What is perfect religion? Which religion is perfect?
The ayah revealed at sunset while the Blessed Prophet -upon him blessings and peace- was standing at waqfah declared that Islam had now been completed and perfected:
“…This day have those who reject faith given up all hope of your religion: yet fear them not but fear Me. This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.” (al-Maida, 3) (Tirmidhi, Tafsir, 5/3043)
With his penetrating foresight, Abu Bakr -Allah be well-pleased with him- understood it all the moment he heard the revelation. He deeply realized just what the ‘completed favor’ meant and the imminent event to follow after the ‘perfecting of the religion.’
For those of foresight, the ayah was, in a way, news of the soon passing away of the Blessed Prophet -upon him blessings and peace-. Allah, glory unto Him, would before long invite His Light of Being -upon him blessings and peace-, His Beloved to the eternal realm. Abu Bakr’s -Allah be well-pleased with him- eyes became soaked with tears as he wept from the pangs of separation, when there was not a single other person who could feel a glimpse of what the ayah was alluding to.[1]
After all, the sacred trust, whose revelation had spanned across twenty three years, was now on the verge of becoming entrusted, as a Divine mercy, with every member of the ummah to come until the Final Hour.
After the sun had completely set, the Noble Prophet -upon him blessings and peace-, with Usamah ibn Zayd -Allah be well-pleased with him- riding behind him on the saddle, made a move from Arafat to Muzdalifah. There, he led the salats of maghrib and isha in succession (jam’); with one adhan and a qamah prior to each salat. He stayed in Muzdalifah until daybreak and remained in waqfah until the full break of morning, calling out talbiyah and making prayers throughout.
The Blessed Prophet -upon him blessings and peace- collected the stones he was to throw at Mina, from Muzdalifah, commanding his Companions, likewise, to gather the stones to be thrown at jamrah.[2] Using his hands, the Prophet of Allah -upon him blessings and peace- demonstrated the proper way to throw the stones, telling the Believers to pick small pebbles and throw them with their two fingers.
[1] Elmalılı, III, 1569.
[2] A jamrah literally means ember, glowing coals or small pebbles. Here it denotes the places where the jamrah are thrown during the pilgrimage; a specified amount of pebbles at specified places, namely the major, middle and minor jamrahs.
Source: Osman Nuri Topbaş, The Prophet Muhammed Mustafa the Elect II, Erkam Publications
