. That is the upright religion, but most people do not know.”1.

Ibn Kathīr (may Allah have mercy on him) said regarding the meaning of this verse: “Allah Most High says: Direct your face aright and remain steadfast upon the religion He has prescribed for you—the upright creed of Abraham—to which Allah has guided you and which He has perfected for you to the utmost degree. At the same time, adhere to the sound natural disposition upon which He created mankind. Allah Most High created them with an innate disposition to know Him, affirm His oneness, and recognize that there is no deity besides Him.”2 Thus ends the words of Ibn Kathīr (may Allah have mercy on him).

This is the natural state of all people. Whoever departs from it does so only because some external influence has affected and corrupted his natural disposition. This is stated in the hadith of Iyād al-Mujāshi'ī (may Allah be pleased with him), in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) relates that his Lord said: “I created all My servants upright in faith. Then the devils came to them, turned them away from their religion, declared unlawful for them what I had made lawful, and commanded them to associate with Me that for which I had sent down no authority.” Muslim narrated it in his Sahīh3.

It is also related in the two authentic collections from Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Every child is born upon the natural disposition; then his parents make him a Jew, a Christian, or a Magian.”4.

There is no doubt that it is an immense blessing from Allah for His servant to enter each morning upon a sound natural disposition untainted by contamination, alteration, or deviation.

His words, “and the declaration of pure monotheism,” mean that we have entered the morning adhering to the declaration of pure monotheism: “There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah.” This is that magnificent and glorious declaration which is the finest of