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USI Chapter#01
Chapter 1
The Teachings of Islam as Universal Religion.
Section a
Its Causes & Effects
Section b
The Preference to other Religions. Section c
Theme & Thoughts of Islam. Section – a
THE CAUSES & EFFECTS
All the religions of the world are the messages of God to the human beings. All the prophets were assigned duty to deliver the message of God, to certain races or people of certain localities, i.e. countries, whereas Islam is/was for the total humanity. If we look for the causes that why the message of Islam is universal in nature and other religions are for the certain races or localities only, then the answer for it can be easily found in Quran. If the evolution process of human society from the first prophet, Adam to the last Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) is seen, then we can see that Quran has clarified that all the nations of the world who had been cursed and wrath of God had fallen on them were involved at least in two prominent vices. The first and far most vice was always of Shirak, whereas the second vice or evil has been changing for all the nations respectively. Somewhere we see with Shirak, the lesson of the sex discipline is taught, in other place the second evil is dishonesty in the business or building of grandeur buildings, whereas we see in the time of Prophet Moses, one race of human beings is enslaved by other race. Prophet Moses was given written Commandments to free the enslaved minds of Bani Israel from the worldly slavery, which had shrouded the minds of his race. In case of Prophet Christ, again to Bani Israel, whose birth was a miracle and whose all life was full of miracles. If the human beings could have brought to the straight path by open miracles, then life of Christ (Peace Be upon Him) was enough. Glancing to the scenario of the world at the time of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him), it can be seen that human society had reached to its zenith in its achievements in the field of politics & philosophy, with Roman and Persian Empires present in that time of the world. All the teachings, first delivered to different nations, separately, through different messengers of God according to the need of time and occasions, needed to be compiled and to be presented in a single message, according to the need of the time and occasions, to the whole mankind. And that is Islam, in which man is differentiated not by color or creed, but by the inner alienation of heart towards good and God. Though the Prophet of Islam (Peace Be upon Him) was Arab, yet we can see in his companions were Salman from Persia, Qaib from Rome and Abdullah bin Abdul Salam from Bani Israel. As the message of Islam was final message from God, therefore, its nature is universal. This message being universal, can be visualized by the address of Holy Prophet (Peace Be upon Him) to Ahl e Kitab (Christians) at one place in Quran, “Let us unite on those views (points) in which we have common faith and let us not touch the views (points) where we differ.” From the above given verses of Quran, it is clear that Islam gives the lesson of unity among the human beings even though their religions are different. Hence, Islam is the religion, which even tries to knit human beings of different religions,( how for it has been successful in uniting the Muslims by its teachings is elaborated to unify Muslims in present world sceniora). This effect of unity, which has been caused through the teachings of Islam, can be seen in Hajj where Muslims from all over the world assemble and worship collectively the single God without the discrimination of color or creed. This united-ness of the Muslims caused by the teachings of Islam can be felt today in all its rituals. In the case of fall of any mishap on Muslim community in any part of the world, its effect is felt by the whole Muslim community as the effect of injury in any part of human body is felt by the whole body. This effect has been caused in the Muslim society by the teachings of Islam.
Section – b
THE PREFERENCE TO OTHER RELIGIONS
During the evolution process of human society, different Prophets in different parts of the world were sent with message, according to the need of the time, of the people of that specific area, country or race. When the time of Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him) reached, at that juncture of history, man had politically and philosophically reached to the peak of its achievements; politically – we can see Empires and philosophically – we see the teachings of philosophers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle of the Greeks. Human achievements in the spheres of politics and philosophy had seen their zenith and now at the time of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him), the philosophical and political systems were going toward the decay, needed refreshing, to cope with the problems, faced by humanity at large. Therefore, it can easily be concluded that man-made philosophy and political empires were the culmination of the progress, which man could had in the realm of politics and philosophy. The thing, which was needed, was the final word of God in this advanced philosophical and political situation. The already existing religions were not able to cope up with the aforesaid advancement of man’s in philosophy and politics. A religion was needed which could cover the practical needs of man for that time and time to come. This religion should have been free from miracles as miracles were the necessary parts of the previous religions. Islam is the religion in which man could easily quench his thirst for scientific knowledge. It was Islam, which asked the man to ponder, to mediate and try to find the secrets of the nature. Islam professed age and asked all the believers to seek knowledge without the discrimination of sexes. Prophet of Islam, Hazrat Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him) solved the problems in his times through his wisdom and it was his physical participation like a common human being in construction works and in wars, i.e. digging of ditch construction/mosque at Madina or when pagans surrendered Medina; which gives the lesson that, “God helps those who help themselves”. The Prophet (Peace Be upon Him) performed scarcely any open miracle. If we see through the life of the Prophet (Peace Be upon Him), we can easily conclude, that the footsteps of Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him) can be followed by a common man easily. Like other prophets, the last Prophet (Peace Be upon Him) did not perform open miracles to propagate his mission, but he used his mind and physical power like common man to solve the problems. Therefore, for common man, it is easy to follow him, because common man does not need staff of Moses or miracles of Christ, only the God-given faculties of mind and body are enough to tackle the problems to follow the last Prophet. It is this practical aspect of Islam, which offers equal chances to every human being to act according to the life of the last messenger of God. Whereas, it is difficult for common human being to act as other prophets sent by God to reform the societies, because in first case, man has to perform miracles to follow them, whereas, in second case help of miracles makes it difficult for common man to follow the examples of other Prophets as common man cannot perform the miracles of the Prophets whose steps they would follow, except the Last Prophet(PBUH) where faculties of mind & body are enough to follow the foot steps of him.. It is Islam, which has declared the entire human beings equal, and no discrimination is professed due to color, creed, race or area of birth. Islam professes equal rights for human beings. Therefore, Islam is preferable to other religions as it declares all human beings equal and for its followers, it is easy to get guidance from the life of their Prophet (Peace Be upon Him) to solve their problems, which they face in their practical life.
Section – c
THEME & THOUGHT OF ISLAM Islam is the religion of nature. Prophet (Peace Be upon Him) has a hadith that all the children are born on the religion of Islam; it is their parents who make them Christians, Jews or Magians. According to Quran, all the Prophets brought the message of Islam and Islam means submission to the will of God. Quran’s declaration about Prophet Abraham (Peace Be upon Him) was that he was neither Jew nor Christian but he was Muslim. Muslim is that who has faith on religion of Islam, i.e. who has surrendered to the will of God. Quran teaches us that all the Prophets are equal and we are forbidden from differentiating in among them. Hence, we can see that all the Prophets were the Prophets of Islam and we are required to give them equal respect as muslims. Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him) has clarified his position among the other Prophets, sent to humanity for guidance, as if the Prophet-hood is like a building and the Prophets are like the bricks from which this building is erected, then the position of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him) is like the last brick, which has completed this building of Prophet-hood. As far as Prophet-hood of Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him) is concerned, it is the last in the series of Prophets, but the lesson of tolerance which it imparts can be visualized by this verse of Quran, where it says, “Oh Believers, Oh Jews, Oh Christians and Oh Sabians, if you believe in One Allah, the day of Judgment and do good deeds, then you need not to be worried.” From the above quoted verse, it is clear that Islam does not neglect other religions, but only profess this thing that Islam is the latest message from God, therefore, for man, it is most modern recipe to cure the ills of the society. All other religions are named after their Prophets or tribes etc. but Islam is not named after its Prophet (Peace Be upon Him) or his tribe, because the name of Islam is the condition of heart where you become Muslim by submission of your will to the will of Allah. All those who submit their wills to the will of Allah and believe on the finality of the Prophet (Peace Be upon Him), they become one community, and to be a member of this community, there is no bar of area, culture or race. This compacting of men of different color, area and race into one community is the clear conquest of the theme and thought of Islam.
© mkwazire
The Teachings of Islam as Universal Religion.
Section a
Its Causes & Effects
Section b
The Preference to other Religions. Section c
Theme & Thoughts of Islam. Section – a
THE CAUSES & EFFECTS
All the religions of the world are the messages of God to the human beings. All the prophets were assigned duty to deliver the message of God, to certain races or people of certain localities, i.e. countries, whereas Islam is/was for the total humanity. If we look for the causes that why the message of Islam is universal in nature and other religions are for the certain races or localities only, then the answer for it can be easily found in Quran. If the evolution process of human society from the first prophet, Adam to the last Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) is seen, then we can see that Quran has clarified that all the nations of the world who had been cursed and wrath of God had fallen on them were involved at least in two prominent vices. The first and far most vice was always of Shirak, whereas the second vice or evil has been changing for all the nations respectively. Somewhere we see with Shirak, the lesson of the sex discipline is taught, in other place the second evil is dishonesty in the business or building of grandeur buildings, whereas we see in the time of Prophet Moses, one race of human beings is enslaved by other race. Prophet Moses was given written Commandments to free the enslaved minds of Bani Israel from the worldly slavery, which had shrouded the minds of his race. In case of Prophet Christ, again to Bani Israel, whose birth was a miracle and whose all life was full of miracles. If the human beings could have brought to the straight path by open miracles, then life of Christ (Peace Be upon Him) was enough. Glancing to the scenario of the world at the time of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him), it can be seen that human society had reached to its zenith in its achievements in the field of politics & philosophy, with Roman and Persian Empires present in that time of the world. All the teachings, first delivered to different nations, separately, through different messengers of God according to the need of time and occasions, needed to be compiled and to be presented in a single message, according to the need of the time and occasions, to the whole mankind. And that is Islam, in which man is differentiated not by color or creed, but by the inner alienation of heart towards good and God. Though the Prophet of Islam (Peace Be upon Him) was Arab, yet we can see in his companions were Salman from Persia, Qaib from Rome and Abdullah bin Abdul Salam from Bani Israel. As the message of Islam was final message from God, therefore, its nature is universal. This message being universal, can be visualized by the address of Holy Prophet (Peace Be upon Him) to Ahl e Kitab (Christians) at one place in Quran, “Let us unite on those views (points) in which we have common faith and let us not touch the views (points) where we differ.” From the above given verses of Quran, it is clear that Islam gives the lesson of unity among the human beings even though their religions are different. Hence, Islam is the religion, which even tries to knit human beings of different religions,( how for it has been successful in uniting the Muslims by its teachings is elaborated to unify Muslims in present world sceniora). This effect of unity, which has been caused through the teachings of Islam, can be seen in Hajj where Muslims from all over the world assemble and worship collectively the single God without the discrimination of color or creed. This united-ness of the Muslims caused by the teachings of Islam can be felt today in all its rituals. In the case of fall of any mishap on Muslim community in any part of the world, its effect is felt by the whole Muslim community as the effect of injury in any part of human body is felt by the whole body. This effect has been caused in the Muslim society by the teachings of Islam.
Section – b
THE PREFERENCE TO OTHER RELIGIONS
During the evolution process of human society, different Prophets in different parts of the world were sent with message, according to the need of the time, of the people of that specific area, country or race. When the time of Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him) reached, at that juncture of history, man had politically and philosophically reached to the peak of its achievements; politically – we can see Empires and philosophically – we see the teachings of philosophers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle of the Greeks. Human achievements in the spheres of politics and philosophy had seen their zenith and now at the time of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him), the philosophical and political systems were going toward the decay, needed refreshing, to cope with the problems, faced by humanity at large. Therefore, it can easily be concluded that man-made philosophy and political empires were the culmination of the progress, which man could had in the realm of politics and philosophy. The thing, which was needed, was the final word of God in this advanced philosophical and political situation. The already existing religions were not able to cope up with the aforesaid advancement of man’s in philosophy and politics. A religion was needed which could cover the practical needs of man for that time and time to come. This religion should have been free from miracles as miracles were the necessary parts of the previous religions. Islam is the religion in which man could easily quench his thirst for scientific knowledge. It was Islam, which asked the man to ponder, to mediate and try to find the secrets of the nature. Islam professed age and asked all the believers to seek knowledge without the discrimination of sexes. Prophet of Islam, Hazrat Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him) solved the problems in his times through his wisdom and it was his physical participation like a common human being in construction works and in wars, i.e. digging of ditch construction/mosque at Madina or when pagans surrendered Medina; which gives the lesson that, “God helps those who help themselves”. The Prophet (Peace Be upon Him) performed scarcely any open miracle. If we see through the life of the Prophet (Peace Be upon Him), we can easily conclude, that the footsteps of Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him) can be followed by a common man easily. Like other prophets, the last Prophet (Peace Be upon Him) did not perform open miracles to propagate his mission, but he used his mind and physical power like common man to solve the problems. Therefore, for common man, it is easy to follow him, because common man does not need staff of Moses or miracles of Christ, only the God-given faculties of mind and body are enough to tackle the problems to follow the last Prophet. It is this practical aspect of Islam, which offers equal chances to every human being to act according to the life of the last messenger of God. Whereas, it is difficult for common human being to act as other prophets sent by God to reform the societies, because in first case, man has to perform miracles to follow them, whereas, in second case help of miracles makes it difficult for common man to follow the examples of other Prophets as common man cannot perform the miracles of the Prophets whose steps they would follow, except the Last Prophet(PBUH) where faculties of mind & body are enough to follow the foot steps of him.. It is Islam, which has declared the entire human beings equal, and no discrimination is professed due to color, creed, race or area of birth. Islam professes equal rights for human beings. Therefore, Islam is preferable to other religions as it declares all human beings equal and for its followers, it is easy to get guidance from the life of their Prophet (Peace Be upon Him) to solve their problems, which they face in their practical life.
Section – c
THEME & THOUGHT OF ISLAM Islam is the religion of nature. Prophet (Peace Be upon Him) has a hadith that all the children are born on the religion of Islam; it is their parents who make them Christians, Jews or Magians. According to Quran, all the Prophets brought the message of Islam and Islam means submission to the will of God. Quran’s declaration about Prophet Abraham (Peace Be upon Him) was that he was neither Jew nor Christian but he was Muslim. Muslim is that who has faith on religion of Islam, i.e. who has surrendered to the will of God. Quran teaches us that all the Prophets are equal and we are forbidden from differentiating in among them. Hence, we can see that all the Prophets were the Prophets of Islam and we are required to give them equal respect as muslims. Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him) has clarified his position among the other Prophets, sent to humanity for guidance, as if the Prophet-hood is like a building and the Prophets are like the bricks from which this building is erected, then the position of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him) is like the last brick, which has completed this building of Prophet-hood. As far as Prophet-hood of Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him) is concerned, it is the last in the series of Prophets, but the lesson of tolerance which it imparts can be visualized by this verse of Quran, where it says, “Oh Believers, Oh Jews, Oh Christians and Oh Sabians, if you believe in One Allah, the day of Judgment and do good deeds, then you need not to be worried.” From the above quoted verse, it is clear that Islam does not neglect other religions, but only profess this thing that Islam is the latest message from God, therefore, for man, it is most modern recipe to cure the ills of the society. All other religions are named after their Prophets or tribes etc. but Islam is not named after its Prophet (Peace Be upon Him) or his tribe, because the name of Islam is the condition of heart where you become Muslim by submission of your will to the will of Allah. All those who submit their wills to the will of Allah and believe on the finality of the Prophet (Peace Be upon Him), they become one community, and to be a member of this community, there is no bar of area, culture or race. This compacting of men of different color, area and race into one community is the clear conquest of the theme and thought of Islam.
© mkwazire
