Chapter 1:
Belief in Almighty God
Question 01:
So long as the three principal religions have emanated from God, why should
differences appear as to the essence of God among their adherents? Why should a Christian or a Jew be required
to abandon his religion and adopt Islam?
Answer
01: There is no doubt that the three religions acknowledge one
source, God. They all agree as to the
uniquness, the absolute omniscience and omnipresence of God, to the exclusion
of any parallel power to be worshipped.
All agree as to attributing to God all perfection and excluding all
defects and blemishes. Whatever
differences may appear is sporadic extraneous, accretious developing over the
ages from distortions interpolated by members of both Judaism and
Christianity. Herein came differences as
to the essence of God. The difference,
therefore, is between Islam, which God entrusted His prophet with, and other
religions which have been distorted and adulterated. The difference is not between authentic
religions, rather, it is between a true religion and others that have been
invalidated and turned away. The latter
category has been manipulated by vicious hands which misdirected them.
When
we call upon a Jew or Christian to discard his/her religion and adopt Islam, we
are in reality asking him/her to revert to the true religion which has been
preached by all prophets. Should an
impartial thinker consider Islam in relation to other religions, he/she is
bound to acknowledge the radical difference between both categories. He/she is likely to find in the former the
truth and monotheism, while the latter would reveal innovations and
polytheism. Moreover, Islam advocates
justice and tolerance, while the others imply racism and discrimination. In the one there are moral commitment and decency;
in the other, disintegration and corruption.
Question 02:
What is the penultimate reason behind the creation of man? Does God need man’s worship?
Answer
02: Man has been created in order to worship God: “And I (God)
created not the jinn and mankind except that they should worship me (alone)”
(Holy Qur’an: 51: 56). The Primary
incumbency on man is to know God through His oneness, and thence to worship Him
truly. Secondly, man is required to act
his role as God’s vicegerent on earth, so as to enjoy bliss both here and
hereafter. Indeed, his/her need to
acknowledge the supremacy of God exceeds his/her need and drink: “O
mankind! It is you who stand in need of
God. But God is rich, worthy of all
praise” (Holy Qur’an: 35: 15).
God
is above the need for man’s worship. He
does not benefit from man’s devotion, nor would He be adversely affected by
man’s blasphemy. From beginning to end
the story of man’s existence on earth, no matter how many are its incidents, is
an ordeal, a test, whether for him/her as an individual or for all humanity. Man’s performance in this test determines
either his praise and reward or reproof and punishment.
Question 03:
You Muslims claim that you worship One God, while in actual fact you
resemble the Christians who say “In the name of the Father, the Son and the
Holy Spirit,” for you say “In the name of God, the Mercifu; the
Compaasionate.” How would you account
for this resemblence?
Answer
03: In the Christian creed, God is the Creator. The Son is Jesus the Deliverer. And the Holy Spirit is His life or one of His
creations chosen by Him as a messenger and/or prophet imparting God’s
inspiration or cosmic order to whoever He wishes. Whatever the mission carried out by the Holy
Spirit, the Christians believe in the above powers as three entities, three aspects,
three qualities. They say: “Oneness in
Trinity and Trinity in Oneness.” They
are all phenomena of one God, etc.
Therefore, the One God, they claim, consists of three separate
categories, which they call the Trinity.
As a matter of fact, God, as they take Him, is not one but three. In the Qur’an God says: “Surely, disbelievers
are those who said: ‘God is the third of the three (in aTrinity)’.” (Holy
Qur’an: 5: 73). The verse means that God
the Creator is the third in relation to the Son and the Holy Spirit.
As
for the Muslim dictum “In the name of God, the Mercifu, the Compaasionate,” it
means three names of God which exceed ninety nine, all denoting one
Entity. A name is not separate from the
named. The Being named and described is
not to be conceived except by His names and qualities, unlike the case of the
Christian Entities, for they are three dimentional, but separate, the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Question 04:
How can you claim that your God is Mercifu and Compasionate, while He
created evil in the world, expressed in illnesses, volcanoes, toxics,
earthquakes, hatred, etc.?
Answer
04: The answer to this question is threefold:
1. God almighty is a universal
God, the God of all creation. This is
obvious in the following verse: “And your God is One (God), there is none who
has the right to be worshipped but He, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful…”
(Holy Qur’an: 2: 163).
2.
Undoubtedly, God’s mercy is comprehensive.
It encompasses all creatures under its canopy. The evidence is clear: “…And My Mercy
embraces all things...” (Holy Qur’an: 7: 156).
Such a spacious clemency expresses itself in bestowing upon His creation
so much bliss: material sustenance, the gifts of sight and hearing. Indeed, such blesisngs are countless.
3.
Whatever adversities may befall man in this world, like pain, illness, poison,
earthquakes, volcanoes, etc., are not exclusively evils. They are mixed blessings. For some who are harassed by such evils they
are a punishment for their disobedience or heresy, while for some others they
are a reminder, a nudge, to awaken them from their slumber. They also indicate the absolute power of God,
His ability to deal with His creation, the sphere of His dominion, in the ways
He deems just and wise. All that God
decrees emanates from His compassion, wisdom and justice.
Question 05:
Does God allow prostration to any power or creature other than Himself? If the answer is negative how can we account
for the prostration of Jospeh’s brothers and parents before him?
Answer
05: Initialy, it is to be maintained that there are two kinds of
prostration:
1. Expressive of worship and favour-seeking, which is
permissible only to God. If it is
practised to appease some other power, this is polytheism.
2. Indicative of man’s desire to glorify an absolute power,
in which case the action of prostration is not polytheistic. Kneeling down and/or prostration before human
beings as a way of showing respect or greeting was quite acceptable in earlier
creeds. But it has been abrogated in
Islam. Joseph’s brothers did not worship
him. They bent down before him in a
expression of esteem and reverence. Such
a posture was permissible in their creed, but abolished and abrogated in Islam. Abdullah ibn Abi Awfa was reported to have
said that on coming from Sham (currently greater Syria) Mu’az ibn Jabal knelt
down before the prophet (pbuh) whereupon the prophet enquired what the man
meant. In explanation, Mu’az said that
in Sham he had seen people bending down before their bishops and patriarchs, so
he thought it would be fit to do so in front of the prophet. In response the prophet denied this by
saying: “Muslims may not bow down to anybody except God…”.[1]
It was obvious that Mu’az’s postutre before the prophet
implies reverence, a sentiment he noted in the case of the faithful, but in no
way does it denote worship, which is exclusive to God. When the prophet knew that Mu’az’s posture
did not denote worship, he still exhorted him not to perform such an action. Consequently, abrogation was applied to
kneeling down and prostration in glorification of human grandeur.
It is true that Joseph’s father and brother prostrated
before him, and equally true that God almighty enjoined the angels to prostrate
before Adam, but in neither case did the posture imply worship, rather it meant
a gesture of honour and recognition of merit.
Chapter 2:
Belief in Prophets and
Missions
Question 06:
What is the indisputable evidence that the teachings of Muhammad have all
come from God?
Answer
06: There are numerous irrefutable evidences indicating that such
teachings originated from God almighty.
Here are some:
1. All that has been enjoined, and denied, can be found highly
propitious and useful to all mankind, everywhere and at any time. They are commensurate with the sound mind and
the chaste insight. Examples are
commandments on solidifying family ties, preserving superior moral qualities,
avoiding usury and all misdemeanors. All
that the prophet (pbuh) has been told in inspiration has been proved
valid. Such material falls in two
categories:
A.
Pertaining to the past. These are
corroborated by former books as well as authenticated evidence confirmed by
science and modern discoveries, e.g. finindgs in geology as the era of the
deluge, in archeology as the relics from the epochs of Thamud and the
Pharaos.
B.
Pertaining to the future. Certain
incidents were predicted by the prophet, e.g. the fire which blasted Medina in
654 hijra, the good offices performed by Hasan ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib in
reconcilating between two major factions of Muslims, the gathering of the Jews
in Palestine today, the emergence of nudist women who earn their living in
immodest ways, and the spread of ususry, corruption, murder, etc.
C.
Evidences derived from the prophet’s own life and morals, a study of both of
which can only cofirms that such actions can never emerge except from one who
is both true and honest. Whoever
considers God’s support of His prophet (pbuh), the victory over his enemies,
and the spread of his religion, must come to the conclusion that this prophet
was sustained by God and that all he preached had come from the Almighty.
D.
Some contemporary scientific discoveries support the prophet’s tenets, e.g.
stages of the life of the embryo, the way in which milk comes into being in the
mammals, the existence of the aquarian barrier between two adjecent seas, the
fact that the Dead Sea is the nethermost place on earth, etc.
E.
The miracles performed by him: these were simultaneously witnessed by both his
followers and antagonists, e.g. the fissure of the moon surface, the springing
of water from his fingers, the healing of the sick, etc. His greatest miracle remains the glorious
Qur’an that has proved the authenticity of its contents over the ages.
Question
07: Who is the prophet?
Answer
07: He is a man chosen by almighty God, inspired by Him, and enjoined
to proclaim the call to the people he was sent to.
Question 08:
How can prophet Muhammad (pbuh) be the imam (leader) of all the prophets
when he is the last messenger?
Answer
08: Preference is God’s own prerogative. It is exclusive to such and not to others, in
accordance with His emmiscience and wisdom.
Preference has no relation with precedence or antecedence in time. Moses and Jesus are are among the latter
batch of prophets, still they are the best among all those who preceded them
except Noah and Abraham (peace be uponh them).
Furthermore, prophet Muhammad’s religion, in terms of creeds and the
morals, conforms to those preached by the previous prophets. As for the rules of these religions, the
prophet (pbuh), by commandments from almighty God, nullified some, modified
others; altered some, and augmented others.
Accordingly, his call has become more comprehensive, more perfect, hence
has dominion over precedences. The one
in charge of such a call deserves being an imam to those who preceded
him. Those were made to pledge to the be
faithful to him and support him, almighty God says:
“And (remember) when God took
the covenant of the prophets, saying: ‘Take whatever I gave you from the book
and hikmah (understanding of the laws of God), and afterwards there will
come to you a messenger (Muhammad) confirming what is with you; you must, then,
believe in him and help him.’ God said:
‘Do you agree (to it) and will you take up my covenant (which I conclude with
you)?’ They said: ‘We agree.’ He said:
‘Then bear witness; and I am with you among the witnesses (for this)’.” (Holy
Qur’an: 3: 81).
Such
favours prove that he is the best.
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