with the Quran, and sent us a Messenger from among ourselves who recites His verses to us, purifies us, and teaches us the Book and wisdom, although we had previously been in manifest error.

Allah, glorified be He, has created His servants with two innate dispositions: to acknowledge Him in their hearts through knowledge, and to love Him and submit to Him through action, worship, and seeking His help. Thus, they are naturally disposed to know Him and to act for His sake. This is Islam, concerning which the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Every child is born upon the natural disposition.” Another wording reads: “upon this natural disposition.”

In the two Sahīhs, it is narrated from al-Zuhrī and from Abū Salamah, from Abū Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“No child is born except upon the natural disposition. Then his parents make him a Jew, a Christian, or a Magian, just as an animal gives birth to an intact offspring. Do you see any among them that is mutilated?”

Then Abū Hurayrah recites:

“The natural disposition with which Allah has created mankind. There is no changing Allah’s creation. That is the upright religion.” [al-Rūm 30]

Both also transmitted it through the narration of