“When his Lord said to him, ‘Submit,’ he replied, ‘I have submitted to the Lord of all worlds.’ Abraham enjoined the same upon his sons, as did Jacob: ‘My sons, Allah has chosen this religion for you, so do not die except as Muslims.’”
[Surah al-Baqara: 131–132]
Joseph said:
“Creator of the heavens and the earth, You are my Guardian in this world and the Hereafter. Cause me to die as a Muslim and join me with the righteous.”
[Surah Yūsuf: 101]
“And Moses said, ‘My people, if you believe in Allah, then place your trust in Him, if you are Muslims.’”
[Surah Yūnus: 84]
And He said concerning the sorcerers:
“Our Lord, shower us with patience and cause us to die as Muslims.”
[Surah al-A‘rāf: 126]
And He said concerning Bilqīs:
“My Lord, I have wronged myself, and I submit with Solomon to Allah, the Lord of all worlds.”
[Surah al-Naml: 44]
And He said:
“The prophets who submitted judged by it for the Jews, as did the godly scholars and rabbis.”
[Surah al-Mā’ida: 44]
And He said:
“And when I inspired the disciples to believe in Me and My Messenger, they said, ‘We believe, so bear witness that we are Muslims.’”
[Surah al-Mā’ida: 111]
In the two Sahih collections, the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—is reported to have said:
“We prophets share one religion.” (1)
The diversity of revealed laws does not prevent the religion from being one, and that religion is
(1) I have not found this hadith with this wording. However, al-Bukhārī narrated in his Sahīh, 4/167, Book of the Prophets, chapter “And Mention Mary in the Book,” from Abū Hurayra, who reported that the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—said: “I am the closest of all people to Jesus son of Mary in this world and the Hereafter. The prophets are allāt brothers—that is, paternal half-brothers—their mothers are different, but their religion is one.” On the same page, he narrated another hadith with similar wording. Muslim also narrated the hadith from Abū Hurayra—may Allah be pleased with him—with similar wordings through three chains in his Sahīh, 4/1837, Book of Virtues, chapter “The Virtues of Jesus—peace be upon him.” Ibn Hajar states in Fath al-Bārī (al-Salafiyya ed.), 6/489: “The word allāt, with an initial a-vowel, means co-wives. It derives from the notion that a man who marries one woman and then another has, as it were, taken a second draught from the latter; the underlying word denotes drinking a second time. The children of allāt are paternal half-siblings: their father is the same, but their mothers are different.” The hadith, in substance, is also found in Sunan Abī Dāwūd, 4/302, Book of the Sunnah, chapter “Regarding Preference among the Prophets”; al-Musnad (al-Halabī ed.), 2/319, 406, 463, 482, 541; and Tartīb Musnad al-Tayālisī, 2/84.