“The prophets are like paternal half-brothers.”

“And I am the one most closely connected to the son of Mary, for no prophet comes between him and me.”

Thus their religion is one: to worship Allah alone, without partner. Yet He is to be worshipped at each period in the manner He commands for that time. That, in every era, is the religion of Islam.

The variety found in revealed laws—through abrogating and abrogated rulings—is comparable to variations within a single Sharīʿah. The religion of Islam that Allah sent with Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is a single faith, even though at one stage it was compulsory to face Jerusalem in prayer, as the Muslims were ordered to do for some thirteen months after the Hijrah; afterward, it became obligatory to face the Kaʿbah and forbidden to face the Rock. The religion remained one, although the qiblah differed at two distinct times.

Likewise, Allah the Exalted legislated the Sabbath for the Children of Israel, then abrogated it and prescribed Friday. Congregating on Saturday was therefore obligatory in that period, and then the obligatory gathering became on the day