Islam > Hadiths > The creed > The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned something and said: "T…
Sahih/Authentic by virtue of corroborating evidenceUpdated on 24 September 2026 at 12:34 AM
📖 2 min readعَنْ زِيَادِ بْنِ لَبِيدٍ رضي الله عنه قَالَ: ذَكَرَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ شَيْئًا، فَقَالَ: «ذَاكَ عِنْدَ أَوَانِ ذَهَابِ الْعِلْمِ» قُلْتُ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، وَكَيْفَ يَذْهَبُ الْعِلْمُ، وَنَحْنُ نَقْرَأُ الْقُرْآنَ وَنُقْرِئُهُ أَبْنَاءَنَا وَيُقْرِئُهُ أَبْنَاؤُنَا أَبْنَاءَهُمْ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ؟ قَالَ: «ثَكِلَتْكَ أُمُّكَ زِيَادُ، إِنْ كُنْتُ لَأُرَاكَ مِنْ أَفْقَهِ رَجُلٍ بِالْمَدِينَةِ، أَوَلَيْسَ هَذِهِ الْيَهُودُ وَالنَّصَارَى يَقْرَؤونَ التَّوْرَاةَ وَالْإِنْجِيلَ، لَا يَعْمَلُونَ بِشَيْءٍ مِمَّا فِيهِمَا؟!».
As the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was sitting among his Companions, he said: This is the time at which knowledge will disappear and be taken away from people. Thereupon, Ziyād ibn Labīd al-Ansāri (may Allah be pleased with him) wondered and asked the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him): How will knowledge be taken away from us and we lose it, whereas we recite and memorize the Qur’an?! By Allah, we will recite it and make our women and children and our children's children recite it. In response, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said in wonder: May your mother be bereaved of you, O Ziyād! I considered you to be among the knowledgeable people of Madīnah. Then, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) pointed out that knowledge will not be lost by the loss of the Qur’an, but knowledge will be lost by the loss of acting upon it. A case in point is the Jews and the Christians, who have the Torah and the Gospel, yet they did not derive benefit from them or their objective, namely acting upon what they have learned.
Categories : Virtues · Excellence of Knowledge · The Creed · Virtues and Manners · Merit and Significance of Knowledge · Belief in the Last Day · The Barzakh Life (After death Period)