with regard to its own path. Yet this is not so, for Allah Most High says:

“Today I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and chosen Islam as your religion.”
[Surah al-Mā’idah 3]

This and other texts establish that the Messenger taught the community everything they need concerning their religion.

Allah Most High also says:

“Allah would not lead a people astray after guiding them until He has made clear to them what they must guard against.”
[Surah al-Tawbah 115]

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “I have left you upon a clear path, whose night is as clear as its day. None will deviate after me except one who is doomed.”

He also said, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: “Whoever among you lives after me will see much disagreement. Therefore, adhere to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly guided caliphs who come after me. Hold fast to it and cling to it with your molar teeth.”

Had his Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly guided caliphs not been broad enough to meet the believer’s needs and suffice him amid much disagreement, it would not have been permissible to command this.