What are the branches of knowledge that all Muslims are required to learn, and to what extent? Please elaborate.

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

Seeking knowledge is one of the greatest acts whereby one brings himself closer to Allah. The virtues of seeking knowledge mentioned in the Quran and the Sunnah are many. There are two types of knowledge:

Firstly: individual obligation:

It is the extent of knowledge that one needs to observe his duties towards Allah and towards people as well. This includes learning the Islamic creed and monotheism in general, learning the rulings of prayer, fasting, paying zakah for one who has money, Hajj (pilgrimage) for one who wants to perform it, and other acts of worship. This also includes the rulings of selling and buying for one who wants to trade and the rulings of marriage, divorce, food, drinks and other kinds of transactions.

Secondly: Communal obligation:

This includes specialization in advanced sciences and studying them deeply. This is in addition to learning the principles of the Islamic jurisprudence; Arabic language; Hadith methodology; and other worldly sciences such as medicine, engineering, military industries, etc.

Allah knows best.