Wisdom is the Lost Property of the Believer:

By Salim Mohamed Badat

Prophet Muhammad (saw) is reported to have said “Wisdom is the lost property of the believer; wherever he finds it, he is most deserving of it.” [Tirmidhi)

This profound hadith, invites believers to a universal pursuit of truth and wisdom. It calls on Muslims not to restrict the acquisition of knowledge to religious or ethnic boundaries but to seek it wherever it may be found , in any culture, language, or civilisation.

The Believer as a Seeker.

The Prophet’s (saw) choice of the word (dallah), meaning “something lost”, is crucial. It implies a sense of urgency, personal ownership, and eagerness to reclaim something precious.

For the believer, wisdom and knowledge are not luxuries; they are treasures that once belonged to him, now misplaced in the world, waiting to be found again.

This metaphor powerfully transforms the believer into a perpetual seeker, one who recognises truth even if it comes from unexpected or unfamiliar sources.

Whether the insight appears in a scroll of the Greeks, a discovery of the Chinese, or a scientific paper from the West, the believer should embrace it, not with suspicion, but with gratitude.

A Legacy of Intellectual Openness.

This prophetic ethos shaped the spirit of the Islamic Golden Age. When Muslims encountered the Greek philosophical works, Indian mathematics, and Persian sciences, they did not discard them as “foreign.” Instead, they translated, studied, debated, and refined them , seeing them as part of the believer’s rightful inheritance.

The House of Wisdom (Bayt al-Ḥikmah) in Baghdad became a beacon of this very hadith in practice, where Muslims, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, and others worked together in a shared pursuit of knowledge.

Ibn Sina (Avicenna), al-Khwarizmi, Ibn al-Haytham, these names shine in history not merely because they were Muslim, but because they thought, questioned, and sought wisdom from every accessible source. They lived the spirit of the hadith.

A Reminder for the Modern Muslim.

Today, Muslims are surrounded by a flood of information, but often lack clarity in how to approach knowledge. Some recoil from non-Islamic sources, fearing spiritual contamination. Others fall into blind admiration of the West, divorcing knowledge from its moral or ethical roots.

This hadith offers a balanced middle path:

Seek beneficial knowledge wherever it is found. Discern with the lens of faith and critical thinking. Reclaim what was always ours: the light of wisdom.

In a world filled with both dazzling technology and deep confusion, this Prophetic wisdom calls us to not be passive recipients or reactionary rejecters.

Instead, we are to be active seekers, reclaiming lost truths and integrating them into a holistic worldview anchored in Tawhid (Divine Unity) and service to humanity.

Wisdom Beyond Borders.

The Prophet (saw) said hikmah, wisdom in all its manifestations. The believer’s heart must be wide enough to recognise wisdom wherever he finds it, or the systems of other civilisations. Knowledge is not owned by any group, it belongs to the one who recognises its value.

There is another famous saying attributed to the Prophet (saw): “Seek knowledge, even if it be in China, for seeking knowledge is obligatory upon every Muslim.”

China represented, for the early Muslims, the distant horizon of the known world. The principle is therefore striking: if knowledge is beneficial, do not allow distance, unfamiliarity, culture, language, or civilisation to become barriers to acquiring it.

The Prisoners of war.

Perhaps one of the most remarkable examples of the Prophet’s attitude toward knowledge can be found in the aftermath of Battles.

Among the prisoners captured by the Muslims were men who possessed skills in reading and writing. Some prisoners could not afford to pay a monetary ransom.

Some of these literate prisoners were given an alternative: they could secure their freedom by teaching children from Madinah to read and write.

Consider the significance of this. The Prophet (saw) recognised the value of what they knew. Their knowledge could benefit the Muslim community, and so knowledge itself became a means of liberation.

Conclusion: The Lost Property Awaits.

In a time of identity crises, cultural confusion, and technological dominance, the believer is called back to the Prophetic compass: reclaim your lost wisdom. Search for it with sincerity, receive it with humility, and apply it with justice.

Whether it’s an insight into the human psyche from psychology, a medical innovation, a new economic model, or an ancient parable from another tradition, if it contains wisdom, it was meant for the believer.

It is your lost property. Go and reclaim it.

Salim Badat is a writer exploring the intersections of faith, politics, and justice