A Hadith from Tirmidhi is worth considering:

Anas ibn Malik narrates:

“There were two brothers who had a date farm each. One of them was very fond of sitting in the company of the Prophet ﷺ everyday, learning Deen and its aspects. He used to memorize verses from Quran and learnt other things as well.

His brother used to look after both farms. Everyday, he toiled hard to water both farms and to bring water for the animals, too. One day, he came to the Masjid when his brother was sitting in the company of the Prophet ﷺ . He complained to the Prophet ﷺ about his brother’s lack of interest and commitment towards his farm and how he had to take care of both the farms. The Prophet ﷺ advised him:

“Let him learn religion. Take care of his farm, for you do not know if you are being provided with sustenance by Allah because of the blessings of your brother’s enthusiasm of learning Deen.”

The brother left and never complained again.

Students of Religious Learning should be facilitated

Teachers are advised to encourage the students to grow in knowledge, rather than to seek monetary gains. Today, many so-called speakers criticize Ulema (religious scholars) and look down on their economic situation. They boastfully compare the income of the boys who completed medicine and engineering while their brothers focused on learning Deen. People are advised not to criticise or look down on ulema (religious scholars) such that they push away people from seeking knowledge about Deen.

Knowledge of Religion leads to simplicity

The knowledge of the Companions:

Ibn Masud (May Allah be pleased with him) says about his companions who learned Deen:

“The Companions of the Prophet were the best of the people amongst all the people. They had three great qualities. Nobody in humanity possessed better hearts than them ( except prophets), They had the most profound knowledge about the universe, much more than other people. They were the simplest in living.”

This is a great achievement in spite of never having been in a college or university. Even the women of that time were intellectuals of high calibre, due to the blessings of the knowledge of Touhid. A lady said, “I memorised the entire Surah Qaf just by listening to the Prophet ﷺ reciting it on Jumuah.” The women who were killed at birth, faced gender inequality and great injustice before the advent of Islam, achieved an important status after they embraced Touhid.

The Companions of the Prophet passed on the same devotion and passion of learning their Deen to their next generations. Abu Saeed Khudri (May Allah be pleased with him ) used to welcome the Taba’een with these words:

“Welcome to learn the Deen! We had been told about you by the Prophet ﷺ a long time back. We were told to honor and welcome you because you have come to learn the Deen of Prophet ﷺ.

No wonder, early Muslims produced the best generation of men and women in manners, character and administration while performing their family duties wholeheartedly.