Arguments from the Quran and Hadith

Ahmad and Shaikh ul-Hind Mahmud ul-Hasan, have taken it. This understanding of this phrase is based on the fact that if it is seen in the context of the whole Quranic verse of which it is a part, it will be clear that it is a commandment about the establishment of the very same deen that was revealed to all the prophets, from the Prophet Noah to the Prophet Muhammad. Now, as far as the beliefs and fundamental principles taught by the different prophets are concerned, their deen was identical, but there were considerable differences in terms of the details of the laws (shariah) and practical commandments that they taught. This is why this Quranic verse can only indicate that portion of the deen that was common to the teachings of all the prophets. As the noted Quranic commentator, the twelfth century Imam Fakhruddin al-Razi (d. 1209 C.E.) noted in his Tafsir al-Kabir, the term ad-deen here refers to those aspects of the teachings of all the prophets that they shared in common, which is to say matters in their teachings other than the laws and commandments that were different for different prophets. This, Imam Razi wrote, consists of faith in God, His angels, His books, His prophets and the Day of Judgment as well as matters that emerge from faith (iman)—detachment from the world, concern about the Hereafter, cultivation of morals and abstaining from evil. In a similar vein, the noted Indian Muslim scholar,