our Protector; grant us victory over the disbelieving people.’

[Muhammad ﷺ, the Seal of the Prophets]

And at the beginning of the same surah He says:

‘Alif, Lam, Meem. This is the Book in which there is no doubt, a guidance for those who are mindful of Allah—those who believe in the unseen, establish the prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them; those who believe in what has been sent down to you and what was sent down before you, and who are certain of the Hereafter. Such people are upon guidance from their Lord, and it is they who will prosper.’

It is therefore indispensable to faith that one affirm that Muhammad ﷺ is the Seal of the Prophets—there is no prophet after him—and that Allah sent him to both orders of beings, the jinn and humankind.

[Believing in Everything He Brought]

Anyone who does not believe in what he brought is not a believer at all, let alone one of Allah’s devout friends. Whoever believes in some of what he brought while rejecting part of it is an unbeliever, not a believer, as Allah the Exalted says:

‘Surely those who disbelieve in Allah and His messengers and seek to distinguish between Allah and His messengers, saying, “We believe in some and disbelieve in others,” and who desire to take a middle path—such people are the true unbelievers, and We have prepared for the unbelievers a humiliating punishment. But those who believe in Allah and His messengers and make no distinction between any of them—He will soon grant them their rewards. Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful.’

[Belief in His Intermediary Role in Conveying the Message]

Part of having faith in him is to believe that he is the intermediary between Allah and—