How were other religions/faiths born
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:
Salaam.
First must congratulate you guys, doing a
wonderful job spreading the words of ISLAM in a rightful way to the world and
to the quieries.
1) How were other religions/faiths born
2) Who invented these religions
As the Quran says ALLAH is the sole bearer of
the world, who comes and goes, who lives and dies.
so why is a child punished for 1) being born
in another religion? 2) praying to the god of that religion? 3) being loyal to
the religion?
these queries are very confusing to me. as a
Muslim i am told that ISLAM is the right way of life, Allah is the one
and only god etc etc.
it's the same with other kids who are born in
other religions, the things that are said to me as a Muslim, they get the same
talks. so why are they punished for not bowing down to ALLAH?
plz answer my questions asap, as they are
really doing my head in.
i've asked a few people but, never get a
satisfactory answer from anybody!!!!!!
waiting for your reply.
May ALLAH reward your work with the fruits of
heaven, AMEEN!
Gods Bless
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errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from
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confidentiality.)
Answer:
Who invented religion?
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask
for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever
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.
Q-1: How were other religions/faiths born
Q-2: Who invented these religions
The Lord Creator who created everything in existence also
created the distinct nature of man; and in that distinct nature of man, the
All-Knowing, All-Wise Creator put a yearning and a desire towards following and
worshipping. The same All-Mighty Lord
bestowed on man (and Jinn) two things which He did not bestow on any amongst
His creation, and thus involved man to a test:
Intelligence or the Power of Reasoning
A Free Will to choose whatever path one wishes to follow
for a period of one life.
The Merciful Lord revealed the Straight Path that leads to
Him (Al-Islam) with the first man (Hadrat Adam (a.s.)) He sent on earth, and
appointed Him as a Prophet to guide his family to the Straight Path. Since man was bestowed with a ‘free will’ as
a test from their Lord, some chose to follow the Prophet and tread the Straight
Path and some refused to accept it.
The ones who chose disobedience over obedience swerved
from the Straight Path, but their inherent nature prompted them to worship and
follow a ‘thing’ or a ‘being’ whom they believed had the power to help them in
their times of spiritual need.
Thus whenever the disobedient amongst mankind swerved from
the Straight Path revealed by their Lord Most Merciful through His Prophets and
His Messages, they started inventing their own form of rites and rituals and
beliefs to fulfill their natural inclination towards religion; and thus the
other faiths and religions were born.
Whenever mankind deviated from the Straight Path, The Lord
in His Supreme and Sublime Mercy and Grace towards His creation, again sent His
Messengers with the same Message to bring mankind to the Straight Path. Again the evil and disobedient amongst man
deviated from the True and Straight Path of their Lord, and formed their own
beliefs, thus giving rise to more faiths and more religions; but the deen or
path or faith or belief that leads Straight to the Lord remained the same since
the creation of man on this planet earth: ie. Al-Islam.
On the Day of Resurrection, no faith or belief or deen
will be acceptable to the Lord except the deen that was approved and revealed
by Him, Al-Islam.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale-Imran verse 19: Indeed, Islam in the ONLY right way of life in the
sight of Allah.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah
Ale-Imran verse 85:And whoever adopts any other than this way of Islam, that way shall not be accepted from him and
in the Hereafter, he shall be among the
losers.
Q-3: As the Quran says ALLAH is the sole bearer of the
world, who comes and goes, who lives and dies. so why is a child punished for
1) being born in another religion? 2) praying to the god of that religion? 3)
being loyal to the religion?
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 67 Surah
Mulk verses 1-4:
1 Blessed be He in Whose hands is Dominion:
and He over all things Hath Power
2 He Who created Death and Life that He may
try which of you is best in deed: and He is the Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving
3 He Who created the seven heavens one
above another; no want of proportion wilt thou see in the Creation of (Allah)
Most Gracious, so turn thy vision again: Seest thou any flaw?
4 Again turn thy vision a second time;
(thy) vision will come back to thee dull and discomfited in a state worn out!
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 64 Surah
Taghabun verses 1-4:
1 Whatever is in the heavens and on earth
doth declare the Praises and Glory of Allah: to Him belongs Dominion and to Him
belongs Praise: and He has power over all things.
2 It is He Who has created you; and of you
are some that are Unbelievers and some that are Believers: and Allah sees well
all that ye do.
3 He has created the heavens and the earth
in just proportions and has given you shape and made your shapes beautiful: and
to Him is the final Goal.
4 He knows what is in the heavens and on
earth: and He knows what ye conceal and what ye reveal: yes Allah knows well
the (secrets) of (all) hearts.
Indeed all Power and all Strength is vested in none except
the Lord Creator of the heavens and the earth and everything that exists in
between, and it is He Alone Who Decides and Decrees who comes and who goes, who
lives and who dies, etc.
Hadrat Ali ibn Abi Taalib (r.a.) reported
that the Prophet (saws) said: "The pen is raised for three groups [of
people]--that is, they will not be responsible for their actions:
the insane until they become sane,
those who are sleeping until they awaken,
and the young until they reach the age
of puberty."
Related by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, and Tirmidhi.
The Lord Creator is not only the Most-Merciful, but He
also is the All-Just and the All-Wise; and in His Principles of Justice, no ‘child’
who is visited by death before he reaches the age of understanding or puberty
will be held accountable for his deeds in His Supreme and Majestic Court in the
Hereafter. In the Supreme Justice of the
Lord, only those who reach the age of understanding, and of their own free will
chose to apply and act on their bestowed intelligence will be held accountable
for their deeds!
Allah Subhanah has bestowed each amongst man intelligence
and the power of reasoning and given him a ‘free will’ to chose the path he
wishes to live his life. When man
reaches the age of understanding, he is bound to use his intelligence and
ponder over the creation of the Supreme Creator and submit himself to Him and
Him Alone.
But the Mercy of the Most Merciful Lord and the Justice of
the All-Just Lord is such that He does not punish anyone unless and until they
have been presented with His Message of Truth, and one of his own free will chooses
to deny and reject His Message!
If man refuses to use his intelligence and the power of
reasoning, and without any evidence, basis, or logic chooses to blindly follow
a path followed by his forefathers and surroundings just because he was born in
it; and of his own free will, chooses to deny the Message of Truth presented to
him; he himself will be responsible for the choice he made, in the Presence of
his All-Mighty Lord and Creator on an Inevitable Day!
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 17 Surah Israa
verse 15: Who receiveth guidance receiveth it for his own benefit: who
goeth astray doth so to his own loss: no bearer of burdens can bear the burden
of another: nor would We visit with Our Wrath until We had sent a Messenger (to
give warning).
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 28 Surah
Qasas verse 59: Nor was thy Lord the one to destroy a
population until He had sent to its center a Messenger rehearsing to them Our
Signs: nor are We going to destroy a population except when its members
practice iniquity.
The Supreme Justice of the Lord All-Mighty is such that on
the Day of Judgment no man who denied His Creator, His Messengers, and His
Message will ever claim that he is being punished unjustly! In the Presence of his Majestic Lord and
Creator on that Inevitable and Tumultuous Day, every person who chose to
disbelieve will admit his wrong-doings and will blame none except himself for
his disbelief!
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah
Anaam verses 130-132:
130 (on the Day of Judgment it will be said:) “O ye assembly of Jinns and men! Came there not unto you Messengers from
amongst you, setting forth unto you of the meeting of this Day of
yours?" They will say:
"We bear witness against ourselves." It was the life of this world that deceived
them. So against themselves will they
bear witness that they rejected faith.
131 (The Messengers were sent) thus for thy
Lord would not destroy for their wrong-doing men's habitations whilst their
occupants were unwarned.
132 To all are degrees (or ranks) according to their deeds: for thy Lord
is not unmindful of anything that they do.
Dear and Beloved Brother in Islam, one has not been given
the option to choose where and to whom one is born; and thus none will be
accountable for a deed where one has not been given an option to choose! But each amongst man has definitely been
bestowed with the option to choose one’s religion, choose whom he wishes to
obey and follow and worship, and choose the path of life one wishes to
live….and that is precisely the test the Lord has laid upon man!
The ones who use their intelligence and power of reasoning
to determine the Truth from the falsehood, and choose to submit their bestowed
‘free will’ to the Will of their Lord and Creator will pass the test of life and
will be honored with the Mercy and Forgiveness of their Lord. And the ones who, of their own ‘free will’
chose to deny their Lord Who Created them and everything in existence, and
choose to submit, obey and follow others beside their Lord Creator will fail
their test of life miserably and will have a severe accounting in the Presence
of the Majestic Lord for the choices they made of their own ‘free will’!!!
Your Question: so why is a child punished for 1) being
born in another religion? 2) praying to the god of that religion? 3) being
loyal to the religion?
Dear and Beloved Brother, it is unfortunately the fallacy
of a majority of the muslims today who falsely believe in their ignorance that
just because they were born into muslim households, they are automatically
entitled to
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah
Baqarah verses 78-82:
78 And there are among them illiterates who
know not the Book but (see therein their own) desires and they do nothing but
conjecture.
79 Then woe to those who write the Book with
their own hands and then say: "This is from Allah" to traffic with it
for a miserable price! Woe to them for what their hands do write and for the
gain they make thereby.
80 And they say: "The fire shall not
touch us but for a few numbered days"; Say: "Have ye taken a promise
from Allah for He never breaks His promise?
Or is it that ye say of Allah what ye do not know?"
81 Nay those who seek gain in Evil and are
girt round by their sins they are Companions of the Fire therein shall they
abide (for ever).
82 But those who have faith and work
righteousness they are Companions of the Garden therein shall they abide (for
ever).
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah
Baqarah verses 111-112:
111 And they say: "None shall enter
paradise unless he be a Jew or a Christian." Those are their (vain) desires. Say: "Produce your proof if ye are
truthful."
112 Nay! Whoever submits his whole self to
Allah and is a doer of good he will get his reward with his Lord; on such shall
be no fear nor shall they grieve.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah
Maidah verse 18: (Both) the Jews and the Christians say:
"We are sons of Allah and His beloved." Say: "Why then doth He punish you for
your sins? Nay ye are but men of the men
He hath created: He forgiveth whom He pleaseth and He punisheth whom He
pleaseth: and to Allah belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth and
all that is between: and unto Him is the final goal (of all)."
Where and to whom one is born will not earn anyone rewards
or punishments on the Day of Resurrection; but rewards and punishments will be
Determined and Judged by the All-Knowing, All-Just Lord depending on the
choices of belief and deeds a person did of his own free will!
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
Wister