Up till now we have been dealing with Din or Faith. we now come to a discussion of the Shari'ah of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). But let us first be clear about the difference between Din and Shari'ah.
DISTINCTION BETWEEN DEEN AND SHARI'AH
In the foregoing chapters we have said that all the Prophets who made their appearance from time-to-time propagated Islam. This is a very basic fact. They propagated Islam that is a faith in God with all His attributes faith in the Day of Judgment faith in the Prophets and the Books and asked people consequently to live a life of obedience and submission to their Lord. This is what constitutes al-Din, and it was common to the teaching of all the Prophets.
Apart from this Din there is the Shari'ah or the detailed code of conduct or the canons comprising ways and modes of worship standards of morals and life law that allow and prescribe that judge between right and wrong. Such canon law has been undergoing amendments from time to time and though each Prophet had the same Din he brought with him a different Shari'ah that would suit the conditions of his own people and time. This served the purpose of training different people over all ages for a better civilization and equipping them with better morals. The process ended with the advent of Muhammad the last Prophet (peace be upon him) who brought with him the final code which was to apply to all mankind for all times to come. Din has undergone no change but now all the previous Shari'ah stand abrogated in view of the comprehensive Shari'ah that Muhammad (peace be upon him) has brought with him. This is the climax or the final of the great process of training that was started at the dawn of the human era.