Fath al-Rabbani

Benefits: … Just as mines differ from one another—some contain precious materials while others contain worthless things—in the same way, people also differ in terms of character and deeds; that is, some are good and some are bad. Furthermore, those who were distinguished in the era of ignorance (Jahiliyyah) in terms of nobility, virtue, character, and conduct—if they acquire understanding and insight in religion, then their former status and rank will be restored in the Muslim society as well.

A very important point is mentioned in this blessed hadith: the honor of Islam is only completed when one attains understanding (fiqh) in Islam.

At present, among Muslims, strange and peculiar standards of greatness, superiority, and self-conceit have been established: somewhere wealth and property are considered the cause of honor, somewhere lineage and caste are given preference, somewhere worldly education has become the criterion, somewhere political victory and political party have been made the standard of truth and falsehood, and somewhere the exchange of smiles is considered the sign of great humanity.

If, in this Islamic society, there is no value, importance, honor, or greatness for fiqh in Islam (understanding of religion), religious knowledge, and piety (taqwa), and if a person is adorned with these qualities, then the demand of our society is that such a person should take charge of a mosque or madrasa and not interfere in governmental or societal matters. This, in reality, is our standard; it is not the requirement of the criterion of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) and the noble Companions (radi Allahu anhum). They were both world-conquerors and world-rulers; they were both world-holders and world-experienced.