I am a Roman Catholic Christian by birth.
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
(May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
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Assalaam
Alaikum,
I am a Roman Catholic Christian by birth. I am 38 years old, and working
and residing in
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Answer:
Why people follow
Christianity
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 none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear
witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His
Messengers.
Your Question:
…..But my instincts hold me back and my conscience asks me whether I am taking
the right step forward by denying Christianity and embracing Islam. I
need to know if Islam is the right path to follow, then why are so many people
in this modern era still following Christianity !
Respected brother, if your doubt regarding the
authenticity and acceptability of Islam is only because a multitude of people
still follow Christianity…..then one could easily turn the statement around and
question that if Christianity is indeed the Right Path, then why do billions of
people choose to follow Islam, or Hinduism, or Buddhism, etc.!
It is never the ‘numbers’ which would dictate whether
one’s religion is right or wrong…..but rather one’s sincere contemplation of
life and the innumerable Signs which the Creator has kept in His creation which
would lead one to the Truth.
The honest truth is brother, most people simply do not
give religion the seriousness that it truly deserves and simply follow the
religion they are born into! Although
some may hold faith in their self-invented ‘god/s’ like the sun, the moon, or
even animals, or trees, or human beings or Allah forbid, a son of God……the
truth is brother that when man truly contemplates and questions the
authenticity of these self-invented gods, his intelligence will force him to
draw absolute blanks….for no man of even average intelligence will have the
courage to declare that the sun, or the moon, or the animals, or the trees, or
anything else in creation is the ‘Creator’ of everything in existence!
Everything in creation is but a creation…..it is the One
Who Created Who Alone Truly Deserves our worship and our unconditional
submission and obedience.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 41 Surah Fusselat
verse 37:
Do not prostrate (or worship) the sun and the moon, but do ‘prostrate’ (and worship) that
Allah, Who Created them, if you really are indeed His worshippers.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 16 Surah Nahl verse
20-21:
All the other beings whom the people invoke with
Allah, create nothing! Nay, they are themselves created. They are DEAD not living, and they do not at all know themselves when
they shall again be raised to life!
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 10 Surah Yunus verse
66:
Note it well that all the dwellers of the heavens and the
earth belong to Allah. And those who invoke partners besides Allah follow
nothing but surmises and merely indulge in guess-works!
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 30 Surah Rum verse
40:
Allah it is Who created you; then provided for you; then He causes your death; then He will bring you back to life. Is there among the associates you have set
up (with Allah) anyone, who can do any of these things? Glorified is He and Far Exalted above the
‘shirk’ (associating partners with Allah) these people commit.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 46 Surah Ahqaf verses
4-6:
O Prophet, say to them, "Have you ever seen them with
open eyes those whom you invoke instead of Allah? Show me what they have
created in the earth? Or have they any share in the creation and control of the
heavens? Bring me a Book revealed before this, or produce some remnant of
knowledge in support of your beliefs if you are truthful." And who could be
further astray than the one who invokes, instead of Allah, those who cannot
answer him till the Day of Resurrection. Nay, they are even UNAWARE THAT THEY
ARE BEING INVOKED. And when all mankind shall be gathered together (on the Day
of Judgment), they (the so called deities) will become enemies of those who
invoked them and they will DISOWN THEIR WORSHIP!!!
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 7 Surah Aaraf verse
190-196:
They associate with Allah partners who do not create
anything, but are themselves created!
Who cannot help them nor have the power to help themselves! If you invite them to follow the
Your
Question: Please advise me and help me with which I will be able to decide on
the right path to God.
Respected brother, although there are many ways an
individual may determine the Truth to be the religion of Al-Islam….you could
perhaps do this simple exercise for yourself and see if it helps you in your
search for the Truth.
A very simple and basic exercise and test needs only to be
done to determine which amongst the religions and beliefs in the world are True
and which are otherwise!
Lets assemble (for arguments sake) the best and most
recognized scholar of each of the major religions or beliefs prevalent in the
world today….be it Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Jainism, Sikhism, Jewism,
Christianity, Islam, etc.
And then ask these respected scholars each a few simple
questions:
Q-1: Do each of you have a Holy Book or
Scripture which you follow?
The Hindu scholar will present his Veda, or Purana, or
Bhagwad Geeta; the Buddhist scholar will present his Book of Buddha’s
teachings; the Sikh scholar will present his religious book Guru Granth Saheb;
etc…. and the Jewish scholar will present his book the Torah; the Christian
scholar his Bible and the Muslim scholar the Quran.
Q-2: Are these books which you follow
Divine, or the Words of the Lord God Who Created?
The Hindu scholar will declare himself that his book is
not divine or the word of the Creator, but are the words of a wise men like
Valmiki, etc.; the Buddhist scholar will testify himself that their book is the
words of their wise man Buddha; the Sikh scholar will declare himself that
their book is the words of their leader Guru Nanak, etc. etc.
Each of these scholars will themselves declare and testify
that the book they follow is neither Divine nor the Words of the Lord
Creator…but are the words of their respective religious leaders.
The Jewish scholar will declare and claim that the book
they follow, the Torah, is indeed Divine and a Revelation from the One and Only
Lord God Who created unto their Prophet Moses (may peace be upon him). Similarly, the Christian scholar will present
His Bible and claim it is Divine and the Word of God revealed unto their
Prophet Christ Jesus (may peace be upon him). Likewise the Muslim scholar will
present the Quran and claim that it is Divine and the Word of God revealed unto
their Prophet Mohamed (may peace be upon him).
All the other religious scholars will themselves testify
that their holy book is neither Divine nor the Word of the Lord Creator, but
was written by a wise human being….and because they themselves do not claim
their holy book to be divine, they are eliminated from any further questioning!
Thus, the only three of the several religions of the
world, Jewism, Christianity and Islam are the only ones who even claim to
possess the Word of the Creator in a book form which they follow.
Q-3: Ask the remaining three scholars
whether the book that is available with them in their hands is the exact
verbatim same Revelation of the Lord which was revealed on their respective
Prophets?
The Jewish scholar will himself testify and explain that
the original text of the Torah or the Old Testament which was revealed on their
Prophet Moses does not exist today in its original form! He will further explain that in time the
original text which was revealed on the Prophet Moses was destroyed, distorted,
altered, changed, etc. and what they have amongst them today is only what is
left and preserved from the Original Torah in addition to the works and words
of their religious scholars and rabbis.
But the Jewish scholar will himself testify to the fact and the truth
that the Original Revelation of the Torah which was revealed by the Lord Creator
upon Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) is not available with them today!
Similarly, the Christian scholar will testify that the
original text of the Gospel which was revealed in Truth by the Lord God on
Prophet Jesus does not exist today in its original text. Depending on which version of the Bible (King
James, or the Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Protestant, etc.) or which edition (1
through 16) the scholar holds, he himself will confirm that the Bible that is
available today is a collection of what is preserved from the Old Testament and
the Gospels which were written by the apostles of Christ or men named Mark,
Matthew, Luke, and John!
Thus the Christian scholar will himself testify to the
fact and truth that the Original Revelation of the Gospel which was revealed in
Truth by the Lord God upon the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) is not
available in its original form today!
But ask any muslim scholar of any sect or school…and he
will claim that the Quran available today is the exact verbatim original
Revelation which the Lord God revealed on His Last and Final Prophet Mohamed
(saws). Not even an alphabet (leave
alone a word, or phrase, or sentence, or paragraph) of the Original Revelation
of the Quran has been altered or changed or doctored or moved or added or
subtracted from the Original Revelation which was revealed upon Prophet Mohamed
(peace be upon him)! The Muslim scholar
will claim that the Quran which is amongst them today is the exact verbatim
Word by Word the Very Words of the Lord Who Created.
Thus my beloved brother, even a simple litmus test
eliminates all the available and prevalent religions of the world except Islam,
from themselves laying claim that the Books and/or the Scriptures they follow
are the original, verbatim, exact, very Words of the Lord Who Created.
All the other religions do not even themselves claim that
their scriptures are Divine or the Very Words of God! It is Islam and the muslims alone who claim
to have with them the Very Words of the Lord God, absolutely intact in its
original text….thus all one has to do is to read and study this Divine Book
themselves and determine for themselves whether the claim made by the muslims
is indeed true or false!
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 16 Surah Nahl verse
89:
We have sent down to you this Book, which makes everything
plain, and is a guidance, blessing and good news to those who have
surrendered themselves entirely.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 41 Surah Ha Mim As
Sajdaah verse 2-4:
This is a Revelation from the All-Compassionate, the All-Merciful Allah. A Book whose verses are well-expounded, an Arabic Quran for the people who want to
understand, and a giver of good news and a warner.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 18 Surah Kahf verse
1-3:
All praise is for Allah Alone, Who has sent down this Book to His Servant
(Mohamed (saws), and assigned nothing
crooked to it. This Book says
everything directly, so that he may warn
the people of the severe chastisement of Allah and give good news to the
believers, who do righteous deeds, that they will have an excellent reward.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 17 Surah Isra verse
88:
Declare this! ‘Even if human beings and the jinns should
co-operate with one another to bring forth a book like the Quran, they would never be able to bring anything
like it, even though they all helped one
another!”
If the logical and wise guidance of the Glorious Quran are
not sufficient enough for one to be convinced that the Quran is indeed from the
Lord God Who Created, then for such ardent disbelievers, the Lord God has
Himself put forth this challenge:
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 11 Surah Hud verses
13-14:
Do they say, “He (Mohamed (saws)) has invented the Book himself?” Say to them, “Very well, if it is so,
then bring ten fabricates Surahs like this! And you may call to your asistance whosoever
you can except Allah, if you speak the
truth! Now if they (your false
gods) do not come to your help, you
should know that this Book has been revealed with the knowledge of Allah, and that there is no true deity other than
Allah. Do you then surrender to this?”
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 (saws)) is from Us (Allah) or not, then produce, at least, one surah 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.
If even after such arguments of the Lord, one were to
still persist in denying the Last and Final Revelation of the Lord God, then
they should await the torment the Lord Most High, Most Supreme has prepared for
those who deny Him, His Last and Final Messenger (saws), and His Last and Final
Revelation:
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verse
7:
(O Prophet) even if We had sent down to you a Book written
on paper, and even if they had touched
it with their own hands, the
disbelievers would have said, “This is nothing but manifest sorcery!”.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verse
33:
We know that what they say grieves you. But it is not you whom they charge with
falsehood! These wicked people are in
fact, denying the Revelations of Allah!
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verse
157-158:
Now that a clear proof,
a Guidance and Blessing (The Quran) has come to you from your Lord, who can be more unjust than the one who
treats Our Revelations as false and turns away from them? We will inflict the severest torment on those
who turn away from Our Revelations because of their aversion. Do the people now await that the angels
should come down before them? Or that
your Lord may Himself come down? Or that
the manifest Signs of your Lord should appear?
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 10 Surah Yunus verses
40-41:
Some of these people will believe in (The Quran), and others will not. Your Lord knows these mischief-makers very
well indeed. If these people deny you, say to them: “I am responsible for my deeds
and you are for yours. You are not
accountable for what I do, nor am I for
what you do.”
If one trusts, obeys, and follows the guidance and
commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws),
one can be assured of never ever being misled; but if one believes, obeys and follows any
other guidance, other than that of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be
assured of being led astray.
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only
due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me
alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is
the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother and
well wisher in Islam,
Burhan
Wister