Back to search

What does the completion of the religion mean in His saying, the Most High: "This day I have perfected for you your religion," does it include legislation or monotheism and creed?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The scholars differed in their interpretation of the noble verse: ﴿This day, I have perfected for you your religion﴾. Al-Qurtubi said: It was revealed after the completion of the religion when the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, performed Hajj. The religion refers to the legislations that were prescribed, and this verse was the last of them to be revealed. The majority said: What is meant is the majority of the obligatory duties, and what is permissible and impermissible, and much Qur'an was revealed after that. Al-Baydawi said: The completion of the religion is by victory and its dominance over all other religions, or by explicit rulings on the fundamentals of beliefs, the principles of laws, and the rules of ijtihad. Ibn Ashour said: What is meant is the completion of the universals, which include the command for inference and analogy. There is no disagreement that the religion was completed before the death of the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, in terms of legislation, monotheism, worship, and morals. This does not prevent ijtihad to infer a ruling for a difference in understanding a verse or the authenticity of a hadith.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

Read the full answer on Ftawy