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The increase in faith that Allah commands and that His believing servants attain can be understood in several respects:

First: the distinction between general and detailed requirements. Although all people must believe in Allah and His Messenger, and every community must commit itself in general to whatever its messenger commands, it is clear that what became obligatory after the entire Quran had been revealed was not obligatory at the outset. Nor is every individual required to believe in the same details of what the Messenger conveyed as someone whom further reports have reached. Whoever knows the Quran, the prophetic teachings, and their meanings must believe in their details to an extent not required of others.

If a man believes in Allah and the Messenger, inwardly and outwardly, then dies before learning the religious laws, he dies as a believer who has fulfilled the faith required of him. Yet neither the faith required of him nor the faith he actually attained is like the faith of someone who learned those laws, believed in them, and acted upon them. Rather, the latter’s faith is more complete both in what is required and in what is attained: the faith required of him is more complete, and the faith he actually attains is more complete.

Allah Most High says:

“Today I have perfected your religion for you.”

This refers to the legislation of commands and prohibitions. It does not mean that every member of the Muslim community is required to fulfill everything required of all its other members, or that each has actually done so. Rather, in the two Sahīh collections, “It is reported from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that he described women