beneficial lessons and sound conclusions.
Among the sciences of the Quran are the commands and prohibitions addressed to this nation and to others; this is what is required of them. Knowing these yields several benefits:
Among them is that Allah, Exalted is He, has urged people to know the bounds of what He revealed to His Messenger and has censured those who fail to know them.
Foremost among the matters whose bounds must be known are the commands and prohibitions with which we have been charged and which we are obligated to uphold, learn, and teach.
There is no way to obey them [or avoid them] (1) without knowing them, so that one can carry them out [or refrain from them] (2). When a legally accountable person is commanded to do something, he must first know what he has been commanded to do, what falls within its scope, and what does not.
Once he knows this, he seeks Allah’s aid and strives to obey the command to the extent of his ability and capacity.
Likewise, when he is prohibited from something, he must know the true nature of what has been prohibited. He must then exert every effort, seeking his Lord’s aid, to refrain from it in obedience to Allah’s command and avoidance of His prohibition. Obeying a command and avoiding a prohibition are each obligatory, and whatever is indispensable for fulfilling an obligation is itself obligatory. Thus, it is clear that knowledge of these matters must precede action.
Among them is that calling to good, enjoining right, and forbidding wrong cannot be realized or carried out unless one first knows the good so that he may call others to it, what is right so that he may enjoin it, and what is wrong so that he may forbid it. The Quran encompasses all of this in the fullest and most comprehensive manner.
Among the sciences of the Quran are the events of the Last Day: all that will take place after death and that Allah has reported in His Book, or His Messenger has reported, concerning the terrors of death, the grave, the standing for judgment, Paradise, and Hell. Knowledge of this yields many benefits:
Among them is that faith in the Last Day is one of the six pillars of faith, without which faith is invalid. The more a person knows of its details, the more his faith increases (3).
Among them is that genuine knowledge of these matters (4) opens for a person the door to fear and hope. If the heart is devoid of these two, it is utterly ruined; but if it flourishes through them, fear causes one to refrain from sins, while hope makes obedience easy and facilitates it. This cannot be fully attained without knowing the details of the things that inspire fear and caution, such as the conditions and severity of the grave, the dreadful events of the standing for judgment, and the horrifying qualities of Hellfire.
It also requires knowing the details of Paradise and the everlasting bliss, delight, and joy it contains, together with the bliss of the heart, soul, and body. This gives rise to a longing that impels a person to strive with all his ability in pursuit of the beloved goal he seeks.
Among them is that through this one comes to know Allah’s grace and justice in recompensing good and evil deeds, which calls for praising and extolling Him perfectly, as He deserves.
In proportion to a servant’s knowledge of the details of reward and punishment, he comes to know Allah’s grace, justice, and wisdom.
Among the sciences of the Quran are disputing the proponents of falsehood, refuting the specious arguments of the wrongdoers, and establishing rational proofs that accord with the transmitted evidence.
This branch of the Quranic sciences is the province of godly scholars, firmly grounded masters, and discerning people of reason. The Quran contains such rational proofs and decisive demonstrations that, were one to gather together everything possessed by all