‘Faydasız İlim’ Hadisi Çerçevesinde İlim Tahsiline Yönelik Bir Değerlendirme ; Evaluation of Collecting Knowledge within the Frame of ‘Useless Knowledge’ Hadith

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of Islam is its encouragement of Muslims to the knowledge. In many verses and hadiths, the virtue and importance of accessing the right information is dealt with. However, there are so many hadiths that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) resorts to Allah from useless knowledge on the contrary being well up on the knowledge. According to a hadith narrated by Enes b. Malik and in other hadiths similar to the that, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) resorted to Allah from useless knowledge. (Tirmîzî, Daavât, 68) These narratives which were narrated from the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) point to the necessity of the classification of knowledge in Islam as useful and useless. Along with the many hadiths narrated about the virtue of sciences these “useless knowledge” hadiths reveal the necessity of “middle way” sensitivity in almost all subjects. As a matter of fact, when considering the hadiths commenting on “useless knowledge” hadith it is seen that they have consist of a warning about “useless knowledge”. In fact, almost every behavioral and moral attitude has three levels: exaggeration, understatement and middle way. For example; the person who leaves his responsibilities of the worldly life and ignores the duties of the world paying huge attention to the hereafter is man of level “understatement”. In the other way the person who leaves his religious duties and never cares moral virtues is man of level “exaggeration”. But the person who doesn’t leave his responsibilities towards both of hereafter and worldly life is man of “middle way” level. Similarly; according to the knowledge the usefulness of a knowledge is that would be useful for the appeal of both himself and other Muslims in the world or other world and that knowledge will provide useful sides to the mankind and it will be useful for the all. Otherwise every knowledge which lack of utility for neither world nor other world is as part of before mentioned hadith. The article has reached this conclusion based on the ...