Forty Gems of Beauty — Page 158
158 knowledge. He was so particular about it that, according to another Hadith, he is reported to have commanded: “Seek knowledge even if you have to go to China for this purpose. ” 30 It should be borne in mind that, owing to the conditions obtaining at that time, China was not only the most distant country from Arabia but also the way to it was full of great hazards and travelling to it was beset with extreme dangers and great hardships besides entailment of extraordinary expenses. The Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be on him) has, by singling China out by way of example, in fact, underlined the value of knowledge, to impress on the faithful the necessity of acquiring learning even in the face of extreme hardships and prohibitive distances. The early Muslims, as historical evidence shows, used to travel hundreds of miles and undergo heavy expenses to hear a Hadith of the Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be on him) from his companions. When a man after having traversed hundreds of miles, came to Damascus from Medina to hear from Hadrat Ab u Dard a ’ (May Allah be pleased with him) a tradition of the Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be on him), Ab u Dard a ’ related to him that particular Hadith and also told him that he had heard the Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be on him) say that whoso undertook a journey for the purpose of acquiring knowledge, Allah would open up for him the way to it and at the same time open his way to Paradise. In another Hadith, the Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be on him) has observed that 30 Ma`rifa al-Tadhkirah, P. 101, Hadith No: 118