Imam al-Ghazali (d.1111) - one of the most famous Islamic philosophers in history - had embarked on a journey to seek knowledge. On his way back home, a group of robbers raided his caravan and robbed his bag; in it were all of his notes. Worried he would lose years worth of knowledge, he pleaded with them to return the notes and offered the rest of his belongings instead. But the chief robber mocked him by saying: "Knowledge is in the chests, i.e. hearts, not in notes (or books)." In the end, Imam al-Ghazali got his notes back and he later commented: "Allah sent him (the chief robber) to teach me a lesson." He learnt from this life experience to such an extent that he went on to commit his notes to memory so that never again would he be separated from or stripped of his knowledge. Imam al-Ghazali tells the story himself in order to inspire us to retain Islamic knowledge by heart and to implement it with actions.
- Usman Abdullah Malik
#Islam #Knowledge #Ghazali #IslamicHistory #Scholar
- Usman Abdullah Malik
#Islam #Knowledge #Ghazali #IslamicHistory #Scholar