around justice, grace, and wisdom.
Likewise, He prescribes no ruling except in accordance with what His praiseworthiness, wisdom, grace, and justice require. Everything He reports is true, and His commands and prohibitions embody justice and wisdom.
This truth is too momentous and too well known to require mention, so evident is it:
How can anything be established in the mind
if daylight itself stands in need of proof?
Among them is the account of the prophets and messengers, what they were sent with, and what transpired between them and their nations. This yields several benefits:
Among them is that complete faith in them requires knowing their qualities, lives, and circumstances. The more a believer knows of these matters, the greater his faith in them, love for them, veneration of them, support for them, and reverence toward them.
Among them is that their rights over us—particularly the rights of Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace—include knowing them and loving them sincerely. There is no way to achieve this except by knowing their circumstances.
Among them is that knowledge of the prophets leads one to thank Allah, Exalted is He, for the favor He bestowed upon the believers when He raised among them a messenger from their own people to purify them and teach them the Book and wisdom, after they had been in manifest error.
Among them is that the messengers are the nurturers of the believers. The believers (1) attained not even an atom’s weight of good, nor was an atom’s weight of evil warded off from them, except through their agency and because of them.
It is therefore shameful for a believer to be ignorant of the circumstances of the one who nurtures, purifies, and teaches him.
If it is deemed objectionable for a person to be ignorant of his parents’ circumstances and consequently estranged from them, how much more objectionable is ignorance of the circumstances of the Messenger, who is closer to the believers than their own selves and is their true father, whose right takes precedence over every other right after the right of Allah, Exalted is He?!
Among them is that knowing what they experienced and what befell them provides the believer (2) with an example and model to follow, while relieving him of many anxieties and troubles. No matter how burdensome and severe these may become, they cannot compare with even some of what befell the prophets. The Exalted says: “Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah you have an excellent example.”
One of the greatest ways of following their example is to emulate their teachings and their manner of imparting knowledge according to people’s differing levels; to remain patient when teaching; to call to Allah with wisdom and gracious exhortation; and to debate in the best manner. Through this and similar qualities, the scholars became the heirs of the prophets.
Among the benefits of knowing the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is knowing the Quranic verses revealed to him and understanding their meaning. Grasping what those verses intend depends upon knowing the Messenger’s circumstances and his life among his people, his Companions, and others, for times, places, and individuals differ greatly.
If a person (3) were to devote himself to understanding the meanings of the Quran without possessing such knowledge, he would commit many errors concerning Allah, His Messenger, and what Allah intended by His words.
This is recognized only by one who is familiar with the grievous errors found in most works of tafsīr—errors from which the speech of Allah (4) is far removed—and other