Chapter 28

EMIGRATION FOR KNOWLEDGE

Islamhascalledtoemigrateandtravelforobtainingknowledge.God
says:
Whyshouldnotthenacompanyformeverypartyfromamongthem
goforththattheymayapplythemselvestoobtainunderstandinginreli-
gion,andthattheymaywarntheirpeoplewhentheycomebacktothem
that they may be cautious.
Muslimsall overthe agesresponded tothisoriginal call,thenmany
groupsofthememigratedtothevariousIslamicprovincesforjoiningthe
teachinginstitutesthere.Theyalsospentmostoftheiragesenduringthe
painsofdreariness,andtravelingfornothingotherthanseekingknow-
ledgeandGod’sfavor. Assoon asImam Jafaras-Sadiqestablished his
granduniversity,thestudentsall overthe Islamicprovinceshurriedto
joinit.A.Al-Ahlsaid,“PeopleofKufa,Basra,Wasit,andHijazsenttheir
sonsand dearest among all of the Arab tribes...especially sonsof al-
Harithbin abdil-Mutteliband al-Hassan binAli... in additionto great
groupsof thefreeandsonsofthe slavesandthe non-Arabsamongthe
celebrities of the Arabs and Persia, and Qum in specific.”.
TheIslamiccountries,asawhole,participatedinsendingtheirsonsto
theUniversityofImamas-Sadiqforacquiringhissciencesandreceiving
thereligious rulingsfromthatgrandsonoftheProphet (s).TheIslamic
societyachievedascientificrenaissance,theshiningwavesofwhichex-
tended to all of the ages.
ThecelebritiesofMuslimsembarkedupontheseekingofknowledge,
disregardingthesufferingsoftraveling.IbnIsaacsays,“Makhulsaid:I
wanderedthisearthforseekingknowledge.InEgypt,Imissednosingle
knowledge.ThenIcametoSyriaandgarbledtheirsciences.”Saeedbin
al-Museyab said, “I was traveling for several days and nights for the
sakeofstudyingasinglehadith.”.Itisalsorelatedthatan-Nisailistened