Testimony to the Truth

Hereafter. These principles are introduced gradually and from different perspectives, allowing space for questions and hesitations. Where doubts arise, they are thoughtfully engaged with and clarified through reasoned explanation Once these foundations are understood and acknowledged, the specific religious practices are then introduced, such as those prescribed for the community of believers. A narration recorded in both Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim recounts that when the Prophet œ sent Mu‘adh ibn Jabal to Yemen, he advised him: ‘You will meet a group of the people of the Book, so let the first thing you invite them to be the testimony that there is no god but God’ (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 1458; Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 9). Only after this principle was accepted were additional practices, such as prayer and other obligations of the Shariah, to be conveyed. This is why prophets, in the early stages of their mission, would come only with basic teachings and spend a long time sharing them. Only later, as practical circumstances changed, were detailed instructions revealed. It never happened that when a prophet visited a people, he started by presenting a complete social and civil system and demanded that they establish an Islamic state to enforce all its laws in every aspect of life.