nor their hearts in the least, since they rejected Allah’s signs.”

This verse and others like it show that hearing, sight, and hearts do not benefit their possessor while he rejects Allah’s signs.

It thus becomes clear that reason, upon which moral accountability depends, does not by itself bring about beneficial faith or the knowledge that saves one from Allah’s punishment. Reason is a prerequisite for knowledge and moral accountability, not something that necessarily brings them about.

They also adduced as evidence the report they cited from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in which he said:

“Acquire knowledge, for teaching it for Allah’s sake is reverent fear of Him; seeking it is worship; studying it together is glorification of Allah; investigating it is striving in His cause; and teaching it to those who do not know it is charity. Through it Allah is known and worshipped, and through it Allah is glorified and His oneness affirmed.

“Knowledge leads action, and action follows it. Through knowledge, Allah raises people in rank, making them leaders and guides for others, whose example is followed and whose judgment is deferred to.”