We seek refuge in Allah against satan, the cursed creature
Bismilahi Rahmani Rahim
Notes: If we were discussing with a materialist about God, it might not be an easy task to convince him or her about the existence of a super natural power since he will only limit his understanding to the things he can relate to based on the laws of the nature in this life. But anyone with a clear mind, who is seriously educated about Islam, would see precision in it (that includes the materialists).
Now it is well known from the hadiths of the prophet Muhammad {puh} that he (the prophet) used to sympathize with non Muslims for the sake of justice, tolerance and peace. Whoever is familiar with early Muslim history knows that during the prophet’s life time and the first generations after, there were Jewish temples and churches built in Arabia and the people who follow these doctrines lived in peace within the Muslims territories for for a long time. This is why we have to learn more about the Din and contribute in delivering an accurate and positive message of Islam. It's true that there will be always anti religious groups who will ignore our call for peace, but such individuals are found everywhere. Other religions have also faced typical problems; for instance the Catholic Church in Europe dealt with waves of anti-religious and blasphemous intellectuals in the 17th and 18th centuries. A more severe issue was the Jewish case during the Nazi regime. So there is really no reason to let the obstacles slow us down, or deviate us from the path of Allah. Now we'll start the main course of the topic.
Being part of Muhammad’s community {puh} is really a privilege and in order to have a neat understanding of this we will need to go back to the beginning of creation...
When Adam (peace upon him) was created and placed in the heavens with a highly honorable position above the rank of Angels, Allah had also given him a wide range of knowledge under two different forms. The first one is spirituality which is related to the closeness between Allah and His creatures, and the second one the science of this world and everything that related to that. After Adam {puh} was sent down on earth, he passed over these two forms of to his descendants. Hence what should be understood here is that spirituality is mandatory because without it we do not know God, and there’ll be no way to achieve salvation. But also natural science a blessing oft God that we all need to survive and improve the living conditions; and indeed it is by having a peaceful and health life that we can serve the Lord better. So if we use wisdom (i.e. complying with teachings of the prophet, peace upon him), the stronger these two tools are, Inch Allah (God willing) the greater opportunities we’ll have to develop a solid Iman (faith). Now it happens that spirituality is a sacred practice that lays on a dimension hidden from the natural eyes; so it is not accessible as the second knowledge, which is mostly based on experience and discoveries from the laws of nature. This means that if spiritual belief is neglected or not taught in a consistent manner, then obviously we will more likely focus on the second aspect because it is only what our sight is exposed to. In the previous section, we talked about how guidance was often lost by mankind after departure of an appointed prophet of Allah.
Now since humans are far from perfection and often victims of their own desires, it is logic that if they do not use the wisdom received from the prophets of Allah, spirituality will not be valuable any more; then they won’t fear their Lord as they should. Consequently, they’ll end up following shameful acts and illicit pleasures. From there, things get even worse, because the generations that come centuries after sometimes they do not have a clue about the religion received. Many even reject the existence of God (Subhanallah).
Many individuals would not hesitate to think that development and technology leading to an economical stability is only what matters. What they do not know is that religion actually boosts your ability of thinking at a higher speed toward perfectionism with the benefit of a good moral character. Thus, if not taken slightly, it will be always a plus, in all aspects of life. And while science is a gift from Allah, it was supposed to benefit us in a way that we can succeed in this life and the hereafter. No doubt that science should contribute to improve social economy, technology and anything that can help settle a stable lifestyle. But with that in place, poverty should be removed, security thoroughly restores, and more religious places built (Mosques, Islamic centers…) However, if we do not believe in Allah and follow His recommendations, no matter how good initiatives we may have, they will be never totally successful. We may accomplish many positive projects, but complete satisfaction will be never attained without faith. The richest people in the planet cannot find total happiness without Allah's guidance. They may have all the luxury they want or be able to feed half of the population on earth, but they will always encounter difficulties. Either it will be psychological/physical health problems due to an insane lifestyle or it will be something else. Weak and selfish creatures that are controlled by their desires and passions for the fleeting life and cannot reach righteousness by themselves; they’ll always find trouble one way or the other. So we need Allah to escape from evil temptations and satan; and this required spiritual purification. That purification process is accomplished by holding on both knowledge wisely, as they were brought forth by the holy prophets of Allah. So faith is crucial for the eternal success, while worldly science may be used to strengthen faith in God.
Now we should bear in mind that the early expansion of Islam from all Arabia to India, Asia, West Africa and Europe was only made possible due to the examplary values and teachings promoted in Islam. If later on the Muslims, in particular the ruling aristocracy has failed to maintain a big Islamic impact in Europe, it was only due to their excessive interest for worldly gains, overlooking that if Islam promotes the establishment of an ideal lifestyle, it is also mandatory to comply with its religious principles in order to receive the continuous blessing from Allah. This blessing or "Baraka" is the transmission for a complete and lasting achievement in the two worlds (present life and hereafter). But the fact Islam is the authentic message of God well preserved in the Quran justifies why the path of Allah cannot be lost by the entire Muslims community as it was the case of the generations before. Moreover, the rapid spread of different means of communication has continued to spread the message into different parts of the world; the cultural diversity within Islam is a clear sign of it. So all these indications among others can help realize that this religion is the last one to remain. Therefore, we may agree that numbers of uneducated Muslims may sleep up every now and then, and fail on their duty, but the whole group as a wholewill never go astray due to the accurate message of Islam through hadiths and Quran. These texts of high values and importances are substitutes of permanent messengers from Allah. Thus, even the "sleepy heads" of the Ouma (community) can eventually rediscover themselves through the Din (religion) and reach the status of true believer. Any future hope of salvation for non Muslims is to be found within this same spirit of Islam.
An attempt to define Islam in relationship with the previous doctrines of Allah can be arranged as the following; earlier scriptures were like elementary schools well elaborated for the people of the first revelations after Adam {puh}. A more recent faith as Judaism was like the grade of middle school, which was the right pedagogy for the Hebrews of Moses’ time. Christianity was a reform of Judaism that Jesus {puh} had cleaned from all falsehood and lies. This model was similar to the high school stage that could educate the Israelites of that period. Finally Islam is the higher education, which is the right training for all generations to come. But we don't undermine or reject any of the previous revelations from Allah, because they are all parts of our beliefs as Muslims. Nevertheless, we won't take for consideration the actual Torah or the Bible since the original message (true guidance of Allah) received by the very first disciples of these prophets was neglected and lost afterward. In Christianity, the Roman Empire has a part of responsibility for this loss by trying to destroy all gospels that contradicted the teachings of Pauline Church. As far as Judaism, the destruction of the giant temple of Solomon (siege of all existing scripts) by the Babylonians have undoubtedly raised many concerns; but the altering of the message without a Divine authority from a messenger was the biggest mistake that has completely compromised the credibility within the texts. That's why the original teachings brought by Jesus and Moses (peace upon them) never came to light in those revised booklets. The only true sources we have presently are the Quran and hadiths. The Quran alone is a pathfinder which connects us with all messengers of Allah. That being said, we are not trying judge people from different faiths; fair judgment belongs to Allah alone. However if anyone wants to found out more about this matter, I recommend to look for the kept hidden Gospel of Barnabas that we talked about in the previous article (i.e authenticity of Islam). The biblical content of the Gospel contradicts in many ways the old and new testaments; it also portrays interesting similarities with Islam. And we like to remind our readers that this volume is available now to the public by the grace of Allah. The Dead Sea Scrolls are other interesting manuscripts to look for as well. These scrolls dating about a hundred years before Jesus (p.u.h.) are the oldest Hebrew texts currently available.
The holy Quran properly speaking is not a book of science, but a book of signs, to guide people toward the truth. Technology for instance is limited because it outdates and needs to be updated frequently to stay current. Therefore the Quran cannot be compared to this; the script of Allah is beyond that level. The numerous predictions recorded in it, have the only purpose of warning for humanity to wake up and see the reality. This is why it will happen quite often that we find in its verses certain innovations of technology as a sign for mankind...
In short, the revealed text of Quran recalls us on our duties toward the Lord, by presenting undeniable proofs, reinforced with signs like passed and upcoming events; then the hadiths of the prophet {puh} show how to use the engineering skills we possess in a way that will be profitable for now and tomorrow (hereafter). All these factors make very apparent the true about Islam.
Note: if you have any concerns regarding this topic please feel free to send us your comments and suggestions. Wassalam!!!
Note: the following is a link that gives access to a vast database on hadiths of the prophet, reported by Imam Buhari, Imam Muslim and some others famous and recognized scholars. It also gives you access to the Quran in Arabic and English translation.
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/scienceofhadith/atit.html
For the Gospel of Barnabas click on the following link
http://barnabas.net/
(Barké Borom Touba)
