to acts of worship or matters of personal status? Such a claim is ignorance and misguidance: if voiced knowingly, it is sheer arrogance and rebellion; if voiced out of ignorance, it is mere deficiency. What is required is that a person learn and come to know. We ask Allah to guide us and them.

The essential point is that no one can truly believe unless three conditions are met:

1. He must accept the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, as the final judge in every affair.
2. He must feel no discomfort or constriction in his heart regarding the Prophet’s rulings.
3. He must submit in full submission and yield complete compliance.

When these three conditions are fulfilled, a person is a believer; if they are not, he is either bereft of faith altogether or his faith is deficient. Allah alone grants success.

And the Exalted said: “Whoever obeys the Messenger has indeed obeyed Allah.”

Explanation

The author—may Allah have mercy on him—next cites, in the chapter that commands adherence to the Sunnah and its etiquettes, the verse: “Whoever obeys the Messenger has indeed obeyed Allah.” Whoever obeys the Messenger Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, has in fact obeyed Allah.

Obedience is to conform to the command, whether by performing what is enjoined or by refraining from what is forbidden. Thus, when the terms “obedience” and “disobedience” are mentioned together, obedience refers to carrying out the commanded act while disobedience refers to committing the prohibited one. When obedience is mentioned without qualification, it encompasses both commands and prohibitions.