How Knowledge Can Harm You?
Being knowledgeable & hating others who have a different point of view is chaos for both, i.e., the one with knowledge and the one with less or no knowledge.
To acquire knowledge is the obligation of every man and woman.
When something is put under the umbrella of obligation, it instantly becomes greatly valuable. From the above quote, it’s clear that knowledge has been made an obligation for us. Let me tell you why.
Without knowledge, there is no success. Knowledgeless life is like a rudderless ship lost in the sea. When you acquire knowledge, you become aware of right and wrong. In any context, knowledge is the only tool through which any journey begins and gets to the pinnacle of success in this life and in the hereafter.
It’s logical to think that knowledge is pretty beneficial for human existence. You can’t complete a list if you sit and count how knowledge favours us daily. But wait, there is another side, the dark side, in which a lot of people get trapped. And what’s that?
Knowledge harming you and others!
How?
An illiterate person pursues knowledge. Why? To live a better life. To know the difference between right and wrong. To know if he’s doing good in his personal, professional, social, and spiritual life. That’s the beginning for almost everyone on the road towards improvement via knowledge.
Everything is running smoothly. The same person who had no knowledge starts to see the world from a better perspective. He feels the blessing of acquiring knowledge because knowledge and wisdom are blessing indeed!
After some time, there comes the point when that person becomes curious about other people. His curiosity grows when he observes people around him who are doing differently than him. For example, in Pakistan, people greet each other with a hug and handshake. But when you visit any Arab country, you will see people are greeting by kissing each other on cheeks in respect and love, of course not with the opposite gender! It’s pretty obvious that this is considered to be a cultural difference, and nobody criticises anyone for following the cultural practices.
That curiosity becomes harmful when he feels despise for the people who are doing differently. He starts to think, “Why are they different? Who is teaching them such stuff? I know I’m right, and they are not!” This literally happens so spontaneously that the result is he believes that he is right and others are wrong.
When this stage occurs, that belief becomes strong enough to grow arrogance and hate towards others. He starts to look down on people who have no knowledge. Instead of being humble, his actions intimidate others to the extent that people start to hate the person with knowledge.
That’s how harmful knowledge can become if we don’t follow the guidance provided by the Almighty. We are told not to be proud of ourselves when we achieve anything. Whether it’s knowledge, wealth, health, or wisdom, everything is a gift from God, and we must stay humble and thankful to Him.
This difference of opinion that he is not able to digest is the symptom that he is hurting not only other people but also himself with knowledge.
I know making bombs, nukes, and weapons to kill each other is impossible without knowledge. But that’s one clear path towards destruction. And this path does harm to only one party. The other one celebrates. But being knowledgeable and hating others who have a different point of view is chaos for both parties, i.e., the one with knowledge and the one with less or no knowledge.
The despise towards people just because you have more knowledge than others in any context, be it religion, education, ethics, technology, lifestyle, harms you eventually.
Consequences
You won’t believe that if you look down on others just because they don’t follow your practices, or they follow any other sect, your life will become difficult. Instead of correcting yourself, your hate towards others will sting you. You no longer will find peace because you yourself destroyed your peace in loathing others. And that’s only the consequences on the individual level.
In society, people with less or no knowledge will be afraid of you, and your hate towards them will obstruct them from acquiring knowledge. They will think, “It’s better to remain illiterate rather than being arrogant and repulsive after getting knowledge!”
You see how big chaos has been created because of getting harmed by knowledge? God has already warned us not to create factions once we get knowledge. That’s one of the biggest problems why people fear change.
When a knowledgeless person comes in front of a person equipped with knowledge and wisdom, he becomes cold of terror because he thinks that every knowledgeable person is arrogant and hateful.
Therefore, this chain becomes so long that the generations get poisoned by the harmful effect of knowledge.
There are a few remedies to avoid knowledge from harming ourselves and others that we shall discuss later.
Until then, stay humble!
