Gaining Knowledge to Revive Islam Hasan Al-Basri narrated that Allah’s Messenger (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “He whom death overtakes while he is engaged in acquiring knowledge with a view to reviving Islam with the help of it, there will be (only) one degree between him and the Prophet in Paradise.” [Tirmidhi and Darimi] When Islam first came, society was so corrupt that the teachings of Islam appeared strange. The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) foretold that there would once again come a time when people would have gone so astray that the teachings of Islam would appear strange to them.