moral responsibility; nor would this accord with wisdom or establish any proof:
“Your Lord is never unjust to His servants.”
He does whatever He wills, possessing consummate wisdom, all-encompassing justice, and bounty that He grants as He chooses. Thus we have come to know Him in His oneness and lordship, insofar as He may be known; through affirming His oneness, as He has described and instructed; and through the further knowledge He grants, as He employs us in His service, grants us success, singles us out, and bestows His bounty. Each kind of knowledge has its station, and each station its governing principle. He made the first universal, bestowed the second on particular individuals, and reserved the third station of knowledge for His chosen ones.
The knowledge of the eloquent lies in hitting the mark; knowledge through reflection and inference belongs to those engaged in opinion, disputation, and speculative theology. Knowledge of jurisprudence belongs to scholars; of hadith, to transmitters; and of discernment, to the wise. Further knowledge belongs to the prophets and Allah’s allies. Although they share in the knowledge possessed by others, no one else shares in what has been granted exclusively to them and unveiled to them.
Since all were alike in being created beings subject to their Lord, they were alike in that knowledge. But when distinctions arose through acquisition and special favor, their knowledge differed in kind and degree. Only one who possesses knowledge understands this, and only an ignorant person denies it. All attained knowledge of His lordship, but no one reached the ultimate extent of that further knowledge: knowing Allah as He truly deserves to be known.
Allah Most High says:
“They have not esteemed Allah as He deserves.”
It has also been reported:
“They did not know Him as He truly deserves to be known.”
The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
“If you knew Allah as He truly deserves to be known, you would walk upon the seas, and mountains would move at your supplication. And if you feared Allah as He truly deserves to be feared, you would attain the knowledge