In the light of the Holy Hadith

Dear brothers and sister,
Wisdom is the ideal endpoint of human development. But what is wisdom? We find so much information on the internet such as Google, Youtube, Facebook, etc. is it wisdom? No. It is just information. Wisdom is the ability to make correct judgments and decisions. Historically, wisdom has been conceptualized in terms of a state of idealized being, as a process of perfect knowing and judgment as in Prophet Solomon’s judgments. Allah says: “He grants wisdom to whomsoever He will. And whosoever is granted wisdom has been granted much good. Yet none remember save the possessors of intellect.” [2 Baqarah– 269]

In our age, people seem more than ever prone to confuse wisdom with knowledge, and knowledge with information. But wisdom is distinct from information and knowledge. Information is data that has been given meaning by way of relational connection. When information makes a meaning, then it is called knowledge. Knowledge is the appropriate collection of information, such that it’s intent is to be useful. When knowledge makes a value, then it is called wisdom. An English novelist T.S. Eliot said, “Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?”

Wisdom is the universally recognized moral qualities of a human. True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us. Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom. By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection of Quran, which is noblest; Second, by imitation of Prophet, which is easiest; and third by the experience of oneself, which is the bitterest. In accordance with the saying, “Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.”

Jobayer Al Mahmud
Student, Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey.