what has been ordained for us, enjoined upon the messengers, and revealed to Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. It may therefore be said that the pronoun in “Establish” refers to us; or that it refers to the messenger; or that it refers to everyone. This last interpretation is the best. Comparable examples are: “I commanded you to do what I commanded Zayd to do: obey Allah,” and “I enjoined upon you what I enjoined upon the sons of so-and-so: do this.”
On the first interpretation, it functions as an appositional substitute for mā (“what”): that is, “He has ordained for you to establish the religion.” On the second interpretation, He has ordained what He addressed to them: “Establish.” This too is an appositional substitute, and He has stated what was said to the earlier peoples. On the third interpretation, He has ordained the injunction: “Establish.” Since this collective address follows the statement that these words were spoken both to us and to them, it is evident that the pronoun refers to both groups together. This is the soundest interpretation, if Allah wills.
The meaning of the first two interpretations ultimately comes back to this, for what has been ordained for us is what He enjoined upon the messengers: the command to establish the religion and the prohibition against becoming divided in it. The uncertainty concerns only whether the wording of the pronoun encompasses them, while it is known that the same was said to us; or the reverse; or whether it encompasses us all.
If Allah has commanded the earlier and later peoples to establish the religion and not become divided in it, and has stated that He has ordained for us what He enjoined upon Noah and what He revealed to Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, then this admits of two interpretations.
One is that what He revealed to Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, includes his revealed law, which is specific to us. For Allah revealed to him everything with which Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was sent, both fundamentals and subsidiary matters. The case of Noah and the other messengers is different: of their religion, He has ordained for us only what they were enjoined to do—establish the religion and refrain from becoming divided in it. The religion upon which they agreed consists of the fundamentals. Thus, the passage encompasses several points: