ISLAM: THE COMPLETE AND PERFECT RELIGION
Praise be to Allah,the Lord of the universe. May the peace and blessing of Allah be upon our noble leader, Muhammad upon whom be peace, his family, his companions and those who follow his guidance until the Day of Judgement.
The comprehensive nature and the state of perfection of Islam cannot be over emphasized. Allah (SWT) attests to this undeniable fact in His Holy Book when He said, ‘… This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you and have chosen for you Islam as your religion…’ (Q:5:3)
Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace, left no stone unturned during his lifetime in order to convey the message of Islam in its pristine form to mankind. Abu Dharri (may Allah be pleased with him) buttressed the point with the Prophet’s saying: ’The prophet upon whom be peace did not leave a bird hovering its wing in the sky except that he taught us something about it.’ (related by Imam Ahmad)
Now, let us look at some of the aspects of Islam which makee it the complete and perfect religion.
- The Qur’an, a Comprehensive Book
With respect to the comprehensiveness of the qur’an and its role in Islam, Allah says in the following verse: ‘… And We have sent down to you the Book (Qur’an) as an exposition of everything...’ i.e. the Glorious Qur’an is an all-embracing Book which covers every sphere of human life, mundane and spiritual.
- Sunnah, a Suplimet to the Qur’an
Sunnah of the prophet which comes next to the Qur’an as a source of Islamic religious law expantiates and supplements the Glorious Qur’an. Allah says: ‘…Allah has sent down to you the Book (the Qur’an), and Al-Hikmah (i.e.the prophet’s Sunnah) – Q: 4:113. Hence, the Sunnah of the prophet plays an important role in framing all aspects of religious,political and civil life of Muslims.
The comprehensiveness of Islam negates any addition or subtraction in matters of religion. To this end, the prophet sounded a stern warning to muslims against establishing, introducing and practising any innovation with regards to religious duties. The prophet used to say in his preface ‘Beware of new things in matters of worship,for every new thing is an innovation and every innovation leads to falsehood.’ (Reported by Abu Dawud, 4607)
At this juncture, it is incumbent on us to worship Allah within the confines of the dictates of Allah and His Messenger as there are the two fundamental bases for the acceptability of worship:
Firstly, to worship Allah sincerily and faithfully. In this respect , Allah says:’ And they were commanded not, but that they should worship Allah,and worship none but Him Alone. (Q:98: 5)
Secondly, to worship Allah in line with the injunctions of Allah and His Messenger. The prohet upon whom be peace said in this regards: ‘ Whoever introduces something to this affair of ours will have it rejected.’ (Agreed upon on the authority of ‘Aishah)
Lastly, my brothers and sisters in Islam! Let us make the following verse our watchword: ‘ … And let those who oppose the Messenger’s commandment(i.e. his Sunnah) beware, lest some affliction should befall them or a painful torment be inflicted on them.’ (Q:24: 63)
May Allah give us better understanding of Islam.
Recent Comments