and of the sunlight that drives away the pitch-black darkness(1). Their need for his message surpasses every other need, and their dependence upon it precedes all other necessities; for there is no life for the hearts—no bliss, delight, joy, safety, or tranquillity—except that they come to know their Lord, their object of worship, and their Creator through His names, attributes, and actions, that He become dearer to them than anything else, and that their striving be devoted to whatever draws them near to Him and wins His good pleasure. It is impossible for unaided human intellects to grasp this knowledge in detail, so the mercy of the All-Mighty, the Most Compassionate, decreed that He send messengers to make Him known, to summon people to Him, to give glad tidings to those who respond, and to warn those who oppose. He made the key of their summons and the very core of their message the knowledge of the One worshipped—glorified be He—through His names, His attributes, and His actions, for upon that knowledge all the aims of the message depend. Indeed, fear, hope, love, obedience, and worship follow from knowing the One Who is hoped for, feared, loved, obeyed, and worshipped(2).

Because the key to the divine call is the knowledge of the Lord, the best of callers to Him ﷺ said to Mu‘adh ibn Jabal when dispatching him to Yemen: “You are going to a people of the Scripture, so let the first thing you invite them to be the testimony that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. When they come to know Allah, inform them that Allah has obligated upon them five prayers each day and night…” He then mentioned the remainder of the ḥadīth, which is found in both Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim; this wording is Muslim’s(3).

Thus, the foundation of the call of all the messengers—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon them—is the knowledge of Allah, exalted is He.