Answerer: Shaykh Yasir Qadhi

Q: Allah grants knowledge to those He loves. What do you do to be among these people?

A: Strive. Show interest in the deen. Come closer to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى), and He will come closer to you. There is a hadith on how to gain knowledge: ‘ilm is only gained by studying. It’s not gained by hiding in a cave and worshipping Allah (سبحانه وتعالى). Studious study is the only way to gain knowledge. Don’t sleep with your head on a book and expect knowledge to osmosize into your brain!

Q: Allah loves the knowledgable. Does that mean those who practice their knowledge? A lot of knowledgable people don’t practice Islam properly.

A: The knowledgable is the one who believes and practices what he knows. Even Iblees has knowledge that Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) is one, and that the Day of Judgement is coming. It is knowledge that enters the heart and manifests itself through practice.

Q: How should we share knowledge with non-Muslims?

A: Prioritize. Focus on tawhid first: laa ila ha illallah. Da’wah is only Tawhid. Never talk about other things–things like pork, women’s issues, etc. are not the primary issue. Tawhid is the #1 issue to focus on. This is the command from Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) and his messenger (صلي الله عليه وسلم).

(Editor’s note: this is also the approach taken by the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) in his da’wah–he focused primarily on tawhid.)

Yasir Qadhi. Lecture. AlMaghrib. Light of Guidance. University of Toronto, Toronto. March 2006.