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The revealed message is indispensable to the well-being of the servant in this life and the Hereafter. Just as he cannot prosper in the Hereafter except by following the revealed message, neither can he prosper in his livelihood and worldly life except by following it. Human beings cannot do without divine law, for their actions are of two kinds: actions by which they obtain what benefits them, and actions by which they ward off what harms them.

Divine law is the light that makes clear what benefits them and what harms them. It is Allah’s light upon His earth, His justice among His servants, and His fortress, within which whoever enters is safe. What is meant here is not distinguishing through the senses between what is harmful and what is beneficial, for even animals that cannot speak possess this ability: a donkey or a camel can thereby distinguish barley from dirt.

Rather, it concerns discerning the harmful and beneficial effects of deeds upon those who perform them in this life and the Hereafter—for example, the benefit of faith and affirming Allah’s oneness; justice, righteousness, charity, and doing good; trustworthiness and chastity; courage and forbearance; patience, enjoining right and forbidding wrong, maintaining ties of kinship, honouring one’s parents, treating slaves and neighbours kindly, and fulfilling others’ rights; acting sincerely for Allah alone, relying upon Him, seeking His help, and being content with what He decrees for one; submitting to His judgment and obeying His command; loyalty to His allies and enmity towards His enemies;