31. Spread of Qalam ﻗﻠﻡ

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Approaching the Day of Judgment, the pen will prevail.” Anything written is called qalam, not just the pen. This sign has already occurred.

People did not have written materials, libraries, books and magazines in their homes as we do today. There were societies that had only spoken language – there wasn’t even a written form. Until today, there are languages that have no written form. During the Prophet’s (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) time, you could count the ones who could write. After Islam, Muslims were the educated society. But even then, it wasn’t very common for every house to have a mus’haf. Major Muslim towns had libraries (Damascus, Qurtuba, Basra, etc). The scholars and students of knowledge were the one with books.

It wasn’t even until the 15th century, when Gutenberg invented the printing media, that these things began to be available to people. The active movement of print happened in the 15th century. Now, everyone has a library. In the most rural areas you will finds books and schools. With the computer now, information is available to everyone. With the flick of the computer, you have access to millions of books.

This does not mean that knowledge is prevailing. Most people rely on junk media. Just like there is junk food, there is junk media. True knowledge can be gained through valid books; it cannot be gained through TV. Unfortunately, the masses get their information through TV; it doesn’t give you knowledge.