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Understanding The First Duʿāʾ Of The Day - a conversation with Sammar Javed
14 Plays4 days ago
In this episode of The Independent Minds host Michael Millward is joined by Dr Sammar Javed, a lecturer at the University of Derby for a discussion about the morning Duʿāʾ and how it connects learning, activities, and reward.
O Allah, I ask You for knowledge that is of benefit, a good provision, and deeds that will be accepted.
Ibn Majah: 925
What is a Du’a?
For Muslims a Duʿāʾ is a prayer of invocation, supplication or request, asking help or assistance from God. A Duʿāʾ is an important and integral aspect of Islamic worship and spirituality. A Duʿāʾ serves as a direct line of communication between a believer and Allah.
In the conversation Dr Javed explains how the Duʿāʾ places learning in the context of both work and life. She discusses with Michael how knowledge is based on what happened in the past and it is only by constantly learning that we equip ourselves for the challenges of the future.
They explore the meaning of beneficial knowledge, acceptable deeds, and goodly provision.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast Series
00:00:05
Speaker
on zencastr Hello and welcome to The Independent Minds, a series of conversations between Abyssaida and people who think outside the box about how work works, with the aim of creating better workplace experiences for everyone.
Meet the Hosts: Michael and Dr. Samar
00:00:23
Speaker
I am Michael Millward, the Managing Director of Abbasida, and I am joined by Dr. Samar Javed, who is a Business and Management Lecturer and Researcher into Knowledge Management at the University of Derby.
00:00:37
Speaker
As the jingle at the start of this podcast says, The Independent Minds is made on Zencastr.
Zencastr Promotion
00:00:44
Speaker
Zencastr is the all-in-one podcasting platform that just makes making content so easy.
00:00:51
Speaker
If you would like to try podcasting using Zencastr, visit zencastr.com forward slash pricing and use my offer code, Abysida. All the
Podcast Philosophy: Thought Provocation
00:01:01
Speaker
details are in the description.
00:01:03
Speaker
Now that I have told you how wonderful Zencast is for making podcasts, we should make one. One that will be well worth listening to, liking, downloading and subscribing to.
00:01:15
Speaker
As with every episode of The Independent Minds, we won't be telling you what to think, but we are hoping to make you think. Hello, Samar. Thank you for joining us. Hello. Thank you very much for the invitation.
00:01:28
Speaker
It's a pleasure.
Dr. Samar's Research on Knowledge Management
00:01:30
Speaker
Please could we start by you explaining a little bit about your research into knowledge management. So I completed my PhD, which was about knowledge management ah in think tank organizations.
00:01:43
Speaker
Think tank organizations, and mainly I've focused on social sciences, policy research organizations. That also means these organizations are the producers of knowledge.
00:01:56
Speaker
And on top of it, my thesis was that knowledge management can enhance productivity and performance of these knowledge producing organizations.
00:02:08
Speaker
Knowledge
The Meaning Behind Beneficial Knowledge
00:02:09
Speaker
Management that is linked in with the quotation which you have suggested we talk about today, which I am really pleased is actually one of the du'rs from, well not a verse from the Qur'an but a du'r which is a ah prayer.
00:02:23
Speaker
The quotation is, O Allah, I ask you for beneficial knowledge, goodly provision and acceptable deeds. As you said, it's a du'a.
00:02:36
Speaker
It's an Arabic du'a for Muslims. I would like to start with the actual du'a in the Arabic. Please, yes, please.
00:02:47
Speaker
Okay, so as in Arabic for any du'as, we mostly start with the name of Allah, which we say like, Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. And the dua is Allahumma inni asaluka.
00:03:04
Speaker
Which means, I ask Allah. Ilman naafi'an. Ilman means knowledge. Nafi'ans mean beneficial. So, ilman naafi'an, beneficial knowledge.
00:03:21
Speaker
Further, it says, warrizqan tayyiban. Rizq means provisions or your earnings. Tayyiban means payor or good.
00:03:36
Speaker
Next it says, wa amalan mutaqabbalan which means, amalan means deeds and the mutaqabbalan means acceptable.
00:03:48
Speaker
So it actually says that we are asking to Allah who is God, For three things, the beneficial knowledge, goodly provisions, and acceptable deeds.
Defining and Evolving Knowledge
00:04:07
Speaker
Now, all these three phrases, the terminologies, had two sub-terminologies in it, and all three were have very detailed deeper meanings which are very closely knitted to the understanding of knowledge itself.
00:04:31
Speaker
That's where i wanted to start by saying the Doa itself because I also believe that the Arabic terminology, these all three phrases coming in here, have way deeper meaning as just in the English transliteration.
00:04:50
Speaker
ah So we cannot just say toibhan as with good. So it's generally translated as goodly provision, but risk as well have a very wider meaning.
00:05:05
Speaker
as compared to just the translation. So we do need to go into ah the detailed explanations. It speaks a very simple approach to the day when you say this at the beginning of the day.
00:05:18
Speaker
That's very it true, yeah. So if we think of our daily routine, any person, effort, their activity will be around those three scenarios. All those three things are being encompassed in that simple statement. Yes. So you do good learning, you earn right thing. Okay.
00:05:40
Speaker
And you do good deeds. The idea of beneficial knowledge can be taken in in different ways. There is the knowledge that you gain in a formal way, things you do in a formal educational knowledge gaining activity, like going to school or university or somebody at work explaining something to you.
00:06:01
Speaker
And there's also the more abstract version of knowledge, which I think is more about common sense and how this, I think, was saying, like, give me all of the the beneficial knowledge, but but don't forget that as well as the qualifications, I also need the common sense.
00:06:19
Speaker
Well, there could be various dimensions. So if in in in the field of knowledge management, so it have data, wisdom, knowledge. So, you know, that that hierarchy.
00:06:32
Speaker
it It could include intuition as well. Yes. So with senses, that might be the input for for knowledge. So if we think it as a as a machinery, we can say that, okay, the CPU is the brain.
00:06:49
Speaker
Intellect has been working on it as a software. You have the inputting device, which is your five senses. And then on top of it, you have sixth sense.
00:07:00
Speaker
But also there is intuition more to it. And there is more to that whole explanation which has been so far presented in the research.
00:07:11
Speaker
This is true. Our knowledge is very limited, very, very limited. And that's what we always get after one question. If we resolve that one question, we actually end up with two, three more questions.
00:07:25
Speaker
We start resolving those questions. Some more questions are standing in in our in a way later on. So the cycle keeps going on and on, but we have limited knowledge which limits further with various worldly ah constraints.
Beneficial vs. Non-Beneficial Knowledge
00:07:43
Speaker
But the actual point you started from is beneficial. So knowledge in itself, how are we defining, that goes very deep.
00:07:54
Speaker
it's It's over 10 years I've been researching, doing research in about knowledge and in knowledge management. And when someone asks me to define what knowledge is, I'm very hesitant.
00:08:08
Speaker
I struggle. ah You know, my my sibling, my elder brother. So even after PhD, when he asked me, okay, so you have done PhD in knowledge management. What is knowledge?
00:08:19
Speaker
And I always get started. I know. I know that gonna be into that naughty conversation and I avoid not to get into it. When you you can have knowledge a little bit of knowledge which gives you a thirst to increase your knowledge but eventually you can reach the point where you have a large amount of knowledge as anyone does who has a PhD in a particular subject you become an expert and somebody once told me an expert is someone who knows increasingly more about increasingly less so you your knowledge is more specialized but actually
00:08:54
Speaker
The more specialized you are, the more difficult it is to give a straightforward definition of something. Because you know more, you start admitting it, realizing it more, that how little you have.
00:09:09
Speaker
You can see the whole picture of everything because a piece of knowledge from there, from here, all all these pieces of knowledge come together, which show you, um I suppose, the gaps in our knowledge as much as the knowledge that we can actually say, yes, that is true, I can see that, I can see that that is no longer relevant.
00:09:27
Speaker
It's a case of balancing um where we are. And I suppose ah for most people who are not a specialist in a specific area, there comes a point where you have to say, actually, i know enough.
00:09:39
Speaker
thats That's very hard to say. Even in any field, you know, even if professor with, you know, near to retirement age or after that, ah if they would say that, I would say they are lying.
00:09:54
Speaker
it It never be gonna end up. They would always be. And if you see how dynamic the field of research is, every day you keep discovering more and more. Every day you keep coming. And you're the knowledge you possess, the knowledge the researchers and the academic academicians possess, it gets outdated.
00:10:14
Speaker
Yes. So when a new research comes up, the research you have done previous years, that's get dated. So that means you need new knowledge. When every moment is unique, when each new moment is unique, how can you actually deal with that moment on the basis of past understanding?
00:10:39
Speaker
So knowledge, what we understand, is mainly based on the past understandings. That is true. We know what we know because of something that has happened in the past. We do not know about the future.
00:10:51
Speaker
Think what you're describing there. So go back to what I'm saying, that is that you can reach a point where you have the knowledge that you need in order to do the acceptable deeds and receive goodly provision for that.
00:11:04
Speaker
But what you've also said, in like because knowledge updates all the time, there is always something new happening. That's a very good reminder that actually we should not sit back on our laurels at work. We should not say we know all that we need to know.
00:11:20
Speaker
We've always got to have that open mind and looking for the new thing that might be happening somewhere else that we can learn from. It's not a case of and knowledge gaining learning is a point that comes to an end.
00:11:37
Speaker
But as our knowledge increases, perhaps we reach a point that we know what we need to know in order to be good at our jobs. But a part of being good at our jobs is to also recognize the need for constant learning, constant improving, not sitting back and saying, I know it all, but actually trying to move forward.
00:12:01
Speaker
Yeah, continuously striving to know more, to be better beings is the requirement. But coming back to the point of fear we were saying beneficial, so I think it is very important to differentiate but between beneficial and non-beneficial.
00:12:25
Speaker
In my research, I found that there is another door which asks Allah to be a refuge from knowledge which does not have benefit, which I interpreted to mean protect me from gossip, from useless information which is of no benefit to me, information which I get to know about and worry about, but not actually be able to do anything good in order to remedy a situation.
Environment and Knowledge Absorption
00:12:52
Speaker
Yeah, that's very true. In today's world, we talk about big data. We are in the era of social media where we can have thrown our whole day 24 hours into social media, keep going on and on, you know from one video to the other video, from one post to the other post, and the cycle continues. But what is the the benefit or the outcome out of that?
00:13:18
Speaker
That is a conversation I've had with myself several times. What is the benefit of me you know going onto a website, getting the news, and then all of a sudden, half an hour later, realizing that I've been watching things or reading things that are no benefit to me, but they've just been there it could lead us to the world future world of zombies rather than human beings.
00:13:42
Speaker
But again, when I was thinking about about this, a very good example is when a child comes to this world and from all stages of different age, they are getting exposed to the world. They are absorbing the knowledge from their environment, from the people around them.
00:14:07
Speaker
And they get everything. So you know, a child, when it's born, how innocent is that? babies, the young kids, their inquisitive ability, inquiring ability, when that is being exposed to the environment, it starts getting corrupts.
00:14:26
Speaker
And as they grown up, they start becoming rigid and less innocent and less pure with all those impurities which they have actually absorbed from the environment.
00:14:40
Speaker
So when we say beneficial knowledge, so let's, in the context of what I've just said, think further, person who doesn't know what is, let's say, ah a certain crime is, but when that person comes to know some crime,
00:15:02
Speaker
or some immorality.
Knowledge, Morality, and Actions
00:15:04
Speaker
That person is different who didn't knew that bad thing. But once he knew that thing, and you know, with that bad awareness, I feel that devil's chances to attack that innocent soul becomes convenient that they can mislead that being to take the negative steps so they can be in that context where they can take that negative actions, wrong deeds, because they know that wrong deed could be conducted.
00:15:40
Speaker
you know You think of any addictions, any drug addiction might be. If they don't know the taste, they don't know the taste, they don't have urge. But once they have tasted, once they know, that's the non-beneficial, hazardous knowledge which they have known which is leading them to the wrong deeds.
00:16:03
Speaker
I think what you're meaning is that we are all role models to each other. I can remember back to the early days of my career for example and seeing how people worked in the office. I was told once it doesn't matter how busy you are, what's important is to look busy.
00:16:18
Speaker
So you can have nothing or very little to do during your working day, but if somebody walks past you, they've got to think that you are very busy. So have lots of paper on your desk.
00:16:29
Speaker
The idea is to get away with doing as little as possible for as much as possible, which is unbeneficial knowledge was being given that piece of advice to behave in an unprofessional way.
00:16:44
Speaker
That's the way you get on. being told how to do it, the unacceptable deed. When you do something that actually is not ah an acceptable deed, it's impossible to then get goodly provision, a goodly reward, because you've not actually done the things that justify you that reward.
00:17:05
Speaker
But it's ah it's a great way to start the day because this is ah a door that would be set at the start of the day. looking for that beneficial knowledge. I suppose your research is into how knowledge is managed, not just organisationally, but I suppose individually as well.
00:17:23
Speaker
We all have a responsibility to manage our knowledge and the The most important part part of that knowledge is probably the filter that you're describing earlier on. It's like being able to work out, to have the common sense to realize that something that you might see someone else doing or might be invited to do yourself actually isn't a good idea.
00:17:49
Speaker
and being able to say no without experiencing it, without having tasted the the thing that we know common sense tells us that is not a good idea. It's a bit like in a group of friends, one individual may try something and then that becomes acceptable for all the other group people in that group because one person has done it.
Beyond Monetary Provisions
00:18:13
Speaker
It's back to that saying about it only takes one rotten apple to spoil the barrel. It's that. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. You have to have good company. And that's been been said. you you You're known by your companionship.
00:18:29
Speaker
Yes, you are as good as the people that you hang out with. You are as good as your reputation and your reputation is in impacted by the people that you also hang out with, the people that you choose to make as friends or business associates.
00:18:45
Speaker
That impacts um how you perceive the knowledge that is presented to you and your ability to decide whether it is beneficial or not beneficial.
00:18:57
Speaker
That can even, I suppose, come down to the organization that you choose to work with. If your organization has a reputation for being ah poor employer, it doesn't treat its customers well, it doesn't treat its employees well, it doesn't play its role in society. Knowledge, you learn that how you should be.
00:19:23
Speaker
what should be your morals. But not just possessing knowledge is, you know, on its own is a golden key. But it's that golden triangle which we have been getting from this statement, this Doa, that your knowledge should lead to good actions and your knowledge should make you earn the righty right things.
00:19:52
Speaker
And you know, the the riskcon toyhe ban de goodly provisions, the earning you earn that should be right.
Human vs. Machine in Knowledge Management
00:20:01
Speaker
The provisions, it's actually been in translations, it appears as the earnings you earn.
00:20:08
Speaker
That it's blessings. It's not just the provisions, the earnings. It covers all blessings which you get. So your children, it's one of the blessings you have.
00:20:22
Speaker
Your blessing, your provision is not just the earnings from your job, is did not just the profit from your business, but it's all other blessings around you. So if you have five senses, it's a blessing as well.
00:20:38
Speaker
Now it's up to you that how would you be utilizing for all your senses, all your blessings. That's right. if You can differentiate between right and wrong and that will only happen by the knowledge you possess.
00:20:56
Speaker
When you differentiate the right and wrong, you will be able to perform the good deeds. So that golden triangle keeps going. Good deeds, good moral character developed, you will be having more urge.
00:21:11
Speaker
to gain righteous knowledge. Where I started my life journey, it was that first dua, first quote, and now I'm at this stage where I am able to slightly debrief these three sub-phrases in this in this statement.
00:21:30
Speaker
So the first quote was that your duty and by your duty it means for any Muslim their role is a must thing to do is to gain knowledge is a major duties the major role for any Muslim and for a human being from cradle to grave Constantly learning, constantly improving.
00:21:55
Speaker
But it also means understanding as well, doesn't it? It's not just about gaining the knowledge that comes from structured learning. It's about understanding of ourselves, how we interact with the world. Definitely.
00:22:10
Speaker
Yeah. So you'll only be able to jump from beneficial knowledge to good deeds with that understanding. Yes.
00:22:21
Speaker
So it needs to be there. Otherwise, if you just have that, you are more like a machine which is holding data. The human being is way more than
Life Skills Complementing Academic Knowledge
00:22:31
Speaker
machines. So if you think of last two centuries, the ITAC and roughly say capitalism, industrial revolution started, that all actually emphasized towards ah you know mass production and machines.
00:22:48
Speaker
So the way our businesses, the industries, the ah you manufacturing units, they they treated human being as like working mechanically.
00:23:00
Speaker
But recently in in last few decades, only last few decades, it's been realized that no, Even at this stage now when we are having artificial intelligence and we are making intelligent robots, we we have started realizing that human beings need to be distinct than those artificially programmed machines.
00:23:23
Speaker
And that distinction is knowledge. I can see what you mean. This is a very straightforward, simple phrase when you look at it. But when you start to think about it and what it actually means, this idea of beneficial knowledge being not just academic knowledge, but life skills, soft skills, understanding of our environment, understanding of other people,
00:23:50
Speaker
that sets us apart from and other people. The knowledge. There's an expression that knowledge is power, but knowledge is actually what enables you to be a better person as long as you are constantly looking to improve that knowledge, to do the good deeds, the acceptable deeds with that knowledge links in with so many other teachings.
00:24:15
Speaker
And then looking for an appropriate reward rather than i want more and more and more. slide If you want more, learn more.
00:24:25
Speaker
And when you've learned more, apply that knowledge in good deeds and that will then result in a better reward. But reward is not, as I often say to people, that element of loads of money from the 1980s for those of us like me who are old enough to remember that decade.
Episode Reflections
00:24:45
Speaker
It is the non-financial rewards. It is the the fact that somebody might have said thank you. Somebody smiled. You could see the appreciation for what you had done, the impact that you have beyond the actual deed. What you do with the knowledge that you gain becomes your value as a human being. It's what you do with what you learn.
00:25:07
Speaker
And I like this idea of the the golden triangle is that the starting point is this this need to search for knowledge and to constantly be assessing your knowledge.
00:25:22
Speaker
Samar, thank you. You're welcome. I think we set the foundations within this conversation for understanding the importance of knowledge and how that is what drives everything else.
00:25:36
Speaker
Learn before you act is one of the key messages from this. Very important. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. It is beneficial for me as well.
00:25:47
Speaker
Thank you. I am Michael Millward, the Managing Director of Abbasida, and I have been having a conversation with the independent mind, Dr. Samar Javed, who is a Business and Management Lecturer and Researcher into Knowledge Management at the University of Derby.
00:26:05
Speaker
You can find out more about both of us at abbasida.co.uk. There is a link in the description. If you are listening to the independent minds on your smartphone, you may like to know that 3.0 has the UK's fastest 5G network with unlimited data.
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Speaker
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00:26:36
Speaker
The description also includes links to all the various different organisations that have been mentioned in this episode of The Independent Minds, which means that description is well worth reading.
00:26:48
Speaker
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00:27:01
Speaker
Remember, the aim of all the podcasts produced by Abbasida is not to tell you what to think, but we do hope to have made you think. Until the next episode of The Independent Minds, thank you for listening and goodbye.