Why is Islam The Only True Deen?
by G.A. Parwez translated by Dr. Manzoor-ul-Haque
The one significant issue, which rises in most of the minds and vexes the tender feelingsof the heart, is that common moral values are identical in all the religions (especially inthe widely accepted religions). All the religions assert not to tell a lie; not to steal; to behonest; not to deprive others of their rights etc. Islam. Also proclaims the same then whatis that distinctive feature on the basis of which we assert: –that Islam is the only true Deen;that no other Deen is acceptable to God;that salvation and auspiciousness is tied to Islam;And therefore it is necessary that all followers of religions should accept Islam.The Significant QuestionIf the specificity, on the basis of which Islam is entitled to make this claim, is the samevalues, then this privilege ought to be extended to every religion of the world. This wouldnot be a reasonable attitude that the qualities on the basis of which we adjudge Islam asDeen-Ul-Haq (the right Deen), are ignored in case of claim of other religions.
Brahmo-Samaji Religion.
This is undoubtedly a difficult question. As mentioned above, this question springs upand causes confusion in the minds of the people at large. . This is the same questionwhich emerged in the frontiers of knowledge at a time when the late Maulana Abu-ul-Kalam Azad wrote in his exegesis of Sura Fateha, “Universal truths are equally found inall the religions” therefore no one religion can claim superiority over others. Thisproclamation was, in fact, an echo of that Brahmo-Samaji Movement which had emergedearlier in Bengal. They summated the good points of the (so called) heavenly books,developed a system of education and projected it to the world with the contention that itcomprises all the common truths found in all the religions. Therefore to bring consensusamong all religions and to act in accordance with the truthfulness, the only mechanismwould be that all followers of religions should believe in this system of education andmake it the concept of their life. Such a common education comprised these very moralvalues long before this Brahmo-Samaji Movement. King Akber’s Deen-i-Ilahi wasfounded on this very concept; Its exponent was Dara Shikoah in whose mysticism therewas no difference between Ram and Raheem; and the reflection of reality was equallyfound in the temple and the mosque. The same phenomenon, in the form of Bhajans(religious hymns) of Bhagat Kabeer and Kafees (Mustical Stanzas) of Shah Fareed andSultan Bahu echoes in every nook and corner.
No Need of Religion even!This brings forth another important question: if truth is the other name of theses moralvalues and acting in accordance with them is the purpose of human life, then why is anyreligion needed? Those, who are irreligious, and refute the very existence of God, alsosay the same i.e. telling lie is very bad; truth ought to be spoken; living ought to behonest; no one ought to be oppressed, so why to bring in the religion? It was this conceptwhich gave birth to the movement of Humanism in Europe which projected itself with theassertion of “Religion without Revelation” in the world. If the ultimate aim and climax of religion is these moral values and the human life can reach its destiny through thesevalues alone, then how can the claim of Humanism be rejected?Have you realized how significant is this question and how imperative is it to give asatisfying answer to it? It is the importunity of this significance and need that it must bethought out seriously and understood with careful contemplation.
What Is Deen?
Basic misconception in this regard is that Deen is thought to be no more than an ethicalcode. Deen is not the collection of a few moral values; it is a comprehensive system of life covering all aspects of human life. The moral values become operative within thissystem, or in other words this system provides that sound base on which the edifice of these moral values is established.Did you ever ponder over this phenomenon that the whole world says that telling a lie isbad; dishonesty is intensely opprobrious; deception is very contemptible misdemeanorbut in spite of all this the whole world tell lies; corruption is rampant every where;cheating is in full swing. The question is why is this all happening? In spite of condemning and cursing all these things why has man taken to them? Considering theseacts the most detestable and opprobrious why is he not refraining from them? Its reason isthat either the people acknowledge these moral values just as of formality or they havetheir foundation on emotions alone. They know nothing as to why these values should befollowed and why should they not be violated. You ask a person to satisfy you as to whyyou should not tell a lie. Going a little deeper than superficial talk, you would realize thathe has no reasonable reply to this question. With all the reason and rhyme at hiscommand, he would not be able to respond to the why of your question. He will not beable to explain to you rationally what would you loose by telling lies and which gain youwould accrue by speaking the truth. And since man adopts only that which gives him gainand abandons that which causes him loss, therefore his acquiescence to this effect iseither simply traditional or imitation or the product of emotional inclinations. He neitherdevelops insight of these values nor rationally makes them the way of his life.Deen provides those basic concepts, which conspicuously bring forth the purpose andultimate aim of human life. The purpose of life defines the proper value of every thingand when these values are identified it can very easily be understood which one is profit
bearing and which one is loss accruing; which one is higher and which one is lower onthe continuum of values.
From Desire to Action.
Deen, along with these basic concepts, provides the practical system through which thesetheoretical values take the form of reality and then the man within their concrete resultssees of his own, how gainful or harmful it is to act or not according to these values. Beingaffected by this, his emotions and feelings follow the proper channel for their ownoperation and since emotions are the impetus of actions, his life synchronizes with thesehigher values. This is called the exaltation of character and neatness of conduct.Bear it in mind that human activities pass through three phases: – namely a desire takesbirth in your heart; this desire awakes in the heart involuntarily, you have no reason,rhyme or rationale for it; it relates purely to the emotions; then you present it to theintellect. If your emotions are intense, your intellect thinks or the means to accomplish itand provide justified reasons for it. But if your intellect overpowers your emotions, itthen makes comparison between gain and loss, and if it sees that the gain to be accrued isgreater it decides to accomplish the desire. Now your desire transforms into your wish;then your will power comes in to play, and takes practical steps to actualize your desire.In this phase, your WISH takes the form of your WILL.But the human intellect, even if not operating under the command of emotions canmaximally decide the gain or loss of that person, it cannot decide whether the desire isfair or foul. In other words, the human intellect can only inform the person concerned asto which thing is profitable to him and which one will bring him loss. It can make nodistinction between good and evil. This distinction can only be possible in the presence of values, and as narrated earlier, it is the concept of life that determines the values.
Impact Of the concept of Life
How does the concept of life (right or wrong) change the perspective of human visionand define the direction of his activities, we need not to go anywhere far to understand it.Every one complains today that falsehood; deception, cunningness, betrayal, corruption,bribery, injustice, oppression, extortion and exploitation are prevailing in the world. Itlooks as if, without any exception of zones or inhabitants, the germs of these diseaseshave spread all over the globe like an epidemic. Did you ever ponder over the causethereof? Ills were also there in the days gone by, but these were not so general andcomprehensive. With a little pondering, this reality will be established that its basic causeis the concept of life which, in the 19th century, emerged in the West and due to thegeneral and global means of communication spread to ever nook and corner of the world.All these ills/miseries are the product of this concept. This concept of life was that thehuman life is only the physical life and laws governing the life and the death at theanimal level apply to man also. Survival of the fittest is the immutable law of nature.According to this law, only the one wielding the maximal scepter of authority and powerhas the right to live. How was this authority and power acquired is no question. The poor and the weak and the powerless can be allowed to live only to become victual of thepowerful. Every big fish devours the smaller one. Insects are born to be the food of thesparrows and the sparrows consequently breathe only to be the prey of the eagles. This is
the law of nature, the constitution of life. It is according to this law that the decisions onthe life and death of individuals as well as Nations are made. “ Might is right” is theexigency of justice. Lion is the king of jungle, not the goat. If the lion eats the goat, thegoat cannot make complain that it is the victim of oppression.The animals live by instincts which, though many in number can generally be classifiedinto three categories: Self-preservation, Self-assertion and Self-procreation. When thehuman life is not valued higher than that of the animal level, obviously every individualwould work under these very instincts, and then there would be no room for the moralvalues.
Nationalism.
According to the civilization raised on this concept, national character would be regardedas highest character. Thinking deeply you would realize that the national character is,also, the product of animal instinct. Herd instinct is in the very nature of animals. Everyanimal finds its preservation in living with its herd. This is the only urge on which anation comes into being and endures. Prosperity and well-being of one’s own nationbecomes the highest values for the individual; the greatest patriot becomes the one whosqueezes out the last drop of blood of other nations and decorates the magnificent edificeof one’s own nation with the gaudiness of this blood. For him, the question of beinghonest or dishonest or the question of falsehood and truth does never arise. The one whostarts giving mind to these values cannot perform the affairs of the state. In the words of Walpole:“No great country was ever saved by good men, because good men will not go to thelength that may be necessary to save a nation.”In this connection, what these patriots have to say, the reproduction of the words of thereputed Italian thinker, Cavour are sufficient. He says.“If we did for ourselves what we do for our country, what rascals we should be.”Did you observe how a change in the concept of life brings changes in the individual andcollective life, and how does the concept of life influence every walk of life? The reasonthat the moral values are still being theoretically appreciated today is that the man has, uptill now, not been able to erase his sub-conscience free from the binding effects of thepast. If this concept pervaded any further into the next few generations, even the conceptof these values will be wiped off from his mind and its verbal confession will also remainno more. Its signs and symptoms have started surfacing right from now. Our youngergeneration ridicules these values by calling them mere conservatism.
Islam provides such concepts on which the whole edifice of human life is raised andwhere every aspect of life is embodiment of higher values. These concepts are not foundin any religion of the world leave aside atheism (religious ness). These are only thecharacteristics of Islam, which entitles it to become the system of life established on rightlines and surety to human achievement and prosperity. These concepts fall into thefollowing headings: –
Concept of God.
Relationship between God and Man.Relationship between Man and Universe.Relationship between Man and Man.Relationship between Actions and their Consequences.Concept of the ultimate object of life.In the next pages, these concept will be discussed briefly and it will be explained as towhat is the nature of these concepts in the well known religions (Hinduism, Judaism andChristianity) and what type of concepts the Holy Quran reflects; and what scenario of human life is established on these concepts. Be very clear that the comparative study of religions is not my aim at present; I’ll only narrate the fundamental tenets found on theseconcepts in these religions. This may also be clarified that our belief is that proper andtrue teachings were revealed to all the messengers of the Almighty God on their ownturns but these teachings are now not found in their pristine form in the so-calledheavenly books available among the followers of these religions. Whatever is describedof these concepts will therefore be based on the existing documents of these religions andnot on that pristine and real message which is not found now with any of them. The detailof this resume will be found in the first chapter of my book in Urdu Mairaj-e-Insaniat, inwhich, according to the researches of the followers of these religions, it has been dealtwith at length, wherein it has been explained that according to researches of the followersof these religion the pristine message of those religions is not found among any one of them now; but since they lay down their existing message as the knowledge base of theirreligions, the current teachings about these concepts will be projected. Except this, therecan be no other alternative left for us.
The Concept of God.
The Concept of God in Hinduism.
Among the three religions (Hinduism, Judaism and Christianity), Hinduism claims that itis the oldest religion in the world. The proof of its antiquity is provided by its existingreligious books where each of its leaves bear testimony to the fact that these are thewritings of that age when human mind was in its infancy. The infantile mind can neverperceive the concept of an abstract reality in any shape other than its concrete form. Howcould the mind of that age have established the pristine concept of the personality of God? It transformed God on its own nature only with the difference that man (forexample) has two hands, God was conceived to have eight, man has one head, God hadten; man can drink a cup of water, God can pour in the whole ocean. Three basic gods are accepted among Hindus: Brahmo, Shivji, and Vishnoo. They have their wives andchildren too; Shivji’s wife was Parbatti and son is Gnesh whose body is of man and headof elephant; Brahma’s daughter is Sarsooti. Earlier all these three were worshipped butnow Brahma is not worshipped.. It is in the Para’ns that once Shivji saw Brahmaintending to rape his daughter, there he stopped worship of Brahma (Hinduism by GovindDas,P:104).About the creation of the universe, the following statement is found in the shivparana:Shivji desired to create the world. He created Brahma. Brahma splashed a handful of water in the water; there raised a bubble; a man was horn out of this bubble. He said toBrahma: ‘O’ son! create the world.’ Brahma said: “I am not your son, You are my son”There was a quarrel between the two. Maha Dev (Shivji) thought that whom he had sentfor creating the world were quarrelling between themselves, then a heavenly ling (malegenital organ) was born out of the two; it ascended immediately into the sky Both weresurprised to see it.Listen to what happened later on:Both started thinking that the beginning and end of ling should be found; the one whocomes back first be the father and the one who comes later be the son. Vishnoo intortoise-shape started going down. Brahma in swan-shape flew upward. Both continuedtheir journey with lightning speed for two thousand years but could not search the utmostlimits of the ling. Brahma thought: if wishnoo had com back with an inkling, l wouldhave to be his son. He was just thinking of it when a cow and a tree of kaitkee descended.Brahma asked them: “Where do you live?” They said: “With the props of that ling wehave been travelling since thousands of years” Brahma asked them whether or not linghad any extremity, they replied that it did not.Brahma said: Come with me and stand witness that the cow used to pour strain of milk on the head of ling and that the tree used to shower flowers over it” They said: We’ll notbear false witness.” Then Brahma said angrily: “I’ll turn you into ashes if you do notstand witness.” Then both frighteningly said: “We’ll bear witness as you desire.” Thenthe three went downwards.Brahma asked Vishnoo whether or not he had found out the utmost limits of ling. Hereplied in the negative. Brahma said:“ I have found our”; Vishnoo demanded: “Producewitness to this effect.” Then the cow and the tree bore false witness. Upon this the lingimprecated the Kaitkee: “You have told a lie. Your flower will never be used for offeringeither to me or to any other God. Whoever offers you will be terminated”; it imprecatedthe cow: “You will eat filth with the mouth through which you told a lie; no body willworship your mouth but your tail will be worshipped; cursed Brahma: “Since you havetold a lie, you’ll never be worshipped” in the world”; it gave a blessing to Vishnoo “Youhave spoken the truth, so you’ll be worshipped every where”. Then both praised andeulogized the ling.
On hearing this appreciation and eulogy, there appeared a countenance with long mattedhair from the ling and said: “I had sent you for generating creation, why did you indulgein wrangling?” Then Maha Dev took out a ball of ashes from the hair and said: “Go andgerminate creation with it.”(Ref: Satyareth Parkash-Sawami Daya Nand PP. 272-273)The concept of God is the most sublime idea. It is now obvious that what would be thenature of the deeds of a nation which has this idea of God in its sight,. Neither the mindof this nation can be free from the superstition, nor can their actions be based onknowledge and insight. God to whom they submit is never above the human countenance.Hence it is written in the Athur Veda that at the time of worshipping God, the followingshould be uttered:“O’Swami Parmatma of the followers of Jain! obeisance be to thy mouth; obeisance is tothy eyes; obeisance is to thy skin; obeisance is to thy organs; pray is to thy belly;obeisance is to thy tongue; obeisance is to thy face; obeisance is to thy teeth; obeisance isto the stench of thy teeth.”
The Concept of God among the Jews.
After Hinduism, let us now turn to Judaism and see what kind of concept of God is foundthere. Probably it was Locke who had said:“If you tell me the kind of God any nation hadproposed for its worship, I would let you know the nature of civilization and culture of that nation.” A critical appraisal of a Western researcher about the kind of concept thatemerges about God through the study of the conventional Torah would be sufficient here.Joseph Whebs in his book “Is it God’s Words” writes that the God of Torah appears to besplashing around with the blood, shed by the numerous murderers. He is an assassinhimself and a mischief monger, thief, perfidious, sanguinely revengeful, merciless,chastiser of the sinful and the innocent both, extremely dreadful and frightful,embodiment of oppression and prejudice, arrogant, braggart, promise-breaker, concoct,and a willful liar.(Ref: M’airaj-e-Insaniyyat, P.22)According to Torah, God created man on His own form. It is, now, evident that the Godwho has this kind of form, His created nation would also have the same form, But it is notthe nature of God, it is the account of the conduct of that nation itself. After holding thistype of concept about, the God, what would be the fate of moral values with that nation,does need no perspicuity and description of any kind.
Concept of God in Christianity
When we move on from Judaism to Christianity, the enigma of concept of God therecannot be comprehended. The following is the council of Trent’s theory of the basicbelief of Christianity on the acceptance of which one becomes a Christian: We believe in(1) God, the powerful father who is the creator of the overt and the covert; and we believe
in (2) Lord Jesus, the son of God, who is the only son of His father; who was born to thefather i.e. the Lord before the whole of the universe and who is immanent and absolutedeity. Father and His essence (the son) are one; it is through Him that all the things of theuniverse were created; his descendence and transmigration became our salvation. Hedescended as a human being, became victim to the sufferings, rose on the third day andascended to the sky and, now, will again return to the world to maintain justice for theliving and the dead.’This was all about the belief of the Divinity of the Christ. About his revered mother,Mary, the tenet of the sacred church is that she is the most powerful near God; whatevershe beseeches is bestowed to her. She is the main spring of good for us because sheimplores from God. Since she is the mother of God, He cannot reject her request, andsince she is our mother too, she cannot refuse our intercession….whatever, whateverbenedictions we make for our salvation are accepted.(Ref: Shoula-i-Mastoor, P.129, Catholic SchoolBook, and P.158)As such very recently the Council of the Pope has decided that Mary be worshippedalong with the Father, the son and the Holy Spirit.
Concept of the Holy Quran
After these concepts of God, now come to the Holy Quran. It first of all, refuted all theseconcepts by saying :-“Allah is far above and free from all the concepts they attribute to Him from their ownminds” ( Al-Quran 23/92)Then it said So far as the personality of God is concerned, you cannot conceive it,because you can only conceive the things, which are perceptible to senses, and the self of God is an exception to this phenomenon. Therefore.“Human eyes cannot perceive him,He can keep watch over the eyes. He is very subtle and All-knowing.” Al-Quran 6/104)His personality cannot be conceived with any example, because “He is analogous tonone”(Al-Quran 42/11)“ Neither He is himself the ;son of any one, nor anyone else is Hisson”(Al-Quran 112/3) “Nor is any one else is equal in rank to Him. He is altogetherunique, incomparable and unprecedented.” Al-Quran 112/4)You cannot know anything about His personality; but a concept of God, more exalted,pure, dignified and elegant than the concept which appears forth from his attributes Hehas described of His own, is not possible.
Relationship of God and Man.
The question is: What is the advantage of believing in these attributes of God? Oneaccepts that these are the attributes of God and the other rejects. What impact does thisacceptance and rejection has on their lives? The Holy Quran answers this question. Itsays that every human is a carrier of “Divine energy” which is called the human personality. Every human personality is bestowed with the possibility of progressivelyactualizing these attributes (within human limits). This is the hue of God beyond whichno other hue is more elegant. (Al-Quran 2/138)That is why these attributes are the objective standard for the nourishment of humanpersonality It is this ideal to which man wants to mould himself. This is the standard,which he strives to come up to . Every moment, he measures his own self against thisobjective standard and evaluates rationally the extent to which his personality hasdeveloped and how far it still remain to be developed.In addition to it, the Holy Quran also informs as to which attribute operates at whatoccasion so that the likewise facet may also operate in the like event on the part of theman. This also determines man’s reaction in the face of external events and occurrences.Remember, as is the upholding of the balanced attributes for the man a must, similarlythe emergence of that attribute most appropriate to that occurrence is imperative. To letgo with pity a merciless tyrant, who has no feeling of repentance or any desire forrectification in his heart, is the worst form of tyranny on the oppressed human beings;but to take revenge in a situation where remission and forgiveness bring pleasantconsequences is also equivalent to tyranny. The bruise of muscles soothes slowly onmassage but the fractured bones need tight binding in wooden splints. This is calledJabbariyat-holding things firmly together (The wooden splints which a surgeon uses arecalled Jaba’ir The Holy Quran expounds in full length the attributes of God and theeventful appearance and application their of, so that not only do these become objectivestandard for gauging the development of an individual but also the foreteller to the manfor forming the type of reaction most appropriate to the kind of events.
The Law of God.
This brings forth-another significant reality. The concept of God in religion is that of anautocrat king and a dictator whose all decisions depend upon his own whims and wherethe law and rule have nothing to do; if pleased he bestows robe of honour to a criminal;if annoyed He sends the innocents to the gallows, Man can only save himself from Hiswrath by keeping his deity pleased with himself in any way that he can; he makes allpossible efforts to seek His pleasure; makes offerings of gifts and oblations and seeks themediation of His favourites. Obedience to law does not yield any gain to man, it onlyserves to attain pleasure of God. On the other side of it, is Christianity where the conceptof God is that of a tenderhearted father; where rules and regulations have nothing to do;where the mercy of God is the only basis of salvation.The Holy Quran refuted this concept and proclaimed that in spite of all His infinitepowers and boundless authority, God has prescribed rules and regulations for all thematters and does every thing strictly in accordance with these laws. These laws are soimmutable that no mutations can occur in them.(Al-Quran 35/43) The meaning of law isthat every thing is tied to the chain of cause-and-effect’ i.e. if you do this, itsconsequence will be such; if you act against, it will draw to this end. It explained theselaws to man; made him understand them fully, made it clear to him that obeying this law will bring him this gain and acting against will result in this loss. After narrating all this,left it to his choice whether to follow this prescribed right road or to make tracks of hisown. “We have shown him the way; now who-so-ever wishes may accept it and who-so-ever wishes may reject it,” (Al-Quran 76/3) If he follows the right path, he will reaphis own gain from it. We will not derive any benefit out of it. If he adopts a wrong path,he will suffer his own loss; it will not harm Us in any way(Al-Quran 12/286) That iswhy God does not make any one acknowledge anything by compulsion and coercion.Whatever He says, is as a piece of advice. After He revealed the Holy Quran heasserted:“Say unto them, the truth has come from Your sustainer, now whoever wishes,may accept it, whoever wills may reject it.” (Al-Quran 18/29) . It is evident that whenaccepting or not accepting of any thing, is left to the sweet-will of man, then if he is of sound mind, reason and intellect, he will make his decision discerningly. Therefore,according to the Holy Quran, belief is not a blind faith; it is the name of that mental andheart felt conviction which man acquires rationally. That is why it has attributed thisconduct to the Momins.(believers) that: “They are the people to whom, even when the‘verses’ of their Sustainer are presented they droop not down at them as if they weredeaf and blind but accept them with intellect and insight”(Al-Quran 25/73) It too iscrystal clear when the consequences of actions draw up in concurrence with rule and law,the question of being absolved from them either byway of paying ransom or intercessiondoes not arise. If you put your finger in the fire and then you desire that the pain of burning may transfer to some one else in stead of you, though on payment of thousandsof rupees, it will be impossible If you eat arsenic, you cannot, even on therecommendation of the highest echelon of the society, be protected from its ill effects.There is only one alternative and that is: You take a recourse to that law of God inconcurrence to which relief in burning pain and protection against the harmful-effects of arsenic can be procured. Suffering and repose accrue to the man according to the law of God as a result of the natural consequences of his actions.“so that whoever is ruined isruined according to the law and whoever remains alive does so according to the law (Al-Quran 8/42). Neither the innocent is chastised with the revenge and wrath of anauthoritative dictator, nor the criminal gets off scot free, on ransom, atonement orintercession. That is why the humans have been told that “On the day of manifestation of consequences no one would be able to help anyone, nor shall any intercession beconsidered, nor shall any form of compensation be accepted , neither shall they besuccoured.”( Al-Quran 2/44).Did you seer how did the Holy Quran transform the religion to the discipline of Scienceby simply giving the concept of “Law- making-cum-law-abiding God”? What are thecharacteristics of Science?—- In science (1) every cause has its own specific effect andno one can cause any kind of change and transformation in it, and (2) Science discoversthe reality such that longings, wishes, purposes, gains and feelings of nobody have anyimpact on it. It is never influenced as such.By virtue of the concept of God, the Holy Quran represents that the human actions bringforth the consequences in the like manner and the realities bear testimony to this effect inthe same way: that is why God proclaimed that,” this message of Ours is not poetry.” Somewhere Coleridge has said: The Anti-thesis of Poetry is not prose but Science. TheHoly Quran is no poetry but Science.In connection with God and Man Relationship, the Holy Quran unravels another splendidreality. The laws of God, in the outer universe, are operative on their own. Accordinglyevery thing remains operative for the excellent performance of the duties assigned to itand the Universe, by evolution, is progressively moving forward in its evolution. In thehuman world, the laws of God are operative in the like manner with the exception thattheir cosmic speed is very slow whereas the human age demands that the result of actionsmay come to the forefront soon. If the human hands supports these laws and becomehelpful to accomplish them . their results may emerge according to the human count of time, place and circumstances. In this manner man becomes a companion to God in thecomplete accomplishment of His programme. This is the relation of God and Man of which not a glimpse is found in the religions of the world. (Since I’ve elicited much onthis point, I need not make any more detailed discourse at present.)
Relationship of Man and The Universe.
After the deliberations on the relationship of God and the Man, there comes the questionof the mutual relationship of the man and the Universe. When the human mind was at itsinfancy he was not able to comprehend the mystery of the forces of nature. He was afraidof them and could think of only one way to be safe from their rage and that was toimplore humbly before them and appeal for their mercy. Hence the status of the man of that age was that he joined his hands in supplication, as soon as there was thunder of theclouds; he fell in prostration as as there was lightning, he made obeisance to the sun assoon as it shone; he prostrated as soon as there was an earthquake; he called a ravagingriver as his mother-goddess; he made the lion a God as soon as it roared. Hinduism is acompendium of these gods and goddess and proselytizes their worship.
Relationship in Hinduism:
It is found in Yajar veda, “obeisance be accepted by the snakes on the earth, even thosewhich are either in the air or in the sky; our prostration to the snakes of the paddy fields;our bowing to those snakes also which are still in their burrows.” Our humble kneeling tothem even.”These were, at the least, living forces. They even bowed to those inanimatethings from which they apprehended any loss. Hence, there is also found in Yajar Vedathat this stanza ought to be recited: “ O’ye rezor, thou bringeth happiness and are made of good iron; our obeisance to ye be accepteth; please bring not trouble unto him the least”.It is found written in the Ather Veda: “Our prostration to the winter fever, even to thesummer fever I bow down. My prayer to the fever that comes daily, alternately and thethird day.”It is clear that in a religion where man accepts this type of status for himself, the questionof human dignity and honour does never arise. There, if it is asserted “do not tell a lie; speak-the-truth” will this unravel the mysteries of the universe and solve the humanproblems ?
Relationship in Christianity:
Leaving this aside, now come to the other side where the material things, their adornmentand comfort is thought to be most detestable and abominable; and where the mystery of human salvation is only through the renunciation of the world and its vanities— throughthe relinquishment of desires and the abandonment of pleasures. The farther one movesfrom the worldly affairs, the nearer one gets to the Deity. The teaching of asceticism andmonasticism was the sine qua non of Christianity. Saint Benedict, transforming it into anorganized institution, produced throngs of monks and nuns. As such in his TheologicalDictionary, Bucks writes about the Monasticism in Egypt:“ In a short span of time, thewhole East was filled with groups of the slothful people who, setting aside the worldlyaffairs adopted a life of pain, distress, misery and anguish so as to be close to God and theDivine environs.”It brought the same result as this type of life ought to bring. In this connection Buck writes: “But after some time their lasciviousness became proverbial. Besides, they startedinciting riots and insurrections by exploiting the people at various places.”A whole world was getting sick with these ascetics.The clinging beggars were seen roaming in every street in the garb of hermits. All kind of vagrancy and cheating was their habit …. These people used to commit the incidences of havoc pillage under the veil of religious fanaticism.(Progress of Religions Concepts. Vol. 3, P.240)The people not committing such evil activities had strange mode of life as well. Thecondition of great saints among Christians was such that some swore not to take a bath intheir whole life; some stood in marsh throughout their life; some saw the secret of spiritual development in fortifying in the enclosure of ordure; some lied down, life long,in a dark closet — This was all the result of self-abnegation and self-renunciation in Christianity.
According To the Holy Quran:
The Holy Quran was revealed and it made this very clear to man that your position in theuniverse is far above the forces of nature. We (God) have well strung this all in the chainsof law so that you may put them to your use. “God is the one who has subordinated toyou whatever is there in the heights of the heavens and the depths of the earth” (Al-Quran45/13). It told the manthat the position of man is that all the Malaika (forces of nature) besubservient to him and the position of a Momin is that he, by conquering these forcesshould utilize them for the benefits of the humanity. In the concrete universe, God aloneenjoys the status over and above that of the man in concurrence of whose laws man oughtto lead his life. Besides Him nothing is superior to man. All the articles of worldly
adornment and comfort have been created for man; no one can declare these thingsabominable and forbidden for him. “Ask them who is he who can forbid the adornmentsand pleasant subsistence (rizq) which God has created for man?”(Al-Quran 7/32).This status of the man and the relationship of the man with the universe—You will neverfind anywhere else in the domain of religions; there will either be bowing to or fleeingfrom the phenomena of nature. Conquering them for the benefit of the human being isonly found in the Holy Quran.Remember, when the Holy Quran ordains obedience to the laws of God, these (laws)include both the physical and the moral laws. Obeying the physical laws enables us toconquer the forces of nature (we obey nature to command it) and obeying the moral lawsintegrates our personality. In both these cases, obeying the laws promotes and augmentsour own power. Amassed from the compulsion is the choice.
Mutual Relationship of Man with Man.
In Hinduism:
After the relationship of man with the universe, we are faced with the question of relationship of man with man. Hinduism decided that the Brahmans were born from thehead of Brahma, the khashataris from the arms, the vaish from his legs, and the shoodrafrom his feet. This is the eternal division which can neither be overthrown from thesystem of the world, nor can men’s own endeavours change it. The shoodra shall haveto be untouchable all his life, his duty is to serve the Hindus, the highest class. The childborn to the Brahman family enjoys the highest ranks and privileges from birth to death .The scope of his privileges (according to Rig-Veda and Athar Veda) is:“If a woman has 10 non-brahman husbands before but if a Brahaman holds her hand, thenhe will be considered to be her husband alone because Brahaman is the proprietor andhusband of the females not the Khashatari or the Vaish.(Me’raj-e-Insaniyyat P.01)This was the division of the humans inhabiting within India. The others residing out of India was not even considered human; they were simply taken to be insects. Please think of a religion which shackles its own followers with unbreakable fetters of such classdivision and labels those outside its fold as the most abominable and despicable; can theproselytization of ‘do not tell a lie and do not steal’ bring any moral reformation?
In Judaism:
Among the Jews, the religion was confined to the race of Bani-Israel. The one who is notborn to the BaniIsrael, can never be admitted to their Divine Religion. The Paradise wasstrictly particularized for Bani Israel; all the non-Bani Israel are the fuel of the Hell.They were fumed with the emotions of hatred and enmity against the people outside their race; and this was all the consequence of the teachings of the (conventional) Torah. Theyhad one set of laws for the Jews and another for the non-Bani Israel.
In Christianity:
It is generally accepted about Christianity that it constitutes an eternal religion for thewhole mankind. It makes no discrimination between man and man. This is not theteaching of Christianity, it is a later political expediency-oriented concept. That is why inthe present day Bible (Which remains in the process of change off and on), it is stillfound written that when Jesus sent his followers for proselytization, he ordered them notto go to the other nations, not to enter into any of the cities of Samrees but go to the lostsheep of the house of Israel.(Mathew, Cahpter 10, Verses 5-6)Do not give the consecrated to the dogs; and do not lay your pearls before the pigs.(Mathew, Chapter 7,verse 6)The anathema of extreme nationalism that you find in Europe is unconsciously the endproduct of this teaching. They confined the religion to the four walls of the church butthe effects of the teaching of their race-worship are still existent in their subconsciouswith the same intensity. They can never think of the concept of universal mankind. Thatis why the moral principles they hold for their own nation are different from those theyhold for the other nations. It is just like the Romans whose law about stealing was:‘Stealing from a Roman is a crime and stealing from a non-Roman is not !
According To the Holy Quran:
The Holy Quran on its revelation, smashed these man-made fetters and declared openlythat the humans of the whole Universe are the branches of the same genealogy and thefoliage of the same tree. By birth, there is no discrimination between man and man. “Godhas created all of you from a single life cell”. .(Al-Quran 4/1) Therefore, the wholemankind constitutes a Universal brotherhood . “The whole mankind is one community”;(Al-Quran 10/19) and every human being is worthy of equal respect by birth. “We havecreated all human beings worthy of respect” (Al-Quran 17/70) There is no superiority of the black to the white; of the white to the black, of the Arab to the Non-Arab, of the Non-Arab to the Arab. In the world, there is neither any Brahmin, nor any shoodra; neither thesuperior, nor the inferior. So as are their ranks in the society, its measure of greatness istheir personal virtue and meritorious deeds. “And to all will be (assigned) ranksaccording to their deeds.” (Al-Quran 46/19) and the most worthy of all will be the onewhose conduct will be the most pure of all and whose character, the highest of all. “TheGod of the Holy Quran is equally the sustainer, the Authority and the Allah of the wholehumanity” ( Al-Quran 49/13) and “ His book is a compendium of instructions for all”(Al-Quran 45/21); His Rasool equally the Messenger for the whole humanity “Say, Omankind, I am Allah’s Rasool sent to all of you.” (Al-Quran 7/158) The essence of its teaching is: “Only that action or theory, which is beneficial to the whole of humanitywithout any discrimination of colour race language country creed and nationality, shallendure in the land (Al-Quran 13/17)As said earlier the Western concept of life gave the principle of “the survival of thefittest” i.e. only that which is the strongest can endure. On the contrary, the Holy Quranputs forth the principle, “the survival of the most beneficial” i.e. only that which is mostbeneficial to the humanity can survive. Did you consider how the various aspects of human life undergo transformation by just changing the concept of life and how life-inspiring and balance-augmenting changes occur in the world of humanity? This is theonly concept of life by which man can understand fully the “Why” of his strivings for thewell being of others. To gain immortality is the very desire of every human being, no onelikes to die, and he wants to live forever. The Holy Quran says that if you want to livefor ever, the only way is that you do the deeds which are most beneficial for the mankind;giving preference to others over your own self if their needs are more demanding thanyours(Al-Quran 59/9) and doing all this without any thought of personal gain. It says:“When the Momineen perform the act of procuring supplies for thenourishment/development of others they make it very clear to them that: “We do notdesire any reward from you, not even the gratitude instead thereof.” (Al-Quran 76/9)Just think over it, with this concept of life in view how the moral values constitute anintegral part of life!The practical consequences of the concept of human equality is that it forms a society,wherein, leaving aside someone becoming slave to others, no one even becomessubservient to any one else—nor a dependent on any one else. This establishes a systemin which all the people while remaining within the limits of the laws of God decide theaffairs of their life by mutual consultation (Al-Quran 42/38)
The Quranic Order
This provides a guarantee to every individual that “We are responsible for (providing)your subsistence and the subsistence of your children.” (Al-Quran 6/152) Please, solicit!Is there any need of telling a lie or stealing or being corrupt in this order? The moralvalues automatically become operative in it. No one holds the Divine rights in this Order:neither the religious priest-hood, nor the autocrats, or the capitalists. There is absolutelyno concept of any such system in any of the religions of the world.
Finality of Nabuwwat:
With the concept of ‘Order’, the Holy Quran has declared another sublime reality, whichis the greatest revolution in the world of religions. It expounded that the unchangeableprinciples required for the guidance of the mankind have been given in the Holy Quranand the system of their safeguard has also been provided. Within the purview of theseprinciples, the coming generations will solve their problems keeping themselves in linewith the exigencies of their time, so there is no need of any more Nabi( the Divine Message). Hence the chapter of Nabuwwat is closed. Did you observe how the End of Nabuwwat was the announcement of a grand revolution in the world of religions! Alongwith it, this reality was also announced that having passed through its infantile period, thehuman mind has now attained maturity. The man is no more an infantile, it has grown upto be an adult, therefore, it needs no one to lap it up any more. He would have now, to getup and move forward and onward on his own. You must have seen how this creates self-confidence in man and how he becomes able to traverse his path with dignity in theworld.Every religion of the world is waiting for the arrival of some one who, on his coming,will make his religion prevail over others. Refuting this concept, the Holy Quran made itclear that the Order of life We have bestowed is capable of prevailing over all the systemsof life.(Al-Quran 9/33) All you have to do is, practically implement this ‘Order’, it willovercome all the man-made systems of life; no other system will be able to stand againstthis Order.The Holy Quran while laying stress upon the moral values enjoins strictly to establish thisOrder of life in which these values automatically prevail.
The Ultimate Goal of Human Life (Salvation)
After this, come to the question which is the last word in this deliberation: What is thepurpose and climax of all the exertion and struggle of human life? This is a verysignificant and fundamental question and will automatically clear up a great number of relevant aspects.
In Hinduism:
Among all the religions of the world the climax of the trials and endeavours of humanlife can be stated in a single word: “Salvation.” What is the meaning of “Salvation? Thiswarrants a thorough understanding. It is evident that when some one is entangled in atrouble and then gets rid of it, it is called salvation’ i.e. it is imperative for salvation thatfirst of all a person is necessarily caught in a calamity. This is the very basic conceptabout man in the world of religion. Religious belief in Hinduism is that every livingbeing (animates whether insects or animals and humans) comes in this world to completeone’s term of punishment of the deeds one committed in one’s previous life. Forexample, a person in his present birth is a human. If he did evil deeds, he will become arat in his next life, knowing absolutely nothing of which crime it was made a rat. Now if the rat does good deeds —- the rat will do good deeds as if the animals, too, do good andbad deeds! —- it will perhaps be made a man in its next life; every human being isentangled in the whirlpool of transmigration. The name of getting rid of thiscircumambulation is “Salvation.” It looks obvious that this belief is either the produce of superstition and/or the creation of the astuteness of those people who captured theauthority in the society by one way or the other and then desired this authority to remainwithin their own families and that the other people may not even think of acquiring thisauthority. Brahman and Khashatary were the ruling class and vaish and shoodra, their servants. It was thought to be possible that a vaish or a shoodra might think as to howcould the children of Brahman or khshatary be good enough for acquiring the right to ruleright from the inception of their birth and that they themselves befall in their servitudethenceforth. Therefore this belief was coined that those born in the family of a Brahmanhas done good deeds in their previous life and those born in the vaish and shoodracommitted evil deeds likewise. Hence this division is effected in accordance with thenature of the deeds accomplished in the previous life and is not the product of anytrickery; so they shall have to remain vaish and shoodra in this life; any how if they dogood deeds (i.e. would continuously go on serving the higher breed} they would betransformed into Brahmans and Khashataries in their coming life. In this way thesesubordinate classes were made satisfied with this tenet that this was all the reward of theirown doings. They were not oppressed, nor were they competent to change this divisionwithin the present life.Whatever is the motive behind this tenet, how dreadful have been its human-inflamingresult is crystal clear. Firstly, it makes the man a mere helpless being; whatever he maydo, he cannot bring any change in his existing state and, thus, divides the society intosuch permanent classes, which cannot be eliminated, and then what eventually is thepurpose of this exertion and struggle? — Only to get salvation from the whirling of Transmigration (the cycle of death and re-birth). How meaningless is the purpose of thecreation of man and the cosmos?.
According to Hindu Mysticism:
According to Hindu mysticism the soul of man (Aatma) is a part of God (parmatma). Itwas separated from its source and got entrapped in the marsh of matter and is lamentingfor its escape from it. The purpose of human life is that this soul, after getting salvationfrom the world of matter, be re-united with its source. The methods to achieve this arerenunciation of the world. Did you reflect what is the end product of human exertion andstruggle according to this tenet — the complete annihilation. It means God havingseparated man from Himself caused him to be entangled in the swamp of matter and toldhim. “Now, you go through the sufferings of hard labour and distress so that you mayattain salvation from this quagmire.” Just think, according to this creed, what kind of concept about God Himself emerges and what becomes the incentive for obedience tothe moral values.
In Judaism:
With a slight difference the concept of ‘Salvation’ is the end product of human life inJudaism also. As has been mentioned before, the basic belief of Jews is that the BaniIsrael are the favourite children of God, hence the only heirs of paradise; a people notborn to the family of Bani Israel have no entitlement for entry into paradise. At thattime, the tradition of circumcision was in vogue exclusively in Bani Israeil, so their belief was that only the circumcised would enter paradise and the uncircumcised would gointo the hell. According to Talmud: Abraham would be sitting by the door of the Hell in the world hereafter and would neverallow any circumcised of the Bani Israel to enter it. So far the dreadfully sinful of theBani Israel are concerned, he would cut the fore skin of the children who had dieduncircumcised and would stick this skin to the place of circumcision of those from BaniIsrael and hence, making them uncircumcised ,would send them to Hell for a few days.(Talmud , P.404 with Reference to Barqi-e-Toor, P.166)But their entry into Hell would merely be the fulfillment of a formality. The blaze of theHell would have no effect on them. (Ibid.P.405) The reason for it, as written in “JewishEncyclopedia”, is:The blaze of the Hell would not be able to touch the Israelite sinners because they wouldmake confession of their sins by the door of the Hell and hence would return to the Lord.(Volume- V , P. 583)Not only for the ‘salvation’ in the hereafter, but also for the honour and exaltation in thisworld, the Jews hold this belief:Some get honour by virtue of the good deeds of their forefathers and some by those of their coming generations.(Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol VI, P.60)
According to the Encyclopedia of Britannica:
The centre of the aspirations of the Jews was the deeds of their forefathers, especially thecreed that Abraham was their ancestral grandfather.Similarly in the Encyclopedia of Religions and Ethics, it is written that.In accordance with the belief of the Jews, all the deeds of their forefathers would becollected at one place and then divided among all the Bani Israel. In this way everyonewill be entitled to salvation and auspiciousness.(Vol.11,P.144)Just reflect! Does any question of obedience to the moral values arise in the presence of these beliefs?
In Christianity:
The belief in Christianity is that every child is born bearing the burden of the sin of itsfirst parents (Adam and Eve). Cleansing the ill effects of this sin from man is not possiblein any way. For this purpose, the Lord had mercy on man and sent his only son (JesusChrist) to the world to atone for this sin with his sacrifice on the crucifix. Those whobelieve in the atonement of Jesus Christ would get salvation, those who do not believe as
such would enter Hell. For salvation there is no question of one’s deeds. Therefore in aletter to Ephesians, Saint Paul writes:“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and not of yourselves; it is God’s gift.It is not by works…”(Ephesians 2/8-9)He also wrote to the Romans:“ For we come to the conclusion that a man is justified by faith and not with the worksof Law.”Romans: (3/28).In a letter to Galatians, this reality has been described in these words:“ Those who depend on the works of law live under the curse, for it is written “cursed iseveryone who does not abide by all that is written in the book of law.” But that no one ismade righteous in God’s presence through the Law is evident, for “He who is righteousthrough faith will live”. The law however does not rest on faith,…..Christ has ransomedus from the curse of the law in as much as He became a curse for us.(Galatians- 3/10-14)Just think, with this belief, are the moral actions left with any locus standi and contrarilythe one who relies on the deeds is considered cursed. According to this belief of Christianity the distress the man gets entangled in is not the result of any of his crimes,but a chastisement of the sin of his first parents in which that poor fellow is implicatedfor no fault at all. The acquittal from this suffering is not attained as a recompense of any good action on his part, but the conviction on the belief on the atonement , which theChrist offered. So far as the belief of the “original sin” being fallacious is concerned, thescholars and researchers of Christianity are publicly declaring it to be a false belief, forexample, R. F. Johsnon writes in his book “Confucianism and Modern China”,The belief of the original sin, in fact, is the “original dilemma” for which we aredispleased with every kind of good and are inclined to every type of evil.For this belief, A.E.Taylor writes:The belief is a refutation. I’ll welcome any scientific and God calling towards religionwhich may ward us off to believe in such a droll calumny of human nature.(Mind- July 1912).
According to the Holy Quran:
This Scientific and inviting-to-God Religion is Islam which pronounced that neither anyhuman comes to this world loaded with the sins of the previous birth, nor, is entangled inthe contamination of the first parent’s faltering. Every child in the world is born with aclean slate and is worthy of respect. He has been bestowed with potentials as realizablepossibilities for leading a life higher than that of the physical life at the animal level. Thedevelopment of these potentialities is the goal of the human life. If man develops thepotentialities of the physical life only, he gets the comforts and forces of the physicalworld but never does it come to his lot the higher life at the human level, which the HolyQuran denotes as the paradisiacal life.“The one who seeks immediate gains of the physical life alone, according to Our Law,which we have formulated with Our Choice, We grant him with haste. But his (human)life is a life of crisis, which he leads with disgrace and ignominy. But the one who, alongwith the physical life develops the human life as well, he acquires the physical gains andhis personality also keeps evolving”. (Al-Quran 17/18)“And the one who desires the pleasantries of the future and puts forth efforts inproportion to what ought to be and believes in the truth of the prescribed higher-ordervalues of God, his endeavours are recompensed in full.” (Al-Quran 17/19)“We promote this group according to Our Law and also that group and shower ourbounties in proportion to their efforts and actions. Always remembers, We have not builtany dykes against our bounties for any one.”( Al-Quran 17/20)This development of the human personality can take place in a system that is establishedon the foundations of PERMANENT VALUES. This development is the other name of ‘the natural consequences of actions.’ Good actions are those which promote stability andintegration of the human SELF, the evil are those which cause it to grow weak anddisintegrate. The result of each action draws up concomitantly on the human personality.This is its ROLL OF CONDUCT, which in the words of the Holy Quran, is hung aroundthe neck of every one and opens up on the eve of manifestation of results. The humanpersonality developed on a set criterion, will be able to pass through the nextevolutionary stages of life…. This is called the paradisiacal life in the hereafter. That,which does not come up to that standard, will stop its development….. This is the life of Hell. The Holy Quran has interpreted it as measures ( of good deeds) being heavier orlighter“so the one whose measure weighs heavy will have a pleasing life and the one whosemeasure weighs lighter, abyss will be his abode.” (Al-Quran101/6-9)Have you observed that according to the Holy Quran the purpose of life is not liberationfrom any suffering but to achieve a higher position in life with proper development of theendowed potentialities and reach a higher and exalted stage of life as compared to theexisting one. The Holy Quran has denoted it in terms of “achievement and success” andnot salvation. You must have also observed from this that a satisfying and an elegantanswer are obtained to the questions: ‘why should I abide by the moral values? What benefit does it accrue to me and what loss do I undergo by going against them. This isthe only way on the basis of which man obeys these values rationally and follows themwith complete satisfaction of the mind and the heart.
Ad-Deen:
You would have observed from the above explanations that the Holy Quran does not onlyspecify a few moral values but also provides a comprehensive system of life raised on thebasic concept of God-man-Universe-Law of Requital and purpose of life. The name of this comprehensive system is Ad-Deen and its practical implementation is called Al-Islam. The moral values only produce their results under this system and becomerationally workable as well; besides, there is no other system through which the purposeof such type can be realized. That is why it is said:“ It is a fact that Ad-Deen (way of life) acceptable to God is only Islam.” Al-Quran3/18)Therefore,“If any body wants to adopt any system other than Islam, this system would not beaccepted from him and he would eventually know how big a loss he has suffered.” (Al-Quran 3/04)
Ad-Deen will be adopted in totality:
The concept of the system brings forth this factor also that the results of its constituentscan only be drawn up when it is adopted in its totality. The example of the system is likethe doctor’s prescription. This prescription can only be effective if you use itwholesomely in accordance with the directions of the doctor. Taking one or two itemsof this prescription will not cure the ailment; but on the contrary partial use of thisprescription may induce harmful effects. Hence the Holy Quran says :-“Do you want to accept one part of this code of laws and refute the other? Whoever fromamongst you do this, its result would be nothing except ignominy and disgrace in thisworld, and he will be returned to the most grievous suffering on the Day of Judgement.”(Al-Quran 2/85)The constituent parts of this prescription are those characteristics of Allah which the HolyQuran terms as the “Balanced Attributes” Asm’aul Husna— Adopting some of theseattributes and ignoring others can be of no avail. Always bear this fact in mined thatReality is an indivisible whole, it cannot be split up into its parts. The balanced Attributesof Allah are various facets of Absolute Reality. REALITY is the name of their sum-total.If some of these are separated, you cannot term these segregated constituents alone as theparts of that REALITY. For instance, if REALITY comprises one hundred aspects andyou take up only ten, you cannot claim that you have adopted one-tenth of the REALITY,therefore you would be entitled to the proportional benefit. You cannot get one-tenth of healing by taking one out of ten medicines written in the prescription; so the Holy Quransays: “And for Allah are all the Balance Attributes. (These are the various facets of thatAbsolute Reality) so call Him by all these facets and leave those people alone whodeviate to one extreme in (emulating a few of) His Attributes.”(Al-Quran 7/180)You would observe that with the people, who remain cut off from the Islamic System of life, the moral values on which emphasis is laid, are those values which pertain to thetender and delicate emotions of man, like sympathy; mercy; forgiveness; tolerance;humbleness; soft-speaking, to be silent even if some one abuses; to offer other side if some one gives a slap on one side of your check, to give over your waistcoat yourself if some one takes away your coat; to love even your enemy or go a bit further, feed thesparrows, the crows, to provide a drinking place for cattle etc. Justice, prevention of oppression and exploitation; preservation of universal human rights; a political system inwhich no one is subservient to anyone; a social set up which is based on respect forman; an economic order in which no one is dependent upon any one and every one’snecessities of life are guaranteed without any undue labour and ignominy; such a socialcontract in which every action progressively goes on producing its own rightful result—All these matters will have no moral significance with these people.
Result of the Teachings of Christianity:
About Christianity, which is the biggest upholder of the kind of moral values mentionedabove,, go through the words of a well-renowned Spanish professor. Dr. Falta De Craciaquoted by Brifault in his renowned book “ The Making of Humanity.” He writes.“ The notion of justice,” says the famous Spanish Professor, “ is as entirely foreign to thespirit of Christianity as is that of intellectual honesty. It lies wholly out side the field of its ethical vision…. Christianity has offered comfort and consolation to men who sufferedunder injustice, but of that injustice itself it has remained absolutely incognizant. It hascalled upon the weary and heavy laden, upon the suffering and the afflicted, it hasproclaimed to them the law of lover, the duty of mercy and forgiveness, the Fatherhoodof God; but in that torrrent of religious and ethical emotion which has impressed men asthe summit of the sublime, and been held to transcend all other ethical ideals, common justice, common honesty have no place. The ideal Christian, the saint, is seen descendinglike an angel from heaven amid the welter of human misery, among the victims of ruthless oppression and injustice, bringing to them the comfort and consolation of theParaclete, of the Religion of Sorrow. But the cause of that misery lies wholly outside therange of his consciousness; no glimmer of any notion of right and wrong enters into hisview of it. It is the established order of things, the divinely appointed government of theworld, the trial laid upon sinners by divine ordinance. St. Vincent de Paul visits theliving hell of the French galleys; he proclaims the message of love and calls sinners torepentance; but to the iniquity, which creates and maintains that hell, he remainsabsolutely indifferent. He is appointed Grand-Almoner to His Most Christian Majesty.The world might groan in misery under the despotism of oppressors, men’s lives andmen’s mind might be enslaved, crushed and blighted; the spirit of Christianity would goforth and comfort them, but it would never occur to it to redress a single one of thosewrongs. It has remained unconscious of them. To those wrongs, to men’s right to be
delivered from them, it was by nature completely blind. In respect to justice, to right andwrong, the spirit of Christianity is not so much immoral as amoral. The notion was asalien to it as was the notion of truth. Included in its code was, it might becontroversially alleged, an old formula,’ the golden rule.’ A commonplace of mostliterature, which was popular in the East from China to Asia Minor; but that isolatedprecept was never interpreted in the sense of justice. It meant forgiveness, forbearing,kindness, but never mere justice, common equity; those virtues were far too unemotionalin aspect to appeal to the religious enthusiast. The renunciation of life and all its ‘vanities,’ the casing overboard of all sordid cares for its maintenance, the suppression of desire, prodigal almsgiving the consecration of a life the value of which had disappearedin his eyes to charity and love, non-resistance, passive obedience, the turning of the othercheck to an enemy, the whole riot of those hyperbolic ethical emotions could fire theChristian consciousness, while it remained utterly unmoved by every form of wrong,iniquity and injustice.”
The Case of Irreligionists:
This, in a nutshell, is the wholesomeness of moral values upheld by the religionists. Nowtake the case of the people who do neither believe in God, nor in the continuance of human personality, nor in the revelation, nor in the life hereafter, but, on the contrary,stress upon the moral values. Ask any one of them: “ When you say that (for example)the poor should be helped; tell me, why should I help the poor?” You will observe thatthey give you strange answers: Some will say, “Helping the poor is a human obligation”ask them, “Sir, what do you mean by human obligation and who is he who has imposedthis obligation on me? You’ll observe they would have no reasonable answer to theseaskings. Some will say that they ought to help the poor for if they become poor in thecoming days, some one else may help them. Firstly, this reciprocity is of such a lowcaliber that you would never call it a character of any high order; then also keep thisfactor in mind, ‘ If the people become able to manage not to be in need of anyone at anytime, how would you prevail upon them to help the poor?” You will observe they willout-rightly make an appeal to the human emotions; they will not be able to give you anyreasonable answer based on arguments. If you think a bit deep, you would find that suchfeelings would be lying in their subconscious: that since the society values these matters,therefore these ought to be done for the sake of becoming respectable in the society;and/or some political motives would be operative behind this phenomenon, such ashospitals, schools and colleges of the missionaries or the non-violence of the Indianleader Mahatama Gandhi (late); or it would have been the result of traditional andinherited belief; and/or the weak nerves of the humans which have been termed asvirtuous emotions. You will observe that none of these can work as the basis of thehuman character. So far as the question of national character is concerned, it has beendiscussed in the beginning of this discourse. By appealing to these emotions, you can getsome one do good work provisionally but cannot make this work to be a routine of hislife; you cannot produce permanence in it, while character is the very name of permanence and changlessness in behaviour. The surety of this permanence can benothing but the belief in the true ‘concept of life.’ That is why the Holy Quran invitespeople who are already the followers of religions, as well as those who acknowledge any religion to profess Eiman, accept the concepts of life which are the very essence of its ‘Order.’ It says about them that:“If these people profess eiman as you have, then these people can follow the right path of life. If they repudiate, then make it a point that these people are opposing the truth andthe rightful; they are not following that path.”( Al-Quran 2/137)These are the very characteristics of Islam which are found neither in any of the religionsof the world, nor in the world of thought and intellect. Therefore, there can be no trueDeen (rightful way of life) other than Islam.
Warning to the Muslims:
“I have dwelt amongst you all my life prior to it. Can’t you adjudge from it whether sucha life is of the truthful or a liar?”(Al-Quran 10/10)Remember, my respected and honoured comrades! Only that person can present Islam tothe world as the rightful way of life (true Deen) who is, not only in the company of hisfriends but also in the big crowd of his foes, able to project his life in proof of histruthfulness and then no one has ever dared to oppose him. This is the only rightmechanism for proselytization of Islam.
‘The Quran Affirms What You Hold’:
Now, at the end I deem it necessary to do away with one or two doubts which oftenemerge in the mind of the people in this regard. The first is that the Holy Quran tells thefollowers of other religions: ‘I affirm what you hold” i.e. the teachings you have, so thequestion is when the Holy Quran itself professes the teachings of these religions, how canit be asserted that the true teachings of God are found exclusively in the Holy Quran andnot with other religions:The objection indeed carries weight and merits necessary consideration. First of all see if it is the Holy Quran itself which demands the followers of other religions to pin theirfaith upon this claim, or do the Muslims present this assertion alone? The complete versecontaining this affirmation reads as follows :“Profess belief in this (Book) which I have (now) revealed (namely the Holy Quran)which affirms. What-thou-have’ and lead not in repudiating it.” (Al-Quran 2/41)It is clear that the Holy Quran itself urges upon the followers of the religions to professbelief in it.Secondly, there is explicit clarification in various places of the Holy Quran that thefollowers of these religions had made transpositions in their heavenly books; literaltransposition ( Al-Quran 4/71) and additions in them on their own ( Al-Quran 2/79); andintermingling the truth with the falsehood ( Al-Quran 3/71); in this way numerouscontradictions had crept in these books ( Al-Quran 11/110). The followers of thesereligions themselves stand in witness to these claim of the Holy Quran. Hence not asingle non-Muslim today can make a claim based on reason that the book they presentas heavenly is in its pristine and original form i.e. the same book which was revealed totheir prophet. You will find the details of this resume in the first chapter of my book,‘Mairaj-i-Insaniyyat’, in which the history of the so-called heavenly books of all thereligions has been described. This makes it clear that:“How can the Holy Quran stand witness to the truthfulness of these books, the followersof which themselves do not call them original and free from interpolation? And how, inspite of the interpolation and additions to such an extent, some moral values are stillfound in these books, the Holy Quran affirms these values but not the books in theirtotality. The fact is that the meanings of Mussadaq ( the affirmer) here are not the one that testifies the truthfulness,” its meanings are the one that proves the truth contained inthem ” The Holy Quran says: “The moral values you hold are merely theoretical innature. I give the system in which these values will emerge as the true realities and thisis my special feature; for example, You also say the hungry should be fed and I too, yousay this as a mere sermon and advise and insist on giving alms to the people; how is thehunger of the hungry cured with it, every one knows; I give such a practical economicssystem in which no individual can remain hungry; in this way I prove the truth of thosemoral values.”The distinctive features of Islam are that with its practical system all these moral valuesare realized as truths. This is alone possible in Deen, not in “religion?” That is why Islamhas been termed as Ad-Deen (the way of life)— and not religion, so its comparisonshould be made with other systems of life, not with other religions.The second Doubt:The second question that raised is that there are innumerable people to whom Islam hasnot reached yet; or (for example) a person is born to a Hindu family and obeys veryhonestly his religion thinking it to be truer, what is the fault of such a people due towhich the avenues of prosperity (success) and achievement be closed to him? Thisquestions confuses and perplexes many minds, therefore its thorough understanding is amust.Had the matter of salvation and auspiciousness or reward and punishment been merelyemotional, it would have been acceptable as to why a people who are not at fault bepunished at all. But when reward and punishment pertain to law, and success andachievement be the name of the natural consequences of actions, the emotions cannothave any say in it, for example the children of the village with no school will remainilliterate and hence deprived of the benefits that the literate will get. This is the mostsevere punishment these children are inflicted to, though they are not at fault. Howsympathetic you be to them, but the deficiency that has crept in by being illiterate is theone that cannot be made up even by your sympathies and subtle emotions. Here thequestion whose-fault-is-it does not arise. If a child does not go to school for one yearcomplete due to illness, you do not promote him to the next class only on the pretext thathe is not at fault. Only that child would be promoted to the next class who has developedability. According to the Holy Quran, only that person would reach the next stage of lifethat has developed the potentiality to traverse these stages.The same principle will also be applicable to those who, thinking their religions to betrue, follow their religion all their life in good faith. Some one’s eating of arsenic asmedicine in good faith, will not restrict its ill effects to him on the pretext that its eaterhad taken it honestly as medicine. The arsenic will produce its effects unequivocallywhether some one has taken it advertantly or inadvertently. The nation that worships fireand water (Agni and Indar) cannot gain control over and run steam engines with thisbelief. It is clear that such a nation will remain deprived of all benefits liable to beattained with the power of steam. This deprivation of theirs is not a revengefulpunishment inflicted on them by any one else. It is the natural consequences of the their ignorance; which no passion of sympathy can remove; it can only be possible if and whenthe nation recourses to the law of Allah, harnesses the forces of nature and then makesuse of them for their benefit. According to the Holy Quran, this alone is the lawprescribed for success and achievement. Neither any body’s aspiration has a play in it noremotions. It has very clearly been proclaimed that“The judgement will neither be made in accordance with your wishes, nor with thewishes of the “ people of Book”( judgements will be made according to Our Law)” (Al-Quran 4/123)and that law is that whoever does wrong shall suffer the consequence thereof.And the law ought to be as such. If the law starts following the wishes of the people, thesystem of the entire Universe would go into chaos :“If the truth starts following whims and wishes (feelings) of the people, there would bechaos in the earth and the heavens and whatever is there in between,” (Al-Quran 23/70)God can alone be the One who is over and above feelings. That is why the Holy Quransays about the nations which are ruined as the result of their crimes that:“Their Rabb sent – the Road- Roller of the Law of Requital; which leveled them withthe ground; and He feared not its consequences” Al-Quran 91/14-15)He had no anxiety on their total annihilation. He did never throb and palpitate on it, somuch so that :“neither the sky wept on them nor the earth .” (Al-Quran 44/29)But do not think that His Law has no provision for recantation and revival and if someone committed a crime any time, he became accursed forever. No, there is everyopportunity of reforming after repentance:“Tell them: O’ My men, those of you who have committed excess against themselves donot get disappointed from the blessings of God. He will protect you from the harmfuleffects of all your prevarication.” :(Al-Quran 39/35)Its method is to do such good deeds, which put away the loss done to you with yourfaltering, because :“The harmful effects of deeds creating unevenness can only be effaced by deeds creatingbeauty and consistency.”( Al-Quran 11/115)
Our Responsibility:
us till we prove ourselves worthy of its superiority by actingon it.At the end, I deem it necessary to explain that whatever I have said in this treatise isneither desired to offend followers of any religion, nor intended to despise (God forbidus) any of the founders of these religions. So far as non-religious founders are concerned,according to the Holy Quran, we have Eiman (conviction) that God sent messengers to allthe nations of the world. Out of them the Holy Quran has mentioned a few by theirrespectable names and the rest of them have not been mentioned by name. But whetherthe name of any one is given in the Holy Quran or not, we pay respect to theseMessengers from the core of our heart, so much so that the confession of their Risalat(Divine Mission) is an integral part of our Eiman. The Holy Quran says that the truthfulteachings of God were presented to them but later on these teachings were either reducedor added to; now these pristine and original teachings are only preserved in the HolyQuran. When we represent the reality that Islam is the only true Deen of God, then itsteachings would have to be invariably compared with that of other religions and thosefound against the Holy Quran cannot be true from our point of view. Whatever I havedescribed about the teachings of other religions is only in the perspective of this purpose.This reality should always be kept in view that Islam does not want to prove itself betterby speaking ill of others; it represents its goodness rationally. and prevails upon othersfor its acceptance rationally. The Holy Quran enjoins us. “Do not call names to the idolsof the polytheists”; it teaches to be respectful to the worthy – of – respect personalities of the whole world, but, of course, it shows the fallacy of teaching assigned to them. Thisshould also be our mode of conduct.