and command them to do so, using encouragement and warning in word and deed, and strive to that end. Allah, Exalted is He, says:

“The hypocrites, men and women, are alike: they enjoin what is wrong, forbid what is right, and are tight-fisted. They have forgotten Allah, so He has forgotten them. Indeed, the hypocrites are the defiantly disobedient.”

Then He says:

“The believers, men and women, are allies of one another. They enjoin what is right, forbid what is wrong, establish prayer, give zakat, and obey Allah and His Messenger. It is they upon whom Allah will have mercy.”

Allah, Exalted is He, also says:

“Those who believe fight in the cause of Allah, while those who disbelieve fight in the cause of false gods.”

There are many such passages in the Quran. Allah, Glorified is He, has commanded us to enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong. Enjoining something must be preceded by knowing it: whoever does not know what is right cannot enjoin it. Likewise, forbidding what is wrong must be preceded by knowing it: whoever does not know it cannot forbid it.

Allah has also obligated us to do what is right and abandon what is wrong. Loving and practising the former, and hating and abandoning the latter, require prior knowledge of both, so that one can properly intend to do what is right and abandon what is wrong. Such an intention must be preceded by knowledge. Anyone who has no knowledge of something cannot conceivably love or hate it, do it or refrain from it. However, doing something and enjoining it require sufficiently detailed knowledge to enable one to do it and enjoin it, when the command specifies its details.

For this reason, Allah has obligated each person to learn the duties He has commanded, such as the manner of prayer, fasting, Hajj, jihad, and enjoining what is right