and if this acknowledgment is attained without worship and turning to Him, it brings ruin and misery upon the one who possesses it, as stated in the hadith:

“The person most severely punished on the Day of Resurrection will be a scholar whom Allah did not benefit through his knowledge.”

Such is the case of the accursed Iblīs: he acknowledges his Lord and admits His existence, yet because he did not worship Him, he became the foremost of the wretched. Everyone who becomes wretched does so by following him. As Allah says:

“I will surely fill Hell with you and all those among them who follow you.”

He will therefore surely fill Hell with him and his followers, even though he acknowledges the Lord and admits His existence. His failing was that he refused obedience and worship out of arrogance. The faculties of knowledge and action stand in relation to one another as an agent and its end. Hence the saying: “Knowledge without action is like a tree without fruit.” What is meant by action here is the action of the heart: turning to Allah and fearing Him, so that one becomes His worshipper.

The messengers and the revealed scriptures commanded this and made it obligatory. Indeed, it is the foremost concern, purpose, and foundation of their call. The deviant practical method based on listening to sounds agrees with this practical aim, but pursues it without knowledge—through mere sound, stirring poetry, or vague descriptions of love. Just as the method of speculative theology offers deficient knowledge without action, this method offers deficient action without knowledge. The prophetic, Quranic way of the Sunnah and the community, however, combines knowledge and action in their fullness.

Thus, the messengers begin their call with the command to worship. Allah Most High says:

“O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you.”

And the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“I have been commanded to fight