Report

“Why there is a lack of Islamic knowledge in

today’s Muslim?”

Prepared for:
Dr Zainab

Prepared By:
Javarya Kamran FA20-BCE-035
Malik Muhammad Hanzala FA20-BCE-039
Meerai Aslam FA20-BCE-042
Moiz Afaq FA20-BCE-102

NOVEMBER 27,2020
Table of Contents
Executive Summary: ................................................................................................................................... 3
SECTION 1.................................................................................................................................................. 4
Introduction: ............................................................................................................................................... 4
Background: ............................................................................................................................................ 5
Statement of problem/purpose: ............................................................................................................. 5
Significance of the study:........................................................................................................................ 6
Methods of study:.................................................................................................................................... 6
Limitations: ............................................................................................................................................. 6
Findings: ...................................................................................................................................................... 7
Reason given by people for not being able to understand Quran: ............................................... 10
Reason given by people for not having enough Islamic knowledge: ............................................ 11
Way to reduce gap of lack of religious knowledge: ........................................................................ 11
DISCUSSION: ........................................................................................................................................... 12
Conclusion: ................................................................................................................................................ 14
Recommendations:.................................................................................................................................... 14
References .................................................................................................................................................. 15
Appendices: ............................................................................................................................................... 16

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Executive Summary:
This report highlights and talks about the lack of Islamic knowledge in today’s Muslim and also
discusses its reason, effects and solution. The primary source of information here is the
questionnaire related to our topic which talks about deficiency of Islamic knowledge in today’s
Muslim. The questionnaire is given in the appendices. The result obtained from it shows that
everyone considers that Islamic education is important but at the same point think that they don’t
have enough of knowledge as they should be having. This lack of knowledge in today’s age is
the matter of concern as information is just a click away but it still requires time and detailed
study in order to get the correct and authentic one.

This report concludes that today’s Muslim is being driven away from religion and is falling short
of knowledge about it due to their own laziness and non-serious attitude towards it. Also there
are several other factors involved out of which one of the major reason is not paying enough
attention towards it as a nation and giving its share of time on sciences and kind of neglecting it
by not keeping its study and absorption on our top most priority, other reasons like language
barrier and not having much of good preachers are mentioned here. Despite of these facts the
majority of people are still hopeful that this gap could be filled which is a positive sign at this
stage.as Allah (SWT) says in Quran:

“So do not weaken and do not grieve, and you will be superior if you are
[true] believers.” (Surah Al Imran (3:139), n.d.)

The most common recommendations were to make the study or learning of Arabic language
compulsory like English from primary level, by not just including Islamic studies just as a course
but also keeping an interactive session for question and answer purpose where asking question
should be made mandatory, and by using modern technology to promote religious knowledge
among masses. These are the baby steps towards achieving a bigger goal.

The study given here is restricted to a particular age groups, occupation, residents and students of
Islamabad.

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SECTION 1
Introduction:
Knowledge as we know is facts and skills attained by experience or study be it theoretical or
practical. It is a kind of light that brighten ups the brain and helps it keep going and make it able
to think.

Islam is a very comprehensive religion and its relation with attaining knowledge and implementing
it is really strong. Islam has stressed a lot on acquiring education because it makes you closer to
god and help you find him, that even the first revelation begin with the word “iqra” that means
“read”. Allah says in Quran:

“Read in the name of your lord who Created-Created man from a clinging substance. Read,
and your lord is the most generous, who taught by the pen, Taught man which he knew not.”
(Surah Alaq (96:1-5), n.d.)

Islam has never left its believers unguided therefore for complete guidance and help Allah(SWT)
sent Quran to provide assistance in every affair of life. The stress of Islam on acquiring knowledge
is not new it has been on the top most priority since the beginning. In the battle of badar 624 AD
70 disbelievers were caught in prison and they were asked to teach ten Muslim children by doing this they
would be set free. This whole incident narrates the value of attaining knowledge in Islam.

With the passage of time the advancement in methods of acquiring knowledge was made so that it becomes
easier and easier for its believer to extract knowledge. As we know that Quran didn’t have its written form
even in the life of Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) but for making its study easier and preserving it, it was
given the shape of book so that it becomes accessible for everyone. Now a day’s It’s that much accessible
that we can even read it in our phones, laptops and computers.

But with advancements in technologies and methodologies human got distracted from its main goal that
was to attain knowledge to find Allah, the introduction of technologies and innovation could have made us
connect more to Allah but opposite things happened to it that we became more negligent towards it.

And with presence of such vast amount of information our attention got diverted into many other new things
too and with that we didn’t spare enough time for religious studies which created a void in our Islamic
knowledge. Also because of availability of too much of information made us a little confused as which one
should we follow and which one is the more authentic.

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“...a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention...”
― Herbert A. Simon
Background:
Knowledge here includes both worldly and Islamic knowledge because the combination of both
leads you to the path of finding Allah. With the passage of time new knowledge (scientific
knowledge) were introduced and in order to match ourselves with the rest of the world so in the
era of Abbasids, they formed bait-ul-hikma (house of wisdom) public academy where Muslims
made a lot of discoveries that was found in the library. In which scholars accumulated all the
knowledge and translated into Arabic. Scientists among Muslims started making discoveries in
various fields in medicine, mathematics, architecture and science. Europeans learned Arabic
language to learn the knowledge to come out of the dark ages and took the books along with them.
Developed and advanced their knowledge in secular sciences.

After some time, Western analyst started criticizing madrasa system in two domains: the limited
range or options for subjects and relying or depending on memorization. As western countries
were prospering at a rapid rate with advancement or modification in education system by adding
science education, practical and observation based learning. Some madrasa that started including
only religious studies gradually added other subjects like mathematics, philosophy and other
science subjects. As time passed, some madrasas also included of science, arts and technical
subjects and were being called as schools. Gradually, the effect of western culture became
dominant and Islamic knowledge and education was minimized in the schools.

Later with more of negligence towards religious studies it is now just present as a subject and
students mainly study it for formality or because it’s the requirement to pass out not for
understanding and personal development, and focus more on scientific studies so because of these
factor today’s Muslim is distracted away from Islam and suffering a lot.

Statement of problem/purpose:
Because of inclusion of scientific knowledge in our education system it is now focused more and
Islamic knowledge is neglected because of which we have been driven us away from Islam and
made us deficient of Islamic knowledge.

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The main purpose to prepare this report is to find out the reason for having lack of Islamic
knowledge in today’s Muslim. It inquires about the effects caused by having lack of Islamic
knowledge. It also provides the solution to bridge the gap of Islamic knowledge.

Significance of the study:

This study will assist people in analyzing that how deficiency of Islamic knowledge is caused.it
also mentions the effect of having lack of Islamic knowledge which generates issue.it will also
provide you the solution to fill the void.

Methods of study:
The data for this study was collected by a survey. The first part of the questionnaire was
categorized on the basis of gender, age and occupation. The last part asked people or respondents
about what are the reasons for today’s Muslim for having less Islamic knowledge and ways to fill
the gap.

The respondents of the study or survey included students and professionals of Islamabad and
relatives.

Limitations:
The study was limited to specific age groups, residents of Islamabad, students and professionals
of Islamabad. The report only touched the topics mentioned in the questionnaire. The data gathered
was analyzed and is presented in the form of tables and figures. Delicate subjects were not touched
in the report keeping in mind the sentiment emotions and beliefs of the respondents and audience.

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Section 2:
Findings:
Demographic profile:

The questionnaire made was based on several questions. The respondents were asked to indicate
their age group, their occupation and their gender. The breakdown consisted of 77.6% female and
22.4% male respondents out of which 83.6% were between age of 18-22, 7.3% were below age of
18, and 9% were above 22.

Data Analysis:

The respondents were asked few general questions regarding education. The first question inquired
about necessity of acquiring Islamic education.100% respondent say yes education is necessary.

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The second question asked was that do you have enough Islamic knowledge? according to our
findings 50% of the people think that they don’t have enough Islamic education, 44.8% say maybe
and 5.2% say yes.

The next question asked was have you ever studied about religion other than the textbook included
in your course? To which 70.7% people responded yes and 29.3% responded no.

then they were asked that have you ever read the entire translation of Quran? To which 72.4%
said no and 27.6% said yes.

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Figure 1:This chart shows that majority haven’t read the translation of the Quran.

Afterwards they were asked if they are able to understand Quran easily? To which 33.3% replied
yes, 33.3% replied little bit and 33.3% replied no.

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Then they were asked regarding the posibility of brigding the gap of islamic knowledge created,
to which 79.1% responded yes , 18.6% responded maybe and 2.3% responded againsy it.

As seen by the majority of the responses wants to bridge the gap and understand truly what their
religion has to offer then and what they have to do.

Reason given by people for not being able to understand Quran:

Among the main reasons as to why we aren’t able to understand the Quran and have less Islamic
knowledge are as follows. The customarily focused curriculum on worldly knowledge of our
educational institutes diverts the attention of students to other things than acquiring spiritual
consciousness. The variation in translations and their structure is another prominent factor that
people tend to lose interest in grasping Islamic ideology, as a result, they only rely on what their
elders did and whom they followed.

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Reason given by people for not having enough Islamic knowledge:

According to most of the respondents, the main reasons as to why we have less Islamic knowledge
are that today’s education system focus on scientific studies more, our own laziness, and lack of
availability of time.

Way to reduce gap of lack of religious knowledge:

The responses we got to reduce the gap of lack of religious knowledge are basically to make
religious education compulsory throughout each and every level of the educational structure and
by broadcasting Islamic teachings through all media platforms

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DISCUSSION:
Today different Madrassah and schools are working to spread the teachings of Islam but still the
knowledge of Islam is declining among the people even though education has become very
common now a days and everyone has access to knowledge. In past, people had to travel long
distances to acquire knowledge and due to lack of technology there were many difficulties in
traveling but no difficulty could stop them from getting Islamic knowledge. Now it has become
very easy for us to get knowledge because of increase in technology. But sadly, the knowledge of
Islam has been given very little today which should have increased a lot. The biggest reason for
this is that the interest of people in acquiring knowledge of Islam has decreased. They have become
more inclined towards scientific education. Man has moved so far in this race that he has forgotten
Islam, although it is necessary for Muslims to acquire knowledge of Islam, while secular education
has the second priority.

Mullah’s do not pay attention to the teachings of Islam that the teachers at a school give
to science education. Most of children comes in madrassah who cannot afford secular education
or that child who lags behind other children in the race of getting secular education. Although it is
necessary for everyone to acquire both knowledge.

The Prophet (PBUH) said: “It is obligatory for every Muslim man and woman to acquire
knowledge.”

With the passage of time people started preferring the modern education system thinking that it
provides both religious and secular education, while in madrassah more attention is paid to Islamic
education and Science education is not of that standard. But in reality, only specific syllabus of
Islamic studies is taught in school in which only basic things are discussed and that is also just
made restricted in becoming the requirement to pass out, our education system has unfortunately
has focused more on scoring high because of that students now have forgotten the main goal for
studying it which was to develop understanding and implement its knowledge in different affairs
of life. Islam is a broad religion, and it covers all aspects of life. As we acquire knowledge of
Islam our appetency increases that we acquire more knowledge, and it can never end.

The Prophet also prayed: “O’ Allah increase my knowledge”

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The difference between the two-education system is affecting Muslim Ummah tremendously and
we have also accepted it which is very harmful.

The language of holy prophet PBUH was Arabic so the Holy Quran and Islamic education was in
Arabic. Muslims scholars translated it in other languages, but it is so difficult to convert all Islamic
knowledge in other languages. Most of the Muslims do not understand Arabic language. So, this
is also the reason of lack of Islamic knowledge in Muslims. All Mullah’s get Islamic education in
Arabic and most of them only knows their national and mother language. So, they are unable to
convey their knowledge to those who do not understand their language and sometimes misinterpret
it for their own benefits and cause distraction from the main goal which was understanding it.

Importance of acquiring knowledge in Quran and Hadith:

The Muslims must get the Islamic knowledge because many Quranic verses and hadith shows the
importance of knowledge. Some of them are given below.

Narrated Ibn `Abbas:

The Prophet(PBUH) embraced me and said,

“O Allah! Teach him (the knowledge of) the Book (Qur’an).” (Sahih al-Bukhari 7270)

The Prophet (PBUH) said:

“Whoever follows a path in pursuit of knowledge, Allah makes his way easy to paradise.”
(Bukhari)

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said:

“When a man dies all his deeds comes to an end except for three: an ongoing charity,
beneficial knowledge and a righteous son who prays for him.” (Bukhari)

Ayat of Quran:

“…And when you are told to rise up, rise up. Allah will raise up, to (suitable) ranks (and
degrees), those of you who believe and who have been granted (mystic) Knowledge. And
Allah is well-acquainted with all ye do” (Surah al Mujadila (58:11), n.d.).

Without acquiring knowledge, if we try to worship Allah, then we will be easy prey of Shaytan.

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“He [Shaytan] only orders you to evil and immorality and to say about Allah what you do
not know.” (Al Baqarah (2:169), n.d.)

Conclusion:
It has been clear from the survey that the youth of today’s Islamic world is not just being draw
away from the religion just because of lack of interest of the youth, but also because of not bringing
the Islamic education in spotlight like it should be. It is clear that educational institutions pay more
interest towards sciences and modern subjects. Most of the people don’t understand the Quran
mostly because of less understanding of the Arabic language, lack of interest and indolence.
Fortunately, Quran has also been translated in many different languages and Muslims can actually
understand. Also many find it difficult to take out some time from their busy routine to read and
understand Quran. Not just that it has also been observed that in the modern era children are
brought up in such a way that their minds are built up to work hard and focus on modern education
more and side by side very little Islamic education is taught, just for formality we can say.
Although 77% people think that this gap between today’s Muslims and Islam can be filled which
is actually brilliant.

Recommendations:
1. The most basic and common problem Muslims encounter today is less or almost no
understanding of the Arabic language which is actually the outcome of less focusing on
Islamic education in our educational institutions. This problem can be sorted by teaching
Arabic language in educational institutions side by side like other subjects. Moreover,
Quran has been translated into many different languages, so people can read and
understand in their own desired languages.
2. It has been observed that one main reason for having less Islamic knowledge is very less
teaching of Islamic education in educational institutions while subjects related to modern
world are focused quite much more comparatively. This problem can be overcome by
providing and focusing on Islamic education as much as other subjects. Moreover, youth
are attracted towards the worldly and materialistic pursuits and pay almost no attention
towards Islam and its values. In fact, people also find it difficult to take some time out of
their busy routine for reading and understanding Quran and Islam. However, if people set

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 a schedule and take out at least twenty to thirty minutes out for understanding Quran which
is not difficult to do at all. Furthermore, Islam can be preached through other ways as well
like producing different serials on magnificent histories of Islam, sharing the very precious
words and quotes of our Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) and also by acting upon them. It is
admired that actions speak louder than words, humans often learn more quickly what they
see others doing rather than learning what is told to them verbally.
3. It is amazing how today’s youth think that the gap between the Muslims and Islam can be
filled. They most effective way is preaching Islam and laying stress on Islamic education
in educational institutions is as important and it is for other subjects. There should be a
mindset developed that Islamic education is as important as other educations whether it is
on other non-Muslim countries or not. Moreover, social media is the biggest source for
transferring information today, so we should try to spread more and more Islamic preaching
to the youth through that as well. Like it has been told before as well that actions speak
louder than words, so rather than preaching Islam and conveying it through words we
should start acting upon it so that we can become a source of inspiration for our fellow
brothers and sisters.

References
Al Baqarah (2:169). (n.d.). Retrieved from Quran: https://quran.com/2/169-200

Surah Al Imran (3:139). (n.d.). Retrieved from Quran.com: https://quran.com/3/139-149?translations=20

Surah al Mujadila (58:11). (n.d.). Retrieved from Quran.com: https://quran.com/58/11

Surah Alaq (96:1-5). (n.d.). Retrieved from Quran.com: https://quran.com/96

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Appendices:
“Survey on why there is a lack of Islamic
knowledge in today’s Muslim”

1. Is getting Islamic education necessary?

a. Yes b. No
2. Do you think you have enough Islamic knowledge?
a. Yes b. No c. Maybe
3. Have you ever studied about religion other than the textbook included in your course?
a. Yes b. No
4. Have you ever read entire Qurans translation?
a. Yes b. No
5. Are you able to understand Quran easily?
a. Yes b. No c. Little bit
6. If you are not able to understand Quran what is the reason?
________________________________________________________
7. What do you think is the reason for you of having less Islamic knowledge?
________________________________________________________________________
8. Is it possible to bridge the gap of the Islamic knowledge in todays generation?
a. Yes b. No
9. What are the solutions or ways to reduce this gap created?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

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