The Prophet Muhammad Sallalahu Alaihi Wassallam enjoined the Muslims during his lifetime to go seek knowledge even if it means that they have to undergo so much hardships as to travel to China!
At that time , there was no aeroplanes or motorised transport as we have now. It took months to sail by ships or to travel overland through rugged country sides and having to climb over mountains, etc.
Many question the Prophet’s choice as to why Knowledge needed to be sought in China and not in the established civilisations of the Roman Empire , ancient Egypt or even the Persian empire?
China was the most developed and established cradle of civilisation during the Prophet’s time and the Prophet Muhammad being who he is naturally knew that the best choice and location for his followers at that time was China!
Xi’an was the most sought after education centre during the times of the Prophet and Chinese civilisation was well known to be thousands of years well advanced from the rest of the world at that time!
Beijing was the area of warlords and Shanghai was yet to be the major port and metropolitan city it is today. My ‘Laoshi’ @ Hanyu Teacher shared with me this morsel of knowledge as to why China was preferred by the Greatest Messenger of Almighty Allah to be the place to seek knowledge and till this day, China continues to be one of the modern world’s major educational centre with its heritage that surpasses so many centuries!
I am learning ‘Hanyu’ @ Mandarin from an affiliate Global Hanyu & Culture Study Center which is the Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s first out of China’s Study Centre venture!
Right here in KL, Malaysia, we now have a golden opportunity to learn the best standard of Mandarin @ Hanyu from teachers who have graduated from the prestigious Shanghai Jiao Tong University, from Suzhou, Shanghai, China.
I enjoyed the trial class which was conducted by one of China’s prominent Hanyu teacher’s @ Professor Wang! Even for someone like me who had no prior exposure to Mandarin, picking up the language of Hanyu @ Mandarin proved to be so easy when you get to learn from one of the best there is in the world of Hanyu teaching!
Wang ‘Laoshu’ was outstanding and the trial class was so lively and we all enjoyed it very much!
The present situation where there are 20000 over unemployed Malay graduates can be set right if these graduates come learn the best Hanyu program there is in the world through this center. Nothing changes in our lifes unless we do something to change it ourselves!
Trial classes are held on every Thursday noon & Friday evening. Come join the classes and add value to yourself by mastering Hanyu! Visit www.get-ed.com/hanyu to learn more or visit www.globalhanyu.com to see why this center is the best place for you to master Hanyu!
Call 603-2171 1776 to book your seats! Seats are limited! First come first served!
Don’t wait for the Government or any NGO to come spoonfeed you ! If there’s a will there’s always a way!
Malays who want to apply for jobs with Chinese companies better equip themselves with the Hanyu study program which will definitely open up so many doors to them which was previously sort of an automatic ‘firewall’ when it came to the requirement to have Mandarin among the other important criteria when they apply for jobs!
You don’t have to travel all the way to China if you want to be able to read, write and speak the best quality of Hanyu @ Mandarin there is today in the wide world!
It’s close to the KLCC. Within minutes of walking distance from the Monorail and also located in the same building as the British Council! Wisma Selangor Dredging is the place and you better come sign up if you want to win in the race!
Call early to book your place! Xie xie nee!
Hits: 15
The reason the prophet said that is because China was the farther known great civilization back then, not because China was known as a learning center by the Arabs or Muslims. The saying meant encourage ppl to learn, whatever the distance may be, not to go to China per se.
It’s not to be taken literally.
Well, personally speaking I think China is definitely the better choice for those who want to improve their knowledge.
Malaysians in particular stand to gain much if they go for further studies in China for almost half of Malaysia’s population is Chinese.
As we all know , the Chinese Malaysians are the backbone of this nation’s economy and they play a very important part in providing jobs and generate business opportunities for the nation’s populace.
The present quagmire of unemployed Malay graduates can be solved by adding value to them by adding Mandarin proficiency to their skills.
Chinese owned companies require their staff to be Mandarin savvy for communication purposes.
China’s growth in business and technological advancements opens up a whole new world of opportunities for those who are smart enough to tap into this enormous market of more than a billion consumers.
Malaysians are making a beeline to China to start joint venture industrial, commercial and private businesses.
Being positive and looking at things in a win win situation will definitely bring prosperity and success to all of us.
I feel that there’s much we can learn from China and also build new bridges between Malaysia and China in various social, cultural and business aspects.
Better understanding between the Chinese and the Malays will benefit our national integration and bring about social unity and goodwill.
The road to success is right before us all.
All we need to do is to look for ways to build those bridges of common understanding and not destroy what this nation has achieved so far.
It’s all up to us to change our fate ; not waiting for some miracle to take place on it’s own.
Confucious said ‘ Mankind can be asked to follow but can’t be asked to know’.
I figure that the above great Sage and Philosopher of China meant that people can be asked to follow but for them to learn and acquire knowledge, it hs to be nurtured from within themselves.
I don’t know about the rest of the world but for us Malaysians, we stand to gain much by forging better ties with China and also India for the matter to bring better value to our lifes in all aspects.
assalamualaikum to pcik mahaguru58.terima kembali ats kunjungan ke blog sy n for the coretan as well..actually i’ve been looking forward to learn mandarin since i do hv some bunches of chinese mates but above all learning languange really do me such a satisfaction,hence been searching for an easier (n cheaper as well! ) method to get at it.i do search for a mandarin learning cd but not so much satisfying me.to know about the class afte reading the article in ur blog really gv me a relief.when there’s a will there’s a way.(“,)
what had been taught in the trial session?any dateline for the trial class?or is it to no dateline?
one thing about both india n china hv in common,highly-populated country with low standard of life but both are monopolising the world economy.dua negara tu adalah kuasa besar ekonomi,am i right?really amaze me..
Thanks for gracing my blog with your comments dear Afifah.
It’s good to know young people like you who have the drive to improve yourself with learning the Mandarin language, which is the lingua franca of a billion over Chinese all over the world and also who are almost half of our nation’s population.
My wife’s nieces all studied in the Chinese schools in their primary and secondary levels.
After graduation from university, they were immediately offered employment.
The elder with Petronas and the younger with an Accounting firm.
Another runs a construction company with most of his dealings being with the Chinese suppliers etc.
If we can have a good command of Mandarin, we can utilise it to share proper information about everything from Islam, Education or Business in Mandarin to the Chinese population.
Long embedded misconceptions about each other’s faith and cultures can be slowly dealt with and eradicated from our community in the long run. Insyaallah.
~~~
The trial classes usually consist of learning the proper intonation and speech pronunciation of the basic Hanyu vocabulary.
You can call the center at 03-2171 1776 to book your trial class seat.
The classes are held every Thursday noon and Friday evenings.
Call the number and say that you would like to register for the trial class.
The classes will be offered indefinitely.
Once you are satisfied and comfortable with the way you are being taught, the next natural step to take would be to properly enrol in our classes and work your way through the different levels.
~~~
Both China and India have billion over populations.
These two great civilisations are slowly waking up into economic and business giants.
People who live in these nations differ in cultures and those who are still living in poverty there are usually individuals who are stuck in the old ways and tribal customs.
China is somewhat different in that they do not hve as much caste problems as found in India.
The Chinese themselves have many various tribes and ethnicities but the problems faced are not as acute as in certain parts of rural India.
Problems such as poverty are in every part of the world and even developed countries such as the USA, UK and European Union have their share of people who prefer to wait to be ‘spoonfed’.
The term used is living on ‘dole’.
Such mentality is also prevalent here in Malaysia.
It is called ‘budaya subsidi’.
The Malays who are graduates yet unemployed need to get up off their butts and start reassessing where they are lacking in skills and self development.
Allah SWT says in the Qur’an:
‘I WILL NOT CHANGE THE FATE OF MANKIND UNLESS THEY CHANGE IT THEMSELVES!’
It’s high time our unemployed graduates do that and I will see to it that those who are starting college and universities get to add Mandarin among their qualifications from now on to have a fighting chance to secure jobs previously denied to them because they didn’t have the Mandarin proficiency! Insyaallah!
the hadith is not a sahih hadith. being an Islamic scholar, you should know this.
Being said that, I would agree that China will (or atleast should) emerge as World’s superpower along with India. This would neutralize the current maniac, the America
I too have heard contradicting news about the hadith above but it is considered as ‘hasan’ .
Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Raheem
wa salli `ala nabiyyihi Muhammadin wa `ala aalihi wa saahbihi ajmaa`een
Hadith:
‘Utlub il ‘ilma wa law fis-Sin.
The Prophet (s) said, “Seek knowledge even in China,”
Hadith HASAN MASHHÛR – “fair, famous.” Note: Applied to a hadith, the term mashhûr refers to a type of ahad narration that has five to nine narrators at each link of its chain and is therefore nearly mass-narrated (tawatur). Note that this is not an index of its authenticity as a mashhûr hadith may be either sahîh, hasan, or da`îf. Also, the label of mashhûr is sometimes given to merely famous narrations which are not nearly-mass-narrated.
Narrated from Anas by al-Bayhaqi in Shu`ab al-Imaan and al-Madkhal, Ibn `Abd al-Barr in Jami` Bayaan al-`Ilm, and al-Khatib through three chains at the opening of his al-Rihla fi Talab al-Hadith (p. 71-76 #1-3) where Shaykh Nur al-Din `Itr declares it weak (da`îf). Also narrated from Ibn `Umar, Ibn `Abbas, Ibn Mas`ud, Jabir, and Abu Sa`id al-Khudri, all through very weak chains. The hadith master al-Mizzi said it has so many chains that it deserves a grade of fair (hasan), as quoted by al-Sakhawi in al-Maqaasid al-Hasana. Al-`Iraqi in his Mughni `an Haml al-Asfar similarly stated that some scholars declared it sound (sahîh) for that reason, even if al-Hakim and al-Dhahabi correctly said no sound chain is known for it. Ibn `Abd al-Barr’s “Salafi” editor Abu al-Ashbal al-Zuhayri declares the hadith hasan in Jami` Bayaan al-`Ilm (1:23ff.) but all the above fair gradings actually apply to the wording: “Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim.”
Source: http://www.sunnah.org/sources/hadith_utlub_ilm.htm
Sure, there are contradicting sources about this hadith but then again, looking at it from a contextual point of view, Seeking knowledge is enjoined and a good thing to do.
Thanks for commenting and I agree with you that America needs to be checkmated as far as it’s Imperialistic designs on world domination is concerned.
We don’t see China being a threat to the world in the future but being China, it needs to help the rest of the world from being devastated by American bombs and bullying other nations into kowtowing to its military might!
I am a perpetual mureed dear Shalu.
As a mureed, there are things that I have come to learn and a zillion other things that I have yet to learn about.
Those things that I have come to learn about and discover them to be true , I share info about them with others.
At times, even what seems true turns out false and I learn from my mistakes.
In my lifetime, I have had my fair share of positive moments and otherwise.
Those worth remembering, I put them down in writing as a memoir.
Moments where it was otherwise, I remember them in my mind but let them disappear into the recesses of time.
No point in dwelling on the past failures or screwups. They will bring us down.
I’d rather strive to improve my lot and work towards a better future for me, my loved ones and others whom I come into contact with in my lifespan.
So, just to set the record straight.
I do not claim to be a scholar but just a ‘perpetual student’ of life and all that is has to offer.
Have a nice day.
How very nice of you. Now about the sahih and hassan of hadith, since I am a Kaafir, you would think I have no rights to futher argue, so I will stop here. I however had requested a friend of mine to comment on that. Hopefully she will. She is a scholar, a devout Muslim and most important of all a friend that no one can afford to lose for whatever reason.
I am interested in your look on China’s economic growth and your typical blanketing Indian as castist. I will write about it in your disscussion board later today.
Salam,
I also think that there must be more than a say when Prophet pbuh mentioned China. Being a smart person who got direct teaching from Allah (through Jibril), he must have known more.
Look to what have happened to China today. Imagine if we practiced and studied the hadith, we went to China before it’s booming, perhaps we are at a better level now!
Tuntutlah Ilmu Walau Ke Negeri China