resurrection after death, and divine decree, both its good and its evil; and calling the servant to worship his Lord as though he sees Him. These three degrees—Islam, faith, and excellence in worship—are all included in religion, as the Prophet said in the authentic hadith:

“This is Gabriel, who came to teach you your religion.”

He said this after answering his questions about these three, thus making clear that they all belong to our religion.

The word dīn (religion) is a verbal noun, and a verbal noun may be ascribed either to the subject or to the object of the action. One says dāna fulānun fulānan to mean that one person worshipped and obeyed another, just as dānahu may mean that he humbled him. Thus, the servant worships and obeys Allah. When religion is ascribed to the servant, it is because he is the one who worships and obeys; when it is ascribed to Allah, it is because He is the One worshipped and obeyed. As Allah Most High says:

“Fight them until there is no more persecution and worship is devoted to Allah.”

Calling to Allah therefore means calling the servant to His religion, whose foundation is worshipping Him alone, without partner. This is what Allah sent His messengers and revealed His Books to establish. Allah Most High says:

“He has ordained for you the religion He enjoined upon Noah, that which We have revealed to you, and what We enjoined upon Abraham, Moses, and Jesus: ‘Establish the religion and do not become divided in it.’”

And Allah Most High says:

“Ask those of Our messengers whom We sent before you: did We appoint any gods besides the Most Merciful to be worshipped?”

And Allah Most High says:

“We certainly sent