Knowledge is the Essence of Guidance

Taken from 'The Heirs of the Prophets' by ibn Rajab al-Hanbali:

The reason the path to Paradise is made easy for the student of sacred knowledge, if he desires Allah and His pleasure, is explained as follows. Knowledge directs one to Allah from the most accessible paths. Therefore, one who travels its path, without deviating from it, reaches Allah and Paradise by means of the most direct route. The routes leading to Paradise has all been smoothed for him in this world and the next.

As for one who travels a path without knowledge, thinking it is a path to Paradise, he has chosen the most difficult and severe path. Such a person will never reach his destination despite tremendous exertion.

There is no path to experiential knowledge of Allah-leading to His pleasure and His nearness in the Hereafter-except through the beneficial knowledge which Allah sent down to His messengers revealed in His scriptures. This [knowledge] guides to the right path. With it, clear guidance is sought out from the darkness of ignorance, ambiguity, and doubt. Allah has referred to His Book as a light with which one is guided through darkness:

There has come to you from Allah a light and clear book. With it, Allah guides those who pursue His pleasure to paths of peace and He brings them out of darkness into light (Quran, 5:15-16).

The Prophet put forth a parable between the possessors of knowledge and the stars that guide people through darkness. Imam Ahmad relates (from Anas) that the Prophet said,"The similitude of the religious scholars on earth is that of the stars in the sky, by which [people] are guided through the darkness of the land and sea. If the stars are extinguished, even guides might stray."

This metaphor is penetrating, for the path to understanding Allah's oneness, experiential knowledge of Allah, His divine rulings, and His rewards and punishments are not attained through empirical knowledge. Rather, they are known through divine revelation. He is has made this clear in His Book and on the tongue of the Messenger. The scholars are the guides through he darkness of ignorance, ambiguity, and deviation. When these guides are lost, the travelers go astray.

The religious religious scholars have been likened to the stars, which provide three benefits: they guide [people] through the darkness; they adorn the sky; and they are missiles that repel the satans who ascend the heavens [endeavoring to intercept Allah's commands to angels]...