Malfuzat - Volume VIII — Page 213
26 December 1905 213 knowledge cultivates the fear of Allah, and God Almighty has made knowledge dependent upon taqw a , that a fully knowl- edgeable person will indeed develop the fear of Allah. As I understand it, knowledge means knowledge of the Quran. Philosophy, science, or other customary sciences are not meant by it because taqw a and virtue are not a condition for their acquisition. Just as a sinner can learn them, so can a religious person. However, knowledge of the Quran is not given to any- one except the muttaq i [righteous] and religious. So, in this place, knowledge refers to the knowledge of the Quran, which fosters taqw a and fear. Missionaries Require Worldly Knowledge Yes, it is true that it is proven from the Holy Quran that which- ever nation you come to confront, you should employ the same type of weapons in combating them that they employ against you. Moreover, since these days religious debaters present such issues that pertain to science and modern knowledge, famili- arity and comprehension of these sciences are required to this extent. For example, the objection that they raise regarding how the commandments for Prayer and Fasting are to be carried out in countries where the sun does not rise or set for six months. A person unfamiliar with these countries or unaware of these phenomena will be left confused and confounded upon hear- ing them. The object of those who raise such objections is to declare the teaching of the Noble Quran to be defective—that there should have been some other commandment for such countries. Therefore, since such objections arise nowadays, there must be some mastery of these sciences.