Ethics of Islam

oasting will lead them to Hell.
In another hadîth-i-sherîf: “Anyone who claims to be a
scholar is an ignoramus.” People who present themselves to be
knowledgeable about everything, for example, by answering
every question or giving an interpretation of everything they see
are actually displaying their ignorance. He who states that he
does not know the answer but will study and then answer the
question is an advanced scholar. When they asked Rasûlullah
‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sal-lam’ what was the most valuable place
on earth, he answered, “I don’t know. If my Lord informs me, I
will tell you.” Then, he asked this to Archangel Gabriel and
received a similar answer from him. Then, Gabriel asked Allâhu
ta’âlâ and received the answer, “Masjids (mosques).” When the
hundred and ninety-eighth âyat of Sûra A’râf of the Qur’ân alkerîm
was revealed, which purported, “Be forgiving and
command ma’rûf,” Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sal-lam’
asked Hadrat Jebrâîl to explain its meaning. The blessed angel
said, “Let me learn from my Rabb (Allâhu ta’âlâ)” and left.
When he returned he said that Allâhu ta’âlâ commanded, “Get
close to those who get away from you! Give generously to one
who does not give you! Forgive those who oppress you!” When
Sha’bî ‘rahima-hullâhu ta’âlâ’ was asked a question he answered
that he did not know the answer. They reproved him, saying that
it would not be worthy of him, Muftî of Iraq as he was, to say
that he did not know. His reply was: “Why should I ever be
blamed for something I do not know, in the face of the facts
which the greatest ones of angels acknowledged not to know?”
Imâm Abû Yûsuf ‘rahima-hullâhu ta’âlâ’ answered a question
by saying that he did not know. When they reproached him for
failing to answer their question with the stipend he received
from the (treasury department called) Bayt-ul-mâl, he replied,
“I am being paid for that much as I know. The Bayt-ul-mâl
would be short of paying me for the facts I did not know.”
Establishing friendships with ignorant people who do not follow
their nafs would be better than establishing friendships with
religious persons who are slaves of their nafs. A religious
person’s being conceited because of his holding a religious post
is symptomatic of his ignorance because having knowledge leads
one into being a humble and modest person and protects one
against arrogance and conceit.
It is forbidden to be conceited or haughty. Pride (Kibr) is an
Attribute of Allâhu ta’âlâ. Being proud (Kibriya) or the Attribute
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