Get deep knowledge in God's religion as it is key to insight; a hadith from Imam Musa Kazem
Pars Today- A hadith narrated from Imam Musa Kazem (Peace upon him) stresses that having profound knowledge in God's religion is the key to insight.
Imam Musa ibn Ja'afar (Peace upon him), famous as Imam Musa Kazem, was one of the grand grand-children of the Prophet of Islam and indeed his 7th descent from Lady Fatima Zahra (Peace upon her). He was born in 128 AH in Medina and became the seventh Imam in 148 AH after the martyrdom of his father, Imam Ja'afar Sadeq (Peace upon him). Imam Kazem was imprisoned several times during his 25-year Imamate by the oppressive and illegitimate Abbasid rulers. Finally, he was martyred in prison in 183 AH. His mausoleum is in Kazemain district of Baghdad, Iraq.
Several debates and discussions have been registered in historical sources between Imam Kazem and Jewish and Christian scholars in which the Imam has answered their questions in various fields. Musnad al-Imam al-Kazem is one of these books which has collected over 3,000 hadiths from the Imam.
A hadith from him reads, "Get deep knowledge in God's religion as it is the key to insight." Here we have cast a look at the explanation of this hadith.
What does it mean "to get deep knowledge in God's religion"?
According to this hadith, religion shouldn't be accepted superficially. Islam recommends us to learn religion, to ask and understand the philosophy and logic of injunctions and laws. If religion is not accepted deeply, it is like keeping a scientific book on the shelf without reading and understanding it!
Knowing religion key to insight
If a person knows the real sense of religion, it is like having a lamp which shows the path in dark. Without this knowledge, human being may go astray or fail to distinguish between right and wrong. Suppose that a person tells you, "Always tell the truth!" If you just repeat this sentence without knowing why telling the truth is important, you may tell a lie in hard conditions. But, if you understand the reason deeply (for instance, you know that truthfulness will cause calm and trust in society), you will always stick to it.
Why is this important?
This is important because Islam wants to make people aware and thoughtful, rather than merely memorizing things without knowing why and how. Islam believes that lack of asking and understanding will keep man in ignorance. Thus, Imam Kazem reminds us to accept the religion with awareness and not blind imitation. The more you understand the religion, the better you will live and the better decisions you will take.
RM/BK
