Explanation of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “Today I have perfected for you your religion…”

The Shaykh : A very, very great verse was revealed while the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was at 'Arafah during the Farewell Pilgrimage, confirming this meaning: that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) delivered the message completely, without any deficiency. So Allah the Exalted said: This noble verse was revealed while the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was at 'Arafah on a Friday. Indeed, Ka'b al-Ahbar, one of the Jewish scholars who had embraced Islam—may Allah guide him to faith in Allah and His Messenger—recognized the value of this noble verse and this great blessing by which Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) favored His servants, as He said: to the end of the verse. Ka'b al-Ahbar knew this reality, despite the small number of Jews who had embraced Islam. When he learned from his study of the Book of Allah about this noble verse, he came to 'Umar ibn al-Khattab and said, “O Commander of the Faithful, there is a verse in the Book of Allah that, had it been revealed to us, the Jews, we would have taken the day of its revelation as a festival.” 'Umar asked, “What is it?” He said: to the end of the verse. Then 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “It was indeed revealed on a day of festival, a Friday, while the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was at 'Arafah.” So Ka'b al-Ahbar’s suspicion was true when he felt the greatness of this verse and said that if it had been revealed to the Jews, they would have taken the day of its revelation as a festival. 'Umar informed him that the Muslims indeed celebrate on this day, namely Friday, and also on the Day of 'Arafah. The purpose of presenting this authentic narration, which is in Sahih al-Bukhari, is to remind the believers of Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) of the greatness of this blessing by which Allah favored His servants, as He said: But the Muslims, except for a few among them, have not recognized the value of this blessing or appreciated it as it deserves. Why? For two reasons: one relates to thought, and the other relates to the practice they are upon. As for thought, we are still living today with a jurisprudential problem that contradicts what this noble verse explicitly states, namely that Allah the Exalted perfected the religion for His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). We are living with the problem that many of the acts of worship that Muslims perform today are not part of the religion in any way; they are not of Islam at all. Although we heard earlier that the verse was revealed on a day of festival while the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was on Mount 'Arafah during the Farewell Pilgrimage, this is a great blessing that many Muslims have not appreciated as it deserves. If they had appreciated it as it deserves, they would have stopped at what Allah prescribed through the tongue of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). I do not mean only that there are laws and constitutions that were not established based on the Book of Allah or the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), because these constitutions and laws were not established by the scholars of the Muslims, the jurists, or the sincere Muslims devoted to their religion; rather, they were imposed upon them. I mean the individual Muslims, the righteous among them, who stand in night prayer and fast during the day, yet they do not stop at this blessing of the perfection of the religion. They worship Allah the Exalted with things that did not come in the religion and that the Messenger of the Lord of the Worlds did not clarify. This is what I intended to clarify after the general statement when we said: There are two principles that every Muslim must adhere to in his religion with Allah. The first principle is that one does not worship except Allah, and the second principle is that one does not worship Him except with what Allah has prescribed. Why? Because Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) has perfected the religion. Unfortunately, this reality is absent from the minds of many practicing and juristic Muslims. This is because, in Islam today, after fourteen centuries have passed, things that are not part of it have entered into it over time. Therefore, the authentic hadiths from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the reports of the Salaf warn against introducing anything into the religion in the name of drawing near to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). This is because Allah the Exalted has relieved us of the burden of innovating or introducing into the religion what is not part of it, as you heard earlier from the verse revealed at 'Arafah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) confirmed this meaning contained in the noble verse in some of the authentic hadiths, among which is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): “I have not left anything that brings you closer to Allah and keeps you away from the Fire except that I have commanded you with it, and I have not left anything that turns you away from Allah and brings you closer to the Fire except that I have forbidden it to you.” So the chapter of worship is closed; there is no way for a Muslim to worship except with what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) brought to us.