Thus, it is essential to know the One who is worshipped and how He is to be worshipped. Those who have gone astray among the polytheists, Christians, and their like practise worship and asceticism, but either for someone other than Allah or in ways Allah has not commanded. The only beneficial intent and will is the will to worship Allah alone, and He is to be worshipped only through what He has prescribed, not through religious innovations.

The religion of Islam revolves around these two principles: worshipping Allah alone and worshipping Him through what He has prescribed, not through religious innovations. As for knowledge, understanding, and Sufism, these revolve around knowing what the Messenger conveyed and knowing that what he conveyed is true: either because we know that he speaks nothing but the truth—this is general assent—or because we know that a particular report is true through the signs of its truth that Allah has manifested. For He sent down the Scripture and the Balance, and showed people His signs on the horizons and within themselves until it became clear to them that the Quran is the truth.

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As for “practical matters,” which some call subsidiary matters, religious law, and jurisprudence, the Messenger explained these with the utmost clarity. There is nothing Allah commanded, prohibited, permitted, or forbade that he did not clarify. Allah Most High said:

“Today I have perfected your religion for you.”

And Allah Most High said:

“It is not a fabricated account, but a confirmation of