Is it permissible for him to lie to his parents in order to go out and seek (Islamic) knowledge?
Question

                Allah has favoured me by islam. And I love to seek knowledge, but my parents stopped me, they are strongly against seeking Islamic knowledge. I had then to travel and seek knowledge in another city without their permission. When they ask me after I come home late, I lie to them. I spend a full day every week away from home, they think that I am studying with friends, but I am not, I lie to them a lot. 

My questions are: 

Is it permissible for me to lie to them, although I know that lying is a great sin and crime, but it is the only way for me to continue seeking knowledge? 

What shall I do if they know what I was hiding? They will, for sure, stop me seeking islamic knowledge, shall I obey them then or continue what I am doing? They may tell me to leave home if I do not stop, I am a medical student, I cannot do anything else outside to spend on myself, what shall I do?.
Praise be to Allah.
    Firstly: 

    Seeking shar’i (Islamic) knowledge is one of the greatest 
    means of drawing closer to Allaah, and is a sign that Allaah is guiding and 
    loves His slave, because the Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be 
    upon him) said: “When Allaah wills good for a person, He causes him to 
    understand the religion.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (71) and Muslim (1037). 

    This knowledge may be divided into fard ‘ayn (individual 
    obligation) and fard kifaayah (communal obligation). That which is an 
    individual obligation is that which the Muslim needs to know in order for 
    his ‘aqeedah (belief), worship and interactions with others to be sound. 

    Everything other than that is naafil or supererogatory for 
    the individual, but it is a communal obligation for the ummah as a whole. 

    The scholars of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas 
    were asked: Is studying shar’i knowledge obligatory? 

    They replied: Shar’i knowledge falls into two categories. 
    There is that which is obligatory for every Muslim, male and female, to 
    know, which is knowledge of the basics of faith, the pillars of Islam, the 
    rulings on prayer, how to do wudoo’ and purify oneself from janaabah and so 
    on. It is in this sense that the famous hadeeth, “Seeking knowledge is a 
    duty on every Muslim” is to be understood. 

    The second category is fard kifaayah (a communal obligation), 
    which is learning all aspects of Islamic knowledge, the details of various 
    cases and the evidence for them. If some people undertake this, the rest of 
    the ummah is absolved of sin. End quote. 

    Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah 
    (12/90). 

    Secondly: 

    The basic principle concerning lying is that it is haraam and 
    it is only permissible in specific cases that have been explained in 
    sharee’ah, in order to attain major benefits or ward off harm. For more 
    information on these cases please see the answer to question no. 
    47564. 

    Thirdly: 

    Going out to seek knowledge without one’s parents’ permission 
    or against their wishes is something that is subject to further discussion. 

    1 – If acquiring the knowledge is an individual obligation, 
    then it is not essential to have one’s parents’ permission, and if they try 
    to stop you then you do not have to obey them with regard to that. But lying 
    is a serious matter, and equivocation or ambiguity is a safe way to avoid a 
    lie. Al-Bukhaari (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in his Saheeh: 
    Chapter: Equivocation or ambiguity is a safe way to avoid a lie. Ishaaq 
    said: I heard Anas (say): A son of Abu Talhah died, and he said: How is the 
    boy? Umm Sulaym said: He has calmed down, and I hope that he has found 
    relief. And he thought that she was telling the truth. 

    Equivocation or ambiguity is the opposite of clarity. What is 
    meant is saying one thing and meaning something else, or deliberate 
    ambiguity; it is a way out of lying. 

    Al-Haafiz said: The point of quoting what Umm Sulaym said, He 
    has calmed down, and I hope that he has found relief., is that Abu Talhah 
    understood from that that the sick child had recovered, because she said 
    “calmed down” in the sense of quietening down, and gave the impression that 
    he had fallen asleep. When a sick person falls asleep, it may be a sign that 
    the sickness has gone or is reduced. But what she actually meant was that 
    the child had died. This is reflected in her words, “I hope that he has 
    found relief”. He understood that the child had found relief by recovering 
    whereas she meant that he had found relief from the problems of this world 
    and the pain of sickness. She was telling the truth as far as what she meant 
    is concerned, but what she told Abu Talhah was something other than what he 
    understood. So the narrator said: He thought that she was telling the truth, 
    i.e., based on what he understood. End quote from Fath al-Baari 
    (10/594). 

    Ibn Qutaybah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: An example 
    of equivocation is what Ibraaheem al-Khaleel (peace be upon him) said 
    concerning his wife, “She is my sister,” meaning that the believers are 
    brothers and sisters of one another. End quote from Ta’weel Mukhtalif 
    al-Hadeeth, p. 35. 

    If you are asked why you are late, for example, you can say 
    that you were studying with a friend, and they will think that you mean you 
    were studying medicine, when in fact you mean that you were studying Islam. 
    Or you can say that you were with a classmate, meaning a fellow student of 
    Islam, or that you passed by your friend, meaning on your way back from the 
    Islamic class. This ambiguity is only to be used when necessary and you 
    should not do it a great deal when there is no need for it, because that may 
    lead to lying, loss of respect and loss of trust in what a person says. 

    The scholars of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas 
    were asked: It is essential to have parents’ permission for seeking 
    knowledge that is obligatory, or not?  

    They replied: Seeking knowledge on which the validity of your 
    faith and performance of obligatory duties depend does not require parents’ 
    permission, but when it comes to knowledge that is a communal obligation, 
    then parents’ permission should be sought. End quote. 

    Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah 
    (12/78).

     2 – If the parents do not let you attend religious study 
    circles because they dislike your seeking Islamic knowledge, then you should 
    not ask their permission and you are not obliged to obey them in that case. 
    Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: … But if he knows 
    that his parents dislike him seeking Islamic knowledge, then he should not 
    obey them, and he should not ask them for permission if he goes out, because 
    their motive is dislike of Islamic knowledge. See his comments in full in 
    the answer to question no. 11558. 

    3 – If going out to seek knowledge requires travel and being 
    absent from them when they need you to help them and so on, then you must 
    ask their permission. But if seeking knowledge is in the same city where you 
    live, and they do not need you during the period when you are outside the 
    home, then their permission is not essential. 

    Al-Khallaal narrated that a man asked Ahmad (may Allaah have 
    mercy on him): I am seeking knowledge, but my mother has told me not to do 
    that; she wants me to work in trade. He said to me: Be kind to her and say 
    something pleasing to her, but do not stop seeking knowledge. 

    Ibn Muflih said in al-Adaab al-Shar’iyyah (1/646): The 
    author of al-Nuzum said: Do not obey them in forsaking a confirmed 
    naafil action such as seeking knowledge that will not harm them. End quote. 

    Fourthly:  

    You should note that there are many ways of acquiring 
    knowledge, especially nowadays when tapes, CDs and books are widely 
    available. For example: 

    1-You can make use of books, 
    tapes and information available on the internet.

    2-You can make use of the 
    programs on some satellite channels such as beneficial lessons which are 
    presented on the educational Majd  channel.

    3-You can read books and ask 
    knowledgeable people via the internet or through other means, about things 
    you are confused about.

    See also the answer to question no. 
    20191 for more 
    information on how to seek knowledge. 

    We ask Allaah to help and guide you. 

    And Allaah knows best.