Is It Obligatory to Know the Details of Theology?

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Question

What is the ruling on Muslims who believe in the general articles of faith but do not know the specifics?

For example, those who believe in Qadr (predestination) but don’t know about the specifics within it such as all 4 aspects of Al-Qadar including the Belief that Allaah has decreed all things in al-Lawh al-Mahfooz, fifty thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Merciful and Compassionate

I hope you’re doing well, insha’Allah.

Belief is to accept as true (tasdiq) what the Messenger of Allah (peace & blessings be upon him) has come with. [Bajuri, Tuhfat al-Murid ‘ala Jawharat al-Tawhid]

Basic acceptance of the tenants is sufficient for the common believer. [ibid.] However, knowing their details and basic proofs strengthens faith, facilitates certitude, and gives confidence. [ibid.]

And Allah is the giver of success and facilitation.
[Shaykh] Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus, and then in Amman, Jordan. His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), as well as his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age. He returned to Canada in 2007, where he founded SeekersGuidance in order to meet the urgent need to spread Islamic knowledge–both online and on the ground–in a reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible manner. He is the author of: Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.) Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.