and the lām—that the two nouns should pertain exclusively to Muhammad ﷺ (1).

Thus Allah the Exalted says, for example,
“Obey Allah and the Messenger, that you may be shown mercy” (Q 3:132);
He also says,
“Obey Allah, obey the Messenger, and those vested with authority among you” (Q 4:59);
and He says,
“Whoever obeys the Messenger has indeed obeyed Allah” (Q 4:80).

The Noble Quran is likewise sovereign over all earlier scriptures. Allah has made it the final word addressed to humanity, to which every person must ultimately return if he wishes to be counted among the believers. Consequently, every dispute is to be referred back to this Book for judgment—whether the difference concerns matters of creed among the followers of the heavenly religions, questions of law that this Book has now delivered in their definitive form, or disagreements that arise among Muslims themselves. Allah the Exalted says:

“And We have sent down to you the Book in truth, confirming what came before it of the Scripture and as a guardian over it” (Q 5:48).

Just as Allah employed the expressions “the Messenger” and “the Prophet” in their definite form when commanding obedience—thereby restricting them to Muhammad ﷺ and highlighting his perfection—so too He uses the word “the Book” in this verse with the very same force, referring solely to the Quran. It is the consummate Scripture, the one that truly deserves to be called “the Book,” to which the full significance of that word returns.