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Islam—The Beautiful Truth
So much has been written distorting Islam by non-Muslim writers, that its essential characteristics of Truth and Beauty have been obscured. A few supposed Muslim writers have also contributed to this process by their apologetic “defense” of Islam. Islam, however, needs no apologies. It only requires a proper presentation and it defends itself. The basic concept is the fact of Tawheed, or Oneness. That is, the idea that Allah (which is the Arabic term for God) is One. He is sole Creator, Sustainer, Guide, and Protector of all creation. He has no limits to His Power, His Authority, and His Existence.
Allah says in the Holy Qur’an: “Say: He is Allah; the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begets not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him.” (Holy Qur’an 112, 1-4) We also find a similar reference to Isa Son of Mary (Jesus, May Allah’s peace be on him):
“And Jesus answered him. The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel: The Lord, our God, is one Lord. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all they heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength; this is the first commandment.And the second is namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-32) All of the Prophets, Noah, Abraham, David, Solomon (may Allah’s blessings be on them all) up to and including the Last Messenger Muhammad (may Allah’s peace and blessings be on him) taught this one central them—The Oneness of Allah. “Say: We believe in Allah and in what has been revealed to us, and what was revealed to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes. And in (the Book) given to Moses, Jesus, and the Prophets from their Lord; We make no distinction between one and another among them, and we belong to Allah as Muslims.” (Holy Qur’an 3:84) As you can readily see, the Muslim (the one who serves Allah) acknowledges all of the Prophets and Messengers sent by Allah. All of the Prophets were Muslims (Allah’s servants), and as such the guidance they brought as well as the example they set is the same. The only variance in the specific practices they prescribed for the people to whom they were sent were due to the needs of the time. For instance, the Prophet Yusuf (Joseph) was sent to establish the tribe of Israel in Egypt. The Prophet Musa (Moses) was raised up to lead them out of Egypt. The Prophet Isa (Jesus) came as he says to the “lost sheep of the children of Israel” and he also said: “Think not that I am come to destroy the Law or the Prophets: I am come not to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jat and one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-19) The Prophet Muhammad (Allah’s Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) was sent with the completed and perfect form of that same guidance: “This day, I (Allah) perfected your religion (Deen) for you; completed My favor upon you and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.” (Holy Qur’an 5:4) And as the completion of the line of Prophets that Allah has sent us: “Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Prophet of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets; and Allah has full knowledge of all things.” (Holy Qur’an 33:40) The Prophets (May Allah’s peace be upon them all) also made references to each other, and to each others duties and responsibilities. For example, we have the Prophet Jesus making numerous references to the coming of the Prophet Muhammad (May Allah’s blessing and peace be upon him) after himself. “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Of sin, because they believe not in me, of righteousness because I go to our Father and you see me no more. Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have many things to say unto you, but you can not hear them now. Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of Truth is come, he will guide you into all truth, for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come.” (John 16: 7-13) We can also find a similar reference to the last Prophet Muhammad made by the Prophet Moses (may the peace and blessing of Allah be upon them): “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command them. And it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto My words which he shall speak in My name, I will require it of him.” [Deuteronomy 18:18-19] It should be perfectly clear by now that since Allah is one and His Prophets and His guidance to mankind are one, then it also follows that mankind itself is also one. Allah says about this in the Holy Qur’an: “O mankind! We have created you from a single (pair) of male and a female, and made you unto nations and tribes, that you may know each other (not that ye may despise each other). Verily, the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things).” (Holy Qur’an 49:11-13) All of you should by now, in the light of all that has preceded, realize that each one of us has a personal responsibility to act upon whatever this guidance is. It is clear that since Allah is one, His guidance and Messengers are consistent with each other, and that mankind is one, that there must be some reason for all this planning by Allah. There must be some standard that we are to achieve and live up to, and there must be some benefit for doing so, as well as some consequence for not. Again, Allah says: “By the soul and the proportion and order given to it. And its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right. Truly he succeeds that purifies it; and he fails that corrupts it!” (Holy Qur’an 91:7-10) Also “We have indeed created man in the best of molds; then do we abase him (to be) the lowest of the low; Except such as believe and do righteous deeds; for they shall have a reward unfailing.” (Holy Qur’an 95: 4-6) In short, all this guidance is here to be utilized. The prevalent corruption that we see worldwide is the result of this negligence of all mankind. All of man’s technological and material advancements (if you can to call them that) has done nothing for him either spiritually or morally. On the contrary, we find a marked increase in violence, homosexuality, paganism, superstition, ignorance, etc... We have more schools and institutions of “higher learning,” and we also have more functionally illiterate graduates. We have more “things,” i.e. modern conveniences, recreational activities, and permissive attitudes. We also have more “crazy people,” “bag ladies,” derelicts, drug addicts—and the list goes on and on. In short, the world is in a general mess. Now make no mistake, there is nothing wrong with technology, or conveniences per se—but when there is neglect of Allah and the guidance He has given us, then something is quite obviously unbalanced. The most important thing is that we are missing the point of our existence. We are failing to meet up to the standard for which we were created—we are not maturing as moral beings. However, all is not lost—there is a solution. That solution is to turn to Allah, ask His forgiveness, and follow His guidance. If we don’t, then things will continue to get worse. Who knows best our deeds better than He who created us, sustains us, cares for us? Who can guide us better than He who gave us intelligence, and hearing, and seeing, and understanding, and all of the faculties that we take for granted? As Allah says: “Say: O My servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah; for Allah forgives all sins; for He is the Forgiving, the Merciful. Turn ye to your Lord (in repentance) and bow to His (Will), before the penalty comes on you: after that ye shall not be helped. And follow the best of (the courses) revealed to you from your Lord, before the penalty comes on you—of a sudden, while you perceive not. "Holy Qur’an 39:53-55)
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