Virtue of Ilm and the Ulama.
Hadith 38:
Mu’awiyah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
The Messenger of Allah said, “When Allah wishes good for someone, He bestows upon him the understanding of Deen.”
[Al-Bukhari 71 and Muslim 1037].
Hadith 39:
Mu’awiyah said that the Prophet ﷺ said:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّمَا الْعِلْمُ بِالتَّعَلُّمِ وَالْفِقْهُ بِالتَّفَقُّهِ وَمَنْ يُرِدِ اللَّهُ بِهِ خَيْرًا يُفَقِّهْهُ فِي الدِّينِ وَإِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْعُلَمَاءُ
O people, knowledge only comes by learning and understanding only comes by seeking understanding. For whomever Allah intends good, he gives him understanding of the religion. Verily, only those with knowledge fear Allah among his servants. (35:28)
(al-Mu’jam al-Kabīr 929, 395, Hassan Li Ghairihi) (abuaminaelias.com)
Hadith 40:
Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:
He who alleviates the suffering of a brother out of the sufferings of the world, Allah would alleviate his suffering from the sufferings of the Day of Resurrection, and he who finds relief for one who is hard-pressed, Allah would make things easy for him in the Hereafter, and he who conceals (the faults) of a Muslim, Allah would conceal his faults in the world and in the Hereafter. Allah is at the back of a servant so long as the servant is at the back of his brother, and he who treads the path in search of knowledge, Allah would make that path easy, leading to Paradise for him and those persons who assemble in the house among the houses of Allah (mosques) and recite the Book of Allah and they learn and teach the Qur’an (among themselves) there would descend upon them tranquility and mercy would cover them and the angels would surround them and Allah mentions them in the presence of those near Him, and he who is slow-paced in doing good deeds, his (high) lineage does not make him go ahead.
Sahih Muslim 2699, Sunan Abi Dawud, Sunan Ibn Majah, Sunan At-Tirmidhi.
Hadith 41:
Narrated Kathir ibn Qays:
Kathir ibn Qays said: I was sitting with AbudDarda’ in the mosque of Damascus.
A man came to him and said: AbudDarda, I have come to you from the town of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) for a tradition that I have heard you relate from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). I have come for no other purpose.
He said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: If anyone travels on a road in search of knowledge, Allah will cause him to travel on one of the roads of Paradise. The angels will lower their wings in their great pleasure with one who seeks knowledge, the inhabitants of the heavens and the Earth and the fish in the deep waters will ask forgiveness for the learned man. The superiority of the learned man over the devout is like that of the moon, on the night when it is full, over the rest of the stars. The learned are the heirs of the Prophets, and the Prophets leave neither dinar nor dirham, leaving only knowledge, and he who takes it takes an abundant portion.
Sunan Abi Dawud 3641, Sunan At-Tirmidhi 2682, Sunan Ibn Majah 223.
Hadith 42:
On the authority of Safwan bin ‘Assal Al-Muradi who said: I came to the Prophet ﷺ and he was in the Masjid reclining wearing a red cloak, I said to him, ” O Messenger of Allah! I have come here to seek knowledge!” He ﷺ said: Welcome O seeker of knowledge! Verily the Talib-ul-Ilm is covered (and shaded) by the wings of the angels, and they ride (sit) upon each other till they reach the heaven (sky), out of love for that which is being sought (by the student of knowledge).
Musnad Ahmad 4/239, Sahih Ibn Hibban 1322, also see a similar narration in Ibn Majah 226, Hasan.
Hadith 43:
On the authority of Anas who said that the Prophet ﷺ said:
Seven rewardable deeds follow a man and reward him when he is in the grave after his death: (1) Teaching Ilm to someone, (2) digging our a canal, (3) digging a well, (4) planting a (date palm) tree, (5)building a Masjid, (6)made the Mushaf as his inheritance, (7) and left behind him a child who supplicates for his forgiveness after his death.
Musnad Al-Bazzar 149, Abu Nuaym in Al-Hilyah 2/344, Al-Bayhaqi in Shuaib Al-Imaa 3499, Hasan Li Ghairihi.
Hadith 44:
‘Abdullah b. Mas’ud reported Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:
There should be no envy but only in case of two persons: one having been endowed with wealth and power to spend it in the cause of Truth, and (the other) who has been endowed with wisdom and he decides cases with the help of it and teaches it (to others).
Sahih Muslim 815, 816. Al-Bukhari 73.
Hadith 45:
Abu Hurairah said:
“I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying: ‘This world is cursed and what is in it is cursed, except the remembrance of Allah (dhikr) and what is conducive to that, or one who has knowledge or who acquires knowledge.’”
Sunan ibn Majah 4112, Sunan At-Tirmidhi 2322, Hasan.
Hadith 46:
Abu Musa reported Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) as saying:
The similitude of that guidance and knowledge with which Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, has sent me is that of rain falling upon the earth. There is a good piece of land which receives the rainfall (eagerly) and as a result of it there is grown in it herbage and grass abundantly. Then there is a land hard and barren which retains water and the people derive benefit from it and they drink it and make the animals drink. Then there is another land which is barren. Neither water is retained in it, nor is the grass grown in it. And that is the similitude of the first one who develops the understanding of the religion of Allah and it becomes a source of benefit to him with which Allah sent me. (The second one is that) who acquires the knowledge of religion and imparts it to others. (Then the other type is) one who does not pay attention to (the revealed knowledge) and thus does not accept guidance of Allah with which I have been sent.
Sahih Muslim 2282, Sahih Al-Bukhari 79.
Hadith 47:
It was narrated that Abu Hurairah said:
“The Messenger of Allah said: ‘The rewards of the good deeds that will reach a believer after his death are: Knowledge which he taught and spread; a righteous son whom he leaves behind; a copy of the Qur’an that he leaves as a legacy; a mosque that he built; a house that he built for wayfarers; a canal that he dug; or charity that he gave during his lifetime when he was in good health. These deeds will reach him after his death.'”
Sunan Ibn Majah 242, Al-Bayhaqi in Shuayb Al-Iman 3448, Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah 2490, Hasan.
Hadith 48:
Abu Huraira (Allah be pleased with him) reported Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:
When a man dies, his acts come to an end, but three, recurring charity, or knowledge (by which people) benefit, or a pious son, who prays for him (for the deceased).
Sahih Muslim 1631.
Hadith 49:
Sahl bin Mu’adh bin Anas narrated from his father that:
The Prophet said: “Whoever teaches some knowledge will have the reward of the one who acts upon it, without that detracting from his reward in the slightest.”
Sunan ibn Majah 240, Hasan Li Ghairihi.
Hadith 50:
‘Abdullah bin Abu Qatadah narrated that his father said:
“The Messenger of Allah said: ‘The best things that a man can leave behind are three: A righteous son who will pray for him, ongoing charity whose reward will reach him, and knowledge which is acted upon after his death.'”
Sunan ibn Majah 241, Sahih.
Hadith 51:
On the authority of ‘Aisha (who said that the Prophet ﷺ said): The teacher of goodness (Mu’allimul Khair, the one who teaches good), everything seeks forgiveness for him, even the fishes in the ocean.
Musnad Al-Bazzar 133, Saheeh Li Ghairhi.
Hadith 52:
Narrated Abu Umamah Al-Bahili:
“Two men were mentioned before the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). One of them a worshiper, and the other a scholar. So the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘The superiority of the scholar over the worshiper is like my superiority over the least of you.’ Then the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Indeed Allah, His Angels, the inhabitants of the heavens and the earths – even the ant in his hole, even the fish – say Salat upon the one who teaches the people to do good.'”
Sunan At-Tirmidhi 2685, Hasan Li Ghairhi.
Hadith 53:
On the authority of Anas bin Malik, that the Prophet ﷺ said: Seeking knowledge is obligatory upon every Muslim.
(صحيح الجامع ٣٩١٤ • صحيح • أخرجه ابن ماجه (٢٢٤) أوله في أثناء حديث، والبزار (٦٧٤٦) مختصراً، وابن عبدالبر في «جامع بيان العلم وفضله» (١٧) واللفظ (له
Saheehus-Seerah 