First of all i appreciate all you people’s efforts may Allah grant Jannathul Firdous Ameen My question is, I love to share good knowledge, so that i hope it becomes a sadaqah jariyah for me even after my death in sha Allah, but i have come across a few hadiths and Qur’an verses which is haunting me to go forth about sharing good knowledge, they are given below :- Usamah bin Zaid (radiAllahu ‘anhu–may Allah be pleased with them) reported: Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
“A man will be brought on the Day of Resurrection and will be cast into Hell; his intestines will pour forth and he will go round them as a donkey goes round a millstone. The inmates of Hell will gather round him and say: ‘What has happened to you, O so-and-so? Were you not enjoining us to do good and forbidding us to do evil?’ He will reply: ‘I was enjoining you to do good, but was not doing it myself; and I was forbidding you to do evil, but was doing it myself’”. [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] Anas ibn Malik reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “I passed by some men on the night of Ascension whose lips were being sheared by scissors in the Hellfire. I said: O Gabriel, who are these people? Gabriel said: These are preachers from your nation who commanded people to be righteous and they forget it themselves while they recited the Book. Will they not reason?” Source: Musnad Ahmad 13103 Grade: Sahih (authentic) according to Al-Albani And one more Qur’an verse where Allah asks us why do we say which we do not do and that it is hateful in Allah’s sight. So my question is, if i share random knowledge, for example, if i share the below hadith, The Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said : Whoever says: لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَه،ُ لَهُ الْمُلْكُ وَلَهُ الْحَمْد،ُ وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ La ilaha ‘illa Allaahu wahdahu la shareeka lahu, lahul mulku wa lahul hamdu wa huwa ala kulli shayin qadeer ‘There is none worthy of worship in truth except Allaah Alone, He has no partners, to Him belongs the Dominion and for Him is all praise, and He is capable of all things.’ One hundred times in one day, then it is equivalent to him Freeing ten slaves,A hundred good deeds are written for him,A hundred bad deeds are erased,It is a protection for him against shaytaan during that day until the evening, andNo one comes with a better deed than him except for the man who does more actions than him. Hadith Reference : Agreed upon by Bukhari and Muslim from the hadeeth of Abu Huraira (RadhiAllaahu anhu).
WITHOUT DOING MYSELF IT EVERY DAY, will i be held accountable that i myself did not do the above deed but i preached to others ??? Please help this question is haunting me and i am very concerned about acquiring Sadaqah Jariyah and this fear is holding me back from sharing good knowledges to others. Ofcourse if everyone started sharing good knowledges only if they do themselves i dont think good knowledges will be shared rapidly and widely. Please help. Assalamu Alykum Warahmathullah
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykumwa-rahmatullāhiwa-barakātuh.
Knowledge is a trust. A person with knowledge has two responsibilities.
- To practice on the knowledge.
- To propagate the knowledge.
Both are equally important and great acts of virtue. However, not practicing on one’s knowledge should not be an obstacle to propagate the knowledge. If one does not propagate the knowledge he has, he will be guilty of violating a trust.
The warnings in the references are for not practicing one ones knowledge are correct. One has to practice on Faraiz(obligatory)and abstain from the things that are prohibited whether he propagates it or not. If one has knowledge pertaining to Faraiz or voluntary acts as referred to in your query, then one will be rewarded for propagating such knowledge. He will not be responsible for not practicing on fadail (acts of virtue/non-compulsory) knowledge as it is not compulsory in the first place. If he does practice on such knowledge, that will put barakah in his knowledge and make his teachings affective.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Zakir Husain
Student DarulIftaa
Michigan, U.S.A
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.