✦ Āyat al-Ikmāl al-Dīn: Time of Revelation and Its Historical Significance ✦
Source: Fatāwā Amonpuri by Shaykh Ghulām Muṣṭafā Ẓahīr Amonpuri
❖ The Question
When was the following verse revealed?
﴿الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِينًا﴾
(al-Māʾidah, 5:3)
“Today I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and chosen Islam as your religion.”
❖ The Answer
This verse was revealed on the day of ʿArafah, during the Farewell Pilgrimage (Ḥajjat al-Wadāʿ), on the 9th of Dhū al-Ḥijjah, which also coincided with a Friday.
❀ Ṭāriq ibn Shihāb رضي الله عنه narrated:
A Jew said to ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه:
“O Amīr al-Muʾminīn! In your Book, there is a verse which you recite; if it had been revealed to us Jews, we would have taken that day as an Eid.”
ʿUmar رضي الله عنه asked: “Which verse?”
He replied: ﴿الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ...﴾ (al-Māʾidah, 5:3).
ʿUmar رضي الله عنه said:
“We know the day and place where it was revealed to the Prophet ﷺ. He was standing at ʿArafah on a Friday when it was revealed.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 45; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, 3017)
❀ ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما said regarding this verse:
إنها نزلت فى يوم عيدين فى يوم جمعة ، ويوم عرفة
“It was revealed on a day that combined two Eids — the day of ʿArafah and the day of Friday.”
(Sunan al-Tirmidhī, 3044 – chain ṣaḥīḥ)
❀ Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله (d. 728H) said:
هذه الآية نزلت بعرفة تاسع ذي الحجة فى حجة الوداع، والنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم واقف بعرفة كما ثبت ذلك فى الصحاح والسنن، وكما قاله العلماء قاطبة من أهل التفسير والحديث وغيرهم
“This verse was revealed at ʿArafah on the 9th of Dhū al-Ḥijjah during the Farewell Pilgrimage, while the Prophet ﷺ was standing at ʿArafah. This is established in the Ṣiḥāḥ and Sunan, and it is the unanimous statement of scholars of tafsīr, ḥadīth, and others.”
(Minhāj al-Sunnah, 7/314; al-Bidāyah wa-al-Nihāyah by Ibn Kathīr, 7/414)
❖ Conclusion
The verse of perfection of religion (Āyat al-Ikmāl) was revealed during the Farewell Pilgrimage on the 9th of Dhū al-Ḥijjah, at ʿArafah, on a Friday. It is regarded as one of the greatest verses in Islam, marking the completion of the Sharīʿah and the perfection of Allah’s favor upon this Ummah.
✿ ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب ✿
