Commentary on Tafsir al-Jalalayn: “He has prescribed for you of the religion what He enjoined upon Noah” — he is the first of the prophets of the Shari'ah — “and what We revealed to you and what We enjoined upon Abraham, Moses, and Jesus”

The Shaykh : Then Allah the Exalted said: to the end of it. The address “He has prescribed for you” is for this Ummah, and praise be to Allah. The meaning of “He has prescribed for you” is He legislated for you and established for you a Shari'ah, which is: The commentator said: “He is the first of the prophets of the Shari'ah”. He (may Allah have mercy on him) was lenient in this, and the correct statement is: he is the first of the messengers of the Shari'ah. This is because it came in the authentic hadith that on the Day of Resurrection, creation will come to Noah to seek his intercession, and they will say to him: “You are the first messenger Allah sent.” Also, a messenger is more specific than a prophet, and it is not permissible to shift from the more specific to the more general. Therefore, the correct statement is: he is the first of the messengers of the Shari'ah. As for the first of the prophets of the Shari'ah, it is Adam (peace be upon him), a prophet who was spoken to by Allah, but he was not a messenger. The wisdom of him not being a messenger is that people had not yet differed. Allah the Exalted sent messengers to judge between people in what they differed in, as He the Glorious and Majestic said: But in the time of Adam, there was no difference; the number was small, and there were no temptations or things that would cause people to differ. Therefore, Adam worshipped Allah the Exalted with the Shari'ah He legislated for him. Did his sons follow him? Yes, they followed him. When they multiplied and spread out and differed, then the need, indeed the necessity, for messengers arose. So it is better to say: he is the first of the messengers of the Shari'ah. Why? Because the first of the prophets of the Shari'ah is Adam.
means: and He prescribed for you what We revealed to you. is conjoined with in His saying: The bequest (wasiyyah) is the covenant regarding a matter one cares about, and it is called a bequest. which is the Qur'an. Allah is the Greatest. Allah the Exalted mentioned the first of the prophets who are the messengers and the last of them, then He mentioned what is between them, so that He the Glorified and Exalted would combine the two ends and the middle. Who is the first of these noble messengers? Noah. And the last? Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon them). These five are the resolute ones among the messengers. Allah the Exalted said: They are mentioned in the Qur'an in two places: this is one.
And the second is His saying the Exalted: [Al-Ahzab: 7]. Yes.
This is explanatory, meaning “that is,” and therefore it does not have a grammatical effect because it is merely for explanation and clarification: “Establish the religion” means: bring it in a straight manner, not deviated. And what is the upright religion? It is the religion that Allah the Exalted legislated. It is obligatory for us to establish the religion as Allah the Exalted established it, not to exaggerate in it and not to fall short of it. Therefore, people in the religion of Allah are of three categories:
A category that exaggerated, a category that fell short, and a category that was moderate. So what were we commanded to do? Moderation. Not exceeding it and not falling short of it. Therefore, nations perished among those who fell short or exceeded. And which is more dangerous? The more dangerous is exceeding, which is exaggeration. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And because the one who exaggerates believes that this is the religion, so he hardly gives it up. The one who falls short admits that he is falling short, so perhaps he will examine himself one day and complete it. So exaggeration is more dangerous. Therefore, you will find that the innovations of the innovators are most severe in exaggeration. For example, the Rafidah exaggerated regarding the Ahl al-Bayt and exceeded the limit. And those who deify the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), who believe that he is more [important] than the deity the Exalted, exaggerated regarding the Messenger and perished. And the extremists in the religion who want people to be upright in the religion and not commit major sins are also exaggerators, like the Khawarij. The important thing is that if you examine the innovations, you will find that exaggeration in them is more dangerous for the person, because the one who exaggerates believes that what he is upon is the religion, and the one who falls short knows that he is falling short and perhaps he will become upright after that.
Allah the Blessed and Exalted said: The word “religion” (al-din) is used with two meanings:
The first meaning: the recompense.
And the second meaning: the deed. That is, it is used for the deed and for the recompense. From its usage for the deed is the saying of Allah the Blessed and Exalted: meaning: for you is your deed and for Me is My deed. Like His saying the Exalted: And from its usage for the recompense is His saying the Exalted: And what we recite in every prayer: Which of the two meanings is intended? The recompense. Here, what is intended? The deed. meaning: do not differ in your religion so that you become factions. So Allah the Exalted forbade differing in the religion, and this necessitates the obligation of unity upon it, because the prohibition of a thing is a command for its opposite if it has no other opposite. And at that time, it is obligatory for the Muslims to unite in the religion of Allah and not differ in it. And what the scholars differed in regarding opinions, the goal of it is one for whoever has a sound intention, because each of the differing ones only wants to reach the truth, but they differed in the path. And if the goal is one, which is reaching the truth, then it is not permissible to make this difference a cause for divergence in direction. This is not permissible at all. Rather, unity and agreement are obligatory even with differing opinions. For this reason, the noble, radiant Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) differed in many important things, and yet the hearts were one. When the difference reached them to the point of the hearts diverging, what happened happened of the fitnahs between Ali and Mu'awiyah, Aishah, and al-Zubayr, and the like of that. In our present time, there is no doubt that people are differing; some are directed toward a political direction, some toward a Sufi direction, and some are moderate. Many differences. So it is obligatory for us to remove the fuse of this difference and to be one Ummah so that we do not diverge and fail, because Allah says: meaning: and let there be no value for you. [Al-Anfal: 46]. For this reason, we find now, with great regret, that what is called the Islamic awakening has been afflicted with this calamity. And the very religious people have started to slander each other, misguide each other, declare each other innovators, and perhaps declare each other disbelievers. So that awakening was lost. And those who were intended to be a party against the enemies of Allah and a war against the enemies of Allah became a war against themselves and parties against themselves. And this is what the enemy spends the most precious of what he has to obtain, and he has obtained it for free. So it is obligatory for us to remove these differences and leave them, and to leave what many people fill their gatherings with, namely cursing so-and-so and so-and-so, or disparaging so-and-so and so-and-so, or exaggerating regarding so-and-so and so-and-so, because this wastes times and breeds hatred and does not benefit anything, but rather harms. What do we have to do with so-and-so? If he is dead, he has faced the Reckoning. And if he is alive, we hope for his uprightness. As for making our greatest concern this talk that returns to the Ummah with nothing but evil, for this reason Allah the Exalted forbids differing in several verses, as in this verse: So if you and your companion differ in an opinion that is a place for ijtihad (independent legal reasoning), it is obligatory for you to believe that your companion will not contradict you. Why? Because he took the path that you take. He exerted effort and said: this is the correct one. And you exerted effort and said: this is the correct one. So what is the intention of each of you? Reaching the truth. And it is not possible that your ijtihad is a proof against him, nor his ijtihad a proof against you. And at that time, we are in reality in agreement, even if he contradicts me, I believe that he agrees with me, because we all intend the truth and do not want to contradict the truth. But unfortunately, now some people take this difference, which is a place for ijtihad, and make it a ladder for divergence and criticism.
Years ago in Mina, I witnessed two African groups, each cursing and declaring the other disbelievers. They came to the leader of the da'wah, of which I am a member, in a state of extreme conflict. This was in Mina, during the days of Hajj, in a sacred month, in a sacred land. So he, may Allah reward him with good, met with them. What was the matter? He said: "These are disbelievers. They have turned away from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And we disavow them." It was a long and strange statement. What was the disagreement? One group said: "When a man stands to pray, he places his right hand over his left." The other group said: "When a man stands to pray, he lets his hands hang down." The issue is not a disagreement in creed; it is a disagreement over a Sunnah from the Sunnahs of prayer, which is a matter of ijtihad. Each one calls the other a disbeliever because he has turned away from the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he said (peace and blessings be upon him): Look at the calamity. Now, the young people have started differing over another matter: regarding people. They make a person a target. What do you say about so-and-so? If he says: "By Allah, so-and-so is good, a beloved, and among the best of Allah's servants," his chest expands as if he has been given Paradise. But if it is said: "By Allah, this man has a deviation in his conduct; he is a person who has such-and-such and such-and-such," he becomes upset, his chest tightens, and he abandons his companion. This is wrong, my brothers. People and men, if they err, may Allah pardon their errors, because they are Muslims; no matter who they are, they do not exit Islam. And if they are correct, take their correctness and praise it, and do not take their error. As for making them the standard for loyalty and disavowal, that is a great error. Therefore, I call upon our brothers from the Saudis and others to abandon this method and stay away from it, and to believe that we are brothers, and that each one of us is judged by his own deeds, and not to make this a cause for division, because Allah has forbidden us from it, and we know with certainty that Allah does not forbid us except from something that is harmful to us. So here he says: meaning not being excessive in it nor falling short agree upon it.