بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The world of knowledge is like a vast ocean without limits. When we start learning, we sometimes mistakenly believe we already know everything. This false confidence can lead to arrogance and dismissal of other points of view. As time goes on and the more we seek knowledge, the more we realize how much there is to learn and how little we know. Only Allah SWT possesses complete knowledge of everything.
The Dunning-Kruger effect is a real phenomenon and worth exploring. Scholars of Islam have written about this effect for over a thousand years. Understanding this concept humbles us by showing that our knowledge has limits. This awareness can help us avoid unnecessary arguments and allows us to be open to the fact that we can be wrong. It also helps us appreciate that learning is a lifelong process. The small amount of Islamic knowledge we learnt as children may not be sufficient to guide us through to discussions and proper understanding as adults. Learning is a lifelong journey and we must continually strive to learn and keep growing.
This article was written with the help and inspiration of Sheikh Mohammad Elshinawy's post on the same topic. Image used from his social media post.