Islam - The Summit of Religious Evolution — Page 5
5 1. God is Almighty, All-knowing, Just, Wise, Compassionate, Merciful, Forgiving, Loving, etc. In short He is the ultimate in everything. 2. The basic laws of nature are perfect, uniform and consistent. God need not break, bend or modify His basic laws to reveal His presence. With this background, a review of the literature along with a study of the various scriptures can help unravel the "mysteries" of the various religions. A study of the various scriptures reveals that God's message was transmitted to humans through His chosen messengers whom He appointed as guides. These messengers appeared periodically in different parts of the world. This observation is also supported by the fact that the major world religions were founded in different parts of the world and at different times. A couple of striking similarities can be readily observed among the major world religions: 1. According to all ordinary standards, the founders of religions were men of slender means. They had no power yet they addressed themselves to the great and the weak alike. Their followers rose from humble to great positions in the world defying worldly odds. This strongly implies that they were sustained and supported by a great power. 2. All founders of religions have been persons highly honored and valued for the purity of their lives, even by those, who later, on announcement of their claim, became their worst enemies. It is inconceivable that those who did not lie about men began suddenly to lie about God. The universal acknowledgement of the purity of their lives before the announcement of their claim is ample proof of their truthfulness. For the second assumption (regarding one God in the universe) to be valid, there must be a link between the major world religions. Hypothetically, if the scriptures are true and properly preserved without human interpolation, an evolutionary trend must appear after a chronological study of the various scripture. This would help in resolving any differences between the three faiths and in accepting that the scriptures as a tool for the eventual fulfillment of human spiritual needs. Scriptural boundaries will have to be crossed for such a study to gain a good understanding of God's teachings. Any emerging trend will support the validity of the basic assumption. The fulfillment of historical events, prophesied before their occurrence, will be the best confirmation of this hypothesis. The comparison of all religious scriptures will be beyond the scope of this work. This study will primarily focus on the Semitic religions. The three Semitic religion i. e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam collectively claim their adherents to constitute a majority of the world population. Limiting the scope of this discussion to the Semitic religions simplifies the analysis and minimizes many basic questions because these three religions trace their origins to the Prophet Abraham. In principle, their concept of God's unity is consistent except a variation put forth by the Christians, but they still affirm the oneness of God. In this book, the basic claim of each of the three Semitic religions will be stated; their scriptures will be