Introduction to the Study of The Holy Quran — Page 59
59 Accordingly in the Rig-Veda (x, 52:6) the total number of gods is 3,340. This divergence in the number of gods present in different parts of the Vedas is amazing in the extreme; according to the Yajur-Veda 33 and according to the Rig-Veda, 3,340! To have departed from the conception of One God was dangerous enough. But such wide divergence in the number of gods proposed in different parts of the Vedas seems worse than dangerous. Contradictions of this kind compel us to conclude that though the original Vedas were most certainly revealed, the present Vedas no longer retain their original character, and are incapable of giving satisfaction to those who are in quest of spiritual solace. They need to be replaced by another book which should be free from all immoral, contradictory, savage and superstitious teaching. That book, we claim, is the Quran. God’s Promise to Abraham A fourth question, the answer to which should throw light on the question relating to the need of the Quran, is: Did earlier religions regard themselves as final? Or did they believe in a kind of spiritual progression which was due to culminate in a universal teaching for the guidance of mankind? In answer to this, we must admit that a continuous narrative, in which the story of one Prophet is linked with that of another, is to be found only in the Bible. In reconstructing the stories of the Prophets, the help we derive from the Bible is invaluable. No other book revealed before the Quran can give us this help. To answer the question whether earlier teachings and earlier Prophets did or did not foretell the coming of a perfect Teaching and a perfect Prophet after them, we have to turn to the Bible. When we do so, we find that God made many promises to the Patriarch Abraham. He was born in Ur of the Chaldees. From there he migrated with his father to Canaan. His father stopped on the way at Haran and died there. On his father’s death Abraham was commanded by God to leave Haran and go to Canaan and had the following revelation: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 61 And again (Genesis 13:15): For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And again (Genesis 16:10-12): And the angel of the Lord said unto her (i. e. to Hagar) I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt