Assalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
Bismillahir- Rahmanir-Rahim
1. Opening
Friends blessed by Allah, have we ever paused to reflect: behind the grandeur of Islamic civilization lie thousands of silent nights spent by scholars, accompanied by a cup of coffee or tea, fingers stained black with ink, and stacks of paper. Why is their physical exhaustion so profoundly honored by Allah?
Scientifically and essentially, knowledge is the primary purpose of creation, while physical struggle is the means to safeguard that purpose. Without knowledge, we would never know how to worship Allah correctly [Ma‘rifatullah].
Allah SWT says in the Qur’an:
يَرْفَعِ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ دَرَجَاتٍ
“Allah will raise those who have believed among you and those who were given knowledge, by degrees.” [QS. Al-Mujādilah: 11]
The nobility of knowledge is affirmed by Rasulullah ﷺ in a hadith that stirs the soul:
تُوزَنُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ مِدَادُ الْعُلَمَاءِ وَدِمَاءُ الشُّهَدَاءِ، فَيَرْجَحُ مِدَادُ الْعُلَمَاءِ عَلَى دِمَاءِ الشُّهَدَاءِ
“On the Day of Judgment, the ink of the scholars will be weighed against the blood of the martyrs, and the ink of the scholars will outweigh the blood of the martyrs.” [HR. Al-Bayhaqī & Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr]
2. Lessons and Message
War and the blood sacrifice of martyrs are carried out so that this religion does not vanish from the face of the earth. Yet, do we realize what is being preserved from extinction? What is being guarded is knowledge. The blood of martyrs opens the gates of freedom, but it is the ink of scholars that fills the souls of people within those gates with faith .
Let us imagine a heartbreaking event in 1258 CE, when the Mongol army devastated Baghdad. They not only massacred the population but hurled millions of books written by scholars into the Tigris River. History records that the waters of the Tigris turned pitch black from the ink of those books, mixed with the red of blood. The scholars wept not only for the loss of their families’ lives, but for the legacy of revelation and knowledge—written with tears and cold dawns—vanishing in an instant. They knew: the death of one scholar and the loss of knowledge is a crack in the walls of the world. You buy the newest, most expensive and sophisticated foldable smartphone for tens of millions of rupiah. The box is layered with bulletproof protection, guarded by tight security during delivery [this is like the means/the blood of martyrs]. But when you open it, there’s no operating system inside, no apps—just blank [this is like losing the purpose/the ink of scholars].
Isn’t it ridiculous to have a bulletproof phone that you can only use as a doorstop? Well, that’s what religion is without knowledge. Martyrs sacrifice their lives to protect the “vessel” of Islam, while scholars write ink to fill the “apps and system” within our souls. Both are noble, but it is the ink that determines the content!
3. Conclusion and Closing
Friends, the blood of martyrs flows then dries upon the earth, fertilizing the soil that bears witness to the struggle. Yet the ink of scholars flows on paper, piercing through centuries, transcending space and time, then flowing into our hearts today. If today we are not yet able to shed blood as martyrs, let us not also be lazy to pour out our attention in seeking knowledge. Honor the teachers, revere the scholars, and read their books. For later on the scales of the Hereafter, the strokes of a pen we studied sincerely may weigh heavier than blood spilled on the battlefield.
. والله أعلم بالصواب
الحمد لله رب العالمين
Wassalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.
Abu Sultan Al-Qadrie
