…and to know his land, and to know what he ﷺ brought: to know how the revelation first came to him, how he called people to Allah in Makka and Madina, and to become acquainted with the Prophet’s sira (biography), even in outline. The Messenger ﷺ is Muhammad, son of Abdullah, son of Abd al-Muttalib, son of Hashim, son of Abd Manaf—continuing through the noble lineage that ultimately reaches Ibrahim. One must know how he lived before the commission, how the revelation descended from Allah, and what he did after he was sent. All this is learned by studying his sira, and it is unbecoming for a Muslim to be ignorant of the Messenger ﷺ. How can you follow someone you do not know? That is irrational. (6) His statement “to know the religion of Islam”: this is the religion of this Messenger ﷺ, and indeed the religion of Allah that He has enjoined upon His servants and commanded you to follow. You are accountable for it, so you must know this religion. Islam is the religion of all the messengers in the broad sense: anyone who followed a messenger was thereby a Muslim, submitting to Allah, yielding to Him, and affirming His oneness. This is Islam in its general meaning—the shared religion of all the messengers. Islam is to surrender to Allah through tawhid (monotheism), to comply with Him in obedience, and to disavow shirk (polytheism) and its adherents.