3:19 Surely the religion with God is the submission.
The approved religion—by which people look up to God in servanthood, worship Him according to His decree, seek for His approval, and go back to Him—is the religion of submission. The submission has three-way stations.
The first-way station is the acknowledgment that spares blood and wealth: the person’s neck is safe from the sword and his wealth is left with him, whether he is a conformer or a hypocrite, a follower or an innovator.
The next way station is the acknowledgment that is right belief, following the Sunnah, and the loyalty of deeds.
The third-way station of submission is surrender, which is the utmost end of the work. It is pleasing to God and is the refuge of recognition. It is to throw oneself on the Real’s exalted threshold and follow Him, approving of His decree, not protesting against it or turning away from it, and having reverence and respect for it. What Abraham asked for himself and Ishmael in his supplication—that they be submitters—is the utmost end of this third-way station: “Our Lord, make us submitters to Thee!” [2:128]. This is the same as when it was said to him, “Submit!,” he said, “I submit to the Lord of the worlds” [2:131]. It is also alluded to in His words telling about Joseph: “Receive me as a submitter and join me with the wholesome” [12:101].
