Islam: The Universal and Final Message

Islam: The Universal and Final Message

We believe that the Shari’ah of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is the religion of Islam, which Allâh has chosen for His servants. He does not accept any other religion from anyone, for He, the Exalted, said: “Surely, the true religion in Allâh’s sight is Islam” [3:19], “Today I have perfected your religion for you and I have completed My favour upon you, and I have chosen Islam to be your religion” [5:3], and “Whoever desires a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted from Him, and in the Hereafter he will be among the losers” [3:85]. It is our opinion that whoever claims that any religion other than Islam is acceptable, such as Judaism, Christianity and so forth, is a non believer. He should be asked to repent.

It is also our opinion that whoever rejects the universal message of Muhammad, peace be upon him, rejects the message of all messengers, even if he claims that he believes and follows His Messenger. Allâh, the Exalted, said: “Noah’s people rejected the Messengers” [26:105]. Thus, Allâh considered them as rejecting all of the messengers despite the fact that there was no messenger before Noah. This is also clear from the following verses: “Those who disbelieve in Allâh and His Messengers, and wish to make division between Allâh and His Messengers, and say: ‘We believe in some and disbelieve in others,’ wishing to take a midway course. Those indeed are the unbelievers, and We have prepared for the unbelievers a humiliating punishment” [4:150-51]. 

We believe that there is no prophet after Muhammad, Allâh’s Messenger, peace be upon him. Whoever claims prophet hood after him, or believes in anyone claiming it, is a disbeliever and one who rejects Allâh, His Messenger, and the Muslims’ consensus.

The Rightly Guided Caliphs:

We believe that the Prophet, peace be upon him, has rightly guided successors who carried out his Sunnah in spreading knowledge calling to Islam, and managing the Muslims’ affairs. We believe that the best among them and the most entitled to the caliphate was Abu Bakr as Siddiq, then ‘Umar Ibn al-Khattab, then ‘Uthman Ibn Affan and then ‘All Ibn Abi Talib, may Allâh be pleased with them all. Thus their succession to the caliphate was according to their virtues. Allâh, the Exalted, who possesses infinite wisdom, would not appoint a ruler over the best of generations unless he was the most superior among them and had the best claim to caliphate.

We believe that the inferior among those rightly guided companions can be superior in a specific virtue to those who were better than him but that he does not deserve absolute superiority, for the elements constituting superiority are varied and numerous.

We believe that the Muslim Ummah is the best among nations, and Allâh, the Dignified and Exalted, has blessed it, because He said: “You are the best nation ever brought forth for mankind, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allâh” [3:110] The Prophet’s Companions: We believe that the best among the Muslim Ummah are the Prophet’s Companions, then their followers, and then those who followed them.

We also believe that a group of this Ummah will always remain victorious on the right path, unharmed by those who let them down or those who oppose them, until the Day of Judgement.

We believe that the disputes that took place among the Prophet’s Companions were the result of sincere interpretations that they worked hard to reach. Whoever was right among them will be rewarded twice, and whoever was wrong among them will be rewarded once and his mistake will be forgiven.

It is our opinion that we should stop talking about their mistakes and mention what they deserve of beautiful praise. We should purify our hearts from hatred and malice against any of them, because Allâh said about them: “They are not equal: those among you who spent and who fought before the conquest of Makkah. Those are higher in rank than those who spent and fought afterwards. But to all Allâh has promised a great reward” [57:10]. And Allâh said about us: “And those who came after them say: ‘Our Lord, forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith, and do not put in our hearts any malice against those who have believed. Our Lord, You are the most Kind, Most Merciful” [59:10].