Contains:
True religion is essentially
one; Tolerance and protection
The above statements provide us with a framework
for understanding human society and history. They should help us to deal with
such questions as: How do we explain the fact that there exist so many
different religions or worldviews?
If many of these religions claim to lead man to
the same goal, how do we account for both the similarities and differences
between on religion and another?
Can any one religion lay
exclusive claim to the truth?
The above statements could also provide us with
guidelines to determine the type of attitudes and relationships we have with
people of other faiths and worldviews.
In the first chapter, we discussed briefly the
widely held notion that the religion or worldview of early man was ‘primitive’.
According to this notion, man’s religion began in animism (the worship of
stones, trees, the sun and other objects) and evolved through beliefs and
practices like ancestor worship and polytheism. Then only it moved on or
progressed to a higher monotheism or belief in one God as man became more
developed and progressive. This notion is part of the linear view of history – that human beings move in a continuous line from being
primitive to being more and more developed and progressive.
This notion of the origins of religion does not
fit in with the Islamic view of the nature of the first man who was endowed
with knowledge and guidance by a wise and just Creator. According to the
Islamic view, first there was belief in One God and only later this belief came
to be overlaid by animistic, polytheistic and other elements. Man either became
forgetful, or using his freedom of choice he deliberately deviated from the
straight path to guidance.
There is evidence for this Islamic view in many
regions and cultures ot the
world. The idea of a Supreme God, the Creator, prevails in many tribal
religions of
Zoroastrianism, named after Zarathustra
whose time and place are a riddle (500 or 2500BCE), has many ideas and
doctrines which are familiar to other faiths. Zarathustra
is said to have first encountered an angel as an emissary from God, called
people to have faith in Him alone and Judgment after death and left behind
scriptures. Even in Hinduism, so extensively polytheistic, one can find the
idea of One God under all the layers of shirk. In Hinduism, many of
the ‘attributes’ of God were apparently transformed into images and there is a
suggestion that Rama and Krishna were messengers of
God who were turned into gods incarnate in the same way that Jesus was in
Christianity.
How did the true religion of God come
to be overlaid by polytheistic ideas and other elements?
For various motives such as power or prestige or
economic gain people created objects of worship or set up themselves as supreme
beings to be revered and obeyed. Other people out of fear or feelings of group
solidarity also worshipped these objects, sometimes in addition to the One God.
Some also regarded their leaders as divine or as having Divine powers.
Eventually all it took was the passing of a
generation for such attitudes and habits to be accepted as normal and right
simply because ‘we found our fathers and our forefathers’ engaged in such
worship and such practices. This was the state for example in which the young
Abraham found his people.
Periodically God sent guides or prophets to every
people to bring them back on course to the Straight Path of acknowledging and
worshipping the One and Only God. Some people followed the prophets and
reformed their ways. Many people, through habit, devotion to their ancestors or
their version of what their ancestors did, or through economic or political
vested interests or plain stubbornness, stuck to their old misguided ways. Some
even went further and persecuted the prophets and their followers.
All true prophets maintained that they were not
seeking power, fame or wealth or any favors for themselves but that they had
the genuine interests of the people at heart. Some people, realizing their need,
accepted the leadership of the prophet sent to them, but when their need was
fulfilled, they turned their backs on the prophet’s instruction. This was the
case with the Israelites and their need for the leadership of Prophet Moses to
deliver them from the Pharaoh of Egypt. After leaving
After the departure of a prophet, often
ironically out of devotion to that prophet, some people would add to or alter
his message. They would attribute capabilities and powers to the prophet such
as he himself never claimed. This is in keeping with people’s propensity to
exaggerate or embellish a story more and more with each telling. This is
evidently what has happened in the case of Jesus. It is suggested that this was
also the case with Rama and
In this way a new religion is performed. It may
contain some of the original truths taught by the prophet side by side with
new-fangled myths and legends and practices. Lacking any firm point of
reference, this new religions keeps on changing from one place to another and
from one epoch to another. This has been the case with Christianity.
In time, using their reasons, some people find
themselves in all honesty, being unable to accept the fantastic claims that are
made of a religion or they see that these religions are unable to provide
adequate or satisfying answers to the many aspects of life and human
relationships. They reject this religion and because this is the only religion
they know, they think that all religion is the same and so they reject religion
as such altogether and the belief in God altogether. This is how atheism,
humanism and secularism have arisen in the West and under it s influence spread
to different parts of the world. (Top)
From the beginning of mankind, true religion or
guidance from God has always been one. People have strayed from or corrupted
this guidance. True prophets have sought to renew and purify this guidance. But
this various peoples to whom these prophets were sent often created their own ‘mixture’
or religion both from what is true and from their own ingredients, additions
and corruptions. To the extent that they took from what is true, we have
similarities in the various ‘mixtures’ or new-fangled religions. To the extent
that they added their own corruptions, we have differences in these mixtures or
religions.
The one true religion has always taught belief in
and obedience to the One God and this is what Islam literally is. According to
the Qur’an, true religions (in the plural) do not
exist; true religion (in the singular) exists. All thr
prophets summoned us to one religion, to one primary course and goal.
‘God has ordained for you that religion which He
commended to Noah, and that which We inspire in you (O Prophet Muhammad), and
that which We commended to Abraham, Moses and Jesus, uphold the religion and do
not grow divided on it’ (42: 13)
True religion or Islam has always been
essentially one thing in all times and all places. A statement like ‘Islam was
the last of the revealed religions’ is therefore erroneous. All true Prophets
were Muslims which literally means those who submit to the One God. Their
message was essentially the same – Islam: to call men to worship and submit to
One God. Adam was a Muslim, Abraham was a Muslim, Moses was a Muslim, Jesus was a Muslim. Zarathustra,
if he was a true Prophet, was a Muslim. Rama, if he
was a true Prophet, was a Muslim.
This reasoning, that true religion is one, is
based on the worldview that sees man as a single species with the same natural
needs. It is only when people deviated from true religion and set up their own
factions and sects that the unity of mankind was split asunder, each one
exulting in its own sect, faction or ‘religion’. What then should be the
relationship between the upholders of the true religion and the followers of
other religions and ideologies? There are three main positions which can be
adopted.
The first is based on the fact that God created
man with a free will, with the freedom to choose correct guidance or not. If
God had wanted, he could have made all human beings, like angels, submit to His
will. This freedom of choice, although it carries its own responsibilities and
burdens for the individual, must be respected. No one can be compelled to
believe or disbelieve. The Qur’an clearly states, ‘There
is no compulsion in religion’ even as it emphasizes that Trutu
and right guidance provided in Islam has been made distinct from error. (Top)
The initial position of a Muslim to other faiths
is thus one of tolerance. More than this, the protection of freedom of belief
and worship for followers of other religions has been made a sacred duty of Muslims.
Remarkably this duty was fixed at the same time when the duty of Jihaad was ordained:
‘Permission (to fight) is given to those against whom
war is being wrongfully waged, and verily, God has indeed the power to succor them:
those who have been driven from their homelands against all right for no other reason
than their saying, ‘Our Lord and Sustainer is God!’.
‘For, if God had not enabled people to defend themselves
against one another, monasteries and churches and synagogues and mosques – in which
God’s name is abundantly extolled – would surely have been destroyed’ (22: 39-40)
The above verses gives precedence to the sawaami ‘(monasteries), the biya’ (churches) and the salawaat (synagogues) over the mosques
in order to underline their inviolability and the duty of the Muslims to safeguard
them against any desecration or abuse, and protect freedom of belief.
Indeed, Islam requires that protection be given
to people who do not believe in revealed religion at all, provided they refrain
from molesting the believers. The Qur’an declares:
‘If any of the idolaters seek your protection (O
Muhammad), grant him protection so that he may hear the Word of God, and
afterwards convey him to a place of safety; for they are people who do not know
the truth’. (9: 6)
The second protection is based on the knowledge
that even after he has erred or gone astray man has the chance and the capacity
to return to his good nature and the Straight Path. Man often needs to be
helped in this process by being reminded of his nature and his purpose in life.
This process of reminding or inviting others to truth and justice is what we
have referred to in the last topic as Da’wah. As a
result of Da’wah, people may choose to return to
their naturally good state and become Muslim in which case they accept all the
obligations and rights of Muslims and are welcomed wholeheartedly into the
community of believers. Alternatively, they may choose to remain in their
religion. In this case their right to do so is respected. They have the right
to manage their own affairs and the obligation to live in peace and
co-existence with others.
A third position arises when people have not only
strayed but actively rebel and commit evil and injustice despite calls on them
to give up their evil ways. Such people, whether they belong to a religion or
not, cannot be left alone but need to be combated in the interests of security
and to protect such values as life, honor and so on.
With this background, it may be useful to take a
more detailed look at some existing religions and worldviews. (Top)