Explanation of the saying of Allah the Exalted: "Today I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and chosen for you Islam as a religion," and a mention of its benefits.
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The questioner : ... regarding the interpretation of this noble verse ... as He promised ...?
The Shaykh : I do not know if our brothers have specified something regarding the organization ... we may be bound by their appointments ... .
The questioner : ... I ... in the interpretation of the verse, I mean ... .
The Shaykh : Now, or after the prayer?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : It is mentioned in Sahih al-Bukhari the saying ... an important story that clarifies the greatness of this verse in terms of what it contains of this divine obligation which Allah bestowed upon the Muslims, as He explicitly stated in this noble verse, that He perfected the religion for them. A man from the Jews came to 'Umar ibn al-Khattab during his caliphate and said, "O Commander of the Faithful, which verse in the Book of Allah, if it had been revealed to us, the Jews, would we have taken the day of its revelation as a festival? Which verse in the Book of Allah, meaning the Qur'an, if it had been revealed to us, the Jews, would we have taken the day of its revelation as a festival?" He said, "What is it?" He said:[Al-Ma'idah 5:3] Then 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "It was indeed revealed on a day of 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, not just one festival; a Friday and the Day of 'Arafah." The lesson from this story is that, unfortunately, the enemies of Islam have recognized the importance of some of the texts we possess, while many of us have been negligent of that. This verse, the Jew says, "If it had been revealed to us, the Jews, we would have taken that day as a festival". As for the Muslims, they recite this verse but never feel its danger or what it contains of the greatness of this favor that our Lord bestows upon His servants in His saying [Al-Ma'idah 5:3]. This is because, especially in this time, we feel the stumbling of states and nations that claim for themselves awareness, culture, and science, and so on. Every day they bring new constitutions, let alone laws. Every day they change and alter. Why? Because they originate from the earth, rather, they originate from desires and contradictory appetites. But the Book of Allah was revealed from our Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He) by the inspiration of the sky, which knows what every nation needs in every era, in every time and place. And thus, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) sufficed the believing servants from coming up with new laws and legislations every day in which they stumble for long years, until after these experiences it becomes clear to them that what they were in was indeed manifest error. When the Muslim believes that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has perfected the religion and completed the favor upon His servants, he is relieved from innovation and invention in the religion, and then he directs his power and faculties to innovation in this world in what benefits him in this world. The power and capacity of man, as we all know, is limited. If a person spends it in one direction to the extent he turns to it, it decreases his attention to the other direction. If the Muslims today were to count the innovations they have introduced over the centuries and eras, they would reach thousands upon thousands.
In reality, I had started twenty years ago a very extensive project, but many scientific projects stood between me and it. I named the project "The Dictionary of Innovations" because they are many, and very many. I organized the classification in my mind according to the chapters of jurisprudence: innovations in purification, innovations in prayer, zakah, and so on. In every act of worship, you find hundreds of innovations. For example, we have a book "The Rulings of Funerals and Their Innovations", a printed book, in which I mentioned the innovations of funerals, which exceeded or reached approximately two hundred innovations. And this, of course, is not by way of counting and exhaustive investigation. The point is that these efforts were spent on innovation in the religion, and our Lord has relieved us of the burden by completing the favor upon us by perfecting the religion. If we had directed these ambitions to what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) explicitly told us, we would then be leaders, not only in the religion but also in this world, and we would not be a burden upon our enemies in the weapons we want to fight our enemies with. We would be the ones exporting weapons to those people, instead of importing them from them and asking them for it as well.
This is part of the importance of this verse: that we know that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has perfected the religion, so we stand at the limits of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) and do not transgress them, and we direct the ambition of innovation, invention, and introduction in this world, not in the religion. Because the religion is complete, whereas this world is endless, and every day, as you see, there is something new and new.
And the research on this verse has, of course, a wider and wider scope, and perhaps we will expand on it on another occasion, which may be near, if Allah wills, after the 'Isha' prayer. And perhaps this amount is sufficient, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
The Shaykh : I do not know if our brothers have specified something regarding the organization ... we may be bound by their appointments ... .
The questioner : ... I ... in the interpretation of the verse, I mean ... .
The Shaykh : Now, or after the prayer?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : It is mentioned in Sahih al-Bukhari the saying ... an important story that clarifies the greatness of this verse in terms of what it contains of this divine obligation which Allah bestowed upon the Muslims, as He explicitly stated in this noble verse, that He perfected the religion for them. A man from the Jews came to 'Umar ibn al-Khattab during his caliphate and said, "O Commander of the Faithful, which verse in the Book of Allah, if it had been revealed to us, the Jews, would we have taken the day of its revelation as a festival? Which verse in the Book of Allah, meaning the Qur'an, if it had been revealed to us, the Jews, would we have taken the day of its revelation as a festival?" He said, "What is it?" He said:
This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion.
اليوم أكملت لكم دينكم وأتممت عليكم نعمتي ورضيت لكم الإسلام ديناThis day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion.
اليوم أكملت لكم دينكم وأتممت عليكم نعمتي ورضيت لكم الإسلام ديناIn reality, I had started twenty years ago a very extensive project, but many scientific projects stood between me and it. I named the project "The Dictionary of Innovations" because they are many, and very many. I organized the classification in my mind according to the chapters of jurisprudence: innovations in purification, innovations in prayer, zakah, and so on. In every act of worship, you find hundreds of innovations. For example, we have a book "The Rulings of Funerals and Their Innovations", a printed book, in which I mentioned the innovations of funerals, which exceeded or reached approximately two hundred innovations. And this, of course, is not by way of counting and exhaustive investigation. The point is that these efforts were spent on innovation in the religion, and our Lord has relieved us of the burden by completing the favor upon us by perfecting the religion. If we had directed these ambitions to what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) explicitly told us,
You know best the affairs of your worldly life.
أنتم أعلم بأمور دنياكمThis is part of the importance of this verse: that we know that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has perfected the religion, so we stand at the limits of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) and do not transgress them, and we direct the ambition of innovation, invention, and introduction in this world, not in the religion. Because the religion is complete, whereas this world is endless, and every day, as you see, there is something new and new.
And the research on this verse has, of course, a wider and wider scope, and perhaps we will expand on it on another occasion, which may be near, if Allah wills, after the 'Isha' prayer. And perhaps this amount is sufficient, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.