How sound is the saying: "Whoever worships Allah without knowing Him, their worship will only increase their distance [from Him]"?

There is no objection to the aforementioned statement, for the worship of Allah out of ignorance does not benefit its practitioner. This is because for a righteous deed to be accepted, it must be performed with sincerity and in accordance with the Sacred Law, and this cannot be achieved except through knowledge.

Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned that whoever worships Allah in a state devoid of knowledge will only increase in distance from Allah. Similarly, Fudayl ibn Iyad clarified that a righteous deed must be sincere and correct to be accepted.

Ibn Taymiyyah pointed out that the rectitude and happiness of a human being do not lie merely in knowledge without love, adherence, and obedience. He also explained that the person who will suffer the most severe punishment on the Day of Resurrection is the scholar whose knowledge did not benefit him.

Those who incurred wrath are those who knew the truth but did not follow it, and those who went astray are those who sought the truth out of ignorance. Thus, the Jews incurred wrath, and the Christians went astray. This parallels the situation of the corrupt scholar and the ignorant worshiper.