24.54 – Obey God and obey the messenger!

Commands to obey the messenger appear mainly in Sūras 4; 8; and 33. But Sūra 24 contains two notable commands (also v. 56) and a couple of other mentions (vv. 51–52, cf. 47). Such verses associate “the messenger” with Allah for obedience, judgment (vv. 48, 51), and belief (v. 62, cf. 47). However, verse 56 commands obedience to the messenger alone.

The Quran’s commands to obey the messenger became very important in the writings of the influential Muslim jurist al-Shāfi‘ī (d. 820), who insisted they gave divine authority to the sayings (hadith) attributed to Muhammad outside the Quran. See the summary and analysis of these commands at 64.12.