"To every People have We appointed rites and ceremonies which they must follow: let them not then dispute with thee on the matter." (al-Hajj, 22/67) Were different deeds of worship determined for every nation according to the verse above?

Dear Brother / Sister,

"To every People have We appointed rites and ceremonies which they must follow: let them not then dispute with thee on the matter, but do thou invite (them) to thy Lord: for thou art assuredly on the Right Way." (al-Hajj, 22/67)

There are stages of childhood, youth and adulthood in the life of man; similarly, there are stages of development in human history. Humanity, which was in the state of childhood, was developed by the Torah; the ethical and spiritual aspects of humanity were improved by the Gospel; then, the Quran, which integrated the decrees and ethical values of the Torah and the Gospel, was sent and humanity was asked to follow the Quran.

The word "mansak" in the verse is translated as "the worship of sacrificing animals, place of sacrificing or way of sacrificing"; it is also explained as "place of worship, way of worshipping and religion". After quoting the interpretations "festival day that is celebrated, blood that is shed and worship of hajj ", Tabari states that he prefers the interpretation of the blood that is shed in Mina on days of sacrifice because the discussion between the polytheists and the Messenger of Allah was about that issue.  (Tabari, XVII, 198-199)

It is stated in some narrations that this verse was sent down upon the criticism by the polytheists of the decree prohibiting eating carrion (the meat of an animal that died a natural death) by saying, "You regard what Allah kills haram and do not eat it but you regard what you slaughter by your hands halal and eat it." (Qurtubi, Qadi Baydawi, the interpretation of the verse in question)

It is stated in the verse that religious rules were determined for every ummah and attention is drawn to the reality that different religious decrees were imposed by Allah according to the conditions of the communities and development of humanity.  However, the differences in those decrees are not about the principles of faith and basic deeds of worshipping. 

The principles of belief conveyed by all prophets from Hz. Adam to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) are the same. This issue is a common characteristic of all heavenly religions conveyed by prophets. No prophet changed the principles of belief; nor did they make any additions. Hz. Muhammad (pbuh), the last prophet, called people to believe in the same principles of belief as the first prophet, Hz. Adam, did. 

There is no difference among the divine religions in terms of the principles of belief; there is no difference in terms of basic deeds of worshipping, either. It is stated in the Quran that prayer (salah) was ordered by the other prophets though there were differences in terms of the number of rak’ahs and times.

For instance, it is stated that Hz. Ibrahim performed prayers regularly and that he wanted his offspring to perform prayers too:

"O my Lord! Make me one who establishes regular Prayer, and also (raise such) among my offspring O our Lord! and accept Thou my Prayer." (Ibrahim, 14/40)

Hz. Musa was ordered to perform prayers too. It is stated in verse 12 of the chapter of al-Maida that a definite covenant was taken from Sons of Israel to perform regular prayers.   

On the other hand, fasting and zakah are not deeds of worship peculiar to the ummah of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). As a matter of fact, it is stated in the Quran that those deeds of worship were rendered fard for other ummahs too. For instance, the following is stated in verse 183 of the chapter of al-Baqara:

"O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint."

Yes, prayer, fasting, zakah and many other deeds of worship existed in the shari’ahs of other prophets too. However, Jews and Christians abandoned or changed them in the course of time. 

There were differences among shari’ahs. Some permissible things were forbidden for some nations because they exceeded the limits and caused mischief. They were lightened in the new shari’ahs.

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