Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—extends to all people: Arabs and non-Arabs, kings and ascetics, scholars and ordinary people; that it endures until the Day of Resurrection—indeed, it encompasses both jinn and humankind—and that no created being may depart from following and obeying him or from adhering to the religion he prescribes for his community and the way he has established for them: fulfilling what is commanded and avoiding what is forbidden. Indeed, had the earlier prophets been alive, they would have been obliged to follow and obey him.

Allah Most High said:

“And when Allah took the covenant of the prophets, ‘Whatever I give you of Scripture and wisdom, should a messenger then come to you confirming what is with you, you must believe in him and support him.’ He said, ‘Do you affirm this and accept My binding covenant?’ They said, ‘We affirm it.’ He said, ‘Then bear witness, and I am with you among the witnesses.’”

Ibn ʿAbbās said: Allah never sent a prophet without taking his covenant that, if Muhammad were sent while that prophet was still alive, he would believe in him and support him. He also commanded him to take his community’s covenant that, if Muhammad were sent during his lifetime, they would believe in him and support him.

In Sunan al-Nasā’ī, Jābir reports that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—saw a sheet from the Torah in the hand of ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb and said:

“Are you bewildered, O son of al-Khattāb? I have brought it to you clear and pure. Were Moses alive, he would have no choice but to follow me.”

These were his words, or words to that effect. Ahmad also narrated it in al-Musnad with the wording:

“Were Moses alive, and you followed him and abandoned me, you would go astray.”

In Abū Dāwūd’s al-Marāsīl, he said:

“It is sufficient misguidance for a people to seek a scripture other than your Scripture, revealed to