Absolute Justice, Kindness and Kinship — Page 148
Islam as the Ultimate Goal of Religious Teachings 147 proclaim himself to be universal, addressing the whole of mankind without making any discrimination between nation and nation, and people and people. All other Prophets as addressed only their own people. At best they included neighbouring nations or those living as immigrants among the host nation. But apart from the Quran no Divine scripture is addressed to the whole of mankind collectively. Hence, for previous religions the straight path, as defined by them, must be understood to be limited to their specific needs and requirements. Islam and the Nature of Man Having established the fact that the Quran is the only Divine book which claims to be for all people and for all times, it follows that its teachings should be applicable to all human beings alike. Its teachings should not show deference or preference to any one section of society, nor should it be applicable to any one era alone. It must transcend all barriers and divisions of space and time, otherwise the claim of universality cannot be accepted. When we examine the Quran from this angle, we find that its teachings fully support its claim of universality. The most important and basic argument put forward in this regard is that the religion of Islam is in perfect harmony with the nature of man. In other words, Islam was not designed with any particular age or nation in mind but was designed in perfect