A minor opinion expressed by Mujāhid, however, held that it was revealed at the time of the conquest of Makkah.

Maulana Maudoodi places it at “ The context however, seems to indicate that it was revealed soon after the conclusion of the Treaty of Hudaybiyah (i.e. in 6 A.H.)”. Later he makes rather an unusual statement that it was probably revealed a second time: “It is conceivable that the true significance of the verse was not then fully appreciated. But later on, when Islam prevailed over the whole of Arabia and the power of Islam reached a high point, God once again revealed this sentence to His Messenger and ordered him to proclaim it”.

Some early Shiite traditions maintain that this verse was reportedly revealed at the site of Ghadīr Khumm in Juḥfah, where the Prophet and the rest of the pilgrims had halted on their return journey to Madinah after the final pilgrimage.  Here, the Prophet is reported to have declared, “For whomever I am his master (mawlā), ʿAlī is [also] his master (mawlā).” Both Sunni and Shiite sources record this event, but it holds special significance for Shiites, who understand the Prophet’s statement on this occasion to have been a direct nomination of  Sayyidna Alī as spiritual and political leader of the Muslim community after the Prophet, an interpretation not accepted by Sunnis. According to these Twelver Shiite traditions, the “perfection of religion” and “completion of blessing” in this verse are thus said to refer to the establishment of spiritual authority (walāyah/wilāyah or imāmah) in the line of  Sayyidna Alī.

There are a few other ayahs which have been quoted as one of several verses thought to be among the last the Prophet received. In the interest of completion, I am spelling them out:

“And be conscious of the Day on which you shall be brought back unto God, whereupon every human being shall be repaid in full for what he has earned, and none shall be wronged” ^[3]   

“THEY WILL ASK thee to enlighten them.1 Say: “God enlightens you [thus] about the laws concerning [inheritance from] those who leave no heir in the direct line: If a man dies childless and has a sister, she shall inherit one-half of what he has left, just as he shall inherit from her if she dies childless. But if there are two sisters, both [together] shall have two-thirds of what he has left; and if there are brothers and sisters,2 then the male shall have the equal of two females’ share.” God makes [all this] clear unto you, lest you go astray; and God knows everything”^[4]    

“INDEED, there has come unto you [O mankind] an Apostle from among yourselves:1 heavily weighs – upon him [the thought] that you might suffer [in the life to come]; full of concern for you [is he, and] full of compassion and mercy towards the believers. But if those [who are bent on denying the truth] turn away, say: “God is enough for me! There is no deity save Him. In Him have I placed my trust, for He is the Sustainer, in awesome almightiness enthroned.”^[5]        

“WHEN GOD’S SUCCOUR comes, and victory, and thou seest people enter God’s religion in hosts, extol thy Sustainer’s limitless glory, and praise Him, and seek His forgiveness: for, behold, He is ever an acceptor of repentance”.^[6]  

The selected segment of the index ayah is very powerful; it announces three Momentous Proclamations of Allah Ta’aala Subhaanahoo:

1) Perfection of Faith.  اليَومَ أَكمَلتُ لَكُم دينَكُم ; This day have I perfected your religion for you

2) Completion of Divine Blessing. وَأَتمَمتُ عَلَيكُم نِعمَتي     ;  and completed My favour upon you 

3) Islam as the Chosen Way . وَرَضيتُ لَكُمُ الإِسلامَ دينًا ; and and have chosen/approved for you Islam as your religion

Let us discuss these one by one, starting from the first. To start with, “this day” is not a reference to any  particular day; it means the period in which this ayah was revealed. The eminent scholar Dr. Mohammed Asad translates it as “Today have I perfected your religious law for you”. This small difference is very meaningful. The Deen which was initiated by the first Wahee to the Holy Prophet has now been completed declares this ayah.^[7] 

“READ in the name of thy Sustainer, who has created; created man out of a germ-cell! Read – for thy Sustainer is the Most Bountiful One; who has taught [man] the use of the pen; taught man what he did not know!”

What does “perfection of religion” means? It has provided us with a complete and perfect system of Belief and Conduct to answer all the questions that are bound to arise in life. At one end it  has provided with fundamental principles covering a lot of grounds and at the other it presents clear solutions for specific issues and problems. It has delineated all limits, obligations, injunctions and refinements required in our personal and social lives. Hence, as stated earlier no new injunction was revealed after this ayah.

Sayyidna ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas, and others with him, explain that Perfection of Faith refers to the perfection of all limits, obligations, injunctions and refinements in personal and social behaviour as necessary for the True Faith. Now there is no need to add to it, nor there remains any probability of a shortfall. For this reason, no new injunction from among the total corpus of injunctions was revealed after this. As already pointed out earlier, the few verses which were revealed later on carry either some subjects of persuasion or were a reiteration of injunctions already revealed. 

The eminent scholar Mufti Mohammed Shafi explains in his monumental tafseer Ma’aaraful Quran the second resolution “Completion of Divine Blessing” as “the rise of Muslims and the fall of their antagonists – which was manifested through the Conquest of Makkah, the eradication of the customs of Jiihiliyyah and through the absence of all disbelievers from the Hajj that year”. The well known scholar Maudoodi explains this as “the bounty of true guidance” in his classical tafseer Tafheemul Quran.

Imam Raghib al-Isfahani in his Mufradat al-Qur’an elaborates: “the Ikmal and Takmil (Perfection) of something means that the purpose and objective behind it has been accomplished. The other word, ‘Itmam’ (Completion) means that nothing else is needed any more. Thus, ‘Perfection of Faith’ tells us that the purpose of sending Divine Law and the injunctions of Faith into this world stands fulfilled and perfected today; and ‘Completion of Blessing’ means that Muslims do not have to depend on anyone any- more. Allah has Himself given them supremacy, power, authority. They can use these to promulgate and implement the imperatives (Ahham,Injunctions) of this True Faith.  Imam Amin Ahsan Ilahi, the mentor of Ghamdi Sahib reflects in his respectable tafseer Tadabbur-ul-Quran “the end of blessings and benediction means the conclusion of the last shari’ah”.

It needs to be clarified that the index ayah is not suggesting that the  previous Deen/Faith were imperfect. No. They were perfect for their times and for their needs. Since the Holy Prophet is the LAST in the series, his Deen is perfect and complete for all times to come. 

“The “perfection” of the religion and the “completion” of blessing are widely understood as referring either to the fact that the Prophet’s pilgrimage to Makkah established the rites and procedures for the final Muslim ritual obligation, the ḥajj, or to the completion of the Quranic revelation, although not all agree that this was the last verse to be revealed” in the opinion of Nasr, Seyyed Hossein et al in their modern tafseer “The Study Quran”. As an illustration of the complexity and dilemma of understanding some portions of the Holy Text, the same authors have this to say “The “perfection of religion” and “completion of blessing” may also refer to the victory over the idolaters and idolatry and their decisive banishment from the pilgrimage. Approved for you as religion, Submission (Islām) could also be rendered, “chosen for you as religion, Submission (Islam).” Here, Islām is widely considered to be used in the confessional sense of those who follow the religion revealed in the Quran through the Prophet Muhammad, rather than in the universal sense of submission to God that the terms islām and muslim have elsewhere in the Quran. According to a report in al-Ṭabarī, however, Islām here indicates the full submission of one’s heart to the principle of Divine Oneness (tawḥīd) and represents a level higher than merely the verbal affirmation of this truth”.

The third momentous resolution announced herein declares that Allah Ta’aala, by “HIS creational prerogative, authority and wisdom” has designated Islam as the Faith for this Ummah. “That is, not Judaism and Christianity but has preferred Islam; because the former are not the deen of Islam but different types of deviations from that deen” supplements the research scholar and mentor Javed Ahmed Ghamdi in his tafseer. This deen is complete and perfect and guarantees ultimate salvation. This faith of Islam originated with Prophet Adam, was transmitted, altered and refined by a long line of Prophets like Nooh, Ibrahim, Moosa, Jesus and finally the Holy Prophet took over to put a seal on it after polishing it, purifying it and perfecting it and presented it as the ideal, excellent and exemplary Message of Allah Ta’aala Subhaanahoo. This is the finest gift the Muslim Ummah could dream of: the final, splendid and sublime Faith needing no additions or deletions ever. However, it is reported that Sayyidna Umer bin Khattab had wet eyes on hearing this ayah. He was astute and farsighted enough to visualize the dreadful demise of his idol, the Holy Prophet after the completion of his mission. Surely, the Holy prophet did depart from this mortal world only eighty one days later.

The eminent scholar Sayyid Qutb, in his monumental tafseer Fee Dhilal Al Quran, after describing at length the pattern and level of pre-Islamic Arab society summarises beautifully: “It is from such depths of iniquity that Islam rescued the Arabs, moulding them into a nation, one capable of assuming the leadership of all mankind. It was the same generation of Arabs which lived in the depths of ignorance and darkness, before it experienced life at the top as envisaged by Islam. Hence, they were quick to fully appreciate the significance of the Qur’ānic statement (ie the index ayah)”.

As a closing remark, let me warn that the announcement that God Almighty has chosen the Deen-e-Islam for us in turn has left us with a heavy responsibility. We have to rise up to the challenge, appreciate the value of HIS choice of deen for us and live our lives on the dictates of this religion. It would be foolish and dangerous to ignore this gift let alone reject it. The consequences of this would be very tragic in the Hereafter.

……..and Allah knows best. 

May Allah Ta’aala bless us with true understanding–“fahm”–of our Deen, Aameen.

Dr. Khalid Mitha