In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, without partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger ﷺ.
The chapter on knowledge:
In this section Imam al-Shafi’i sets out the kinds of knowledge and what people are obliged to learn, and explains the concept of the communal obligation (fard kifayah), focusing on the importance of knowledge and its necessity in the life of the Muslim.
The main points Imam al-Shafi’i dealt with in this section:
- The kinds of knowledge: Imam al-Shafi’i divides knowledge into two categories:
- The knowledge of the general public (‘ilm al-‘ammah): This is the knowledge of which no sane adult may be ignorant. It includes the foundations of the religion, the pillars of Islam, and what is known of the religion by necessity (al-ma’lum min al-din bi al-darurah), such as the prayer, zakah, fasting, and the pilgrimage (hajj), and the prohibition of fornication, killing, theft, and wine. It also includes what the legally responsible person must do in his worship, his dealings, his beliefs, and the actions of his heart. Everything that servants have been charged with doing or leaving, they are obliged to learn.
- The knowledge of the specialists (‘ilm al-khassah): This is the knowledge of what befalls people of the branches of the obligations and of rulings for which there is no text of the Book, and for most of which there is no text of the Sunnah, and of what admits interpretation and is reached by analogy. This knowledge is not obligatory upon every legally responsible person; rather, it is a communal obligation upon a group of scholars.
- What people are obliged to learn: Imam al-Shafi’i shows that what people are obliged to learn divides into two categories:
- What is obligatory upon every legally responsible person: This is the general knowledge of which none may be ignorant. It includes the foundations of the religion, the pillars of Islam, and the acts of worship, dealings, and beliefs that are obligatory upon him.
- What is obligatory upon whoever engages in a matter: This is the specific knowledge that is obligatory upon whoever engages in a transaction or takes up a line of work, such as the jurisprudence of sales for whoever buys and sells, the rulings of marriage for whoever marries, the rulings of hunting and slaughter for whoever deals in them, and the rulings of inheritance for whoever divides estates.
- Explaining the communal obligation: Imam al-Shafi’i shows that specialist knowledge is among the communal obligations, and that a group of scholars must undertake it, so that if anyone from the general public needs it, he will find someone from whom to seek a legal opinion. He shows that a communal obligation is lifted from the rest when a sufficient number undertake it, but that all of them are sinful if they abandon it while able to perform it. He gives as examples of communal obligations jihad, the funeral prayer, and returning the greeting of peace.
- Examples of communal obligations: Imam al-Shafi’i gives as examples of communal obligations jihad, the funeral prayer, and returning the greeting of peace. He shows that these obligations are not binding upon every individual personally, but upon the community as a whole: if some undertake them, they are lifted from the rest; otherwise all are sinful.
- The proof that jihad is a communal obligation: Imam al-Shafi’i proves that jihad is a communal obligation with the saying of Allah the Exalted: “And it is not for the believers to go forth [to battle] all at once. For there should separate from every division of them a group [remaining] to obtain understanding in the religion and warn their people when they return to them that they might be cautious” (al-Tawbah 9:122). He shows that this verse indicates that going forth to battle is not upon all of the believers, but upon a group of them.
- The importance of undertaking communal obligations: Imam al-Shafi’i shows the importance of undertaking communal obligations: abandoning them exposes the nation to sin and danger, and everyone who is able must undertake whatever of them he is able to, such as seeking knowledge, calling to Allah, enjoining good and forbidding evil, jihad, and relieving those in need.
Additional clarifications:
- Knowledge known of the religion by necessity: This is the knowledge that is hidden from none of the Muslims, such as the pillars of Islam and the foundations of faith.
- The communal obligation: This is what is required of the community as a whole, not of every individual personally: if some undertake it, it is lifted from the rest; otherwise all are sinful.
- The difference between the individual obligation and the communal obligation: An individual obligation (fard ‘ayn) is required of every legally responsible person personally, such as prayer and fasting. A communal obligation is required of the community as a whole: if some undertake it, it is lifted from the rest.
- The importance of knowledge in Islam: Imam al-Shafi’i shows the importance of knowledge in Islam: it is the foundation of righteous action, and the Muslim must learn what he needs of the matters of his religion.
Final summary:
In this section Imam al-Shafi’i sets out the kinds of knowledge and what people are obliged to learn, and explains the concept of the communal obligation, focusing on the importance of knowledge and its necessity in the life of the Muslim, and on the duty of everyone who is able to undertake whatever communal obligations he can, so that the nation does not fall into sin by abandoning them.
All parts of Summary of the Explanation of al-Shafi'i's al-Risala by Dr. Yasir Burhami