Peace be upon you!
In today’s talk I wanted to look at the phrase “Obey Allah and the Messenger” which is the average Muslim’s response when he is told to follow the Qur’an alone. Of course, this statement is not something that he has come up with after reading the Qur’an extensively. It has been given to him by his ulemas, muftis and sheikhs of the Islamic religion to use against those who follow the Qur’an alone; and which he then parrots without actually understanding what the Qur’an means by this phrase.
The doctors of the religion of Islam are either ignorant or actively misguiding the masses
This issue is important because it exposes the ignorance or wickedness of the ulemas, muftis and shiekhs of the religion of Islam. Either they completely misunderstand what this statement means according to the Qur’an (and are thus not the “learned” scholars they so frequently claim to be), or they understand this statement fully and are simply misguiding the masses (which is what the Qur’an warns us of 3:69). Both possibilities are damning and illustrate the fact that muftis, sheikhs, imams and ulemas are simply untrustworthy; a thinking man would do well to avoid him entirely.
Now, before we begin I want to define what an average Muslims means by the phrase: “Obey Allah and the Messenger.” He means that Muslims are commanded by Allah to obey Him and His messenger (the prophet Muhammad). And in this day and age he equates the obeying of the messenger with following the hadith literature (the alleged sayings of Prophet Muhammad). Thus his position is that he takes both the Qur’an (the revealed word of God) and the alleged sayings of the prophet Muhammad (a man) as sources of the Law. However, to take anything else besides the Qur’an as source of Law is shirk: setting up a partnership with God.
This is not a trivial matter. The Qur’an makes it absolutely clear that it alone is to be followed and God’s injunctions in it are the only ones that are binding upon a believer. This is a point at which there is no debate as we shall see. As believers, we are commanded to take the Qur’an alone as the sole criterion (the furqan), and it alone is the distinguisher between truth and falsehood.
Verses in the Qur’an about following it alone
alif lām mīm ṣād
The Qur’an: A Complete Revelation (7:1-3)
A Writ sent down to thee — so let there be no distress in thy heart therefrom — that thou warn thereby, and as a reminder to the believers.
Follow what has been sent down to you from your Lord, and follow not allies besides Him; little do you take heed.
And this is a Writ We have sent down, one blessed, so follow it; and be in prudent fear, that you might obtain mercy,
Lest you say: “The Writ was but sent down upon two groups before us, and we were of their study unaware,”
Or you say: “Had the Writ been sent down upon us, we would have been better guided than they.” And there has come to you clear evidence from your Lord, and guidance, and a mercy; then who is more unjust than he who denies the proofs of God, and turns away from them? We will reward those who turn away from Our proofs with an evil punishment for their turning away.
The Qur’an: A Complete Revelation (6:155-157)
“Is it other than God I should seek as judge when He it is that sent down to you the Writ set out and detailed?” And those to whom We gave the Writ know that it is sent down from thy Lord with the truth; so be thou not of those who doubt.
And perfected is the word of thy Lord in truth and justice; there is none to change His words; and He is the Hearing, the Knowing.
The Qur’an: A Complete Revelation (6:114-115)
And they ask thee for a ruling concerning women. Say thou: “God gives you the ruling concerning them,” — and what is recited to you in the Writ concerning the fatherless women (to whom you give not what is prescribed for them, and yet desire to marry them) and concerning the oppressed among children; and that you stand up for equity for the fatherless. And whatever you do of good, God knows it.
The Qur’an: A Complete Revelation (4:127)
If they have partners which ordained for them of doctrine that for which God has not given leave[…]. And had it not been for the word of decision, it would have been concluded between them; and the wrongdoers have a painful punishment.
The Qur’an: A Complete Revelation (42:21)
And We sent down to thee the Writ with the truth, confirming what is before it of the Writ, and as a control over it. So judge thou between them by what God has sent down; and follow thou not their vain desires away from what has come to thee of the truth. For each of you We appointed an ordinance and a procedure. And had God willed, He could have made you one community; but that He might try you in what He gave you[…]. — So vie in good deeds; unto God will you return all together, and He will inform you of that wherein you differed —
And judge thou between them by what God has sent down; and follow thou not their vain desires, and beware thou of them lest they seduce thee away from some of what God has sent down to thee. And if they turn away, know thou that God but intends to afflict them for some of their transgressions; and many among men are perfidious.
Is it the judgment of ignorance they seek? And who is better than God in judgment for people who are certain?
The Qur’an: A Complete Revelation (5:48-50)
The first 3 phrases of “Obey God and the messenger” in the Qur’an
We shall look at the first three occurrences of this statement in the Qur’an to show you that Sunnis do not understand it; because it means the complete opposite of what they think it means. I will also give you the complete list of verses where this statement occurs in the Qur’an so you can investigate this matter thoroughly and to your full satisfaction.
So now that we have established from the Qur’an itself that it alone is the source of Law, we turn our attention to the first instance of the phrase “Obey God and the messenger” which occurs in Chapter 3. We shall be starting from the beginning of this chapter and I want you to pay attention to it as there are several themes that crop up which are relevant to our present day situation.
alif lām mīm (3:1)
God, there is no god save He, the Living, the Eternal.
(3:2)He sent down upon thee the Writ with the truth, confirming what was before it; and He sent down the Torah and the Gospel
(3:3)Before as guidance for mankind; and He sent down the Division. Those who deny the proofs of God, they have a severe punishment; and God is exalted in might and vengeful.
(3:4)From God hides not anything in the earth or in the heaven.
(3:5)He it is who forms you in the wombs as He wills. There is no god save He, the Exalted in Might, the Wise.
(3:6)He it is that sent down upon thee the Writ; among it are explicit proofs: they are the foundation of the Writ; and others are ambiguous. Then as for those in whose hearts is deviation: they follow what is ambiguous thereof, seeking the means of denial, and seeking its interpretation. And no one knows its interpretation save God, and those firm in knowledge; they say: “We believe in it; all is from our Lord.” But only those of insight take heed.
(3:7)“Our Lord: make Thou not our hearts to deviate after Thou hast guided us; and bestow Thou upon us mercy from Thyself; Thou art the Bestower.
(3:8)“Our Lord: Thou art gathering mankind to a day about which there is no doubt”; God will not break the appointment.
(3:9)Those who ignore warning: their wealth and their children will avail them nothing against God; and it is they who are the fuel of the Fire,
(3:10)Like the case of the house of Pharaoh and those before them: they denied Our proofs, so God seized them for their transgressions; and God is severe in retribution.
(3:11)Say thou to those who ignore warning: “You will be defeated, and gathered into Gehenna; and evil is the resting-place.”
(3:12)There had been a proof for you in the two hosts which met: one host fighting in the cause of God, and another denying; they saw them as twice their like by the sight of the eye. But God strengthens with His help whom He wills; in that is a lesson for those of vision.
(3:13)Made fair for men is the love of lusts — for women, and sons, and amassed fortunes of gold and silver, and branded horses, and cattle, and tilth: that is the provision of the life of this world — but God, with Him is the best journey’s end.
(3:14)Say thou: “Shall I inform you of better than that? For those who are in prudent fear, with their Lord are gardens beneath which rivers flow, they abiding eternally therein, and purified spouses, and approval from God”; and God sees the servants,
(3:15)Those who say: “Our Lord: we believe, so forgive Thou us our transgressions, and protect Thou us from the punishment of the Fire,”
(3:16)The patient, the truthful, the humbly obedient, those who spend, and the seekers of forgiveness at dawn.
(3:17)God bears witness that there is no god save He, as do the angels and those of knowledge upholding equity: “There is no god save He, the Exalted in Might, the Wise.”
(3:18)The doctrine with God is submission. And those given the Writ differed only after knowledge had come to them, through sectarian zealotry between them; and whoso denies the proofs of God — then is God swift in reckoning.
(3:19)And if they argue with thee, then say thou: “I have submitted my face to God, as have those who follow me.” And say thou to those given the Writ and to the unschooled: “Have you submitted?” And if they have submitted, then are they guided; but if they turn away, then upon thee is only the notification; and God sees the servants.
(3:20)Those who deny the proofs of God, and kill the prophets without cause, and kill those who enjoin equity among men: give thou them tidings of a painful punishment.
(3:21)Those are they whose works are vain in the World and the Hereafter; and they have no helpers.
(3:22)Hast thou not considered those given a portion of the Writ? They are invited to the Writ of God, that it might judge between them, then a faction of them turns away; and they are averse,
(3:23)For it is that they say: “The Fire will not touch us save days numbered,” and what they invented has deluded them in their doctrine!
(3:24)Then how will it be when We gather them to a day about which there is no doubt and every soul is paid in full what it earned? And they will not be wronged.
(3:25)Say thou: “O God, Master of Dominion: Thou givest dominion to whom Thou wilt, and Thou removest dominion from whom Thou wilt; Thou exaltest whom Thou wilt, and Thou abasest whom Thou wilt. In Thy hand is good; Thou art over all things powerful.
(3:26)“Thou makest the night enter into the day, and Thou makest the day enter into the night; and Thou bringest forth the living from the dead, and Thou bringest forth the dead from the living. And Thou givest provision to whom Thou wilt without reckoning.”
(3:27)Let not the believers take as allies the false claimers of guidance rather than believers; and whoso does that is not of God in anything — save that you be in prudent fear of them, as a precaution. And God warns you of Himself; and to God is the journey’s end.
(3:28)Say thou: “Whether you hide what is in your breasts or reveal it, God knows it. And He knows what is in the heavens and what is in the earth; and God is over all things powerful.
(3:29)“The day every soul will find what it did of good summoned, and what it did of evil, it will wish there were between it and that a great distance.” And God warns you of Himself; and God is kind to the servants.
(3:30)Say thou: “If you love God, follow me; God will love you, and forgive you your transgressions”; and God is forgiving and merciful.
(3:31)Say thou: “Obey God and the Messenger.” Then if they turn away: God loves not the false claimers of guidance.
The Qur’an: A Complete Revelation (3:1-32)
(3:32)
This is the first instance of the phrase: “Obey God and the messenger”. Now, if you noticed in verses 23-25, we have those given a portion of the Writ inventing lies such as the Fire will not touch they except for days numbered.
Hast thou not considered those given a portion of the Writ? They are invited to the Writ of God, that it might judge between them, then a faction of them turns away; and they are averse,
(3:23)For it is that they say: “The Fire will not touch us save days numbered,” and what they invented has deluded them in their doctrine!
(3:24)Then how will it be when We gather them to a day about which there is no doubt and every soul is paid in full what it earned? And they will not be wronged.
The Qur’an: A Complete Revelation (3:23-25)
(3:25)
This is precisely the case of the Muslims today, who via the hadith literature have invented the lie that they will be in the Fire temporarily. In the Qur’an, those who are cast in the Fire will remain there forever.
Narrated Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri:
Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “When the people of Paradise have entered Paradise, and the people of the Fire have entered the Fire, Allah will say. ‘Take out (of the Fire) whoever has got faith equal to a mustard seed in his heart.’ They will come out, and by that time they would have burnt and became like coal, and then they will be thrown into the river of Al-Hayyat (life) and they will spring up just as a seed grows on the bank of a rainwater stream.” The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Don’t you see that the germinating seed comes out yellow and twisted?”
Sahih al-Bukhari 6560
See also: https://sunnah.com/bukhari:6571 and https://sunnah.com/muslim:183a
We now look at the the second instance of the phrase “Obey God and the messenger” in Chapter 3. The narrative picks up at verse 100.
O you who heed warning: if you obey a faction among those given the Writ, they will drive you back, after your faith, as false claimers of guidance.
(3:100)And how can you deny, when to you are the proofs of God recited, and in your midst is His messenger? And whoso holds fast to God, he has been guided to a straight path.
(3:101)O you who heed warning: be in prudent fear of God with the prudent fear due Him, and die not save that you be submitting.
(3:102)And hold fast to the rope of God all together, and be not divided. And remember the favour of God upon you: when you were enemies, He united your hearts so that by His favour you became brethren; and you were upon the edge of a pit of fire, and He rescued you from it. Thus does God make plain to you His proofs, that you might be guided.
(3:103)And let there be from you a community inviting to good, and enjoining what is fitting, and forbidding perversity; and it is they who are the successful.
(3:104)And be not like those who became divided, and disputed after the clear signs had came to them; and it is they who have a great punishment.
(3:105)The day faces will be white, and faces will be black: as for those whose faces will be black: — “Did you deny after your faith? Then taste the punishment for what you denied!”
(3:106)And as for those whose faces will be white: — in the mercy of God; therein they abide eternally.
(3:107)Those are the proofs of God; We recite them to thee in truth; and God desires not injustice for all mankind.
(3:108)And to God belongs what is in the heavens and what is in the earth, and to God are matters returned.
(3:109)You are the best community brought forth for mankind: you enjoin what is fitting, and you forbid perversity, and you believe in God. And had the doctors of the Law believed, it would have been better for them. Among them are believers, but most of them are perfidious.
(3:110)They will not cause you harm save hindrance; and if they fight you, they will turn to you their backs; then will they not be helped.
(3:111)Pitched upon them will be ignominy wherever they are found save for a rope from God and a rope from men. And they will incur wrath from God, and wretchedness will be pitched upon them, for it is that they denied the proofs of God! And they killed the prophets without cause, for it is that they opposed and exceeded all bounds!
(3:112)They are not the same; among the doctors of the Law is an upright community: they recite the proofs of God in watches of the night, and they submit;
(3:113)They believe in God and the Last Day, and enjoin what is fitting, and forbid perversity, and compete in good deeds; and those are among the righteous.
(3:114)And what they do of good, they will not be denied it; and God knows those of prudent fear.
(3:115)Those who ignore warning: neither their wealth nor their children will avail them anything against God. And those are the companions of the Fire; therein they abide eternally.
(3:116)The likeness of what they spend in the life of this world is as the likeness of a wind wherein was biting cold: it befell the tilth of a people who wronged their souls and destroyed it; and God wronged them not, but they wronged themselves.
(3:117)O you who heed warning: take not as intimates other than your own; they will not spare you ruin. They would that you should suffer. Hatred has already become clear from their mouths, and what their breasts hide is greater. We have made plain the proofs to you, if you will use reason.
(3:118)Here you are, those who love them; and they love you not, when you believe in the Writ — all of it. And when they meet you, they say: “We believe,” but when they are alone, they bite their fingertips at you from rage. Say thou: “Die in your rage, God knows what is in the breasts.”
(3:119)If good touches you, it vexes them; and if evil befalls you, they exult thereat. But if you are patient and in prudent fear, their plan will not harm you at all; God encompasses what they do.
(3:120)And when thou didst leave thy household early to assign the believers their stations for the battle; and God was hearing and knowing
(3:121)When two groups among you were about to lose heart, but God was their ally; and in God let the believers place their trust.
(3:122)(And God had already helped you at Badr, when you were despised. Then be in prudent fear of God, that you might be grateful.)
(3:123)When thou saidst to the believers: “Is it not sufficient for you that your Lord should supply you with three thousand angels sent down?
(3:124)“Verily, if you are patient and in prudent fear, and they rush upon you of a sudden, your Lord will supply you with five thousand angels having marks,”
(3:125)(And God made it not save as glad tidings for you, and that your hearts might be reassured thereby; and there is no help save from God, the Exalted in Might, the Wise.)
(3:126)“That He might cut off a part of those who ignore warning, or suppress them so they turn back disappointed.”
(3:127)No part of the matter is thine, whether He turns towards them or punishes them, for they are wrongdoers,
(3:128)And to God belongs what is in the heavens and what is in the earth. He forgives whom He wills, and punishes whom He wills; and God is forgiving and merciful.
(3:129)O you who heed warning: consume not usury, doubled and redoubled; and be in prudent fear of God, that you might be successful.
(3:130)And be in prudent fear of the Fire prepared for the false claimers of guidance.
(3:131)And obey God and the Messenger, that you might obtain mercy.
(3:132)And vie one with another for forgiveness from your Lord, and a garden as wide as the heavens and the earth prepared for those of prudent fear:
(3:133)Those who spend in prosperity and in adversity, and who control their wrath, and forgive men; and God loves the doers of good;
(3:134)And those who, when they commit sexual immorality or wrong their souls, remember God, and ask forgiveness for their transgressions — and who forgives transgressions save God? — and persist not in what they did when they know.
(3:135)Those: their reward is forgiveness from their Lord and gardens beneath which rivers flow, they abiding eternally therein; and excellent is the reward of those who act.
(3:136)Practices have passed away before you; so travel in the earth and see how was the final outcome of the deniers.
(3:137)This is a clear statement for mankind; and guidance; and an admonition for those of prudent fear.
(3:138)And faint not, nor grieve, and you will be the superior ones, if you be believers.
(3:139)If injury touches you: there has touched people an injury the like thereof. And those are the days We alternate among men, both that God might know those who heed warning, and take witnesses among you — and God loves not the wrongdoers —
(3:140)And that God might refine those who heed warning, and eliminate the false claimers of guidance.
(3:141)Or did you think that you will enter the Garden before God knows those who strive among you or knows the patient?
(3:142)And you had wished for death before you met it; and now you have seen it with your own eyes[…].
(3:143)And Muḥammad is only a messenger; messengers have passed away before him. If then he dies or is killed, will you turn back on your heels? And he who turns back on his heels does no harm to God at all; and God will reward the grateful.
(3:144)And it is not for a soul to die, save by the leave of God, at a writ determined. And whoso desires the reward of the World, We give him thereof; and whoso desires the reward of the Hereafter, We give him thereof; and We reward the grateful.
(3:145)And alongside how many a prophet have fought many stoutly devout men! And they fainted not at what befell them in the cause of God; neither did they weaken, nor did they yield. And God loves the patient.
(3:146)And their word was only that they said: “Our Lord: forgive Thou us our transgressions, and our excess in our affair, and make Thou firm our feet; and help Thou us against the people of the false claimers of guidance.”
(3:147)So God gave them the reward of the World and the good reward of the Hereafter; and God loves the doers of good.
(3:148)O you who heed warning: if you obey those who ignore warning, they will drive you back on your heels; and you will turn back as losers.
(3:149)The truth is, God is your protector; and He is the best of helpers.
The Qur’an: A Complete Revelation (3:100-150)
(3:150)
The 3rd instance of “Obey god and the messenger” occurs in Chapter 4 and it is clear from the context that it was a directive to the believers when Muhammad was alive. Specifically, it was in the context of military matters.
God commands you that you deliver up trusts to their owners; and when you judge between men, that you judge with justice. Excellent is what God admonishes you to do; God is hearing and seeing.
(4:58)O you who heed warning: obey God and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. And if you differ in anything, refer it to God and the Messenger, if you believe in God and the Last Day; that is best, and best in respect of result.
(4:59)Hast thou not considered those who claim to believe in what is sent down to thee, and what was sent down before thee, desiring to go for judgment to idols when they were commanded to reject it? And the satan desires to lead them far astray.
(4:60)And when it is said to them: “Come to what God has sent down, and to the Messenger,” thou seest the waverers turn away from thee in aversion.
(4:61)How will it be when calamity befalls them because of what their hands have sent ahead? Then will they come to thee, swearing by God: “We intended only good conduct and success!”
(4:62)Those are they of whom God knows what is in their hearts; turn thou away from them; but admonish thou them, and speak thou to them concerning their souls an effective word.
(4:63)And We sent any messenger only that he be obeyed by the leave of God. And had they, when they wronged their souls, come to thee and asked forgiveness of God, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found God accepting of repentance and merciful.
(4:64)But no, by thy Lord, they do not believe until they make thee judge in what arises between them, then find in their souls no distress at what thou decidest, and submit fully!
(4:65)And had We prescribed for them: “Kill yourselves,” or: “Go forth from your homes,” there would have done it only a few among them; and had they done what they were exhorted, it would have been better for them and a stronger confirmation,
(4:66)And then would We have given them from Us a great reward
(4:67)And guided them by a straight path.
(4:68)And whoso obeys God and the Messenger, those are with them whom God has favoured of the prophets, and the men of truth, and the witnesses, and the righteous; and good are those as companions.
(4:69)That is the bounty from God; and sufficient is God as knower.
(4:70)O you who heed warning: take your precautions, and advance in groups or advance all together.
(4:71)And among you is he who delays; then if calamity befalls you, he says: “God was gracious to me in that I was not present with them.”
(4:72)But if there reaches you bounty from God, he will say as if there had never been any affection between you and him: “Would that I had been with them, so I could have achieved a great achievement!”
(4:73)And let fight in the cause of God those who sell the life of this world for the Hereafter; and whoso fights in the cause of God, be he killed or victorious, We will bestow upon him a great reward.
(4:74)And why should you not fight in the cause of God, and of the oppressed among the men, and the women, and the children who say: “Our Lord: take Thou us out of this city whose people are wrongdoers; and give Thou us from Thyself an ally; and give Thou us from Thyself a helper”?
(4:75)Those who heed warning fight in the cause of God; and those who ignore warning fight in the cause of idols. Then fight the allies of the satan; the plan of the satan is weak.
(4:76)Hast thou not considered those to whom it was said: “Restrain your hands; and uphold the duty, and render the purity,” but when fighting is prescribed for them, then a faction among them fears men like the fear of God, or a stronger fear? And they said: “Our Lord: why hast Thou prescribed fighting for us? Oh, that Thou wouldst but delay us a little while!” Say thou: “Little is the enjoyment of the World”; and the Hereafter is better for him who is in prudent fear; and you will not be wronged a hair upon a date-stone.
(4:77)Wherever you be, death will overtake you, though you be in castles built high. And if good befalls them, they say: “This is from God”; and if evil befalls them, they say: “This is from thee.” Say thou: “All is from God.” Then what ails these people that they scarcely understand a statement?
(4:78)What befalls thee of good, it is from God; and what befalls thee of evil, it is from thyself. And We have sent thee to mankind as a messenger; and sufficient is God as witness.
(4:79)Whoso obeys the Messenger, he has obeyed God; and whoso turns away: We sent thee not as a custodian over them.
(4:80)And they talk obedience; but when they emerge from thy presence, a number among them plans by night other than what thou sayest. And God records what they plan by night; so turn thou away from them, and place thou thy trust in God; and God is sufficient as disposer of affairs.
(4:81)(Will they then not consider the Qur’an with care! And had it been from other than God, they would have found therein much contradiction.)
(4:82)And when there comes to them a matter of security or fear, they spread it about; and had they referred it to the Messenger and to those in authority among them, there would have known it those who draw correct conclusions among them; and were it not for the bounty of God to you, and His mercy, you would have followed the satan, save a few.
(4:83)So fight thou in the cause of God; thou art not charged save with thyself. And rouse thou the believers: it may be that God will restrain the might of those who ignore warning; and God is stronger in might, and stronger in exemplary punishment.
The Qur’an: A Complete Revelation (4:58-84)
(4:84)
In conclusion, it is clear from the Qur’an that obeying the God and the messenger meant to follow the Qur’an alone. It also meant to obey him in the capacity of a military leader. Lest we forget, Muhammad was sent as a warrior-prophet. To twist this command to justify bringing in a whole separate literature and give it an equal footing with God’s revealed word is unacceptable and a great sin and serves only to expose those in whose hearts is a deviation; they will be requited soon enough by the Almighty God.
He it is that sent down upon thee the Writ; among it are explicit proofs: they are the foundation of the Writ; and others are ambiguous. Then as for those in whose hearts is deviation: they follow what is ambiguous thereof, seeking the means of denial, and seeking its interpretation. And no one knows its interpretation save God, and those firm in knowledge; they say: “We believe in it; all is from our Lord.” But only those of insight take heed.
The Qur’an: A Complete Revelation (3:7)
Full list of occurrences of the phrase “Obey God and the messenger”:
3:32, 3:132, 4:59, 5:92, 8:1, 8:20, 8:46, 9:71, 24:54, 33:33, 47:33, 49:14, 58:13, 64:12