—namely, how we are to worship Him—for acts of worship are tawqīfiyyah (defined solely by revelation): it is impermissible to worship God in any manner except that which He has legislated.

Hence all acts of devotion are restricted to what the messengers—peace be upon them—have brought. The wisdom behind sending those messengers was to teach people how to worship their Lord and to forbid them from shirk and disbelief in Allah; that is the very task entrusted to the messengers, peace be upon them. For this reason the Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever performs a deed that is not in harmony with our command, it is rejected.” Worship, therefore, is tawqīfiyyah; innovations are rejected, superstitions are repudiated, and blind imitation is unacceptable. Acts of worship are to be taken only from the law brought by the Messenger ﷺ.

As for the statement, “Rather, He sent a messenger to us,” that messenger is Muhammad ﷺ, the seal of the prophets. Allah sent him to explain to us why we were created, to show us how to worship Him, and to forbid us from shirk, disbelief, and sin. This is the mission of the Messenger ﷺ: he has conveyed the clear message, fulfilled the trust, sincerely advised the ummah, clarified and expounded the truth, and left us upon a radiant path whose night is as bright as its day; no one deviates from it except one who is doomed. This is as he said