﷽
Acquiring Knowledge Before Worship
Acquiring knowledge of Allaah and how to worship Him is the most important obligation on every Muslim because Allaah ordered seeking knowledge (i.e. the knowledge of Himself) prior to the declaration of the Shahadah. He said:
Allaah (ﷻ) said:
فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَاسْتَغْفِرْ لِذَنبِكَ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ
“And know that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allaah, then seek forgiveness for your sins.”
(Muhammad, 47:19)
Allaah began by saying “know”, then mentioned the action, “seek forgiveness”, to emphasize that action if built upon ignorance will not benefit a person and will be an affliction and misguidance for him on the Day of Resurrection. So precedence must be given to learning knowledge before action.
Any act of worship that a worshipper performs must be based on knowledge, because if it is lacking then the action would not be ‘Ibaadah but a mere ritual. It’s impossible for a person to perform an action the right way without knowing how to do it. Any defect in an act of worship diminishes its reward. Some actions may even nullify the act of worship, and the person will remain unaware in his/her ignorance.
On the Day of Resurrection, ignorance will not be accepted as an excuse for actions, as the Prophet (ﷺ) said it is an obligation upon every Muslim to seek knowledge, (At-Tirmidhi 2318), meaning it is our responsibility to seek out what there is to know. He (ﷺ) also said: ”Verily, the only cure for ignorance is to ask (questions).” (Sunan Abī Dāwūd 336)
This indeed shows that no excuse will be accepted by Allaah on the Day of Resurrection, so beware of lamentations on the Day they will be of no use.
Allaah (ﷻ) said:
إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى ٱللَّهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ ٱلْعُلَمَٰٓؤُا۟
It is only those who have knowledge among His servants that fear Allaah
(Surah Az-Zumar 39:28).
The one among His servants who knows about Ar-Rahman is the one for whom it is easier to worship Him. He is the one who will worship Allaah as he deserves to be worshipped. He is the one who does not disobey Allaah, because of the fear in his heart of Him. He is the one who is certain that he will meet Him and be brought to account for his deeds, so strives to please Him.
Sufyan Ath-Thawri narrated from Abu Hayyan At-Taymi from a man who said, “It used to be said that…the one who knows Allaah and the command of Allaah is the one who fears Allaah and knows the limits (Hudud) and the obligatory duties (Fara’id).”
(Tafseer ibn katheer)
It is important to know the rulings of every act of worship we want to perform to not make mistakes that can cost us the rewards we would have earned.
May Allaah (ﷻ) forgive our shortcomings and bless us with guidance and beneficial knowledge.
==============================
🕋 ISLAM GENERATION DA’WAH GROUP
For more Islamic reminders, check out:
YouTube: https://youtube.com/IslamGen
Telegram: https://t.me/IslamGen
Twitter: https://twitter.com/IslamGen_
Instagram: https://instagram.com/IslamGen_
Facebook: https://facebook.com/IslamGenX
