Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

thank you for your kind e-mail. do you consider post-muhammedan religions like gurmat and bahai also as revelations? 

rabb rakha,

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

What about the religions before Islam?

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and who-ever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

All the religions of the world are unanimous, either directly, or indirectly, in their belief that there is a Being Who Created the heavens and the earth and everything that exists in between. And the One Who Created everything, is the ONLY One Who has a right to guide us to the way to salvation. The true deen (or way of life) can only be that which comes from this Creator.

This Creator can be called by any good name for all the good names belong to Him; call Him God, call Him Allah, call Him Maalik, call Him Bhagwaan, or call Him Vidhaata, etc. The important thing is that we believe He is the one and only Creator of everything that exists. And because He Alone is our Creator, He Alone deserves our worship and no one else.

Since the creation of the first man, this Creator, made arrangements to send His guides and His Books to help mankind determine and find their way to salvation. These guides came to mankind and proclaimed that they have been chosen as the guides from God; and to prove that they were the chosen guides, they were given either Revelations from God, or miracles from God, or both. These guides came to all the parts of the world over time, and the Revelations were revealed in the language of the people they were sent to. The core Message of all these guides was always the same:

Worship the One God Who Created you and everything else that exists Alone, and do not associate any other partner with Him.

Over time, the teachings of these guides was forgotten, or the Messages that they brought from God was changed by human beings. This carried on for thousands of years, and when the world was ready to become a global village; when one Message, with the help of technology like invention of paper, transfer of information, etc. could reach all the human beings; God sent His final Messenger and His final Book. We, as muslims, believe that this final Messenger of God was Prophet Mohamed (saws), and the final Book and Testament was the Holy Quran. And God declared in the Holy Quran that this Message was for the guidance of all mankind until the end of time. God also guaranteed and Himself took over the responsibility that no one would be able to change this Message or corrupt it in any way. Thus God, in His infinite Wisdom and Knowledge, sent as a Mercy to the world, His last and final Messenger with the Message of the Holy Quran. And this deen (or way of life) was called Islam, and those who believed in it were called muslims.

We, as muslims, believe this Message revealed unto Prophet Mohamed (saws) is from our one and only Creator. The Holy Quran clearly declares that the Quran is the final Book of Revelation, and no more Messengers or Revelations will come after this, until the end of time. Thus, as muslims, we do not believe in any of the religions which were developed after the Prophethood of Mohamed (saws).

Thus, if I, as a muslim, say that Prophet Mohamed is the Last Messenger of God, and that the Revelations revealed unto him is the Final Message, it would seem biased. The only way to confirm or deny our claim is for fair-minded individuals like you, to read the Holy Quran yourself and then decide whether this is a Divine Revelation, or something written by man. I myself am a convert to Islam, and I became a muslim only after reading the Quran, whereby this Glorious Book proves itself that it is, without any doubt, a Revelation from God. The Quran is easy reading, and it explains everything in a very clear and concise manner, which can be easily understood by any person who uses commonsense and basic reasoning.

I just want to quote one verse from the Holy Quran, whereby Allah challenges and warns those who do not believe in the Truth of His Message; and this challenge stands unbroken more than 1,400 years to date!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 23-24:And if you be in doubt whether the Book We have sent down to Our Servant (Mohamed) is from Allah or not, then produce, at least, one surah (chapter) like this. You may call all your associates to assist you, and avail yourselves of the help of any other than Allah. If you are genuine in your doubt, do this! But if you do not do this, and you can never do this, then fear the Fire which has been prepared for the disbelievers, and which shall have men and stones for fuel.

May Allah help you and guide you in your search for the Truth. And if indeed one’s mission is to search for the Truth and true salvation, Allah has promised in the Quran that He will help and guide them.

If you have further questions, or need any sort of clarifications, please do not hesitate to write to us.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan