a man who built a house, completing and perfecting it except for the space of a single brick. People would walk around it, marveling at its beauty, and say, ‘If only that brick were in place!’ I am that brick.”
Through him, Allah’s religion was perfected: it enjoins everything right, forbids everything wrong, makes every good thing lawful, and prohibits every foul thing. As for the messengers before him, some good things were forbidden to their nations, as Allah said:
“Because of wrongdoing by the Jews, We forbade them good things that had been lawful to them.”
And not all foul things were necessarily forbidden to them, as Allah Most High said:
“All food was lawful to the Children of Israel except what Israel had forbidden himself before the Torah was revealed.”
Prohibiting foul things falls within the meaning of “forbidding what is wrong,” just as making good things lawful falls within “enjoining what is right,” because forbidding good things is among the matters Allah has prohibited. Likewise, enjoining everything right and forbidding everything wrong attained completeness only with the Messenger, through whom Allah perfected noble character, which falls within what is right. Allah Most High said:
“Today I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and chosen Islam as your religion.”
Thus Allah has perfected our religion for us, completed His favor upon us, and chosen Islam as our religion.
Likewise, He described this nation in the same terms as He described its Prophet, saying:
“You are the best nation brought forth for mankind: you enjoin what is right, forbid what is wrong, and believe in Allah.”
And Allah Most High said:
“The believing men and believing women are allies of one another