Rule Forty-Six: Whatever Allah commands in His Book is directed to one of two groups. If it is addressed to people who have not yet entered into the matter, it is an instruction for them to do so. If it is addressed to those who have already entered, it is a directive to correct what they have performed and to strive for what is still lacking.

This principle runs through every Qur’anic command, whether foundational or subsidiary. Thus His words, “O you who were given the Scripture! Believe in what We have sent down” (Qur’an 4:47), belong to the first category.

His words, “O you who believe! Believe” (Qur’an 2:104), fall under the second and third, for He is commanding them to set right and complete their faith—both outward and inward—by perfecting sincerity therein and shunning whatever would corrupt or diminish it.

Likewise, when He orders the believers to establish the prayer, give the zakah, and fast Ramadan, He is commanding them to perfect these deeds: to fulfill every condition and complementary element, and to avoid everything that would invalidate or impair them.

The same applies when He enjoins reliance upon Him, turning back to Him, and other acts of the heart: it is a summons to realize those states fully and to bring into being whatever of them is still missing.

By this rule we also understand the answer to the objection people raise about believers asking their Lord for guidance to the Straight Path even though He has already guided them to Islam. The answer is precisely what this rule entails.

One must not say, “This is merely seeking what one already possesses.” Grasp this noble, beneficial principle, for it opens the doors to unfathomable treasures of knowledge, and it is perfectly clear and easy for whoever reflects.