—not for the sake of this world, but to benefit Allah’s creatures. In that case there is no harm in it; you will not be counted among those who sought this world through their knowledge, nor will the threatened punishment touch you. Praise be to Allah: “Deeds are judged by intentions, and everyone shall have only what he intended.” All praise belongs to Allah—this is the scale: look into your heart and see what it has intended.
Accordingly, when someone studies at the university in order to obtain a certificate, we ask him: What exactly do you want? Do you want the certificate so that you may attain such-and-such a rank and earn such-and-such a salary? If he says, “Yes—I am needy and I want that,” we reply, “You have failed and lost as long as your aim is this world.”
But if he says, “No; I want to benefit people, for nowadays one cannot reach them through teaching except with certificates, and that is what I seek,” or, “A person is not appointed to a high post—one in which he leads a group of Muslims—unless he holds a certificate, and I want that,” then we say, “Praise be to Allah; that is a good intention and there is no blame on you. Deeds are judged by intentions, and each person shall have only what he intended.”
The important thing, my brother who seeks knowledge, is to beware of corrupt intentions. The sacred sciences are too noble, lofty, and exalted for you to pursue with them some passing share of this world. Worldly gain—what real benefit is there in it? In the end it ends up in a place of filth: you eat and drink and it goes to the latrine. Even the most delightful bodily want a person pursues—eating and drinking—still ends in the toilet.
Moreover, even if the world should stay with you, one of two things must happen: either you will leave it or it will leave you. You may become poor and lose your wealth, or you may die and your wealth will pass to someone else. The matters of the Hereafter, however, endure.
So why would you turn the study of the Sacred Law—which is itself an act of worship, indeed the finest of acts of worship—into a ladder by which to climb to some worldly advantage? That is folly of mind and deviance in religion. Devote your sacred learning to Allah, the Mighty