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.

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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.

Question 09: What evidence proves that Jesus was not a God, but only a messenger from God?

Answer 09: Jesus Christ (pbuh), following both the Gospels and the Qur’an, was born of the virgin Mary, who was just like any other human being. It is common knowledge that whoever is born cannot be deified. Jesus Christ was a human being who used to eat and drink just like anybody else. He was susceptible to hunger, grief and/or merriment. He experienced all the paraphernalia pertaining to human life. His miraculous creation from no father is no stranger than that of Adam, a being who was both fatherless and motherless. This is an evidence of God’s omnipotence. Jesus Christ was no more than a servant to, and messenger of God, who revealed the scripture in order to promulgate it and carry out His call. On the day of judgement Jesus Christ is not to be judged because of those who deified him in exclusion of God or thought of him as parallel. In the Qur’an we have a mentioning of this, where in the hereafter God will ask Jesus if he had asked his followers to deify him, whereby Jesus will answer God by saying: “If you punish them, they are your slaves, and if you forgive them, verily, you, only you, are the all-Mighty, the all-Wise” (Holy Qur’an: 5: 118). Here is one more reply to the one who seeks an evidence as to the deification of Jesus Christ, while he has none of the qualities of God. Whatever miracles he performed emanated from God, just as He supported other prophets.

Question 10: In what way was Jesus Christ a Muslim, as well as all the other prophets?

Answer 10: There is no doubt that all prophets (peace be upon them), beginning with Adam and ending in Muhammad, preached one religion—the worship of God alone and disregarding all other powers. This is something advocated by Islam. God says: “Truly, the true religion with God is Islam” (Holy Qur’an: 3: 19). About Abraham (pbuh), God says: “Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but was a true Muslim (hanif: monotheist—a worshipper one God alone) and he was not a mushrik—a polytheist” (Holy Qur’an: 3: 67). On the question of the disciples of Jesus, God says: “And when I (God) inspired al-hawariun (the disciples of Jesus) to believe in Me and My Messenger, they said: ‘We believe. And bear witness that we are Muslims’.” (Holy Qur’an: 5: 111). Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) confirmed this in his saying: “Prophets are paternal brothers; their mothers are different, but their religion is one.”¹

Question 11: If people have managed to distort the message of Christ, is not this sufficient evidence that he failed in his mission? If he was great, how could God allow his call to peter out into failure?

Answer 11: Christ (pbuh) cannot be said to have failed in his mission. God supported him with astounding miracle and convincing arguments. Whatever distortion has befallen the scripture preached by Christ, it must have happened after his ascention to heaven. Failure and disintegration are the works of the followes who fell a prey to whims and caprice. In this connection God says:

[And (remember) when God will say (on the day of reurrection): ‘O Jesus, son of Mary! Did you say unto men: ‘worship me and my mother as two gods besides God?’ He will say: ‘Glory is to You! It is not for me to say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, You would surely, have know it. You know what is in my inner-self though I do not know what is in Yours; truly You, only You, are the All-Knower of all that is hidden (and seen). Never did I say to them aught except what You (God) did command me to say: worship God my Lord and your Lord. And I was a witness over them while I dwelt amongst them, but when you took me up, You were the Watcher over them; and You are a Witness to all things’.”] (Holy Qur’an: 5: 116-117)

Question 12: Seeing that God’s message to humanity is one and the same, why was it partitioned among more than one prophet and not revealed in one package?

1 Cited in Bukhalri, Hadith No. 1437.