Alḥamdulillāh… All thanks and praise are due to the Almighty Allah. I send blessings and peace upon Ḥabībī Muḥammad, his household, his companions and all those who follow his guided path, till the Day of Judgement.
When inheritance is mentioned, it's common for wealth; money and other material possessions, to be the first to pop up in our minds. It is even more so when our thoughts are purely material. This article intends not to discuss the shares beneficiaries are entitled to (farāʿiḍ) after they lose their loved ones. It rather aims to discuss non-inheritable wealth, which is more important or more valuable than the substantially inherited.
There may be many things that are not inherited, but the following three are second to nothing in the list of the non-inheritables. They are:
- Knowledge;
- Wisdom; and
- Religiosity
On knowledge, I’m sure everyone knows its importance, irrespective of his background, orientation or mission in life. Especially that we live a time where knowledge is commodified and associated to worldly richness. This perception ought to be corrected, though. Furthermore, the knowledgeable are reported to be more God-fearing:
إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّـهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْعُلَمَاءُ
“Only those of His servants, who possess knowledge, fear Allāh,” [Sūrah Fāṭir, 35:28].
هَلْ يَسْتَوِي الَّذِينَ يَعْلَمُونَ وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ، إِنَّمَا يَتَذَكَّرُ أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ
“Are those who know equal to those who do not know?” Truly, only those endowed with understanding will take heed.” [Sūrah al-Zumar, 39:9].
Knowledge is of categories. The knowledge that guides you towards knowing your Creator and worshiping him better is a prerequisite in the life of every Muslim. Second to this is the knowledge that brings you sustenance in life.
While knowledge is about facts and ideas that we acquire through study, research, investigation, observation, or experience, wisdom is the ability to discern and judge which aspects of that knowledge are true, right, lasting, and applicable to your life. It’s the ability to apply that knowledge to the greater perspective of life.
Not every knowledgeable person necessarily possesses wisdom. But I assume that every wise person possesses (significant degree of) knowledge. And wisdom, therefore, makes people of knowledge of special importance.
وَمَن يُؤْتَ الْحِكْمَةَ فَقَدْ أُوتِيَ خَيْرًا كَثِيرًا
“…and whoever is granted wisdom has indeed been granted abundant goodness.” [Sūrah al-Baqarah, 2:269].
Both knowledge and wisdom decorate one another, and with the possession of the righteous religiosity they shine. A bearer of knowledge and wisdom, who lacks (the correct) religion, is indeed in need. For he lacks the most important thing man is created to possess. In fact, seeking knowledge and wisdom serve as the best wealth, which guides us to the correct religion.
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
“I created the jinn and mankind only so that they might worship Me.” [Sūrah al-Dhāriyāt, 51:56].
Religiosity (Islamic religiosity in this case) on the other hand is achieved by total submission to the teachings and commandments of Allāh.
If one lives to replicate his parent or a relative, who once was knowledgeable, wise or religious, he will be sooner or later be referred to as an imposter if not a clown, unless he puts in sufficient effort, to acquire those qualities that his late parent or relative possessed. In order to achieve that, he has to follow their footsteps, for it never comes by inheritance or coincidence.
Wisdom is non-inheritable, and so are knowledge and religiosity. One must put in effort, if he strives to master any of these qualities, regardless of his affiliation and background. I’m sure, you too agree with me, that inheritable things are all materials or can lead to material gains. Now let's narrow the discussion to focus on religiosity.
One attains religiosity through the readiness and handwork he puts in, or at his own conviction that he wants to keep it. For that matter, every child is born with equal readiness to adopt and accept the true religion of the Almighty Creator, until his parents interfere and change his direction during childhood. The Prophet, ṣallā Allāhu ʾalaihi wa sallam, said in a ḥadīth narrated by Imām al-Bukhārī from Sayyidinā Abū Hurairah, raḍiya Allāhu ʾanhu, that:
مَا مِنْ مَوْلُودٍ إِلَّا يُولَدُ عَلَى الْفِطْرَةِ فَأَبَوَاهُ يُهَوِّدَانِهِ وَيُنَصِّرَانِهِ وَيُمَجِّسَانِهِ
“No child unless he is born with the natural faith. It’s his parents who turn him (later) into a Jew, a Magian, or a Christian.”
This rule remains as such until the child matures. A matured person takes the responsibility in verifying his religion or finding the correct (not the convenient) for himself. This is to say, even if one is born as a Muslim, he has to answer (or find answers for) the natural questions many people usually have regarding religion. A correct research will end him to affirming his Islamic belief. This also supports the importance of knowledge and seeking knowledge.
Despite being polytheism religious frontrunner at his time, the father of Sayyidā Ibrāhīm, couldn’t impose his religion on his son, Ibrāhīm ʾalaihi al-Salām, and thus, Sayyidunā Ibrāhīm didn't inherit his religion. Instead, he took the responsibility of searching for the truth, and the truth revealed itself to him.
The Pharaoh of this Ummah whose real name was ʾAmr ibn Hishām but is well known by Abū Jahl, was one of Meccan polytheist pegan, a tyrant and for that matter, a hostile opponent of Islam. Initially, when the Prophet Muḥammad ṣallā Allāhu ʾalaihi wa sallam, was chosen as a Prophet, Abū Jahl ordered his children, ʾIkrimah ibn Abī-Jahl, Zirarah ibn Abī-Jahl, Tamimi ibn Abī-Jahl and Juwairiyyah bint Abī Jahl against the Prophet, and they complied, perhaps, because they thought they could inherit the religion and the fake religiosity of their father. Later did they realize that, if anything can be inherited, it couldn’t be a religion. And immediately, ʾIkrimah and Juwairiyyah hurried to the Prophet and embraced Islam.
What applies to Sayyidinā Ibrāhīm ʾalaihi al-Salām and the children of Abī Jahl, raḍiya Allāhu ʾanhum, applies to the entire Ṣaḥābah of the Prophet, ṣallā Allāhu ʾalaihi wa sallam, who realized the importance of freeing themselves from the wrong impression that dictates religion as an inherited. It also applies to many of us today, who accept and appreciate Islam, despite the challenges from the wrong social perception that one should inherit the religion of his ancestors, even if it happens to be the wrong religion.
Undoubtedly, we have difference in the way we appreciate Islam, and that reflects on our religiosity orientation. Here I'm referring to spiritual appreciation in the form of ṣūfīsm or salafīsm, as well as I refer to the differences in opinions, as it is in the form of schools of thought (madhāhib).
No matter how close any of these sects believe they are to the truth (within the Islamic framework), they are prone to mistakes and misunderstanding some of the texts (Qurʾān and Sunnah). Therefore, it is not wise for anyone to believe his practices and those of his teachers and ancestors are the ultimate correct. In this context, correctness and also righteousness may not always be the one that comes from one particular sect. There may be variety of correct, which can be referred to as ‘options'.
If one is able to achieve these qualities combined (knowledge, wisdom and taqwā–religiosity), he would have attained a great favour, which Allāh has bestowed upon the best Ummah:
لَقَدْ مَنَّ اللَّـهُ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِذْ بَعَثَ فِيهِمْ رَسُولًا مِّنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَإِن كَانُوا مِن قَبْلُ لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ
“Indeed, Allāh has conferred a great favour on the believers in sending a Messenger from among themselves, to recite His revelations to them, and purify them, and teaches them the Book and wisdom, for, before that they were surely in manifest error.” [Sūrah ʿĀli ʾImrān, 3:164].
In conclusion, whether one has inherited wealth or not, he has to compete with the materially underprivileged, in hunt for the most valuable non-inheritable. Thus, if you are a parent who possesses any of the above non-inheritable, and would wish that your offspring follows your footsteps and legacy, then your challenge is to instill love for those qualities in their hearts. That way, they will appreciate it, and embrace it before others do.
If you leave behind with them physical possessions (which you are encouraged to), it will finish one day, if they solely depend on it. If you leave behind with them knowledge, wisdom or piety, or any two or all the three combined, it will grow with them, and you’ll be happily updated about it in your grave. If you really possess that and are not able to instill them in your child(ren) while you are still alive, be rest assured that others far away from your kinship will inherit them, depending on how much effort they put in to grasp them. This is why these qualities, although they are possessions, they are not included in the distribution of wealth, in the Quran.
The Prophets did not leave wealth to be inherited. They left knowledge instead. The Prophet, salla Allahu ‘alaihi wasallam, said in a Hadeeth narrated by Imām Aḥmad from Sayyidinā Abū al-Dardāʿ:
وَإِنَّ الأَنْبِيَاءَ لَمْ يُوَرِّثُوا دِينَاراً وَلا دِرْهَماً، وَرَّثُوا الْعِلْمَ. فَمَنْ أَخَذَهُ أَخَذَ بِحَظٍّ وَافِرٍ
“The Prophets did not leave behind dīnaar or dirham for inheritance, but rather, they left behind knowledge. And he, who acquires it, has in fact acquired an abundant portion.”
It’s important noting, the Prophets’ knowledge is more than just knowledge. It consists knowledge, wisdom and religiosity.
May Allah open our hearts to appreciate what deserves appreciation and worth striving for. May He bless us with His bestowals and teach us what we have never known. Amīn.
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Allāh knows best.
Allāhu Ḥāfiẓ 🙂
🙂