O devotees of the Prophet! Undoubtedly, the darkness of ignorance is removed with the light of knowledge. It grants success in this world and the Hereafter, and the ranks of the people of knowledge will be elevated in the Hereafter. Our All-Powerful and All-Knowing Lord states:

یَرۡفَعِ اللّٰہُ الَّذِیۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا مِنۡکُمۡ ۙ وَ الَّذِیۡنَ اُوۡتُوا الۡعِلۡمَ دَرَجٰتٍ

Allah will raise the ranks of those who believe among you and those who were granted knowledge.

قُلۡ ہَلۡ یَسۡتَوِی الَّذِیۡنَ یَعۡلَمُوۡنَ وَ الَّذِیۡنَ لَا یَعۡلَمُوۡنَ ؕ اِنَّمَا یَتَذَکَّرُ اُولُوا الۡاَلۡبَابِ

Say, “Are those who know and those who do not know equal?” Only the possessors of insight accept advice.

The father of Imām Aḥmad Razā Khan, Mawlānā Naqī ꜤAli Khān رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه writes about this verse:In other words, an ignorant person can never acquire the same rank as a scholar.

Three Aḥādīth regarding knowledge

The final and beloved Prophet of Allah, Sayyidunā Muhammad صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم saidاِنَّ طَالِبَ الْعِلْمِ یَسْتَغْفِرُ لَہُ مَنْ فِی السَّمَاءِ وَالْاَرْضِ Indeed, every creation in the heavens and the earth supplicate for the forgiveness of a student of knowledge. 

1. The proof of Islam, Imām Muḥammad al-Ghazālī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه said regarding this hadith:

   Who can possess a greater rank than the one for whom the angels in the heavens and the earth supplicate for his forgiveness? The individual is occupied with his work, and the angels are busy supplicating for his forgiveness. 

2. مَنْ طَلَبَ الْعِلْمَ کَانَ کَفَّارَۃً لِمَا مَضیٰ Whoever seeks knowledge, it is an expiation for previous sins. 

   The great Quranic exegete, Mufti Aḥmad Yār Khan رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه said:

   The minor sins of a student of knowledge are forgiven just as they are forgiven through ablution, prayer and other worship. Therefore, this Hadith does not permit a student to commit sins as he pleases. Or it means that those who seek knowledge with good intentions, Allah protects them from committing sins and grants them the ability to expiate for their previous sins. 

3. اَلْعِلْمُ مِیْرَاثِیْ وَمِیْرَاثُ الْاَنْبِیَاءِ قَبْلِیْ Knowledge is my inheritance and the inheritance of the Prophets before me.
   

   Remember, whenever the virtues of knowledge are mentioned in the noble Quran or sacred Aḥādīth, it is referring to Islamic knowledge. The reviver of Islam, the Imām of Ahl al-Sunnah, Imām Aḥmad Razā Khan رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه writes in al-Fatāwā al-Riḍawiyyah volume 23 page 628, “I can provide hundreds of examples from the Quran and Aḥādīth which prove the virtues of knowledge are only for Islamic knowledge.” 

   Knowledge will bring peace in the grave

   ꜤAllāmah Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī al-ShāfiꜤī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه writes in Sharḥ al-Ṣudūr that Sayyidunā ꜤAbdullāh b. ꜤAbbās رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُما reports that the beloved Prophet صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم said:

   اِذَا مَاتَ الْعَالِمُ صَوَّرَ اللّٰہُ عِلْمَہٗ فِیْ قَبْرِہِ یُؤْنِسُہٗ اِلٰی یَوْمِ الْقِیَامَۃِ

   When a scholar passes away, Allah grants his knowledge a form in his grave which grants him solace until the Day of Judgement.اٰمِيۡن بِجَاهِ النَّبِيِّ الۡاَمِيۡن صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم