ذَلِكَ هُدَى اللَّهِ يَهْدِي بِهِ مَنْ يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ وَلَوْ أَشْرَكُوا لَحَبِطَ عَنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ ﴿۸۸﴾ أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحُكْمَ وَالنُّبُوَّةَ فَإِنْ يَكْفُرْ بِهَا هَؤُلَاءِ فَقَدْ وَكَّلْنَا بِهَا قَوْمًا لَيْسُوا بِهَا بِكَافِرِينَ ﴿۸۹﴾ أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ هَدَى اللَّهُ فَبِهُدَاهُمُ اقْتَدِهْ قُلْ لَا أَسْأَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرًا إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا ذِكْرَى لِلْعَالَمِينَ ﴿۹۰﴾

﴾88﴿ Zaalika hudal laahi yahdee bihee mai yashaaa'u min 'ibaadih; wa law ashrakoo lahabita 'anhum maa kaanoo ya'maloon
﴾89﴿ Ulaaa'ikal lazeena aatainaahumul Kitaaba wal hukma wan Nubuwwah; fa iny yakfur bihaa haaa'ulaaa'i faqad wakkalnaa bihaa qawmal laisoo bihaa bikaafireen
﴾90﴿ Ulaaa'ikal lazeena hadal laahu fabihudaahumuq tadih; qul laaa as'alukum 'alaihi ajran in huwa illaa zikraa lil 'aalameen

﴾88﴿ This is the path of Allah—the true path. He guides to it whom He wills among His servants. And if they had associated others with Him, then all that they used to do would have been nullified.
﴾89﴿ These are the ones to whom We gave the Book, religious knowledge, and prophethood. But if these (people) reject it, then We have entrusted it to a people who will never disbelieve in it.
﴾90﴿ These are the ones whom Allah has guided, so follow their guidance. Say, “I do not ask you for any reward for this; it is nothing but a reminder for all people.”

[88] From the verse, it becomes clear that even the actions of a prophet would be nullified by shirk (associating partners with Allah), so what value would remain in the actions of others?
The word ذَلِكَ refers to the guidance mentioned earlier in هَدَيْنَاهُمْ and وَهَدَيْنَاهُمْ, indicating that even the prophets (peace be upon them) are in need of Allah’s guidance.
The phrase وَلَوْ أَشْرَكُوا highlights the severity and ugliness of shirk.
It is evident that the guidance mentioned refers to a mature, perfected state of Tawhid, and that the foundation of all guidance is Tawhid.
[89] In this explanation, “Allah's guidance” refers to divine direction.
The term (الْكِتَابَ) refers to the genre of revealed books, and this does not imply that every one of them received a scripture. Rather, it includes those who inherited previous scriptures, and for them too, the terms wisdom and tradition are applied.
The phrase (فَإِنْ يَكْفُرْ بِهَا) points out that the religion sent by Allah Almighty does not rely on specific people for its preservation.
The word (هَؤُلَاءِ) refers to the present disbelievers, while qawman (a people) refers to the prophets, the angels, the supporters, the emigrants, and the monotheists of every era.
These explanations have been mentioned by Al-Qurtubi and others.
[90] This verse is evidence that the religion of all the prophets is one, with differences only in some secondary rulings (branches).
Likewise, not taking a reward for preaching religion is the consistent practice of all the prophets.
(أُولَئِكَ) — this points to the infallibility of the prophets (peace be upon them) from misguidance and implies that true guidance is confined to the path of the prophets.
(فَبِهُدَاهُمُ) — what is meant by this is all the fundamental beliefs, morals, and methods of da'wah (calling to Allah) used by the prophets.
As for the secondary rulings (furu‘), the intent is not that we must follow their specific religious laws.
This also suggests that the virtues and noble traits of the previous prophets are all found collectively in our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
(اقْتَدِهْ) — “Iqtida” (following) is the agreement of the later person with the earlier one in word and deed, based on independent reasoning.
“Ittiba‘” is agreement in action only, based on the earlier person’s reasoning.
“Taqleed” is following someone without reasoning.
Question: Does the command to follow (اقتدِهْ) mean our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is not superior? Answer: The meanings of iqtida’ mentioned only imply temporal precedence, not superiority.
(قُلْ لَا أَسْأَلُكُمْ) — since “guidance” (هداهم) refers mainly to the prophetic method of da'wah, these two sentences mention the two pillars of da'wah: sincerity and trustworthiness, just as the prophets are described as a sincere and trustworthy advisor (ناصح أمين).
(قُلْ لَا أَسْأَلُكُمْ) — preaching is a personal obligation (fard ‘ayn) on the prophets, and for that reason, taking payment for it is forbidden to them. If it is not a personal obligation, scholars differ about the permissibility of accepting payment.
This phrase is mentioned in the guidance of all prophets.
(ذِكْرَى لِلْعَالَمِينَ) — “a reminder for the worlds” refers to humans and jinn until the Day of Judgment.