for when someone who is about to depart delivers advice, he chooses eloquent words that will remain with those he leaves behind and serve as a lasting reminder. You can observe this whenever a person offers counsel at the moment of separation—whether for travel or any other reason—the admonition settles in the listener’s heart and endures. That is why they said, “It seems as though this is a farewell exhortation, so counsel us.”
He ﷺ answered, “I advise you to fear Allah.” This is the very counsel with which Allah Himself charged His servants, as He, the Exalted, says: “We have already enjoined upon those who were given the Scripture before you, and upon you as well, that you should fear Allah” (Q 4:131). The word taqwā (God-consciousness) is among the most comprehensive terms in the Sacred Law. It means that a person erects a shield to protect himself from Allah’s punishment, and this can be achieved only by carrying out His commands and avoiding His prohibitions. Fulfilling those commands and abstaining from those prohibitions, however, is impossible without knowing what they are. Thus knowledge is indispensable, and action is indispensable; when the two combine in a person, he attains awe of Allah and realizes taqwā.
Taqwā, then, is to secure protection from Allah’s punishment by obeying His orders and steering clear of His bans, and reaching that goal is possible only through knowledge. The knowledge required here is not that one become a vast ocean of learning, but rather that one knows whatever helps him carry out Allah’s directives in his own circumstances. People differ in this regard: whoever possesses wealth must learn the rulings of zakāh; whoever is able to perform ḥajj must learn the rulings of ḥajj; for others those rulings are not obligatory. In general, the sciences of the Sharīʿah are a collective duty (farḍ kifāyah), except when a particular act has become incumbent upon an individual—then knowledge of that act is a personal duty (farḍ ʿayn).
He ﷺ then said, “And [I enjoin upon you] to listen and obey even if an Abyssinian slave is placed in authority over you.” Listening