THE DEEN OF ISLAM IS COMPLETE AND
PERFECT
Allah taala has informed us that he has
perfected the Deen (religion: way of life) for us, and as such there is no
need for any additions or deletions to or from Islam: " This day have those
who reject faith given up all hope of your religion: yet do not fear them
but fear Me. This Day have I perfected your Deen for you, completed My Favours
upon you and have chosen for you Islam as your Deen" (soorah Al-Maaidah 5:4)
Understanding this aayah (verse) is vital to all combat against innovations
and sticking to the revealed way. It is failure to appreciate the import
of this aayah that enables a sincere person to succumb to innovating and
innovations and it is imperative that a Muslim who cares about saving himself
from the Fire does not labour under any misconceptions regarding it.
The famous tafseer (exegesis) of Ibn Katheer quite clearly explains that
in the completion and perfection of the Deen lies the greatest blessing which
Allah taala has bestowed upon the Muslim Ummah (nation). After this there
no longer remains any need for a new way, nor of a new Prophet, but all that
is Halaal (allowed by Allah) has been made Halaal and all that is Haraam
(forbidden by Allah) has been made Haraam. The Deen (way of life) contains
no falsehood and all we are informed of is correct and true, its orders and
prohibitions are fair and accepting the Deen is ones life makes Allah be
pleased with us and that He loves the Deen (as it is preserved in the Quraan
and the Sunnah). Thus the above aayah was revealed so we may be grateful
to Allah and not deviate, having the full satisfaction of possessing the
complete manner and the absolutely perfect way to worship Allah.
This aayah was revealed on the Day of Arafah and no Halaal and haraam was
revealed after it till our Messenger passed away, which was according to
the Tafseer of Ibn Jareer eighty one days after it. When this aayah was revealed,
Umar wept so the Messenger said to him, "What makes you weep?" He said, "I
wept since we used to be in receipt of increase in our Deen, however, if
it is completed, then that which is complete can only decrease (thereafter)."
So he said "You have spoken truthfully."
Umar understood that if the revelation has ceased concerning recommendation,
command and prohibition pertaining to worshipping Him, then the Messenger
was soon to leave this world, and how true he was in observing that only
decrease in guidance can take place is borne out by the fulfilment of the
Hadeeth where the Messanger informed us, "Verily Islam began as a stranger
and will return as a stranger - therefore give glad tidings to the strangers."
Now it has become a struggle to practice the Sunnah since it is looked upon
by the vast majority to be an oddity at best and on the other scale something
to be covered up for the sake of practice as established by a particular
school of thought. Reinforcing the Sunnah is taken as an affront to civilisation
and the culture of the Muslims, and the one blindly following his mentor
resents it as an attack upon his "religion"! Innovations have lodged itself
so strongly that countering them with the Sunnah is widely hated and deplorable
terms are coined to label those who in their humble ways try to revive the
way of the Messenger so their efforts can be rendered ineffective, but the
sublime way of the Messenger cannot be dimmed by their transparent lies.
The people and their favourite condescending "scholars" have simply not cared
to do justice to this aayah. Even the accursed Jews recognised the significance
of this aayah and thus approached Umar and exclaimed, as occurs in Bukhaaree,
"You read a verse which if it had been revealed to us we would have taken
it as an Eid (a public holiday for celebrations)." So Umar said, " I know
when it was revealed and where it was revealed and where the Messenger was
when it was revealed: The Day of Arafah and by Allah I was at Arafah." In
a similar narration in Musnad Ahmad, Umar further states that it was in the
evening of Arafah being the Day of Jumuah Alee said, " This aayah was revealed
to the Messenger while he was standing in the evening (between Asr and Maghrib)
of Arafah." (reported by Ibn Mardawaih)
Don't you see? The Companions knew the exact time and place of the revelation
of the aayah which favoured them with the assurance and approval of Allah
of having the complete and perfect Deen, a fovour from the Lord of the worllds
which is enviable to the extreme for a nation, a fact to give rise to justified
hope and exuberant joy in the hearts and minds of people of that nation,
yet, for all that is constituted and all the above and more sot hat even
the wretched Jews recognised and envied it, the Companions did not innovate
and do anything special to commemorate this great honour, Doing so would
have made them violate the very truth of this aayah and would have been an
act so perverse as to make them do something tantamount to deying the verse
and give precedence to their own desires, something which the noble Companions
were very far from ever doing at any time unlike so many of us today.
Islam covers every aspect of life and the Deen has not left us in the dark
in any of our affairs. That it also teaches us how to fulfill every department
of life is acknowledged by every Muslim except he who is absolutely uneducated
and wishes to have it his own way. The person who does not want to follow
his vain desires but seeks to be ennobled by the Sunnah which nurtures and
brings out the very best of being human does not but crave to practice the
Sunnah, and this Sunnah teaches us even the way to relieve ourselves from
the call of nature, the way to go to sleep and awake, the way to bathe and
dress, the way to procreate, in fact everything, Alhaamdulillaah. Every matter
has been left with clear instructions as to what is permitted or prohibited
in them and again, the malevolent jews recognised this too, and taunted the
believers with their sneering statements and questions about what they thought
were belittling aspects of the Deen of Islam. Abdur-Rahmaan ibn Zayd related
the Jews said to Salmaan al-Faarsee: "Your Prophet teaches you everything,
even how to relieve yourselves." Salmaan said: "Certainly! He forbade us
from facing the qibla whilst doing so" (Saheeh - narrated by Muslim, Aboo
Daawood and at-Tirmidhee)
Nowadays, if such an encounter were to take place it is doubtful if the general
Muslim would respond with such clear cut conviction and pride, rather one
would find he would be more likely to struggle for finding an acceptable
answer to what he would think were embarrassing aspects of his religion that
this infidel cleverly spotted and mocked at, fumbling for apologetics and
thus confirming himself to ve even a greater fool thatn the jeerer. It is
this inferiority compolex which erodes into our defences against evil by
not giving the Sunnah its rigthful place and consequently leaving the heart
open for accommodation of innovations and consequently straying from the
Allah given way.
There is nothing left for us to do except follow what has been shown to us
by the practices of the Messenger and his Companions. The Messenger has fulfilled
his mission faithfully and told us all we need to know for keeping to the
Straight Path leading to paradise and obtaining the pleasure of Allah, and
it is not possible that a Muslim can think that he can improve upon the knowledge
that Allah gave Muhammad. Abdullah ibn Amr reported that the Messenger said:
"It was the duty of every Prophet Allah sent to guide his nation to the best
of what he knew and to warn them of the evils of what he knew." (Saheeh -
narrated by Imaam Muslim) The Messenger also said: "I have not left anything
which Allah ordered you except that I have ordered you wwith it, nor anything
that Allah forbade you except that I forbade you from it." (Saheeh - narrated
by al-Baihaqee (7:76))
Thus this aayah is perhaps the greatest proof against the innovators and
it is imperative that a Muslim understands the full import of the above aayah
and challenges the innovators and those who fall into it with the understanding
of it. In doing so he will do both himself and the others a favour and help
in building the real imaan (faith) because real imaan cannot be established
on false and evil premises and practices
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