty.
Sunan of Abu-Dawood – Book 18 Hadith 2879

Narrated AbudDarda’: Kathir ibn Qays said: I was sitting with AbudDarda’ in the mosque of Damascus. A man came to him and said: AbudDarda, I have come to you from the town of the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) for a tradition that I have heard you relate from the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him). I have come for no other purpose. He said: I heard the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) say: If anyone travels on a road in search of knowledge, Allah will cause him to travel on one of the roads of Paradise. The angels will lower their wings in their great pleasure with one who seeks knowledge, the inhabitants of the heavens and the Earth and the fish in the deep waters will ask forgiveness for the learned man. The superiority of the learned man over the devout is like that of the moon, on the night when it is full, over the rest of the stars. The learned are the heirs of the Prophets, and the Prophets leave neither dinar nor dirham, leaving only knowledge, and he who takes it takes an abundant portion.
Sunan of Abu-Dawood – Book 25 Hadith 3634 

Narrated AbuHurayrah: Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: The knowledge from which no benefit is derived is like a treasure out of which nothing is spent in the cause of Allah.
Transmitted by Ahmad and Darimi.
Al-Tirmidhi – Hadith 280

Narrated Anas ibn Malik: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: He who issues forth in search of knowledge is busy in the cause of Allah till he returns from his quest. Transmitted by Tirmidhi.
Al-Tirmidhi – Hadith 420

Narrated Anas ibn Malik: Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: The seeking of knowledge is obligatory for every Muslim; and the imparting of knowledge to the non-deserving is like putting necklaces of jewels, pearls and gold around the necks of swine.
Transmitted by Ibn Majah and Bayhaqi in Shu’ab al-Iman up to the word “Muslim” saying: This is a hadith the text of which is quite well known but the chain of transmission is weak.
Al-Tirmidhi – Hadith 218 

Narrated Hasan: Knowledge is of two types. Firstly, knowledge perceived by the heart, and that is useful knowledge; secondly, the knowledge at on the tip of one’s tongue, and that is an argument from Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, against the children of Adam.
Transmitted by Darimi.
Al-Tirmidhi – Hadith 270

Narrated Abdullah: It is a sign of having knowledge that, when you do not know something, you say: “Allah knows better.” Allah said to his Prophet:
“Say: No wage do I ask of you for this (Qur’an), nor am I one of the pretenders (a person who pretends things which do not exist).” (38.86) When the Quraish troubled and stood against The Prophet (peace be upon him) he said, “O Allah! Help me against them by afflicting them with seven years of famine like the seven years of Joseph.” So they were stricken with a year of famine during which they ate bones and dead animals because of too much suffering, and one of them would see something like smoke between him and the sky because of hunger. Then they said: “Our Lord! Remove the torment from us, really we are believers.” (44.12) And then it was said to the Prophet (peace be upon him) (by Allah), “If we remove it from them, they will revert to their ways (of heathenism).” So the Prophet (peace be upon him) invoked his Lord, who removed the punishment from them, but later they reverted (to heathenism), whereupon Allah punished them on the day of the Battle of Badr, and that is what Allah’s Statement indicates:
“Then watch for the day that the sky will bring forth a kind of smoke plainly visible…we will indeed (then) exact retribution.” (44.10).
Sahih Al-Bukhari – Book 60 Hadith 347

Narrated Abu Musa: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “The example of guidance and knowledge with which Allah has sent me is like abundant rain falling on the earth, some of which was fertile soil that absorbed rain water and brought forth vegetation and grass in abundance. (And) another portion of it was hard and held the rain water and Allah benefited the people with it and they utilized it for drinking, making their animals drink from it and for irrigation of the land for cultivation. (And) a portion of it was barren which could neither hold the water nor bring forth vegetation (then that land gave no benefits). The first is the example of the person who comprehends Allah’s religion and gets benefit (from the knowledge) which Allah has revealed through me (the Prophets and learns and then teaches others. The last example is that of a person who does not care for it and does not take Allah’s guidance revealed through me (He is like that barren land.)”
Sahih Al-Bukhari – Book 3 Hadith 79