with you, and do not transgress.”

And He says:

“So call to this, remain steadfast as you have been commanded, and do not follow their desires.”

And He says:

“Say, ‘I have been commanded to be the first to submit,’ and do not be among those who associate partners with Allah.”

And He says:

“Say, ‘I have been commanded to worship Allah, devoting my religion sincerely to Him.’”

“‘And I have been commanded to be the first of the Muslims.’”

And He says:

“Nor do I tell you that I possess Allah’s treasuries, nor do I know the unseen, nor do I tell you that I am an angel. I follow only what is revealed to me. Say, ‘Are the blind and the sighted equal? Will you not then reflect?’”

And He says:

“Follow what is revealed to you, and be patient until Allah judges, for He is the best of judges.”

And He says:

“And this is My straight path, so follow it, and do not follow other paths, lest they lead you away from His path.”

There are many similar texts in which He enjoins adherence to what He has commanded, explains that steadfastness consists in this, that He has commanded nothing but this, and that abandoning it incurs punishment. These and similar statements show that compliance with commands is a general foundation, whereas avoiding what is forbidden is a particular branch of it.

The tenth argument:

The forbidden religious practices for which Allah censures the polytheists in the Quran are chiefly associating partners with Him and declaring things unlawful. This is also related of them in His saying:

“Those who associate partners with Allah will say, ‘Had Allah willed, neither we nor our forefathers would have associated partners with Him, nor would we have forbidden any