Many people wonder what the Qur'an asks of a human being. When we look at the earliest revealed verses, we find that the call opens, from the very start, toward knowledge and reading. This piece tries to understand what the Qur'an says about knowledge and learning in the verses' own words — as an invitation, not an imposition.
What does the Qur'an say?
ٱقْرَأْ بِٱسْمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ
"Read in the name of your Lord who created!" (96:1)
خَلَقَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ
"He created the human being from a clinging clot (an embryo)." (96:2)
ٱقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ ٱلْأَكْرَمُ
"Read! Your Lord is the most generous!" (96:3)
ٱلَّذِى عَلَّمَ بِٱلْقَلَمِ
"It is He who taught (writing) by the pen." (96:4)
عَلَّمَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ
"He taught the human being what he did not know." (96:5)
Learning is also expressed as a continuing request:
وَقُل رَّبِّ زِدْنِى عِلْمًا
"...and say: 'My Lord, increase me in knowledge!'" (20:114)
The worth of knowledge, and how it elevates:
...يَرْفَعِ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مِنكُمْ وَٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا۟ ٱلْعِلْمَ دَرَجَـٰتٍ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ
"...so that Allah may raise, by degrees, those of you who believe and those who have been given knowledge. Allah is aware of what you do." (58:11)
...قُلْ هَلْ يَسْتَوِى ٱلَّذِينَ يَعْلَمُونَ وَٱلَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ ۗ إِنَّمَا يَتَذَكَّرُ أُو۟لُوا۟ ٱلْأَلْبَـٰبِ
"...Say: 'Are those who know and those who do not know ever equal?' Only those of deep understanding take heed." (39:9)
What do we learn?
(interpretation) The picture these verses assemble is striking: the very first revealed word is, as a command, "read," and immediately afterward comes mention of the pen, of writing, of the human being being taught what he did not know (96:1-5). Learning, then, is not an added-on topic but central from the call's first moment.
(interpretation) The prayer "My Lord, increase me in knowledge" in 20:114 suggests that knowledge is not something completed and set aside at some point, but something continually sought. Verses 58:11 and 39:9 present knowledge as a value and as a quality that elevates the person.
Different readings
(interpretation) There are different readings of the scope of "knowledge" in these verses. Some readers understand it primarily as religious / revelation-related knowledge; others say it covers every kind of beneficial knowledge, both religious and worldly. The text itself does not draw up a classification of "this type of knowledge versus that type"; that distinction is the reader's interpretation, and no single correct version can be imposed.
Honest boundary
What is definite in the text: the command "read," the mention of teaching by the pen, the request that knowledge be increased, and that the knowing and the unknowing are not treated as equal (96:1-5; 20:114; 58:11; 39:9). A "worldly vs. religious knowledge" distinction drawn from these verses, or particular curricula and institutional conclusions, belong not to the wording but to the realm of interpretation, and should be labeled as such.
Conclusion: The Qur'an's very first word calls toward reading; learning is a continuous, not a one-off, request, and knowledge is presented as a value that elevates the human being. The rest — the kinds of knowledge, its limits, its applications — is the subject of the effort of understanding and interpretation.
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Source: Qur'anic verses (M. Okuyan meal). Presented with a text/interpretation distinction; not a fiqh fatwa.