What did Prophet Muhammad mean by “Seek knowledge even as far as China"?

Sources

• ✓ Al-Kafi 2:1

  Shia

  Al-Kafi · Book 2, Hadith 1

  The Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) said: Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim. Surely God loves those who seek knowledge fiercely. — OR — God, the Mighty and Majestic, says: ‘Those who reject My worship will enter Hell, humbled.’ He said: That is supplication and the best worship is supplication. I said: Verily, Abraham was often lamenting. He said: The lamenting is supplication. — OR — Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, has decreed for women once each month. — OR — Islam is established upon five things: prayer, zakat, pilgrimage, fasting, and allegiance. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said, 'Fasting is a shield from the fire.' — OR — The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) passed by a man and said, 'What did you do to your wife?' He said, 'I divorced her, O Messenger of Allah.' He asked, 'Without any wrongdoing?' He said, 'Without any wrongdoing.' Then the man remarried and the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) passed by him again and said, 'Have you married?' He said, 'Yes.' Then he asked him again, 'What did you do to your wife?' He replied, 'I divorced her.' He asked, 'Without any wrongdoing?' He said, 'Without any wrongdoing.' Then the man remarried again, and the Prophet passed by him and said, 'Have you married?' He said, 'Yes.' Then he asked, 'What did you do to your wife?' He said, 'I divorced her.' The Prophet said, 'Without any wrongdoing?' He said, 'Without any wrongdoing.' The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said, 'Allah, the Almighty and Glorious, hates and curses every man who tastes [divorce] and every woman who tastes [divorce].' — OR — I commanded the one who asks Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him) whether the money belongs to the closest relative or to the agnates. He said: The money belongs to the closest relative, and the agnates share in the remains. — OR — Sufyan al-Thawri came to Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him) and saw white garments on him as if they were from fine white flax. He said to him: This clothing does not befit you. Abu Abdullah replied: Listen to me and stay with what I say to you, for it is better for you now and in the hereafter if you die upon the Sunnah and truth and not on innovation. He informed him that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) lived in a barren, desolate time. However, when the world comes forth and flourishes, the rightful owners are its righteous, not its wicked; its faithful, not its hypocrites; its Muslims, not its disbelievers. What you disapprove of, O Thawri, by God, I have been consistent with since my reason took hold, morning and evening. By Allah, there is a right upon my wealth that I must place it in its proper place, and I do so. Then some people came who appeared to practice asceticism and called upon others to join them in similar austerity. They said to him: Our companion is prevented from hearing your words and you do not have his proofs present. He said to them: Bring your proofs then, and they said: Our proofs are from the Book of Allah. He replied: Present them, for they are the most rightful to be followed and practiced. They said: Allah, Glorious and Exalted, reports about a group from the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) who prefer others over themselves even if they are in need, and whoever restrains his own greed, they are the successful ones. He praised their action and said elsewhere: They feed the food out of love for Him to the needy, the orphan, and the captive. We suffice with this. Then a man among the companions said: We see you abstain from good foods and yet command people to spend from their wealth while you yourselves enjoy it. Abu Abdullah said: Leave aside things that do not benefit you. Tell me, O people, do you have knowledge of the abrogating and abrogated parts of the Qur'an, of its clear and ambiguous verses, the like of which causes the misguided and the lost among this nation? They said: Some of it. He said: You have come from here, and likewise the sayings of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family). As for what you mentioned of Allah's reports about them in His Book’—those about the people praised for their good deeds—it was permissible and laudable, and they were not forbidden from it, and their reward is with Allah. That is because Allah commanded something contrary to what they did, so His command became the abrogating act over their deeds, and He forbade it as a mercy for the believers, so they would not harm themselves or their families: the weak, the young, the ephemeral elderly who cannot endure hunger. If I give charity from my bread and there is no other bread, they would perish and die of hunger. Hence, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: Five dates or five coins or dinars or dirhams that a man owns and intends to spend — the best of these is what he spends on his parents, then on himself and his dependents, then on his needy relatives, then on his poor neighbors, then on the path of Allah, and that is the least rewarded. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said to the Ansari when he freed five or six slaves at his death and possessed no more, and had young children: If you had known my condition, you would not have buried me with the Muslims. He leaves behind young children who burden people. Then he said, my father narrated to me that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: Start with those closest to you in your responsibility, the nearest first. This refutes what you said and forbids it as ordained by Allah, the Mighty and Wise. He said: And those who spend do not waste excessively nor are they stingy but stand in between. Do you not see that Allah, Glorious and Exalted, said that you call people to extravagance over themselves and called those who do what you call people to the wasteful ones? And in no verse of the Book of Allah does He say He loves the wasteful, but forbids them from excess and stinginess. Rather, the matter is between two affairs: do not give all you have, then invoke Allah to provide for you; He will not respond. From the hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): There are categories among my nation whose prayer is not answered: a man who curses his parents; a man who curses a creditor who took his due but did not write or witness it; a man who curses his wife although Allah holds her fate; a man who sits at home saying, 'My Lord, provide for me,' yet neither leaves nor seeks provision. Allah says to him: Did I not make the way for you to seek and travel by your healthy limbs? You are excused between you and Me because of following My command and so you do not become a burden to your family; if I please I provide for you, and if I please I withhold, and you are not excused with Me. A man whom Allah has blessed with abundant wealth spends it, then comes back and says: 'Lord, provide for me,' and Allah says: Did I not give you ample provision? Why are you extravagant and wasteful when I forbade you from excess? A man begs from a herd of relatives, then Allah taught His Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) how to spend, because he had an ounce of gold, which he disliked to keep overnight, so he gave it in charity; by morning he had nothing left. When a person came asking, he had nothing to give; the asker reproached him and he was saddened because he had nothing. God, compassionate and gentle, guided the Prophet with His command: Do not make your hand tied to your neck, nor stretch it out completely lest you sit blamed and despairing, saying: People ask you but do not excuse you. If you give all your wealth, you will have despaired from wealth. These are the sayings of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) affirmed by the Book, and the Book is affirmed by the believers among the faithful. Abu Bakr at his death when asked to advise said: I advise you regarding the khums (one-fifth), and the khums is abundant, for Allah has accepted the khums, so he advised with it. Allah had assigned him a third of the inheritance at his death; had he known that the third was better for him, he would have advised it. Then amongst those known for their virtue and abstinence after him were Salman and Abu Dharr, may Allah be pleased with them. Salman, when he received aid, raised his food for the year until his next aid arrived. When it was said to him, “O Abu Abdullah, you behave in this manner in your asceticism, but you do not know—you might die today or tomorrow,” he replied: Why do you not hope for my life, just as you fear for my death? Do you not know that the soul is clingy to its owner if it finds no livelihood to depend upon, and when it secures its subsistence it is at peace? Abu Dharr had small flocks that he milked and slaughtered for his family or when guests came or when he saw those in need among the people of the water with him, he would slaughter a small lamb and divide it among them, taking his share like anyone else without preference. Among them, who was more ascetic? And concerning them, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said nothing, nor did he ever reach the matter of making them possess nothing altogether, as you order people to cast away their belongings and prefer them over themselves and their dependents. Know, O people, that I heard my father narrate from his fathers (peace be upon them) that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said one day: I have never been more amazed than by a believer. If his body is repaid with hardships in this world, it is better for him; if he possesses what is between the east and west of the earth, it is better for him, and everything Allah does with him is good for him. I wonder, shall what I have explained to you today reach you fully, or shall I increase it? Do you not know that Allah, Glorious and Exalted, has prescribed that the believer initially fight ten polytheists and not turn his face from them? Whoever turns his back on them that day has prepared his seat in the fire. Then He replaced the ten with two as a mercy from Him for the believers. He thus abrogated the ten polytheists with two. Inform me also about judges: Are they unjust when they order a man to provide for his wife’s maintenance if he says, 'I am ascetic and have nothing'? If you say they are unjust, the people of Islam have wronged you; if you say fair, you have harmed yourselves. When you return charity given to the poor at death exceeding a third, tell me: If all people were the ascetics you want, they would have no need for others' belongings. Then on whom would the poor be offered expiations of oaths, vows, alms from obligatory zakat on gold, silver, dates, raisins and all that requires zakat among camels, cows, sheep and others? If the matter is as you say, it is not right for anyone to hoard worldly possessions except what he has presented, even if he is in need. What a terrible state you have come to and what a burden you have placed on people out of ignorance of the Book of Allah, His Messenger’s Sunnah, and the hadiths affirmed by the revealed Book, and your return of them out of your ignorance and refusal to consider the Qur'an's rarities concerning abrogation, clear and unclear verses, commands and prohibitions. Tell me, where are you in relation to Solomon son of David (peace be upon him) when he asked Allah for a kingdom not appropriate for anyone after him? Allah gave him that, and he spoke truth and acted accordingly. There was no blame from Allah or any believer on him. David the Prophet (peace be upon him) before him in his kingdom and mighty authority, then Joseph the Prophet (peace be upon him) when he said to the king of Egypt: Appoint me over the treasures of the land, for I am knowing and discerning. Among his affairs was appointing the king's kingdom and its surroundings under his control toward Yemen. They detrusted the food from him due to a famine that afflicted them, yet he spoke truth and acted by it. No one blamed him. Then Dhu’l-Qarnayn was a servant whom Allah loved and loved him. He made a path for him and appointed him over the east and west of the earth; he spoke truth and acted by it too, and no one blamed him. So be disciplined, O people, by the etiquettes Allah has for the believers, and limit yourselves to Allah's commands and prohibitions. Leave aside what is doubtful for you and whose knowledge you do not have. Return knowledge to its proper owners; you will be rewarded and excused before Allah, Glorious and Exalted. Seek knowledge of the abrogating from the abrogated in the Quran, the clear from the ambiguous, and what Allah has made lawful from what He has forbidden — for that is nearer to you from Allah and farther from your ignorance. Leave ignorance to its owners, for the ignorant are many and the knowledgeable are few. Allah, Glorious and Exalted, has said: And above every possessor of knowledge is one more knowledgeable.