Islam - The Summit of Religious Evolution — Page 131
131 CHAPTER VIII CONCLUDING COMMENTS A chronological study of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim scriptures reveals a conclusive trend in human spiritual development. The first documented evidence of the initiation of this trend is found in the beginnings of Judaism. The Jewish scriptures contain clear prophecies for future religious developments and set the stage for the eventual fulfillment of human spiritual needs. The first such prophecy dates back some 4,000 years to the time of Moses and is recorded in Deuteronomy. Subsequent books of the Old Testament corroborate this prophecy and reinforce it by stipulating conditions and signs for its fulfillment. In the span of some 1300 years, the Jews had significantly altered God’s original Law, as revealed to Moses. Jesus' advent, in accordance with the prophecies of the Old Testament, was designed to restore the Law of Moses to its original form. The New Testament records Jesus' mission as being the restoration of the Law of Moses. Thus, Jesus' advent marked the next stage in this evolutionary process. Some of the teachings contained in the Old and New Testaments may appear to be contradictory. However, when viewed in chronological context, they are absolutely logical and mutually complementary. Again, in accordance with the Old Testament prophecy, the final stage of this process initiated with the promulgation of the New Law which was designed to supersede the Mosaic Law. The Old Testament provides details about the New Law and the next Law-bearing prophet; information about his ancestry, his place of advent, the characteristics of the New Law and its mode of revelation and preservation had all been defined in the Old Testament. The New Testament also corroborates the Old Testament prophecies regarding the promulgation of the New Law. In addition to providing insights into the prophesied events, the New Testament also foretells future events. The revelation of the Quran is in exact accordance with the Biblical prophecies and marks the advent of the eventual stage of this evolutionary process. The Quran testifies to the authenticity of earlier prophets and claims to be the final message from God, which, in accordance with earlier prophesies and unlike earlier scriptures, is for all mankind. The validity of the Quranic claims can be easily confirmed by referring to Biblical prophecies and their fulfillment in accordance with their associated signs. Manipulation of these prophesied signs is beyond human control and hence their manifestation in the predetermined sequence is a clear sign of their fulfillment by divine design. The New Law again confirms the Divine source of the previous Laws and refers to them as the basis for its promulgation. Consistent with the past trend, this Law again prophesied about future events, which are quite consistent with those contained in earlier scriptures. In cases where the scriptures are not consistent, the latter scripture has to be believed because of its preservation in its pristine form. Due to doubts about the absolute preservation of earlier scriptures and the element of human interpolation in their compilation, their verdict in such instances will be rejected. In hindsight, the consistency of prophesied events in the above scriptures, their fulfillment in their entirety provides irrefutable evidence in support of the evolution in human spiritual development. This trend becomes obvious only after an unbiased chronological study of the above religious scriptures, without regard to scriptural boundaries. If, however, the scriptures are considered separately and the fulfillment of the prophesied events is sought within each of them, without reference to earlier or prior scriptures, then a great difficulty may be encountered in their understanding. Consequently, humans have relied heavily on superstition and supernatural beliefs in their attempts to explain the fulfillment of such events. Some of these beliefs and explanations are contrary to the laws of nature, science and logic. It is ironic that people are willing to accept these senseless explanations rather than seeking the truth. For example, the Jews rejected Jesus based on their belief of the physical second coming of Elijah and hence, missed the boat to