THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWLEDGE IN ISLAM
Afzal Shah Madudi 
THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWLEDGE IN ISLAM
The Holy Prophet ﷺ said "Seek knowledge even if it is in China." The Prophet ﷺ also used to pray, "I seek Allah's protection against useless knowledge."
Hazrat Data Ganj Baksh Ali Hujveri (Qaddas Allahu Sirrahu) explained that there are two kinds of knowledge: (1) Knowledge of the Creator and (2) knowledge of the creature. A person's duty is to have knowledge of God which includes the outward (Shariat) and inward (Ma'rifat).
Shariat (Outward of Islam) consists of three pillars: the Holy Qur'an, the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and the consensus (ijma) of the Muslim ummah. The Holy Prophet ﷺ said "My ummah cannot be unanimous on falsehood. So you are duty bound to join the largest sect of Islam."
Ma'rifat (Inward of Islam) consists of three pillars: the knowledge of Divine Essence (dhat), His Oneness (wahdaniyat) knowledge of Divine Attributes (Sifat), the Commands of God (ahkam) and wisdom (hikmah). A person should be able to understand the nature of his or her spiritual states.
The shaykh explained that one who adopts Sufism and ignores the Shariah falls outside Islam, while the one who learns Shariah without Sufism goes astray, but the one who combines the two (Sufism and Shariah).
(Reference: The Kashful Mahjub of Hazrat Data Ganj Baksh Ali Hujweri (QSA) translated by Maulana Wahid Bakhsh Rabbani, pages 13-20)
Syed afzal Ali shah Maududi.
Editor cum Bureau chief.
Lucknow
