The Meaning of the Four and Three Matters in the Three Fundamentals

The questioner:
Your Eminence the Shaykh, the statement of Imam Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him) in his treatise *The Three Fundamental Principles*: "Know, may Allah have mercy on you, that it is obligatory for us to learn four issues." Then he said after that: "Know, may Allah have mercy on you, that it is obligatory for us to learn three issues."

The Shaykh:
In addition to these four, which are on one subject, and these on another subject. Yes.

The questioner:
What does the Imam mean by the first obligation and the second obligation, and what is the type of this style in composition?

The Shaykh:
The first four are in Surat al-Asr: knowledge, action, calling, and patience. These are the first four. Yes.

The questioner:
He asks: What is the type of this style in composition?

The Shaykh:
It is a good type. It is a good type. It is what he said: that there are only four issues. Knowledge is vast and its issues are many; the issues of knowledge are many. Yes.

The questioner:
May Allah reward you, Your Eminence the Shaykh.

The Shaykh:
Learning four issues does not limit knowledge to four issues. Rather, you learn them because they are the most emphasized. They are the last thing, and they are the beginnings of beneficial knowledge. Yes.

The questioner:
May Allah reward you. Your Eminence the Shaykh, a close relative of mine died, and he was a young man who did not pray, so I performed the 'Umrah on his behalf.

The Shaykh:
The three matters, the four matters, we know them from Surat al-'Asr. The three matters are knowing the Lord, knowing Allah, knowing His Prophet, and knowing the religion of Islam with evidence. These are the three fundamentals. Yes.

The presenter:
May Allah reward you, Your Eminence the Shaykh!