Knowledge, Awareness and Faith

Knowledge, Awareness and Faith
Knowledge and faith both affect each other. Knowledge is important to make the path of life visible, while the faith determines the direction. Both faith and knowledge have deep relations. Both elevate the man from base animal level to high human one. Knowledge and faith both pave the way for elevation of human mind from the level of base material one to the lofty spiritual one.
Firstly we will discuss here the importance of knowledge and then we'll inshaAllah proceed to discuss the relation of knowledge and faith.
Importance of Knowledge:
Hadiths from infallibles and Holy Quran both have laid great emphasis over the acquition of knowledge. Repeated hadiths from holy Prophet(SAW) and Ahlebait(AS) have urged Muslims to acquire as much as possible. As knowledge opens up our eyes and makes the path clear. Knowledge is like torch in our hand on a dark , gloomy night. The good result of knowledge is awakening of soul and uprising of mind above the dead customs and daily needs. Holy Quran has clearly stated: "Are those who know equal to who do not know?" Holy Quran has repeatedly urged the entire mankind to reflect over the creation of Allah and understand the creation with all its magnificence and grandeur so that man could understand the lofty status of Allah and make himself truly submitting one before Him: "And He it is Who spread the earth and made in it firm mountains and rivers, and of all fruits He has made in it two kinds; He makes the night cover the day; most surely there are signs in this for a people who reflect.(13:03)"
"He causes to grow for you thereby herbage, and the olives, and the palm trees, and the grapes, and of all the fruits; most surely there is a sign in this for a people who reflect. (16:11)"
"He it is Who appointed the sun a splendour and the moon a light, and measured for her stages, that ye might know the number of the years, and the reckoning. Allah created not (all) that save in truth. He detaileth the revelations for people who have knowledge. (10:05)"
"Those who remember Allah standing and sitting and lying on their sides and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth: Our Lord! Thou hast not created this in vain! Glory be to Thee; save us then from the chastisement of the fire:(03:191)"
The above verses from the Holy Quran clearly show that only those can truly understand His status and glory who reflect upon His creation and try to grasp His laws working in the functioning of the universe. When we deeply brood over His creation we come to conclude that this grand system of life can never be made abruptly by it self, rather it shows the handiwork of a Wise Designer.
So knowledge in this way not only makes our daily life simple but also makes us fulfill the purpose of our creation that is worship of Allah truly with understanding of His status.
Is Knowledge Sufficient ?:
But despite all its virtues knowledge is not sufficient. Faith is also needed with knowledge to discover and reach the Ultimate Destination. Faith in His existence with all His attributes is the strongest resort for a man. The Holy Qur'an is the first Book which has described religious faith as a sort of concord between man and the entire creation:
"Do they seek anything other than the religion of Allah? But to Him submits whosoever is in the heavens and the earth." (Surah Al-e-Imran, 3:83)
The Holy Qur'an has also described religious faith as a part of the innate nature of man:
"Be devoted to the upright religion. That is the nature in which Allah has created man." (Surah ar-Rum, 30:30)
Aytollah martyr Murtaza Mutaihri has elaborated the relation between knowledge and faith in following words: "Knowledge gives us light and power; faith gives us love, hope and warmth. Knowledge helps make implements and appliances and accelerates progress; faith determines the purpose of human efforts and gives direction to them. Knowledge brings about outer revolution; faith causes inner revolution. Knowledge makes the world man's world; faith makes life the life of humanity. Knowledge expands the existence of man horizontally; faith lifts it up vertically. Knowledge trains man's temperament; faith reforms man. Both knowledge and faith give power to man; but the power given by faith is continuous, whereas the power given by knowledge is disjointed. Knowledge is beauty; faith is beauty too. But knowledge beautifies reason and thought; faith beautifies spirit and feeling. Both knowledge and faith give man security. But knowledge provides outer security, whereas faith provides inner security. Knowledge gives protection against diseases, floods, earthquakes and storms. Faith provides security against restlessness, loneliness, sense of insecurity and low thinking. Knowledge harmonizes the world with man, faith harmonizes man with himself......................
Knowledge without faith is a sharp sword in the hand of a drunken brute. It is a lamp in the hand of a thief to help him pick up the best articles at midnight. That is why there is not the least difference in the nature and conduct of the faithless man of today who has knowledge and the faithless man of yesterday who had no knowledge. After all what is the difference between the Churchills, Johnsons, Nixons and Stalins of today and the Pharaohs, Genghis Khans and Attilas of yore?
It may be said that as knowledge is light as well as power, it has no special and exclusive application to the external world. It illuminates our internal world also and consequently gives us power to change it. Therefore knowledge can make the world and man both. It can perform its own task, that is world-making as well as the task of belief, that is man making. The answer is that all this is true, but the basic point is that knowledge is a sort of implement and its use depends on the will of man. Whatever man does, he can do that in a better way with the help of knowledge. That is why we say that knowledge is helpful in securing objectives and traversing the path man chooses for himself.........
The past and present history has shown what evil consequences the dissociation of knowledge and faith from each other has produced. Where there was faith but no knowledge, the efforts of the humanitarian people were directed to the matters which either were not much fruitful or did not produce good results. These efforts were often the source of prejudices and obscurantism, and occasionally resulted in harmful conflicts.
Where there has been knowledge but faith has been lacking, as in the case of some modern societies, the entire force of knowledge has been used to serve the cause of self-aggrandizement, amassing wealth, and satisfying the lust of power, exploitation, subjugation and craftiness."
Conclusion:
As a result for above discussion we can state that knowledge and faith both are necessary. Both help each other and both contribute in the evolution and elevation of man towards his Creator.
History is witness that the rise and fall of Muslims is related with the rise and fall of faith and knowledge. In Islamic world the Muslims rose with high levels of knowledge and faith and fell with low levels of knowledge and faith. Knowledge is a tool, while faith teaches us how to use this tool. Both are necessary and indispensable.