The phrase 'Allah and His messenger' appears repeatedly in the Qur'an, especially in contexts involving obedience, law, and authority. It is commonly interpreted as an order to follow two distinct sources: Allah—understood as the Qur'an—and the messenger—understood as the hadith. However, this reading imposes two separate sources of law that the Qur'an itself does not support.
The messenger's role: a divine conduit
The Qur'an establishes that the messenger is a mortal human whose sole mission is to deliver Allah's revelation. He is not a co-author of the divine law but a faithful conduit for it. This role is stated clearly when Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) is instructed to say "...I am but a mortal like you, being inspired that your god is One god..." (18:110).
The Qur'an repeatedly defines his mission with absolute clarity. Verses such as "the messenger is only to deliver..." (5:99) and "...the messenger is only required to deliver clearly" (24:54) establish this not as an isolated statement, but as the core of his mission. The messenger does not "...speak from personal desire. It is a divine inspiration" (53:3-4). The divine inspiration is indeed the Qur'an and not any other speech as some like to claim.
On other hand, Allah issues a clear warning to Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) "... had he attributed anything falsely to Us, We would have seized him by the right. Then, We would have severed his life-line" (69:44-46). This shows the gravity of departing from the Qur'an.
This proves that Prophet Mohammed's (peace be upon him) role was non-negotiable. It is precisely because his delivery of the revelation is inspired that his delivery of the Qur’an is inseparable from Allah’s command.
The word 'AND' unifies
The Qur'an's use of the word 'and' is often understood as simple addition, which is correct in many contexts. However, in certain verses it functions to specify or emphasise a particular member within a broader category, rather than to introduce something separate. This becomes clear when verses are read in their full context.
The Qur'an declares "whoever is an enemy to Allah and His angels, and His messengers, and Gabriel, and Michael..." (2:98). Here, angels are mentioned as a general category, followed by Gabriel and Michael as specific members singled out for emphasis due to their prominence. The word 'and' does not imply that Gabriel and Michael are outside the category of angels; it highlights them within it. If 'and' meant a separate category, one would be forced to conclude that Gabriel and Michael are not angels which we know is impossible. The same appears in "...Allah is his ally, and so are Gabriel and the righteous believers. Also, the angels are his helpers" (66:4). Gabriel is already included among the angels, yet he is specified to highlight his importance within the category of angels.
Another example appears in the verse "in them are fruits, date palms, and pomegranate" (55:68). The Qur’an is not distinguishing fruits from something other than fruits. Date palms and pomegranates are part of the general category of fruits and are mentioned specifically to draw attention to them.
Some people argue that if 'obey Allah and obey the messenger' means obedience to the same thing, the command would simply say 'obey Allah' without repeating 'obey the messenger' as this is redundant. However, this observation overlooks both the emphatic function of the phrase, as well as the target audience being addressed at the time of the revelation.
Had the Qur'an instructed people only to 'obey Allah', the polytheists, Jews, Christians and others would all claim compliance to this instruction, each according to their inherited traditions. The addition of 'obey the messenger' serves to redefine obedience to Allah to mean obedience to the Qur'an being revealed to the messenger. This obedience is not to Prophet Mohammed's (peace be upon him) personal opinions as he "...did not know what was the Book, nor what was faith..." (42:52) prior to the revelation. Now, when Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) utters the Qur'an, he does not "…speak from personal desire" (53:3), but rather, "it is a divine inspiration" (53:4).
Therefore, the order to 'obey Allah and obey the messenger' is not a call to two separate sources of authority, but a command to obey Allah's laws by adhering to His words as spoken verbatim by His messenger.
Obeying one
Throughout the Qur'an, acts of obedience and disobedience are consistently directed toward 'Allah and His messenger' as a single entity. This raises a logical question: How can a person literally '...fight Allah and His messenger...' (5:33) or "...harm Allah and His messenger..." (33:57)? This opposition is not against two separate authorities but a single opposition to the one message: the Qur'an.
The Qur'an states that some people of the book "...challenged Allah and His messenger. And whoever challenges Allah, then Allah is severe in punishment" (59:4). Notice how the language changes from "...challenged Allah and His messenger" (59:4) to simply "...whoever challenges Allah..." (59:4) in the very next clause. This is proof that in this context the two are interchangeable and represent a single front of divine authority.
Perhaps the clearest example is when the Qur'an tells Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) about those believers "...who pledge to you, are in fact pledging to Allah; the hand
of Allah is above their hands..." (48:10). Pledging to Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) was to pledge a contract with Allah. The Qur'an continues with "...whoever fulfils what he has pledged to Allah..." (48:10) to re-enforce this point that further. Pledging to the human messenger as the visible point of contact was the way to make a pledge with the invisible authority.
This principle resolves the instruction given to believers that when they "...dispute in any matter, then
you shall refer it to Allah and His messenger..." (4:59). This is not a command to consult two separate authorities, but to turn to the one place where Allah's authority and the messenger's delivery converge: the Qur'an.
This pattern reinforces that the two mean the same thing and cannot be separated.
Distinguishing the messenger from the message
While the message delivered by Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) in his role as messenger is divine and infallible, the Qur'an draws a clear distinction between the man and the message. Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) was "...a mortal like you..." (18:110) and "...no more than a mortal like you..." (41:6), and sometimes subject to error and correction from Allah.
Several instances in the Qur'an show the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) being divinely corrected or reminded of his humanity:
- In verses 80:1-10, he is admonished for frowning and turning away from a blind man to attend to a wealthy individual.
- In verse 9:43, Allah pardons him, asking: "...why did you give them leave before it became clear to you who are truthful, and who are lying?"
- In verse 66:1, he is asked "...why do you make forbidden what Allah has made permissible for you? seeking to please his wives...".
These public corrections demonstrate that the Qur'an's source was divine and not Prophet Mohammed's (peace be upon him) personal reasoning.
Some claim that everything Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) said or did outside of the Qur'an was also revelation and therefore binding on the believers. But this claim collapses under the Qur'an's own evidence. If every non‑Qur'anic action or statement was divinely inspired, it would not make sense then for Allah to correct Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) in the Qur'an for decisions he initially based supposedly on revelation.
Divine knowledge
The Qur'an states that prior to revelation, Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) "...did not know what was the Book, nor what was faith..." (42:52). This clearly demonstrates that Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) could not independently legislate from outside the Qur'an in religious matters as he did not have any religious knowledge of his own, unless it was divinely revealed to him. Yes, in addition to his role of being the messenger, he was also the head of the state, head of the military, a husband and a father. But obedience to him for us today is restricted to the religious element: the Qur'an. His political and social decisions reflected the needs of his era, but they were not intended as timeless religious law. Rather it was the preserved religious element of his role that must always be followed: the Qur'an.
Indeed the Qur'an makes it clear that belief will not be complete until a person makes Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) a "...judge
in what they dispute with each other..." (4:65), and some people make a case that this refers to the hadith and his personal judgements. However, when looking at the verse in synthesis with other verses, it becomes clear that this judgement is restricted to the Qur'an alone in all religious matters. The Qur'an states Allah revealed the "...Book with the truth that you may
judge between the people by that which Allah has shown you..." (4:105) or he is ordered to "...judge between them by what Allah has sent down..." (5:49) or when the hypocrites are "...invited to Allah and His messenger to judge between them..." (24:48) or the believers "...are invited to Allah and
His messenger to judge in their affairs..." (24:51). These examples show that Prophet Mohammed's (peace be upon him) religious judgement were always derived from the the Qur'an.
Conclusion
The Qur'anic evidence, when examined presents a consistent picture. The messenger is a divinely-protected human conduit for receiving divine revelation. The Qur'an's own style uses 'and' to unify a general with its specific. Commands of obedience and disobedience treat 'Allah and His messenger' as an indivisible unit, proven by the Qur'an's own language. Finally, Allah's correction of Prophet Mohammed's (peace be upon him) personal actions confirms that the ultimate authority is in the message and not the man.
Together, these points lead to a clear conclusion: the phrase 'Allah and His messenger' refers to the single, unified authority of Allah's revelation as delivered through His messenger. Therefore, when believers are instructed to refer a dispute to 'Allah and His messenger', it is an instruction to refer the matter to the one clear source where both are found: the Qur'an.