Introduction to Islam
By: A. Mohamed
The religion in the sight of God is Islam. 3:19
What the words in 3:19 say is that Islam is the only religion authorised by God. On first impression, many would immediately ask: Wait a minute! What about Judaism and Christianity? After all, these religions were also authorised by God, or are they?
To address this question, we initially need to understand the meaning of the word Islam.
Contrary to some interpretations, the word Islam does not mean peace. It means submission (to God). The Arabic words used in the Quran for peace are:
1- Salam, as in 11:48:
It was said, "O Noah, disembark with salam (peace) from Us, and blessings upon you and upon nations to come from those with you, and other nations whom We will allow enjoyment for a while, then they will be touched by a painful punishment from Us." 11:48
2- Silm, as in 8:61:
If they should incline to peace, so shall you be inclined, and put your trust in God. Indeed, He is the Hearer, the Knowledgeable.8:61
However, the word Islam means submission (to God). In 2:131, God commanded prophet Abraham with the word "Aslim" (submit), which is the verb in the command form. Abraham replied, "Aslamt l'rab al-alameen" which means "I have submitted to the Lord of the Worlds".
When his Lord said to him, "Aslim" (submit), he said, "Aslamt (I have submitted) to the Lord of the Worlds." 2:131
God was not commanding Abraham to offer Him peace, nor did Abraham respond by saying to God 'I offer you peace'. The command was to submit, to which Abraham readily complied.
Those who interpret Islam to mean peace may also say: "Islam is to be in peace with God".
While the above statement is correct, Islam is more than just being at peace with God for one can be at peace with an enemy, but that does not mean that one submits to that enemy.
Naturally, submission to God brings with it a sense of peace with our Creator. However, it is the act of submitting to God that makes a person a Muslim and not just being in peace with God.
1- Contrary to what many believe, the word Islam is not a religion that is exclusive to the Quran, nor a religion that was initiated by prophet Muhammad. Let us first examine the labels we have today, as well as the sub-divisions that have branched out of each:
1- Christianity: Catholic, Protestant, Baptist, Eastern Orthodox, etc.
2- Islam: Sunni, Shia, Salafi, Sufi, Ahmadi, etc.
3- Judaism: Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Hasidic, etc.
The sub-divisions are many more than what is listed above yet we do not find any of those titles found in the Quran, the Old or the New Testaments. The only title and concept instated in all three Scriptures is Submission (to God). This will be demonstrated later. First, we need to determine how authentic are all the other titles above. Are they authorised by God?
When Moses delivered the law and the commandments of God to his people, he never advocated being an Orthodox, Conservative, Reformist or Hasidic. And when Jesus preached the Word of God and the Gospel, he never advocated being a Catholic, Baptist or Protestant. Equally, when Muhammad delivered the Quran, he too never advised his people to be Sunni, Shia or any of the other sects of Islam.
We read in the Quran that God prohibited all sects:
As for those who have divided their religion and broke up into sects, you shall have nothing to do with them. Their case rests with God, and then He will inform them of what they used to do. 6:159
2- All the prophets of God submitted to Almighty God and called their people to submit to the One and only God. In that sense, it can be said that all God's prophets and messengers followed the religion of Islam. We read in 3:67 that Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, he was a Muslim:
Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian but was a monotheist Muslim (Submitter) and was not one of the mushrikeen (those who set up partners with God). 3:67
Before him, Noah was a Muslim (10:72). Equally, in 2:133, the sons of Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac, as well as Jacob and his sons, were all Muslims. In 5:111, we read that the disciples of Jesus were all Muslims. The religion decreed to prophet Muhammad was the same religion decreed to all the previous prophets:
He has legislated for you of the religion that which He instructed for Noah, and that which We inspired to you, and that which We instructed for Abraham, Moses and Jesus: that you shall uphold the religion and do not be divided therein. 42:13
3- It is of great significance that when the words Jews and Christians are mentioned in the Quran, God refrains from using the word 'religion':
Neither the Jews nor the Christians will approve of you until you follow their 'millat' (creed). 2:120
The keyword in this glorious verse is the word 'creed'. Why did God use the word creed and not the word religion? Why did God not say 'until you follow their religion'? The obvious reason is that Judaism and Christianity are not names of religions authorised by God. Indeed, the only religion authorised by God for mankind is Islam. In contrast, Judaism and Christianity are man-made creeds.
4- Submission to God endorses the belief in the One God, worshipping Him alone, devoting the religion to Him alone, and rejecting all other gods/idols. Once again, we find this to be the fundamental message endorsed in all Scriptures:
Old Testament:
"You shall have no other gods besides Me" (Exodus 20:3)
New Testament:
"You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve" (Luke 4:8)
The Quran:
So know that there is no god except God. 47:19
Submission to God is the religion whereby a person recognises God's absolute authority and reaches an unshakable conviction that God alone possesses all power over all things; no other entity possesses any power that is independent of Him. The natural outcome of such a realisation is to devote one's life and worship absolutely to God alone:
Say, "My Salat, my worship rituals, my life and my death, are all devoted to God, the Lord of the Worlds. He has no partner. This is what I was commanded with, and I am the first of the Submitters." 6:162-163
5- After we have attained the Quranic definition of the terms Islam and Muslim, we can say that a Jewish person can be a Muslim and a Christian person can also be a Muslim as long as they submit to God fully and associate no partners to Him.
Islam: the religion of all the Scriptures
The following evidence from each of the three Scriptures demonstrates that Submission to God is the one and only religion endorsed by God in all the Scriptures.
It can be shown that Judaism and Christianity are not names of religions authorised by God. The evidence presented below is derived from the Quran as well as the Old and New Testaments.
1- The Old Testament (Tanakh)
It is significant to note that if we read the Old Testament, we never see the word Judaism mentioned anywhere. Would God authorise a religion called Judaism in the Torah but not inform the recipients of the Torah of its name?
However, we find the message of Submission to God advocated clearly in various verses of the Old Testament:
- Submit to God and be at peace with Him; in this way, prosperity will come to you. (Job 22:21)
- Do not be stiff-necked, as your ancestors were; submit to the Lord. Come to His sanctuary, which He has consecrated forever. Serve the Lord your God, so that His fierce anger will turn away from you. (2 Chronicles 30:8)
-Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to the Lord, and He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
2- The New Testament
The same significant observation exists in the New Testament. If we search all the pages of the New Testament, we would not see the word Christianity mentioned anywhere. Once again, would God reveal a religion in a Scripture and keep its name a secret obscured from the recipients of that Scripture?
And once again, the message of Submission to God is well-pronounced in various verses of the New Testament:
- Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)
- Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time. (1 Peter 5:6)
- The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. (Romans 8:7)
- For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. (Romans 10:3)
3- The Quran
In the Quran, it is stressed that Islam is the only religion authorised by God:
- Indeed, the religion in the sight of God is Islam. 3:19
- Whoever seeks other than Islam for a religion, it will not be accepted from him, and in the Hereafter, he will be among the losers. 3:85
The Quran also confirms that Judaism and Christianity are not religions authorised by God. This is evident in the following verse in which God addresses prophet Muhammad:
Neither the Jews nor the Christians will approve of you until you follow their 'millat' (creed). 2:120
The word 'deen' (religion) was deliberately not used by God in connection with the Jews and Christians, but God used the word 'millat' (creed). In other words, what the Jews and Christians follow are creeds and not religions authorised by God. If the word 'religion' was used in 2:120, that would constitute a recognition by God that Judaism and Christianity are religions authorised by God.
The difference between the two words is that the word 'deen' (religion) means a complete system of rituals and laws, while the word 'millat' (creed) simply means a belief or conviction. Any belief/conviction is a creed. The following are two contrasting examples from the Quran that confirm the meaning of the word 'millat':
1- One of the principal Quranic instructions is to follow the creed of Abraham which was Monotheism:
Then We inspired you to follow the 'millat' (creed) of Abraham. He was a monotheist and was not one of the mushrikeen. 16:123
Monotheism, which is the conviction that God is One, is a creed and not a religion. We note that in Sura 6, both words 'religion' and 'creed' are mentioned, confirming that they do not have the same meaning:
Say, "My Lord has guided me to a straight path, a correct religion, the creed of Abraham. He was a monotheist and was not one of the mushrikeen." 6:161
2- In contrast, we read in Sura 12 about atheism, also described as a creed in the words of Joseph:
I have abandoned the creed of a people who do not believe in God, and with regard to the Hereafter, they are disbelievers. 12:37
Those who do not believe in God (atheists) do not follow a religion. It is their belief that there is no creator of the universe. Such is their creed (belief/conviction).
Does one religion mean one revelation?
Essentially, if there is only one religion decreed by God there must be one 'truth'. Do we then conclude that there should be one revelation? The answer is that 'truth' and 'revelation' are not absolutely equivalent terms. Because 'truth' is an absolute term, it is situated independent of form. In contrast, revelations are relative to time, people, and place, and thus require a form, but to speak of form is to speak of diversity and thus plurality. The need for different revelations at different times and for different people was necessary due to the following:
1- Mankind has gone through enormous developments through the ages, physically, mentally and spiritually, and thus there was always the need for various revelations at different times for different peoples. Although the different revelations are identical in message and truth, each is tailored to a specific people and a specific era. The various revelations do not contradict one another, for although they differ in form, the religion decreed in all of them, which is Islam, is one and the same.
2- If there appears to be any apparent contradiction between different revelations, they are in human receptacles and not in the divine message. This is usually due to one or more of the following reasons:
- The misinterpretation of the Scriptures.
- The corruption of the Scriptures which results in the failure to preserve the truth contained in the revelation.
- The inevitable infiltration of tradition and culture and their adverse role in impairing the purity of the revelation.
These factors, together or singly, widen the gap between people. The result of this is the emergence of a multitude of man-made religions that have veered off the original revelation. These religions and their inevitable sub-religions in many ways bear little resemblance to the original religion decreed by God. Whenever that happens, divine intervention sees to it that a new revelation is sent to put mankind back on track with God's Law.
3- We find that up until the advent of the Industrial Revolution and the fast travel era, the world was still a wide expanse of remote lands and peoples. Many people would not have even heard of previous Scriptures that were revealed in other parts of the world. That is why a new Scripture would be revealed to new communities who had not received a Scripture.
However, after the revelation of the Quran, there became no need for any further revelations, not because the message of the Quran is any different from the message given to previous prophets, but because of the following reasons:
a- A divine promise has been endorsed in the Quran that the Quran will never be corrupted (15:9). As a result, since the Quran will always remain intact, there becomes no need for further revelations.
b- With the advent of the modern fast travel means of today, the whole world has become a closer-knit unit. People no longer need to travel to hear or receive information. This can be transmitted instantly through social media, a convenience that was not available in the past.
Conclusion:
1- The only religion authorised by God is Islam.
2- The religion of Islam is not a religion exclusive to the Quran, nor is it a religion that was initiated by prophet Muhammad.
3- The words Judaism and Christianity are never mentioned in the previous Books. This confirms that they are not titles of God-given religions.
4- The religion of Islam, which is authorised in the Quran, is clearly endorsed in the previous Scriptures.