Correspondence with Maulana Abul Lais Islahi Nadwi

DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE admits that the verse li-yuzhirahu ‘ala ad-deen kullihi is not clear proof that izhar-e-deen was the Messenger’s main goal. However, he still maintains that izhar-e-deen is essentially the goal of Prophethood. He argues that there are other texts that are even more obvious on this point. I am including this entire section below to fully present his position. The mention of the religion being made dominant is not limited to this one verse alone; it appears, with variations in wording and expression, in other verses—and in some hadith as well. For example, the verse wa qaatiloo hum hatta la takoon fitnah wa yakoon ad-deen kulluhu lillah (Quran, 8:39), meaning, fight them until there is no more fitna, and religion belongs wholly to God. And and the hadith umirtu an uqatil an-naas hatta yaqooloo la ilaha illallah (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 392). That is, I have been commanded to fight the people until they say: ‘There is no god but Allah. While the verse of izhar-e-deen does not explicitly state that the mission of the Messenger is to establish the religion, can the same be said about these texts? Clearly not, because these statements make it unmistakably clear that the Messenger was