• and belief as well in the legal rulings contained in the Book and the Sunnah—namely, the commands, the prohibitions, the laws of requital, and everything of that nature.

• “and in what was sent down to Abraham …” It requires faith in every scripture revealed to every prophet, and faith in the prophets in general and, more particularly, in those whom this noble verse and others mention by name, because of their rank and because they brought the major laws.

Among the proofs of Islam, its perfections, and the fact that it is the true religion of Allah, is that it commands belief in every book Allah has sent down and every messenger Allah has dispatched, both in general and in detail. Anyone who claims to follow a true religion—such as the Jews, the Christians, and the like—falls into contradiction, for they believe in some and disbelieve in others; their unbelief and denial overturn whatever affirmation they make. For this reason Allah declared concerning them that they are “the true disbelievers” (4:151), and He made it clear that there is no path that can be taken to reach Him except the path of believing in all the messengers and in all the scriptures revealed to them.

• In His words, “and in what the prophets were given from their Lord” (2:136), there is proof that the prophets are merely intermediaries between Allah and His creation in conveying His religion, and that they possess no authority of their own.

• The phrase “from their Lord” further indicates that part of the perfection of His lordship over His servants—His complete nurturing of them—is that He sent to them His messengers and revealed to them His books, so that they might teach them, purify them, and bring them out of darkness into light. It would in no way befit His lordship and wisdom to leave them neglected, commanded to do nothing and forbidden from nothing, with no reward and no punishment.