All the Prophets and Messengers throughout the ages have a religion, with the same mission and goals. In spite of the different periods and languages, as well as different conditions and geography, the core teaching of the prophets is only one i.e. to invite mankind to liberate themselves from the worships of a fellow creation to the worship of the Creator, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala (SWT) only. That is the religion taught by Allah to all the Prophets. And that religion is only Islam.

Sure, there is a difference between the Islam taught to Prophet Muhammad SAW and the Islam taught to the earlier prophets. The Islam with the prophets before Prophet Muhammad SAW was the Islam which was in attributes only. It was made possible, because they had different languages, while Islam is Arabic language. Whereas, the Islam brought by Prophet Muhammad is Islam in the sense of both language and attributes.

Despite having the same substance, the Islam which was brought by each of the prophet had different Shari’a. The prophets who came later possessed a more complete Shari’a than the earlier prophets. The Shari’a which was sent down to Prophet Musa AS was more complete and comprehensive than the Shari’a sent down to Prophet Ibrahim AS. The Shari’a of Prophet Isa AS was more complete and comprehensive than the Shari’a brought by Prophet Musa AS. And the Islamic Shari’a brought by Prophet Muhammad SAW is the last Shari’a, thus this Shari’a is not only more complete but is also perfect, that Allah says;

الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِينًا

“This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.” (QS al-Maidah: 3)

As the last Shari’a which was perfected by Allah SWT, the Shari’a brought by Prophet Muhammad SAW eliminated the effectiveness of all the Shari’as brought by the apostles who were sent earlier. Allah Ta’ala says;

تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي نَزَّلَ الْفُرْقَانَ عَلَى عَبْدِهِ لِيَكُونَ لِلْعَالَمِينَ نَذِيرًا [الفرقان/1]

“Blessed is He who sent down the criterion (Al Qur’an) to His servant, that it may be an admonition to all creatures;” (QS al-Furqan;1)

وَأَرْسَلْنَاكَ لِلنَّاسِ رَسُولًا وَكَفَى بِاللهِ شَهِيدًا [النساء/79]

“We have sent thee as an apostle to (instruct) mankind. And enough is Allah for a witness.” (QS an-Nisa’:79)

قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنِّي رَسُولُ اللهِ إِلَيْكُمْ جَمِيعًا [الأعراف/158].

“Say: 'O men! I am sent unto you all, as the Messenger of Allah.'” (QS al-A’raf:158)

The above verses show that the Shari’a brought by Prophet Muhammad SAW is applicable to all human beings. And if in every community (ummah), there still remain a Shari'a of the earlier prophets, then that Shari'a is abolished by the application of the Shari'a of Prophet Muhammad SAW. So that the existing Shari'a is no longer valid, and what must be applied is the Shari'a of Prophet Muhammad SAW.

If there are people today who believe that they can worship Allah Ta’ala using the Shari’a other than the Shari’a sent down to Prophet Muhammad SAW, then they have become kafir. Because the Shari'a of Prophet Muhammad SAW is the Shari’a that is applicable to all mankind as a whole, both Arab and non Arab people, in fact it is even applicable to the jinns.

Herein lies the difference in the Shari'a of Prophet Muhammad SAW with the Shari'as of the earlier prophets. The Shari'a of the previous prophets applied only to certain circles. So that it could be that the Shari'a of a prophet was not applicable to the people who were not from within the ummah of that prophet. As an example, Prophet Musa AS was sent to bring a Shari'a, but Khidr did not have to submit to the Shari'a of Prophet Musa AS, because Khidr was not from the ummah Prophet Musa AS.

Today in some Muslim circles, there is a belief that Khidr is still alive. Then, whoever can meet with Khidr, he is allowed to not follow the Shari'a of Prophet Muhammad SAW, just as Khidr did not follow the Shari'a of Prophet Musa AS. Such a belief is amongst the beliefs that would cancel out one's Islam.

For example, if it is mandatory for the Muslims to perform prayers five times a day, then by doing in the name of ma’rifat, one states that it is no longer mandatory to perform prayers five times a day. Or if Islam forbids khamr, and then there is someone who, to due his 'high knowledge', says that he can drink khamr and that the khamr would turn into water once it enters his mouth. This is clearly a fabricated reason. And obviously a perverted view deviating from the teachings of Islam.

We can look at some aspects to show the fallacy of those views;

1. That the Shari'a of Prophet Muhammad SAW is general in characteristic, whereas the Shari'a of Prophet Musa AS is specific in characteristic.

2. Khidr is not from the Bani Isra’el who must submit to Prophet Musa AS, whereas we are from the ummah that must obey the Shari'a of Prophet Muhammad SAW. From here, it can also be explained further that the insubordination of Khidr to the Shari'a of Prophet Musa AS does not mean that Khidr did not submit to the Shari'a of Allah. Khidr still submitted to the Shari'a of Allah which was applicable to him, not the one sent down to Prophet Musa AS, because each has his own Shari'a.

3. In all probability, Khidr is a prophet and if not a prophet he certainly was from the ummah of a prophet who had his own Shari'a, and in the same time Prophet Musa is a prophet who had another different Shari'a. Whereas, we are not a prophet who has a Shari'a, but we are from the ummah of Prophet Muhammad who must follow his Shari'a.

If there is someone who believes that one can follow a Shari'a other than the Shari'a of Prophet Muhammad, it means that he does not believe in Prophet Muhammad correctly. Included in what is meant by faith in Prophet Muhammad SAW is believing in that he is the Seal of the Prophets, the risaalah he brought is applicable to all mankind.

Other than the verses that have been mentioned above which show that Prophet Muhammad's message is for all mankind, in an even more detail, the following hadiths show the obligation of accepting his Shari'a; the Prophet said:

وَكَانَ النَّبِيُّ يُبْعَثُ إِلَى قَوْمِهِ خَاصَّةً وَبُعِثْتُ إِلَى النَّاسِ عَامَّةً (رواه البخاري والنسائي وأحمد والدارمي)

“In the past, a prophet was sent exclusively for his people, and I am sent for all mankind.” (HR al-Bukhari, an-Nasa’i, Ahmad and ad-Darimi)

وَالَّذِي نَفْسُ مُحَمَّدٍ بِيَدِهِ لَا يَسْمَعُ بِي أَحَدٌ مِنْ هَذِهِ الْأُمَّةِ يَهُودِيٌّ وَلَا نَصْرَانِيٌّ ثُمَّ يَمُوتُ وَلَمْ يُؤْمِنْ بِالَّذِي أُرْسِلْتُ بِهِ إِلَّا كَانَ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ النَّارِ (رواه مسلم وأحمد)

“By the One in Whose hands is my soul, not one from my ummah who hears about me, be him a Jew or Christian, then he dies in a state of having no faith in what I bring, except he belongs to the Fire.” (HR Muslim and Ahmad)

The ummah of Prophet Muhammad SAW as demonstrated in the hadith means the ummah of da’wah. Namely all mankind to whom da'wah must be given, regardless of whether in the end they would accept the call of da'wah or reject it. Therefore, the ummah of da’wah who are willing to submit to the Shari'a brought by Prophet Muhammad SAW will go to paradise, and as for the ummah of da’wah who in the end oppose and are arrogant towards the Prophet's Shari'a, they will go to hell!

By: Ustadz Budi Prasetyo

Ponpes Assalaam Surakarta