from the time of the Prophet ﷺ up to our own day—and it will remain so until Allah lifts it up at the end of time—being recited by both young and old. As for the earlier scriptures, they have been altered, distorted, and tampered with; yet whatever of them has reached us in an authentic form must be accepted as true and its rulings deemed sound, although we are not obliged to act upon those rulings unless our own Sacred Law provides evidence for them.

Part of giving sincere counsel to the Book of Allah is to defend it: to repel anyone who distorts its wording or its meaning, or who claims that it contains deficiencies or additions. The Rāfiḍah, for example, assert that the Qur’an is incomplete and that what was revealed to Muhammad ﷺ was more extensive than the copy in the hands of the Muslims. In doing so they oppose the unanimous agreement of the Muslim community. Nothing—praise be to Allah—has been subtracted from the Qur’an. Whoever alleges that anything is missing has denied the divine statement: “Indeed, it is We who sent down the Reminder, and indeed We will be its guardian” (Surah al-Hijr 15:9). Allah has guaranteed its preservation, and anyone who claims that even a single letter has been removed has belied Allah and must repent and return to Him from this act of apostasy.

Another aspect of sincere counsel to the Book of Allah is to disseminate its meaning among the Muslims—the correct meaning that accords with its plain wording, free of distortion or alteration. Thus, when one sits in a gathering, it is an act of goodness and loyalty to the Book of Allah to recite a verse, explain it to the people, and clarify its meaning—especially those verses that are frequently recited, such as al-Fātiḥah. Al-Fātiḥah is a pillar of the prayer in every rak‘ah—whether led by an imam, followed by a congregant, or performed individually—so people need to understand it. When someone expounds it before the people and elucidates its meanings, that is indeed part of sincere counsel to the Book of Allah.