Ignorance Is an Illness

The Shaykh and Imam, Shaykh Al-Islam and grand Mufti, Shams Ad-Din Abu 'Abdullah Muhammad bin Abu Bakr bin Ayyub, he is the leader of the Jawzi school in the city of Damascus -Allah be pleased with him- began to answer the question as follows:

Absolute praise rightfully belongs to Allah alone. It has been authenticated in the Sahih of Al-Bukhari on the authority of Abu Hurairah who narrated from the Prophet who said, "Allah did not decree the descent of any illness, except that He revealed a remedy for it."

And in the Sahih of Muslim, on the authority of Jabir bin Abdullah who said: The Messenger of Allah said: "For every illness there is a remedy, if the remedy matches the illness, he shall be cured by the permission of Allah."

In the Musnad of Imam Ahmad, on the authority of Usamah bin Shurayk who narrated that the Prophet said: "Indeed, Allah never decreed an illness, except that He also decreed its cure. Those who know it, know so, and those who are ignorant of it, are ignorant of it."

In another wording, it states: "Allah has not placed any illness without its cure or remedy, except one illness." They asked: "O' Messenger of Allah, what is it?" He replied, "Old age." At-Tirmidhi graded this narration as authentic. This is comprehensive of the illnesses of the heart, soul and body along with their remedies.

Ignorance is an Illness

The Prophet declared that ignorance is an illness, whilst its remedy is to ask the scholars. Abu Dawud has cited in his Sunan, on the authority of Jabir bin Abdullah who said: "We went on a journey with the Prophet when a man was struck by a stone that left a gash on his head. Later, he was overcome by nocturnal emission, so he enquired with his companions by saying, 'Do you deem that I have a concession to perform tayammum?' They replied: 'We do not deem that you have this concession whilst you are able to use water.' Thus, he bathed in water and consequently died. When we approached the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), he was informed of this incident and said, 'They have killed him, Allah kill them! If only they had asked if they did not know! Surely the cure for ignorance is to ask. It would have sufficed him to perform tayammum and press a bandage over his gash and wipe the water over it and wash the remainder of his body.'"

Here he informed that ignorance is an illness, and its cure is to ask.

The Entire Quran Is a Remedy

Allah has mentioned that the Quran is a remedy. He said: "And if We had made it a non-Arabic Quran, they would have said, 'Why are its verses unexplained in detail? Is it foreign yet the Messenger is Arab?' Say: 'It is for those who believe, a guidance and a cure." [Fussilat:44]

He also said: {And We reveal from the Quran what is a cure and a mercy for the believers.} [Al-Isra':82]

The letter 'min' (from) in this verse defines the type and does not indicate a reference to a part of whatever is being mentioned, as the entire Quran is a remedy, as elaborated in the first of the two verses above. So it is a cure for the hearts from the illness of ignorance, doubt and misgivings. Thus, Allah did not reveal a cure from the heavens that is more comprehensive, beneficial or more powerful or inclusive in eradicating an illness than the Quran.