Author: Abdul Hai Lay'yan
The Divine Education Model in the Family of the Prophets (Part 117)
Educational Lessons from the Story of Prophet Musa and al-Khidr (AS)
Third Lesson: Prophet Musa (AS)—A Pioneer of the Journey in Pursuit of Knowledge
The attainment of knowledge and understanding is not possible without self-discipline, endurance, physical effort, seeking the sources of knowledge, recognizing those who possess it, and bearing the hardships of travel and scholarly migration. Prophet Musa (AS), although he was a prophet upon whom divine revelation was bestowed, who was honored with the title Kalim Allah (the One Spoken to by Allah), and who received his knowledge directly from Almighty Allah, immediately set out in search of a servant of Allah as soon as he learned that this person possessed knowledge in a matter that exceeded his own. He willingly endured the hardships and difficulties of the journey in order to learn from him.
Therefore, based on what we know, Prophet Musa (AS) was the first to establish the tradition of traveling in pursuit of knowledge.
The Noble Qur’an and the Prophetic Sunnah likewise emphasize the importance of this scholarly tradition.
The Qur’anic Emphasis on Traveling for the Pursuit of Knowledge
Allah the Almighty says, «فَلَوْلَا نَفَرَ مِن كُلِّ فِرْقَةٍ مِّنْهُمْ طَائِفَةٌ لِّيَتَفَقَّهُوا فِي الدِّينِ وَلِيُنذِرُوا قَوْمَهُمْ إِذَا رَجَعُوا إِلَيْهِمْ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَحْذَرُونَ» Translation: Why should not a group from every community among them set out to gain a profound understanding of the religion and then, upon returning to their people, warn them so that they may become cautious and God-fearing? [1]
Commenting on this verse, Imam Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (RA) writes that if the acquisition of knowledge cannot be achieved except through travel, then traveling becomes obligatory. However, if knowledge can also be acquired in one’s homeland, then travel is not obligatory. Nevertheless, since the apparent meaning of the verse establishes the legitimacy of traveling for the pursuit of knowledge, experience likewise demonstrates that blessed and beneficial knowledge is most often attained through travel. [2]
Likewise, regarding the verse (وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَى لِفَتَاهُ لَا أَبْرَحُ حَتَّى أَبْلُغَ مَجْمَعَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ أَوْ أَمْضِيَ حُقُبًا) Translation: And when Musa said to his young companion, ‘I will not cease traveling until I reach the junction of the two seas, even if I must continue for many years.'” [3]
Imām Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (RA) explains that these words of Prophet Musa (peace be upon him) demonstrate his willingness to endure the greatest hardships and undertake the most difficult journeys for the sake of acquiring knowledge. This verse indicates that if a student were to travel from the farthest east to the farthest west merely to learn a single scholarly issue, such a journey would be commendable and praiseworthy. [4]
Imām al-Qurṭubī (RA) likewise states that these verses establish both the legitimacy and the virtue of a scholar’s journey for the purpose of increasing knowledge. They also highlight the permissibility of benefiting from a companion or servant during such journeys and emphasize the importance of visiting scholars and people of virtue, even if they reside in distant lands. This was the constant practice of the righteous predecessors (al-Salaf al-Ṣāliḥ), through which they attained the highest ranks of scholarship and excellence, earned enduring reputations, received abundant divine reward, and achieved distinction in knowledge and virtue. [5]
Examples of Traveling in Pursuit of Knowledge
Qadi Ibn Khallikān (RA), in Wafayāt al-Aʿyān, writes about the great ḥadīth scholar Abū al-Qasim ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAsākir al-Dimashqī (RA):
He was the foremost ḥadīth scholar of Syria in his time and one of its most distinguished jurists. He possessed an extraordinary devotion to the study of ḥadīth and exerted such effort in its pursuit that he acquired a body of knowledge attained by very few. He traveled extensively, journeyed through numerous regions, and met a large number of scholars. He studied ḥadīth in Baghdad, then returned to Damascus before traveling to Khurāsān, Nishapur, Herat, Isfahan, and the mountainous regions (al-Jibāl). He authored many beneficial scholarly works, the greatest of which is Tarikh Dimashq, consisting of eighty volumes. [6]
Ibn al-Jazarī (RA), speaking about the eminent Qurʾān reciter Abū al-Qasim al-Hudhalī (RA), states:
I know of no one in this Ummah who traveled for the study of the science of Qurʾanic recitation as extensively as he did or who met as many teachers. Al-Hudhali himself writes in al-Kamil fī al-Qiraʾat: “In this discipline, I studied under three hundred and sixty-five teachers, traveling from the farthest regions of the west to the Gate of Farghanah, across the east and the west, through mountains and across seas. Had I known of anyone anywhere in the Muslim lands who surpassed me in this science, I would have traveled to him without hesitation.” [7]
The purpose of mentioning these examples is to make Muslims realize that the acquisition of knowledge cannot be achieved without effort, perseverance, and endurance, whether that knowledge is obtained within one’s own city and homeland or requires traveling to other cities, universities, and centers of learning.
Therefore, every seeker of knowledge, student, and learner should patiently endure the hardships of this path, devote all possible effort to acquiring beneficial knowledge, sincerely dedicate his intention to Allah the Almighty, and make the benefit of himself, the Muslim community, and the attainment of Allah’s pleasure the ultimate objective of his studies. Furthermore, he should always take Prophet Musa (AS) and the righteous predecessors as his role models—those who wholeheartedly endured tremendous hardships in their pursuit of knowledge.
To be continued…
References
[1] Sūrat al-Tawbah, 9:122.
[2] Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb, vol. 16, p. 227.
[3] Sūrat al-Kahf, 18:60.
[4] Ibid., vol. 21, p. 144.
[5] Al-Qurṭubī, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Anṣārī, Al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān, vol. 2, p. 1917.
[6] Ibn Khallikān, Abū al-ʿAbbās Shams al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn Shihāb al-Dīn, Wafayāt al-Aʿyān wa-Anbāʾ Abnāʾ al-Zamān, Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, vol. 1, p. 335.
[7] ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ Abū Ghuddah, Ṣafaḥāt min Ṣabr al-ʿUlamāʾ, Beirut: Dār al-Bashāʾir al-Islāmiyyah, 1403 AH, p. 342.
