“And Allah taught Adam all the names…” (2:31)

The first verses of the Quran began with the word:

“Read. Read in the name of thy Lord who created; [He] created the human being from blood clot. Read in the name of thy Lord who taught by the pen: [He] taught the human being what he did not know.” (96: 1-5).

The Qur’an says.

“Are those who have knowledge equal to those who do not have knowledge?!”(39:9).

The Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him and his progeny) has also empha­sized the importance of seeking knowl­edge in different ways:

(a) Time: “Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave.”

(b) Place: “Seek knowledge even if it is far as China.”

(c) Gender: “Seeking of knowledge is a duty of every Muslim”

(d) Source: “Wisdom is the lost prop­erty of the believer, he should take it even if finds it in the mouth of a mushrik.”

The Prophet did not only preach about importance of knowledge, he also gave examples of promoting knowledge. In the very first battle between the Muslims and unbelievers or Mecca, known as the war of Badr, the Muslims gain victory and caught seventy kuffars as prisoners of war. One of the criteria of releasing the POWs devised by the Prophet was that those who were literate among the pris­oners could go free if they teach ten Mus­lim children how to read and write. (Source: Education in Islam by Sayyid Muhammed Rizvi)