I know it may be an obvious question, but I've heard that word mentioned so many times in Islamic sources and despite searching through many resources, I am still puzzled on the very definition of "knowledge", as referred to by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in the Quran and Hadeeths.

Is knowledge, the knowledge of simple things like, "It is forbidden to eat pork", "Every Muslim is required to pray five times a day", or "During prayer, you must pray in the direction of Mecca".

Or is it the knowledge and remembrance of specific verses in the Quran and Hadeeths, such as "None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself" and "whoever commits a sin, whether major or minor, ‘but afterwards seeks Allah’s forgiveness, he will find Allah Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful’" ?

Or is it the knowledge of the sciences in that, for example, that there are 46 chromosomes in a human cell, or that no mass is created or lost in a chemical reaction.

So what kind of knowledge did Allah speak of, and ask us to seek, and what are some specific examples of those in action?