The 365 · Verses · Day 135 · Knowledge
Allah elevates by this Book and degrades by it.
Qur'an Quran 58:11
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِذَا قِيلَ لَكُمْ تَفَسَّحُوا۟ فِى ٱلْمَجَـٰلِسِ فَٱفْسَحُوا۟ يَفْسَحِ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ ۖ وَإِذَا قِيلَ ٱنشُزُوا۟ فَٱنشُزُوا۟ يَرْفَعِ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مِنكُمْ وَٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا۟ ٱلْعِلْمَ دَرَجَـٰتٍ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ
“You who believe... God will raise up, by many degrees, those of you who believe and those who have been given knowledge: He is fully aware of what you do. (Abdel Haleem)”
Svenska: TROENDE!... Då skall Gud upphöja dem bland er som är [sanna] troende och dem som har fått kunskap, till högre rang. Gud är underrättad om vad ni gör. (Knut Bernström)
The story
Ibn Kathīr cites: ʿUmar met Nāfiʿ ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥārith (his governor in Mecca) at ʿUsfān. ʿUmar asked who he had appointed as deputy. Nāfiʿ: 'I appointed Ibn Abzā, one of our freed slaves.' ʿUmar: 'A freed slave?' Nāfiʿ: 'He has memorized Allah's Book and has knowledge of inheritance laws.' ʿUmar then quoted the Prophet's ﷺ hadith: Allah elevates by this Book and degrades by it.
In the language
Yarfaʿ (raise) is the verb of structural elevation; darajāt (degrees, plural) indicates multiple ranks. The Quran does not say everyone with faith is elevated equally; degree of elevation tracks degree of knowledge.
Why this verse
Q 58:11 names two structural elevations Allah grants: (1) those who believe; (2) those who have been given knowledge. Knowledge is named alongside īmān as the Quranic basis for divine elevation. Ibn Kathīr cites the Prophetic hadith preserved by Muslim, narrated by ʿUmar: 'Indeed, Allah elevates some people and degrades others on account of this Book (the Quran).'
Bring it into today
The believer who allocates time, money, and effort to acquiring beneficial knowledge is operationally seeking the Quran-named elevation. The believer who does not is structurally below the elevation-band.
A reflection to carry
The Companion-practice followed: Ibn Abzā, a freed slave, was appointed governor over senior Companions because of his Quran-memorization and his knowledge of inheritance. The Quran does not elevate by lineage, wealth, or social standing; it elevates by faith and knowledge.
Read the longer reflection
Ibn Kathīr's contextualization: the Prophet's ﷺ hadith makes the elevation structural and tied specifically to the Quran. The believer who carries the Quran in his chest, his understanding, his action, is structurally elevated; the one who has the Quran on the shelf is not. The classical scholars wrote that this verse is the Quranic charter of the scholarly tradition.
Sources: Ibn Kathir. The Qur'an and its translation are verified; the scholarship is retold faithfully in our own words and credited to its sources, never reproduced verbatim.
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