The Correct Jurisprudence of the Verse: “Today I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and chosen for you Islam as a religion”

The Shaykh : Especially those who have not yet recognized the greatness of this noble verse: . The majority of Muslims today, and before today—regrettably—have not recognized the greatness of this verse. The proof is that one insists on drawing near to Allah by means that Allah has not prescribed in His Book and that His Messenger did not bring in his Sunnah. He says to you—as you just heard—“What is the big deal, brother?!” Glory be to Allah! Do you not believe in this verse? . So you admit that what you are doing was not done previously, but you impose your desires and your intellect and say, “What is the big deal?” The least thing in every religious innovation, no matter how small, is that its practitioner does not believe in this verse: . Because, since the religion does not come after this completion and perfection with additions that are too numerous to count, where then is your faith and your belief that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) perfected His religion and bestowed that favor upon His servants?
It is extremely regrettable that this heedlessness of the masses of those who follow without knowledge and the innovators regarding the greatness of this verse, and that it deserves Allah to bestow it as a favor upon His servants, is met with these masses being heedless of the greatness of this verse while a man from the Jews, a non-Muslim man who has shrewdness and jurisprudence, notices it. A man from these rabbis of the Jews came to 'Umar ibn al-Khattab during his caliphate to say to him: “O Commander of the Faithful, there is a verse in the Book of Allah that, if it had been revealed to us, the Jews, we would have made the day of its revelation a festival!” He said to him: “What is it?” He said: . He mentioned the noble verse, and he was a Jew, yet he felt the greatness of this verse because of what it contains of relieving the Muslims from much thinking, searching, and independent legal reasoning in the religion. Because Allah perfected for them everything He wants them to do to draw near to Him. So why search, independent legal reasoning, and innovation? These efforts that these people would have devoted to completing the religion from themselves if Allah had not perfected it for them, they could have saved by moving freely in this world and benefiting from what Allah created in it of laws, beings, and creatures, and so on. The opposite of this is the case with the ignorant Muslims and those who did not appreciate the value of this verse. They engaged in independent legal reasoning in matters where they have no right to do so, and they engaged in independent legal reasoning in matters where it does not benefit them to do so. They focused on the religion and left the world aside, even though the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said to us: . So he left the independent legal reasoning, searching, and increasing in knowledge in the world to us, and drew our attention to the fact that his function was to teach us and convey to us what Allah revealed to him, whether as a Book or as a Sunnah.
This is the observation that that Jew made when he said to 'Umar: “If this verse had been revealed to us, the Jews, we would have made the day of its revelation a festival.” But without doubt, 'Umar was not like these masses who do not appreciate this verse in its true worth and are ignorant of the magnitude of Allah’s (Mighty and Majestic) favor upon His servants with it. He had, as a Muslim, knowledge of its value. He said: “We have indeed made it a festival. It was revealed to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on a Friday while he was at 'Arafah.” A festival within a festival; this verse was revealed on a day of festival that is still known—praise be to Allah—among the Muslims. But Muslims today celebrate festivals for which Allah has not sent down any authority. If it were permissible for them to take a festival to celebrate in the way non-Muslims do, this day would be more deserving of celebration than all the festivals they celebrate, with the exception of 'Id al-Fitr and 'Id al-Adha. And when I say “celebration,” I mean other than taking it as a religious festival. Without doubt, Friday is the weekly festival for Muslims, but there are not these demonstrations and these rejoicings that others take on the occasion of their many festivals, which are too numerous to count.
But the Muslims know the value of these days on which these great events occurred, including Friday, and they celebrate them in their hearts. They move through their lives influenced by this settled belief in their hearts, without boasting or making it a day of play, joy, and happiness, or the like. This is the path of the righteous Salaf. Friday is a festival for many reasons, among them that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) revealed this noble verse. This verse has no value in the hearts of Muslims today, because Satan has entered them through the door of: “Whoever innovates a good innovation in Islam.” And I do not say through the door of: . Satan cannot enter through that, because that is a hadith of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): . But he entered them through the door of: “Whoever innovates a good innovation in Islam gets its reward!” This is a misunderstanding by these later people and a lack of jurisprudence—also—regarding the hadith of the Messenger (peace be upon him) referred to: . Because of Satan opening the door of innovation in the religion to these later Muslims and beautifying it in their eyes, correct knowledge has become strange, the Sunnahs have been abandoned, and the innovations have the form and understanding, while the Sunnah has only the name left!