Be with the Truthful, and Understand the Dīn

Allah (swt) then sets out four further characteristics of believers. The first is that they should have taqwā in every place. This is verse 119: have taqwā wherever you are — a very important verse. O you who believe, have taqwā, and be always with the truthful; be always with the truthful. Which is to tell us that the best company a man may keep is that of truthful people. Do not sit with those who are not truthful, and do not take them for friends. It rubs off upon you; it does you harm — psychologically and spiritually it does you harm. Hence: be always with the truthful. And the ṣādiqīn here are the people of Allah. This is the encouragement to keep good company, to remain among the righteous and the pious. It is a command of the Qur'an of the first importance. Another thing Allah (swt) tells us is to keep away from the people of nifāq. And the third is that, in the matter of spending, one should spend in the path of Allah (swt) and do other good deeds for His sake, as the next verse says — and how Allah (swt) will always reward these things. Such is the discussion of the reward of the believers.

Allah (swt) then says something of great importance. All this while there has been encouragement to jihād — to defence, to going out, to exposing oneself in defence of one's lands. Now Allah (swt) says, in verse 132:^*****

Wa-mā kāna al-muʾminūna li-yanfirū kāffah: the believers should not all go out so — not every believer should go. But fa-law-lā nafara min kulli firqatin minhum ṭāʾifatun li-yatafaqqahū fī al-dīn: there is a need besides — it is not all battle and the removing of enemies; there is also the building of institutions, the building of knowledge, the educating of people. There must therefore be those who remain behind with the Prophet (peace be upon him), that they may gain an understanding of the dīn. For any religion, any system, requires several different institutions — the judiciary, the educational, the defensive, and the rest. It is not all defence; there is far more to it. Hence Allah (swt) says here that there must be such a body of people: for you need teachers, you need those who counsel and train and care for people; and you need the judge, you need the ruler, you need labourers, you need organisers. All of that is required.

And that is why knowledge is so great a matter. This is one of the most important verses upon the importance of knowledge — upon gaining an understanding of the faith. Hence the Prophet (peace be upon him) said that for whomever Allah wills good, He gives him an understanding of the faith: yufaqqihhu fī al-dīn. That is a hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him). It is mentioned also that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said that one faqīh — a man possessed of that understanding, a jurist — is harder upon a shayṭān than a thousand mere worshippers. And so, wherever one is, one cannot subsist upon the knowledge — the little knowledge — one has merely from growing up. We must study, we must take courses, we must read, and we must learn. May Allah (swt) grant us that.