Education; Path to Connect with God, Attain Higher Status
Surah Al-Alaq introduces a path using which humans can connect to divine favors. According to the verse, humans can reach this position through education and learning.
“Read (Prophet Muhammad) in the Name of your Lord who created, created the human from a (blood) clot. Read! Your Lord is the Most Generous, who taught by the pen, taught the human what he did not know.” (Surah Al-Alaq, verses 1-5)
This is the first Surah revealed to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and shows that reading and learning are part of the revelation. The nature of this revelation and miracle is different from previous ones.
The verses consider education as an asset for one’s soul. This is how one can connect to divine favor and set foot on the path of growth.
All lasting thoughts of humankind have been transferred to the next generations through texts. These are written using a pen that God swears to it: “By the Pen and that (the angels) write.” (Surah Al-Qalam, verse 1)
God is the teacher and humans are the students. The topic is all those issues that humans had no knowledge about. Humans find higher positions through learning what they did not know.
There are two kinds of education provided by God to humans: the first kind is a direct approach in which God has offered instinctive education. The second approach is indirect and done through prophets.
Prophets have tried to teach what humans need through their remarks and lifestyle. Prophets are also teachers as verse 164 of Surah Al-Imran reads: “He sent among them a Messenger from themselves to recite to them His verses, to purify them, and to teach them the Book and the Wisdom (prophetic sayings), though before that they were in clear error.”
