Reward of learning worldly knowledge

Question
Assalaamu alaykum Scholar. I would be happy if you did not cite any other fatwas
. Please answer it directly. Is there any reward from Allaah for getting a world
ly education or knowledge, both for males and females?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is
none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad sallallaahu `alayhi w
a sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.
The worldly sciences that people need for their benefits and livelihood, such as
medicine, engineering, physics, chemistry and so on, are among the communal sci
ences that some Muslims should specialize in, and learning them may become oblig
atory upon someone who is more competent in learning them than others, because i
f they were totally abandoned, then societies would be weakened and some acts of
worship would be hindered; because of that, Muslims would be in need for non-Mu
slims.
Ibn Al-Qayyim said in At-Turuq Al-Hukmiyyah, For example, people would need a ran
ge of professions, such as agriculture, textile industry (weaving), and construc
tion, and so forth, so the ruler has the right to force them to do so by paying
them a fair fee, as the public interest would not be achieved otherwise. It is f
or this reason that a group of scholars from the Hanbali and Shaafii schools stat
ed that learning such industries is a communal obligation because of the need of
the people for it.
It is known that there is a reward in doing communal obligations; the one who do
es it is a representative of the nation in making them exempt from obligation an
d sin.
If some people learn these sciences in order to exempt the nation from the commu
nal obligation, then learning them remains permissible in principle. With a good
intention, what is permissible may become an act of worship by which one gets c
loser to Allaah and an obedience for which he will be rewarded. Abu Tharr may
Allaah be pleased with him narrated that the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi
wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) said, And in a man s sexual intercou
rse (with his wife), there is Sadaqah (charity). They (the Companions) said, O Mes
senger of Allaah, is there a reward for the one who satisfies his sexual desire?
He said, Tell me, if he were to fulfill his desire in a forbidden manner (illegit
imately), would it not be a sin on his part? Similarly, if he were to fulfill hi
s desire in a lawful manner (with his wife), he will get a reward. [Muslim]
An-Nawawi said while explaining the benefits of this hadeeth, This hadeeth is evi
dence that if one intends to obey Allaah by doing what is permissible, it will b
ecome an act of obedience and he will be rewarded for it. The Prophet sallallaa
hu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) highlighted this by sa
ying, Even if it were a morsel of food that you put in the mouth of your wife [
you will be rewarded for it]...
Allaah knows best.