By: Bint Basheer
The Imam of Da'wah, Muhammad b. Abdulwahhaab b. Sulaymaan at-Tameemee, rahmatullaah alahyi, in his book, Al-Usool Ath-Thalaathah, that there are four matters of great importance to Muslims. They are: acquiring knowledge (about Islam) with proof, acting upon it, calling people to it and persevering and bearing any difficulty encountered with regards to it.
Knowledge is awareness and understanding of facts and information about someone or something; a state of not being ignorant about that person or thing. Knowledge in this instance therefore means being aware and having understanding of the Deen in its entirety; knowing Allaah, His angels, Prophets, signs and being familiar with the pros and cons that come with worship of Allaah and all our daily activities as stipulated by Islam. It is therefore incumbent on every Muslim to be aware of all that has been mentioned above as this is what we have been created for.
One may ask, 'why do I need to seek so much about the knowledge of Islaam?' A doctor cannot diagnose and treat the diseases of his patients without adequate knowledge - if he does so, the lives of such patients will be in danger. The effect of a Muslim being ignorant of the Deen is far greater than this. Generations would be at risk of losing their supposed good deeds e.g inadequate knowledge of tahaarah and wudu'u will lead to an individual not purifying themselves properly before observing salah, hence a nullified salah.
The knowledge of the One we are worshipping is very essential to our existence. How do we hope to please our Lord when we do not know our wrong from right and permissible from non-permissible? Our Lord has made it compulsory on us to seek knowledge about Him so as to know how to worship Him. Seeking knowledge about Allaah basically means seeking knowledge about Islam. We should therefore strive against ignorance, seek beneficial knowledge and move to worship our Lord the way He ought to be worshipped.
