God Completed the Religion.
So Why Do We Find Gaps Today?
“Today I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and chosen Islam as your religion.”
Qur’an 5:3God’s declaration is clear: Islam is complete. Yet Muslims today encounter questions of belief and divine law where scholars reach different conclusions about what God actually intends. If the religion is complete, where do these apparent gaps come from?
Begin with the Completion of Religion ↓What Does a Complete Religion Require?
Religion encompasses both belief—what is held to be true— and divine law—the rulings by which life is ordered. If either remains incomplete, religion itself cannot truly be described as complete.
If religion is complete, how is the truth known when Muslims differ in belief?
Muslims believe in God, the Qur’an and Prophet Muhammad (pbuhap). Yet after the Prophet, Muslims divided into different schools and sects and reached opposing conclusions on fundamental matters of belief and doctrine.
Wahhabis, for example, affirm attributes such as two eyes, two hands and fingers as real attributes of God, while Ashʿaris—such as the theological tradition represented by al-Azhar—reject this understanding and regard the Salafi-Wahhabi position on these matters as invalid.
If God perfected the religion, what did He establish to preserve access to the true belief after His Messenger?
If religion is complete, how is God’s actual ruling known when new circumstances arise?
New circumstances continually arise for which no specific ruling from Prophet Muhammad (pbuhap) has been transmitted. In the absence of a directly known ruling, the apparent gap comes to be filled through human reasoning, interpretation and conjecture—often producing different answers.
How should Salat be determined in cities near the North or South Poles, where the usual pattern of dawn, sunrise, sunset and night can differ radically or disappear for extended periods?
Different conclusions cannot all be God’s actual ruling. The fundamental question, then, is: how can God’s true command be known rather than replaced by the reasoning, interpretation or conjecture of fallible human beings?
The Question Is Not Whether God Completed the Religion.
He told us that He did.
If fallible people are required to fill apparent gaps in belief and divine law with their own conclusions, what part of God’s completed system are we missing?
The Khalifa (Vicegerent) of God
The religion was not left incomplete.
Its completion includes a divinely appointed means through whom God’s true belief and His actual command can be conveyed:
The Vicegerent of God.
True Belief
The belief God actually intends.
Divine Law
God’s actual command and ruling.
Divine Authority
Authority originating from God.
Why Must There Be a Vicegerent of God?
The Qur’an does not introduce Adam merely as the first human being. It introduces him as God’s Khalifa — appointed, taught and made an authority for those around him.
“Indeed, I will make upon the earth a Khalifa.”Qur’an 2:30
“And He taught Adam the names — all of them.”Qur’an 2:31
“Prostrate before Adam…”Qur’an 2:34
Appointment → Knowledge → Obedience
God does not merely place Adam on earth. He identifies him, equips him with knowledge, and establishes his authority.
Humanity Was Created to Know God
“I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.”Qur’an 51:56
If humanity exists to know and worship God, then people must have access to the guidance, knowledge and command God intends for them.
The Khalifa is therefore not merely a political ruler. He is the one God appoints and teaches so that creation can be guided toward its Creator.
God appoints a guide because humanity’s purpose cannot be fulfilled through ignorance of His will.Consider a Simple Example
Imagine a person owns a factory, a garden or a ship, with people working within it.
He Identifies the Leader
A wise owner does not leave everyone guessing who represents him.
He Chooses the Most Qualified
The representative must understand the work and the owner’s intentions.
He Establishes Obedience
The workers must know whom they are expected to follow for the owner’s will to be carried out.
If failing to provide any of these would be considered poor management even for a human owner,
how could we attribute such a deficiency to God, the Absolute Wise?
The Khalifa Represents God’s Guidance to Creation
The Khalifa must be qualified for the purpose for which God appoints him: to guide creation according to God’s will, to convey knowledge of Him, and to establish His command.
This is why knowledge is not incidental to the Khalifa. God taught Adam what the angels did not know, and Adam then informed them of that knowledge.
If such a representative is necessary, a more difficult question follows:
Continue: Who Has the Right to Appoint Him? ↓Who Has the Right to Choose God’s Khalifa?
If the Khalifa represents God and exercises authority by His permission, who possesses the knowledge and authority required to identify that person?
“Indeed, I will make upon the earth a Khalifa.”Qur’an 2:30
At the beginning of humanity, the appointment originates explicitly with God.
“O David, indeed We have made you a Khalifa upon the earth…”Qur’an 38:26
Generations later, the same principle appears again: God appoints His Khalifa.
Can Human Selection Establish Divine Authority?
“And Moses chose from his people seventy men for Our appointment…”Qur’an 7:155
Moses was an infallible prophet, yet the seventy men he selected for the appointment were seized by God through an earthquake.
The lesson raises an important question:
If Moses (pbuh), one of the greatest prophets of God, chose seventy men for a divine task and not one of them proved worthy of it, how then can ordinary people choose their ruler??
The Way (Sunnah) of God
Adam
God appoints His Khalifa
David
God appoints His Khalifa
Al-Mahdi
Khalifa of God
The Sunnah of God Does Not Change
“You will never find any change in the way of God.”Qur’an 33:62
“You will never find any change in God’s way, nor will you ever find any alteration in God’s way.”Qur’an 35:43
God appoints His Khalifa at the beginning.
God appoints His Khalifa within Qur’anic history.
God appoints His Khalifa, Al-Mahdi, in the end times.
Whoever claims that God’s way concerning divine appointment changed only for the period between Prophet Muhammad (pbuhahp) and Al-Mahdi (pbuh) must provide conclusive evidence: where did God declare such a change?
If God’s method of appointment does not change, the next question is no longer simply whom people chose.
Continue: Whom Did Muhammad (pbuhahp) Identify for Succession? ↓What Did Muhammad (pbuhahp) Leave to Protect His Nation from Misguidance?
As Prophet Muhammad (pbuhahp) approached the end of his life, the question of what would preserve his nation upon guidance became one of the most important questions facing the Ummah.
What Does God Command When Death Approaches?
“It is prescribed for you, when death approaches any of you, if he leaves wealth, that he make a will for parents and near relatives according to what is acceptable—a duty upon the God-fearing.”Qur’an 2:180
The Qur’an connects the approach of death with the making of a will. Muhammad (pbuhahp), the Messenger of God and the greatest of His prophets, reached the final days of his own life.
If making a will when death approaches is a command of God, how could Muhammad (pbuhahp)—the one who conveyed God’s religion and obeyed His commands—leave this world without fulfilling it?
“A Writing After Which You Will Never Go Astray”
As the death of Prophet Muhammad (pbuhahp) approached, he asked those around him to bring writing material.
“Come near let me write for you a writing after which you will never go astray.”
Umar ibn al-Khattab said that the Prophet was seriously ill and that the Book of God was sufficient. The people in the house then differed and disputed. Some wanted the Prophet to be allowed to write, while others supported Umar’s position.
When the disagreement and noise increased, the Prophet told them to leave.
“It was a great disaster that their difference and noise prevented God’s Apostle from writing that writing for them.”
“A writing after which you will never go astray.”
He did not describe it merely as advice, a recommendation or a personal message. Muhammad (pbuhahp) explicitly connected this writing with protection from misguidance.
The Matter Did Not End on Thursday
The Writing Is Requested
Muhammad (pbuhahp) asks for writing material and says the writing will protect from misguidance.
Disagreement Prevents It
The dispute prevents the writing from being completed for those present.
The Prophet Remains Alive
Muhammad (pbuhahp) does not die that day. He remains alive until Monday.
Muhammad (pbuhahp) was the Messenger of God and the greatest of His prophets.
How could it be imagined that because people disputed in his presence on Thursday, he would then meet God without fulfilling God’s command to leave a will?
What Will Did Muhammad (pbuhahp) Leave Before His Death?
A narration preserved in Al-Ghaybah of Sheikh al-Tusi reports that on the night of his death, Muhammad (pbuhahp) dictated his Will to Ali (pbuh).
The Will then continues through the line of the twelve Imams. After describing the succession of Imam Al-Mahdi (pbuh), it identifies the one who comes after him as the first of the twelve Mahdis.
“Then there will be twelve Mahdis after him. When death approaches him, let him hand it over to his son, the first of the close ones. He has three names: a name like mine and my father’s, and it is Abdullah and Ahmed, and the third name is Al-Mahdi. He is the first of the believers.”
Ahmed • Al-Mahdi • The First of the Believers
The Will therefore does not stop at announcing twelve Mahdis. It gives identifying descriptions for the first of the Mahdis—including the name Ahmed.
Source: Sheikh al-Tusi, Al-Ghaybah, p.150
The Only Transmitted Will of Prophet Muhammad (pbuhahp)
The Prophet’s only transmitted Will names those who would succeed him. Can a writing meant to protect the Ummah from misguidance be ignored?
If God appoints His Khalifa and the Prophet left a text identifying those who follow him, the next question is:
Continue: How Does God Make His Khalifa Known? ↓How Does God Make His Khalifa Known?
Divine appointment cannot mean accepting every claimant. God establishes proofs through which His true Vicegerent can be distinguished.
Divine Appointment
God makes His Vicegerent known through a personifying text or testimony. This may come through God’s own testimony, through the direct pronouncement of the previous Vicegerent, or through an identifying text divinely protected for its rightful claimant.
Knowledge From God
The Vicegerent possesses the knowledge necessary to guide, clarify God’s religion and resolve what others cannot.
The Supremacy of God
The Vicegerent calls humanity to God’s authority, not to authority independently created by human beings.
The question is no longer merely who claims authority — but who fulfils God’s law for recognizing His Vicegerent.
Ahmed Al-Hasan
Does He Fulfil the Same Standard?
We began with the completion of religion, then examined the necessity of the Khalifa, divine appointment, succession and the law by which God’s Vicegerent is recognized.
The same standard can now be applied.
Is He Identified by the Divine Text?
Examine the Prophet’s Will and the identifying designation connected with the promised successor.
Examine the Text → 02 • THE KNOWLEDGEDoes His Knowledge Bear the Sign of the Vicegerent?
Examine his writings, answers and explanations of the Qur’an, theology and divine religion.
Examine the Knowledge → 03 • THE BANNERWhat Does He Call Humanity Toward?
Examine his call to the Supremacy of God and whether it corresponds to the same law established above.
Examine the Banner →God Completed His Religion.
The question was never whether He did.
The question is whether we have correctly understood how He completed it.