It is a critical obligation for every person to learn Islamic rulings relevant to their situation. It is impermissible to waste time learning geography and history, or any other branch of worldly knowledge, until one acquires this.^[1]

Anyone seeking worldly knowledge must acquire Islamic knowledge first. They must only study sciences that do not oppose Quran, hadith or Islamic teachings. They must also not compromise on their Islamic morals and appearance. If these conditions are met, one is permitted to study permissible worldly knowledge. 

1. When Allah intends goodness for a person…

The final Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم said:

مَنْ یُّرِدِ اللہُ بِہٖ خَیْراً یُّفَقِّہْہُ فِی الدِّیْن

- If Allah wills goodness for a person, He grants him understanding of the religion.^[2]

2. Scholars are inheritors of the Prophets

The Tābiʿī Kathīr bin Qays رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه once said:

I was sitting with the Companion Abū Dardā رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ in a masjid of Damascus, when a man came to him and said, “O Abū Dardā! I have come to you from the city of Allah’s Messenger صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم after hearing that you narrate a hadith of his. I have not come for any other purpose.”  

“Did you not come for business?”, the Companion asked. The man replied by saying no. “Did you come for anything else besides business?”, the man was asked, to which he again