In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Assalam alaikum [May peace be upon you].
How many of us really know why we believe in something?
Is it just because we were brought up around it or we never bothered to really find out??
There are approximately 6 billion human beings in the world today and majority of the population believe in the existence of God. We know of people following Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Taoism etc. as their Religion. Some people deny any such existence of a super power and turn to atheism [the rejection of belief in the existence of deity or religion].
Religion can be loosely translated as set of beliefs. There are many interpretations religion and some of them are:
§ A strong belief in a supernatural power that controls everything.
§ An institution to express belief in a divine power.
Let us analyze what each term means-
Christianity – Christianity is a word derived from Christ [Prophet Jesus Christ (peace be upon him)] Greek word Kristos- which means "anointed one" and is based on the Bible as sacred scripture. The followers of Christianity are called Christians [Followers of the teachings of Christ (peace be upon him)]
Hinduism – Hinduism is derived from the word Hind [Region now called India] and is based on diverse traditions and is the predominant in the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism should be referred to as Sanathana Dharma [Sanskrit - "the eternal law"] also termed as Vedic religion since Vedas are considered to be the supreme authority amongst the scriptures in Hinduism. The adherents are called Hindus.
Judaism – Judaism is derived from the word Judah [The name of a tribe] and is based on the teachings of the Old Testament. Those who profess unto Judaism are called Jews. It is considered by them to be the expression of the covenantal relationship Children of Israel with God.
Buddhism – Buddhism is derived from the name of Gautama Buddha [The name of a king]. Buddhism a religion and philosophy incorporating a diversity of beliefs traditions and practices based on teachings accredited to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha. The adherents are called are Buddhists.
Islam- Islam is a word which comes from the Arabic word "aslama" which means Peace. And Islam means peace acquired by surrendering submitting, sincerely obeying the will of Allah [God]. The followers of Islam call themselves Muslims which means- A person who acquires peace by surrendering submitting, sincerely obeying the will of God Almighty.
Out of all the religions in the world Christianity, Islam and Hinduism are the 3 major world religions being adhered to, followed by Christians, Muslims and Hindus respectively. If we look into it further, we realize that most of the people who are adherents of a particular religion follow that brand of religion because their fathers follow the same religion. In other words, a family tradition being carried on from generation to generation!
One may say- I am a Christian because everybody at home follows Christianity or I am a Muslim because my father is a Muslim or I am Hindu because my ancestors were Hindus. So, if I were to say that most of the people are Christians, Muslims, Jews and Hindus by CHANCE.
I am proud to say that I am a Muslim by CHANCE and by CHOICE, both! Alhamdulillah.
By CHANCE because I was born to Muslim parents (alhamdulillah) and By CHOICE because I learnt about Islam, the message of Allah in the Qur’an and was truly convinced (alhamdulillah).
Islam promotes Monotheism (Belief in One God) and there are several verses in the Holy Qur’an that instruct mankind to be monotheistic. Allah reveals in the Qur’an that all the Prophets [Noah, Moses, Jacob, Joseph, Jesus, Muhammad (peace be upon them all)] promoted the same belief and never projected a belief different from what God ordained them to. Every prophet preached the same basic message- Believe in One God and keep His commandments (submit to the will of God).
But the question is- If the Prophets proclaimed this message of monotheism then why do people believe in multiple gods? Believing in multiple gods is termed as Polytheism.
Unfortunately, people (followers/adherents) portray an altogether different image of their religion. Most of our Christian brothers would say GOD IS 3 IN ONE (Trinity). Most of our Hindu brothers believe that ‘In everything there is God’ and ‘Everything is God.’ In order to know what the religion says any sane person would try to seek answers from the Scriptures of the religion considered to be sacred by the adherents.
The Qur’an clearly mentions-
Say, "O followers of the scripture, let us come to common terms between us and you: that we shall not worship anyone except GOD; that we never set up any idols besides Him, nor set up any human beings as lords beside GOD."
If they turn away, say, "Bear witness that we are submitters (Muslims)."
[Al-Qur’an 3-64]
Allah, for surety guides those people who wish to seek the truth.
Let us see, what the Bible [Old and New Testament], The Vedas, The Qur’an have to say about this concept of One God.
In my study of the Old Testament I came across the following verses-
Hear, O Israel: The LORD thy God is one LORD. [Deuteronomy 6:4 ]
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God. [Exodus 20:3-5]
See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me. [Deuteronomy32:39]
Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. [Exodus 34.14]
For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.[ Psalm 86:10 ]
Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. Fear ye not, neither be afraid; have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any. [Isaiah44:6,8 ]
Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD;
and beside me there is no savior. [Isaiah43:10,11 ]
For I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me.[Isaiah 46:9]
And thou shalt know no god but me; for there is no savior beside me. [Hosea 13:4 ]
As we read, the verses from the Old Testament clearly instruct monotheism. What about the New Testament?
And Jesus answered him, the first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: [Mark 12:29]
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. [ John 17:3 ]
Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. [1 Timothy 1:17]
Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. [Galatians 3:20]
As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.[1 Corinthians 8:4]
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
[James 2:19 ]
There are many more verses in the Bible that speak about ONE GOD and I couldn't find the word Trinity in the whole bible.
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Interestingly, the study of Vedas too proved that the basic message of Monotheism must be adhered to.
Following are some of the quotations and passages from the Vedas (Rigveda, Attharvaveda, Samveda and Yajurveda)-
O friends, do not worship anybody but Him, the Divine One. Praise Him alone.[Rigveda 8:1:1]
He[God] is bodyless and pure. [Yajurveda 40:8]
There is no second God, nor a third, nor is even a fourth spoken of
There is no fifth God or a sixth nor is even a seventh mentioned.
There is no eighth God, nor a ninth. Nothing is spoken about a tenth even.
This unique power is in itself. That Lord is only one, the only omnipresent.
It is one and the onlyone. [Atharvaveda 13-4[2]19-20]
Oh God! There is nobody like you either in this world or the world beyond. No body equal to you is born as yet nor will be born ever in future also. [Yajurveda 27-36]
Friends! Do not praise and worship anything else, do not be doomed, praise and worship only the benevolent God Almighty, unitedly in this world, sing his glory, again and again.
[Atharva 20-85-1]
This passage solves the problem of belief in Multiple gods-
The real God is one, the enlightened ones, speak of Him in several ways, God is divine, the supreme protector and graceful sentient, the Universal soul. They call Him Indra, the Almighty, the universal friend [mitra]. Varuna, the most acceptable and obliterator of sins, they describe Him as [agnim] the supreme guide of the Universe, [Yaman] the controller of the Universe, and [matarishvanam] the life of all lives. [Rigveda 1-64-46]
Thus it is easy to understand that the names Indra, Agni, Yama, Suparna, Garuthman and others are different descriptions for one and the same God.
The Lord of the entire universe is one and one only [Rig-Veda 6-36-4]
He is the sole sovereign of the universe. [Rig Veda 6-36-4]
Verily He is one Single, indivisible, supreme reality. [Atharva Veda 13-4-20]
He is one, unparalleled
Through His wondrous, mighty
And formidable laws and deeds. [Rig Veda 8-1-27]
There is only One
Who ought to be adored
By the people. [Atharva Veda 2-2-1]
God has no image. [Yajur Veda 32-3]
When we read the Upanishads we come across the following verses-
Not above nor across
nor in the middle has one grasped this.
There is no comparison to that whose name is great glory.
Its form cannot be seen; no one ever sees it with eyes.
Those who know it in heart and mind
as living in the heart become immortal. [shvetashvatara Upanishad 4]
There is not seen its equal nor a superior.
It has no parent nor ruler.[shvetashvatara Upanishad 6]
The Brahma Sutra of Hinduism:
[ Ekam Brahm, dvitiya naste neh na naste kinchan]
There is only one God, not the second; not at all, not
at all, not in the least bit.
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Islam- In the Qur’an we have a chaper called Surah Ikhlaas [Purity of faith] which most of the Muslims recite daily.
It reads-
Say, He is God, the One and Only!
God, the absolute the eternal!
He neither begets nor is He begotten.
And there none like unto Him. [Al-Qur’an 112]
And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him [Al-Qur’an 17:23]
In our daily prayers, 5 times a day we recite Surah Fatihah in which occurs the following verse-
You [Alone] we worship, and You [Alone] we ask for help [for each and everything]
[Al- Qur’an 1:5]
Thus when we study and look into the scriptures of various religions, we realize that people do not represent what their scripture demands of them. It is sad to see that people do not think about the religion they follow but imitate or blindly believe in what they got from the families they were born in. People do not check, verify the sources of their religion and yet call themselves to be the adherents of so and so belief. It is not right for anyone to concoct ideas and claim that to be Religion.
The Qur’an says-
Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands, and then say:"This is from God," to traffic with it for miserable price!- Woe to them for what their hands do write, and for the gain they make thereby. [Al-Qur’an 2-79]
Though the people are into practices which the scriptures totally reject it becomes incumbent upon everyone to know the truth.
The Torah was a revelation given unto Moses[pbuh], the Injeel was a revelation given to Isa(Jesus) [pbuh] and the Qur’an is the last and final revelation by God almighty which was given unto Muhammad [saw] for the whole of mankind since there was no Prophet to come after him. However, the books before the Qur’an were tampered with for personal gains and desires and thus their authenticity is questionable.
God reveals to us in the Qur’an-
Verily We: It is We Who have sent down the Qur'an and surely, We will guard it (from corruption)
[Al-Qur’an 15-9 ]
As mentioned earlier, there was no scripture to be revealed after Prophet Muhammad andthus the Qur’an was revealed as a Mercy, Guidance and Blessing from God to the whole of humanity. And as for those you challenge the authenticity of the Qur’an to be the word of God, here is a test for them-
Do they not consider the Qur'an (with care)? Had it been from other than Allah they would surely have found therein much discrepancy (contradictions). [Al-Qur’an 4-82]
God has endowed us with intelligence- To decide and differentiate between right and wrong. Yet many of us deviate from the true path of God. Every step in seeking the truth counts and God guides those who wish to be guided.
When we read the history of most of the Religions we see that they have originated on the bases of place, country, and names of Prophets or influential persons.
So how can even they be called religions??
True religion is the one sent down by God almighty himself for He is the One who is our Creator and knows us best!
A complete way of life and system for human kind!
Remember! many claim but not all claims are true.. Only when we read and try to find out, we can know for ourselves what is genuine and what is not!
Alhamdulilllah, we make no distinctions between the prophets of God as they all came to promote the same message of submitting our wills to God almighty. Only if we read about the lives of Moses[pbuh] and Jesus[pbuh] we would know that they were Prophets of God calling people unto Allah and never came to preach anything else other than submitting will into God almighty.
Jesus[pbuh] according to the Gospel of John says-
I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father (God) which hath sent me." [John 5:30]
May God guide us all unto truth and may we live our lives according to the commandments of God and not our vain desires.
Ameen..
