And surely among his party was Abraham. Abraham was of the party of Noah in the principles of tawḤīd, even if they disagreed in the branch- es of the religion and the shari'ite details. In the shariahs, all the prophets are the same in tawḤīd and the principles of the religion, and there is no disagreement in that. This is exactly what He says: “He has set down for you as the religion that with which He counseled Noah” and so on [42:13]. The disagreement is in the Shariahs and the rulings. This disagreement is a mercy from the Lord so that the work of the religion will not become tight for the people. God desires for you ease and does not desire for you hardship [2:185]. They are like a group who are heading toward a way station, and each of them takes a different road, though the last way station is the same. Some roads are nearer, some farther. No road is nearer to the felicity of the afterlife than the road of MuṣṬafā and his Shariah. This is why his Shariah abrogated the shariahs and his pact abolished the pacts-a revealed shariah, not newly arrived; a firm pact, not faulty; a holy shariah, not foolish; a confirmed pact, not temporary; a known shariah, not ignored; an expanded pact, not curtailed; a shariah that is as bright as the daytime sun and lights up the hearts of the friends. MuṣṬafā said, “How is it that you are with your religion like the moon when it is full, but only the seeing see it?”
