through what he conveyed that it was perfected, for the religion was known only through his conveyance of it. Thus, it is clear that he conveyed the entire religion that Allah prescribed for His servants. As he said, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“I have left you upon a clear path, whose night is like its day. None will stray from it after me except one who is doomed.”

He also said:

“I have left nothing that brings you closer to Paradise without telling you about it, and nothing that distances you from the Fire without telling you about it.”

Abū Dharr said:

“By the time the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, passed away, there was not a bird beating its wings in the sky without his having imparted some knowledge of it to us.”

Once this is clear, every Muslim is obliged to believe what he reported about Allah Most High concerning “Allah’s names and attributes,” as found in the Quran and the Sunnah authentically transmitted from him. This was the way of the earliest forerunners among the Emigrants and the Helpers, and those who followed them in righteousness—with whom Allah is pleased and who are pleased with Him.

They were the ones who received the Quran and the Sunnah from him, learning from him the knowledge and practice contained therein. As Abū ʿAbd al-Rahmān al-Sulamī said:

“Those who taught us the Quran, such as ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, and others, told us that when they learned ten verses from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, they would not go beyond them until they had learned the knowledge and practice contained in them. They said: ‘Thus, we learned the Quran, knowledge, and practice together.’”

ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar—one of the younger Companions—spent eight years learning Surah al-Baqarah. This was solely for the sake of understanding and knowledge.

This is evident in several ways: