to them: ‘In My sight, you are like My angels. Intercede.’ Their intercession will be accepted, and then they will enter Paradise.” There are also other hadiths and reports to this effect.

Moreover, many devoted worshippers prefer worship to seeking knowledge, despite being ignorant of matters that invalidate much of their worship, such as the things that invalidate ablution, prayer, or fasting. Some may even relate a story along these lines: Rābi‘a al-‘Adawiyya—may Allah have mercy on her—once came to pray in Jerusalem through the night until dawn. Beside her was a house in which a jurist spent the night repeatedly reviewing the chapter on menstruation. When morning came, Rābi‘a said to him, “You there! Those who have attained their goal have reached their Lord, while you are preoccupied with women’s menstruation!” Or they relate something similar. What, then, prevents those engaged in acquiring knowledge from experiencing what those engaged in worship experience, despite the superiority of knowledge over worship?

He replied:

Praise be to Allah, Lord of all worlds. There is no doubt that those granted both knowledge and faith are higher in rank than those granted faith alone, as the Quran and Sunnah indicate. The knowledge commended in the Quran and Sunnah is the knowledge handed down by the prophets. As the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“The scholars are the heirs of the prophets. The prophets did not leave behind dirhams or dinars; rather, they left behind knowledge. Whoever acquires it has acquired an abundant share.”

This knowledge falls into three categories: