And finally...

And finally, with the advent of the Prophet of Islam (S), all the previous shari‘ah s were abrogated and thereafter the people were ordered by God to act upon the shari‘ah of Muhammad (S), and as we know, the shari‘ah of Muhammad (S) is the same Islam. Of course, this shari‘ah has peculiar laws, decrees and features which makes it superior to the past shari‘ah s. Here, Islam acquires a certain meaning as we refer to it today.

Given this explanation, it became clear that Islam is conceived differently. It was once referred to as the shari‘ah of Ibrahim ( ‘a ); at another time as the shari‘ah of Musa ( ‘a ), and so with the other shari‘ah s. The meaning of the verse, “Should anyone follow a religion other than Islam, it shall never be accepted from him” is that every person at the time of any of these representations of Islam must follow it and any religion other than it shall not be accepted from him.

Anyhow, there is no doubt that the religion of those who have accepted the religion of Ibrahim, Musa or ‘Isa ( ‘a ) will be accepted by God the Exalted. So, the meaning of this verse that at this time, any religion other than Islam will not be accepted is that at this time, you have to accept whatever God has sent down through the other prophets ( ‘a ). Besides, you have to accept as well the particular laws brought by the Prophet of Islam (S).

Of course, abrogation of laws is not only confined to a certain shari‘ah ’s abrogation of some laws of the earlier shari‘ah . In fact, it is also possible in a certain shari‘ah for a new law to abrogate an old law. For example, in Islam, as you know, during the early years of the Prophet’s prophethood, Muslims used to pray facing Bayt al-Maqdis (in Jerusalem) and this decree remained even after the Prophet’s migration [ hijrah ] from Mecca to Medina.

However, after sometime and during his lifetime, the qiblah [direction in prayer and other rituals] was changed from Bayt al-Maqdis to the Ka‘bah (in Mecca). Therefore, the abrogation of some laws [ ahkam ] does not change the essence of a religion, which consists of the belief in monotheism, prophethood and the Day of Resurrection.