Knowledge & Disagreement

Knowledge & Disagreement - Khutbah by Nouman Ali Khan

Opening Supplication

"Thereafter, O Allah, make us among those who believe and do righteous deeds and advise each other to truth and advise each other to patience. O Lord of the worlds, O Allah, make us firm at the time of death with la ilaha illallah. O Allah, expand for me my breast and ease for me my affair and untie the knot from my tongue that they may understand my speech."

Introduction: Three Audiences of the Prophet

These are ayahs that have many profound lessons in them. But there's one thing in particular that I want to build up to and share with you inshaAllah ta'ala. And hopefully something that can bring us closer to Allah's guidance in our personal lives and as a community.

Allah (جل و عز) in these ayahs describes the three audiences that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) had to face. And those three audiences are basically, you can even call them two audiences, the people of Makkah, the Quraysh who worshipped idols and had no knowledge of any revelation from before.

The People of Makkah: A Community Without Knowledge

And even if they were descendants and part of the legacy of Ibrahim (عليه السلام), that was long forgotten. The only thing left of some of that beautiful tradition was some rituals and they didn't even know why they did those rituals. So the Ka'bah was there and they have no idea why.

And they were sacrificing animals following the tradition of Ibrahim and Ismail (عليهما السلام), but they have no idea why. They've forgotten all about it. So they are (قَوْمٌ غَافِلُونَ). They have no clue why they do what they do.

On the other hand, there's the Jewish and Christian communities in Medina. That was the additional audience of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). And they are very different from the audience of Makkah because these are people with background in revelation.

The People of the Book: A Different Challenge

Even though that revelation was changed and it was altered, they understand the concept of one God. They understand the concept of messengers. They understand the concept of the akhirah. These are things that they were familiarized with through prophets and through previous revelations. Whatever they had left of those revelations, regardless.

What Allah (جل و عز) does in these ayat is actually doesn't just introduce us to these audiences. He actually describes to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) why his mission is so difficult. Why are both of these audiences so hard to convince?

The Difficulty with the Mushrikun

Talking about the mushrikun of Makkah, the people of Makkah, he says

"It is very hard for the mushrikun, for the idol worshippers. It's too big of a deal for them to accept what you're calling them to."

(كَبْرَ عَلَى فُلَانٍ) in Arabic is used when something is very hard to accept, very hard to live by, very hard to swallow. Why would Allah say that about the mushrikun?

Well, he would say that because on the one hand

they would complain, we have all these gods, and now you're gonna take all those gods and just turn them into one god? How can we accept this? How can we get rid of all of this tradition that we've had for so many thousands of years?

Economic and Political Resistance

I saw my dad doing this, his father did it, my great grandfather did it. These are revered religious traditions, we can't just get rid of them. And by the way, the older a temple is, the older an idol is, even in the idol worshipping parts of the world today. If you go to an old Buddhist temple or an old Hindu temple, the older it is, the more revered it is.

But there was an additional problem. And the additional problem was basically, directly politics and economics. I mean, if you get rid of all of these idols, all the other tribes in Arabia have no reason to give you business. They have no reason to consider the Meccans special.

There's no reason to not attack the people of Mecca when they travel. The only reason they don't get attacked, is because they're considered custodians of all the other idols. So if we mess with them, if some tribe messes with them in a trip, then they'll be like, when we go back, oh, you guys are the ones with the wooden one, right? I'm gonna break his legs when I get back.

The Challenge with People of the Book

But then when you come to Medina, even the Qur'an says when some of the companions (رضي الله تعالى عنهم أجمعين) got to Medina, they were optimistic. They were optimistic because these people find the people of Mecca, we had no idea what a book is, we don't know what a prophet is, we don't know what afterlife, they had no idea, they would even question

What is this (الرَّحْمَانُ) word We've never heard it before.

They talk like that, but when you go to Medina, those are people of Torah, those are people of Injil. They have been worshipping Allah for a long time. And once we invite them, they're gonna see this is

It's actually confirming what they have in their books. They're gonna recognize it.

It's gonna be so much easier for them to accept Islam. And in this ayah that I wanted to share with you, Allah (جل و عز) says, no, actually it's gonna be even harder for them. It's gonna be even harder for them.

You think just because they have background, it's gonna be easy for them. There's a group among them, this is even more difficult for them than the people of Makkah.

The Paradox of Knowledge Leading to Disagreement

Because on face value, you would think, well, you've been learning your book, you've been learning your Torah, you're waiting for a final messenger to come. All the signs you've been studying, like we study (عَلَامَاتُ السَّاعَةِ). Right? We study the signs of Judgment Day. And we give lectures and duroos on the signs of Judgment Day.

They would give lectures, khutbahs, duroos, on the signs of the final prophet. And they'd be waiting for him to come. And now all those signs have been fulfilled. And they fulfill 100% on the messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم). Then why not?

So Allah describes

They didn't fall into disagreement, except even after knowledge came to them. Except even after knowledge came to them. This is a very profound statement.

Because the previous group did not accept because they don't have knowledge. Now Allah is saying, this group does not accept because they have knowledge. Because they (مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا جَاءَهُمُ الْعِلْمٌ). After having knowledge.

Modern Examples of Knowledge Becoming Divisive

Which defies common sense. Why would someone know and still fall into disagreement? I thought the purpose of ilm, the purpose of learning and knowledge, is that disagreements come to an end. Once we all know, we're all gonna be on the same page.

So Allah (جل و عز) in this ayah gives a profound, what is called in Arabic, (مَفْعُولٌ لِأَجْلِهِ). An object of a verb that gives you reasons. And let me put that in simple English for you.

In one word, Allah describes, when is it that knowledge, that is supposed to bring people together, when does knowledge become a means of disagreement? That same knowledge that was supposed to unite, becomes that, it's supposed to be the remedy, it's supposed to be the medicine, that same knowledge becomes poison.

You have in the scientific community across the United States and in universities around the world, certain things that are considered consensus. For example, Darwin's model of evolution has become consensus. So if you go to any university, any reputable university in the world, and you're gonna be studying

biology in any serious sense, the basis of it is gonna be Darwin's model of evolution. And if any non-Muslim, atheist, agnostic, Christian, Jewish, any scientist even disagrees with one part of it, not the whole thing, even one part of it, their job is in trouble.

The Root Cause: Baghi (بَغْيًا)

And that one (مَفْعُولٌ لِأَجْلِهِ) in the ayah the rationale behind it, is just one word. And that one word is

The word is (بَغْيًا). And it's very difficult to translate. And part of my attempt in this khutbah today is to help you and I understand, what does that word mean? And how does that relate to people who know something?

Now Allah says, people didn't fall into disagreement with each other. Except after knowledge came to them, because of baghi. Now let me tell you what baghi means.

First Meaning: Pride and Arrogance

What are the reasons behind which people of knowledge disagree and turn the remedy, turn the medicine into poison. When do they do that? The number one reason they do that is (البغي بمعنى الاختيال والمرح). Linguistically the word baghi actually means to have a lofty opinion of yourself. And to be full of yourself. You can't possibly learn anymore because you already know everything.

You can't have the attitude that you're continuously learning, and there's more to learn, because you're the one who knows above everybody else. So knowledge, whatever there could have been has already been attained by you. There is no reason to question what you've already arrived at. You already know everything. The attitude of a know-it-all.

Second Meaning: Jealousy

(البغي also means الحسد. البغي) actually also means jealousy. Why should people listen to his speech when I'm giving a speech? Let me make sure people don't listen to that guy or don't attend that convention or don't go to this program, because those people, they're not nearly as good as I am. And let me convince you why they're so wrong.

So now the scholar who's supposed to further knowledge, he's supposed to further truth, his entire exercise, his entire effort goes into proving somebody else wrong. Why should you not listen to him and why should you listen to me? Because he sees if somebody else has scholarship, and somebody else is saying something that corrects what he says, he sees that as, oh my God, I'm going to lose customers.

Third Meaning: Greed and Material Gain

You know in the Arabic language, the word (بغی) actually means two things. In addition, it means (الكسب) and it also means (الطلب), demand, earning. There are people who would like to keep knowledge

suppressed, because it's their way of making money.

That's their way of making money. And they don't want to question anything. They don't want to be able to ask question. Anybody who's asking questions gets in trouble.

The Case of the Rabbis in Medina

Understand what was happening in Medina. The rabbis of Medina used to basically teach religion to their communities. And they were in paid positions. People used to give them money and then get fatwas from them and things like that. This was an industry.

The religion had turned into an industry for them. The Prophet of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) brings the Qur'an and makes knowledge of revelation open source. Everybody has access. Everybody has access. And some of those corrupt fatwa that they used to give are now being disagreed with. They're losing their position.

The only way they can keep their industry alive is by attacking the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). But people don't see that. All people see is, if you're a person living in Medina at the time, and you're of the Jewish background, and you have a rabbi that you trusted. You've heard him give his Saturday sermon at the synagogue every week.

And you've gone and listened to him and learned religion from him. And now he says, with all of that knowledge and all of that experience and all of that confidence, don't listen to that man Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم). He's a liar. Don't go to him.

Fourth Meaning: Refusing to Mature

There's one more meaning, a fascinating meaning of baghi in the Arabic language. They say (البغي شجر غض ثمره أخضر صغير لم يبلغ). In other words, knowledge or the scholar, by definition is a lifelong student. A scholar of anything. I'm not just talking Islam. A scholar of anything is truly only a scholar if they are a student until the day they die.

They continually learn. And when they learn, sometimes they go back and realize what they concluded yesterday was not the best, today they know better. And they know better. And they know better. And they keep on growing.

But the problem is, if you're already being perceived as a scholar by people, then you don't want to give the impression that you're a student. Because then you can't go and say, well I was learning and I realized some of the things that I've said before are wrong. This is the right position, or this is what I find more convincing.

(Quran 18:24) Like a public display of humility that I don't know. I don't know, or I've learned something better. And I've come to a different conclusion.

Universal Application: Beyond Scholars

Now this was about, if you would think this is a khutbah only about picking on scholars, or experts, or ulama and things like that. That's one side of the equation. But these ayahs are universal in their value.

All of us have some knowledge. All of us know certain things. Some of you are parents, and your children come and question some things you've done. Maybe you've done them in business. Maybe you've done them in the way you dealt with some family member. And your children also know a little bit about their religion.

And they say, Baba, Aba, what you did here, I don't think this is right. Oh, you're going to teach me now? You're going to tell me? I know. And you're going to put them in their place. Because you don't want to hear it. Because you already know everything. And even after you know, you can't be corrected.

What difference is left between that and Ibrahim (عليه السلام) kindly telling his father that he shouldn't be worshipping idols? You know?

When advice comes to you and me, whether it comes from the youth, or it comes from elders, it comes from neighbors, it comes from friends.

If immediately you start holding on to your pride, and you can't take it, then you have the same problem as the rabbis of Madinah. There's no difference.

It's either jealousy, or it's greed.

The Problem of Haram Income

Some people in the audience, may Allah protect all of us from haram earning. And may Allah not make any of you from them. You got into a bad business. You got into something that you know is haram income. You know it already. And you don't want to hear it from anybody.

You want to keep on earning and pretend to keep your eyes closed. You'll just give extra checks to the masjid in Ramadan or something. And pretend that everything's gonna be okay. You know, it's like a parking ticket. You just pay the fine, and you should be fine. You can afford the extra tickets.

Allah's law doesn't work like the department of motor vehicles, let me tell you. You can't just do whatever haram you want, and then write a check. And it erases it. It doesn't work that way. You can't pay your way into jannah. Or pay your way out of hellfire. Tawbah is necessary. We have to recede.

The Consequences: Allah's Immediate Response

But then, as I leave you, I want to share with you what are the consequences of this. Rarely do I find in the Qur'an when someone does something wrong, Allah talks like the way He talks here.

Had it not been for a decree, a word from Allah, that had already come to pass, meaning a verdict from Allah that was already decided. Allah is saying, I will deal with them on Judgment Day. Had it not been for that verdict (لَقُضِيَ بَيْنَهُمْ) they would have been dealt with immediately.

I would have dealt with them right now. Allah is so offended by people who know, and still let their pride and their greed and their jealousy override what they know. That He wants to deal with them immediately, but says, you think you're getting scot-free. No, no, no, you're not. It's just that I decided that I'll deal with you on Judgment Day.

The Long-term Consequence: Doubt in the Next Generation

But there is some immediate consequence. And that's the one that I wanna leave you and me thinking about. There is an immediate consequence. Allah says