According to the Islamic philosophy of life RELIGION IS THE WORD OF GOD AND SCIENCE HIS ACTION / WORK. Thus faith in the Almighty God is the most beautiful source of enhancing human culture and civilisation. When observed in the perspective of the spiritual and intellectual evolutionary processes, religion fosters mutual understanding, love, peace and cooperation among the different peoples. Analyses contrary to this conclusion appear to be nests of misunderstandings, rivalries and enmity.
1 In regard to the recent inter-religious vehemence over the following words of the 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos:
"Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." (Dialogue 7: Twenty-six Dialogues with a Persian by Manuel II Palaiologos, Byzantine Emperor from 1391 to 1425)
many Christian friends believe that Pope Benedict XVI intended to start a dialog between Christians and Muslims by quoting these words on the 12th of September 2006.
2 If this was the intention of the Pope then it is surely honourable. I, for one, would be enthused to participate in such a dialogue. Although I would have liked to write earlier, the unleashing of ignorant vehemence in the wake of this quote was very embarrassing. So I thought I should wait and let the dust settle down, since dialogues of this nature would continue in any case until the time that Muslims and Christians once again join hands to work for peace in the same way as they did during Prophet Muhammad's own life time.
3 The major cause for the ever-increasing violent reactions these days on every political and religious issue is the world-wide use of double standards of morality by those who matter the most in religious and political affairs.
4 Another reason is that a majority of "modern" people around the world have lost interest in reading the divine scriptures, i.e. books bearing God's messages, spoken in simple and short words but with an enormous depth in meaning, expounding on the philosophy of life.
5 If the intention of the Pontiff was to initiate dialogue then I congratulate him. Now Muslims have a responsibility to invite the Christians towards the same according to the 1400 years old divine call of God to the Christians and the Jews that,
"...O' People of the Book! Come to a word equal between us and you ... that we worship none but Allah, and that we associate no partner with Him and that some of us take not others for Lords beside Allah..." (The Quran / Al-Imran 3:64-65)
So let the Christians and the Muslims and the Jews all come together and say, "O Almighty God, as per your divine call, here we are! How can we jointly work together to establish reality among all the nations and the peoples, so that humankind can be one, under one God."
6 On this remark of the Pontiff in the present critical phase humanity has entered, Muslims, the followers of Islam, the youngest among the five major divine religions of the world, may thankfully avail this opportunity and open dialogue with the Christians for the removal of misunderstandings, since the Christians are nearest to the Muslims as Christianity is the next youngest religion.
The Holy Prophet Muhammad said:
"... Both in this world and in the Hereafter, I am the nearest of all the people to Jesus, the son of Mary. God's Messengers are paternal brothers, their mothers are different, but their religion is one." (Sahih Bukhari - The Book of the Prophets)
7 During Prophet Muhammad's time, the Muslims and the Christians, being followers of the youngest and the next youngest religion, were so near to one another, that according to the Christian King of Abyssinia (former Ethiopia), only a thin line divided them.
These two religions believed in the one God and in the divine appointment of Jesus, and that he was a beloved of God, and that he was nearest in time to Prophet Muhammad among all the divine Messengers. The religious traditions of Middle Eastern Christians and Muslims were virtually the same, as they were both based on Prophet Abraham's traditions.
8 The following are a few out of the many traditions common among early Christians and Muslims. Although Muslims still observe the same, Christians have gradually abandoned them, turning the thin spiritual line of difference between Islam and Christianity into a thick one.
8.1 According to the traditions of Jesus (Matthew 26:39) and Muhammad, postures of bowing and prostrating, while performing daily prayers, were the same among Middle Eastern Christians and Muslims. Muslims still observe bowing and prostrating in their daily prayers but Christians have abandoned this practice.
8.2 Jesus strictly observed regular prayer and fasting and guided his disciples to observe the same for their constant spiritual development (Matthew 17:21). Muslims to this day follow the same, but most Christians have cast away these modes of worship.
8.3 Jesus, being son of the house of Abraham, was circumcised when he was eight days old (Luke 2:21). Muslims still strictly follow this tradition, while Christians do not.
8.4 Following Abraham's divine tradition, Jesus and his saintly companions sacrificed an animal every year (Mark 14:12 & Luke 22:7) but today's Christians remain unaware of this practice of Jesus and call it a barbaric Muslim tradition.
8.5 The main words of greeting of Jesus and his companions were the same as used by Muhammad and his companions i.e. Shelom Alaikim (Peace be unto you) in Hebrew or Salamo Alaikum in Arabic. Muslims still use the same words of greeting, but - after several centuries of using the Latin translation Pax vobiscum - modern Christians have now completely abandoned the practice.
8.6 Most important of all such traditions that develop and maintain real feelings of closeness and love, is the use of God's supreme name Allah, more than His other attributive names.
Jesus used this name of God, Allah, frequently, as it always cited "supreme" among the believers of the house of Abraham. Certain archaeological and traditional traces speak of the use of this supreme name from the time of Adam.
Hebrew or Armaic speaking people accentuate the Arabic word Allah as Elloh. El is the abbreviated expression of the name Allah or Elloh, the constant use of which is on biblical record since the time of Prophet Abraham.
Jesus, at his most critical hour on the cross, specifically used this name of God in his supplications, saying, "Eloh-i, Eloh-i, lama-sabachthani?" or "Eli, Eli, lama-sabachthani?". That is to say, "My Allah / my Elloh / my El, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46)
9 Jesus, Moses and the other Prophets of the house of Abraham, and their followers, mainly used God's name of Allah or Elloh. This name of God is still commonly used in the Muslim world. Today's Christians, however, think that the name Allah belongs only to Muslims, hence they avoid using or hearing it (though it is to be noted that many Middle Eastern Christians still use it).
10 Muslims believe that by abandoning such traditions, modern Christians are replacing the divine teachings and traditions of Jesus, or Christianity, with the old pagan thoughts and practices. One such example is the appearance of men and women among strangers without headgear (1 Corinthian 11:5,6,15). Another example is the general acceptance of homosexuality, lewdness, and so on, formally, under their newly coined name of western democratic culture.
This means that the increasing distance of modern Christians from the gospel of Jesus is bound to create a proportionate distance between Christians and Muslims, as Muslims, being the followers of the youngest and the last divine religion, believe that they are custodians of the teachings and traditions of all the divine Prophets who appeared from the time of Adam (as Christians were the custodians prior to the advent of Islam).
11 God's messengers appear in order to save human societies from evil pagan traditions, the poisonous toxins of which destroy the virtues of morality and the natural peaceful order of society. The Almighty does not allow such evils to prosper among His children on His earth, as He created this earth and all life on it according to His laws of nature, in perfect form.
Allah says, 'O man, if you do not like this balanced and peaceful order of mine on my earth, then you may go to any other earth, which you think is not mine.'
12 Modern western Christians think that they have earned the present day prosperity, rise, might and power only through their own mental and physical efforts. Therefore, they feel content and try to live happily without God and without His beloved messenger Jesus.
They lack knowledge of what has been foretold in the 1400 years old Quran, in which Almighty Allah informs that He promised Jesus two periods of rise for the Christians. Currently, they are in their second rise, which came after the first rise of the Muslims.
13 However, in the Quran, Allah has further promised to Jesus that if such rise, might and power made them arrogant and they ungratefully drifted away from the bountiful Allah and from His beloved Prophet Jesus, and embraced paganism for its worldly pleasures, then Allah would withdraw His bounties and punish them:
"...said Jesus, son of Mary, 'O Allah, our Lord, send down to us a table from heaven spread with food that it may be to us a festival, to the first of us and to the last of us and a Sign from Thee; and provide sustenance for us, for Thou art the Best of sustainers.' Allah said, 'Surely I will send it down to you, but whosoever of you disbelieves afterward - I will surely punish them with a punishment wherewith I will not punish any other of the peoples.'" (The Quran / Al-Maidah 5:114-116)
14 As the believers of Allah's last sun-like Prophet, Muslims still have a strong aversion to many of the acts forbidden in the divine scriptures. Thus their reaction to iniquitous acts of immorality is much stronger than the reaction of others, particularly when national and international leaders become smeared with such evils.
While honest leaders might work hard to redirect such reactions onto positive and constructive paths, dishonest leaders, whose numbers increase like mushrooms in the dark periods of society, capitalise on the same strong reactions of the believers for their personal evil gains. In this way they turn honest and simple souls into ignorant masses and use them as fuel for the fire they burn to create disorder on the earth.
The Holy Prophet of Islam said about a certain class of Muslims of our time, who would disguise themselves as Ulemas: "... (there will be) some people calling at the gates of the (Hell) fire and whoever will respond to their call, will be thrown by them into the (Hell) fire. ..." (Sahih Bukhari - Kitab-ul-Fitn / The Book of Afflictions)
Although mankind in its entirety is in a dark period since the beginning of the last century, Muslims in particular have been enduring severe afflictions for the last 700 years since their first fall after the period of their first magnificent rise.
Especially since the beginning of the Cold War (after WW II) dishonest religious and political leaders among the Muslims have been richly nourished by the power mongers of the world for their own interests, which has, in effect, lead to severe suffering among the Muslims of the world in general. Over the years the numbers of these dishonest leaders has been increasing hand-in-hand with their gain in political and economic strength.
Now, in the post Cold War era, these dishonest leaders have started to slip out of the control of their erstwhile masters, becoming a kind of multi-headed dragon. This development is endangering global peace, because those who are fighting the waves of terror being spread by the multiple heads of this dragon either do not understand the real causes behind these problems or prefer to ignore them for their own doubtful interests. Thus they cannot find a proper remedy to extirpate this terror unleashed upon the world.
15 The return of Christians to the divine traditions of Jesus would surely be a big step forward toward better understanding and mutual cooperation between the Christians and the Muslims. This is crucial, since they are the only two peoples in the world, whose joint efforts can ward off dangers of turmoil in today's world.
16 This is not merely an utopian hope. History has preserved the golden examples of Christian-Muslim cooperation practised during the days of the Prophet of Islam and, later, during the first rise of Islam.
17 The prospect of globalisation in the modern world of science and technology is receiving the attention of international political leaders. Development towards globalisation gives the hope that soon people of the entire world, due to modern communication and educational facilities, will adapt to one culture under a highly developed civilisation, thus creating global peace and harmony, ensuring justice, human rights and freedom of conscience for all.
18 In fact such divine plan of globalisation for our millennium, which is the 7th of the existing 7000 years of civilisation, was prophesied in India by God's Messenger Ram Chandra, 7000 years ago. His spiritual teachings established a peaceful globalisation in the 7th millennium of the previous 7000 years of civilisation as well.
19 Therefore from the very beginning of our 7000 years of civilisation, Messengers of God have been confirming the truth of this prophecy. They used their own divinely commanded symbolic expressions referring to it, such as: "mankind were one community…" (The Quran / Al-Baqarah 2:214), the Garden of Eden, the Kingdom of Heaven, or the Kingdom of God.
6000 years of hard work in evolutionary process has now brought humankind to that point where that highly developed culture and civilisation, common among all the nations, is already appearing for globalisation in our present 7th millennium, so that people on the entire earth, as one mankind can meet their God.
20 For 6000 years, humankind wandered in various superstitions and mythologies, acknowledging as god any object of queer nature it found. But artificial gods do not satisfy for long, which makes individuals restlessly labour more and more, until they meet their originator - the one God. In other words, humankind is given the quality of salmon, the fish, which struggles hard to reach its real point of origin.
21 Perhaps Allah gave this sign of (salmon) fish to St. Peter, so that people follow the example of the salmon in their 6000 years long and hard journey to meet their creator, by correcting their direction with the light of divine Messengers, who have been showing people how to scale spiritual and intellectual evolutionary elevations triumphantly, in order to enter the globalised world in the 7th millennium and meet their Creator, the Almighty Allah.
"Thou, O man, art verily labouring towards thy Lord, a hard labouring; then thou art going to meet Him." (The Quran/ AL-Inshiqaq; 84:2-7)
Man in every respect is weak, therefore the cycle of evolutionary process of 7000 years of civilisation, appears to be the Almighty Allah's divine plan to develop people's spiritual and intellectual faculties gradually, as they have limited capacity to endure burdens of attaining such virtues in one go.
"Allah burdens not any soul beyond its capacity. It shall have the reward it earns..." (The Quran/ Al-Baqarah 2:287)
22 The most elegant and magnificent aspect of the peaceful globalisation in the 7th millennium of every 7000 years' civilisation is that it gathers all the nations and the people of the world on one platform, and establishes the fact that human beings are one, because their God is One.
This smashes the pagan superstitions, mythologies and gods, which they in their arrogance go on creating during the first 6000 years, spreading immorality and disturbing the peaceful heavenly order of God on the earth.
23 According to Islamic philosophy, religion is the word of God and science His action. Allah sends His Messengers to deliver His divine word, Logos in Greek, which helps believers to enhance their culture with the earnest desire to gather more and more people and nations together. On a large scale, this is only possible through materially developed communication systems.
Therefore, in accordance with God's design, humankind puts more and more effort in furtherance of science, to take civilisation onto new heights of evolution, without which the divinely planned globalised world in every 7th millennium can not be achieved.
24 Muslims being the followers of the youngest and the last divine religion from amongst the five major religions of our civilisation, and Christians being the second youngest, are divinely assigned the magnificent task of working in turn, during their respective two periods of rise, to bring the ever advancing civilisation to its final stage, so that globalisation of the entire population of the earth in our present 7th millennium could be accomplished.
25 The Quran and the hadith (Prophet Muhammad's sayings and traditions), repeatedly draw the attention of the believers towards the special bond between the Christians and the Muslims, and the virtue thereof.
... And thou shalt assuredly find those who say, 'We are Christians', to be the nearest of them in love to the believers. That is because amongst them are savants and monks and because they are not proud.
And when they hear what has been revealed to this Messenger (Muhammad) thou seest their eyes overflow with tears, because of the truth which they have recognised. They say, 'Our Lord, we believe, so write us down among those who bear witness.' (The Quran/ Al-Maidah 5:83-84)
All Christian kings and rulers of the time of the Prophet of Islam, who were well versed in the teachings of the Bible, understood Prophet Muhammad's divine message and always extended their full support to the Prophet and his saintly companions in their most difficult times. Their dealings with the Prophet are detailed later.
26 The Almighty Allah's Messenger Ram Chandra, descended in India at the head of the 7th millennium of the previous 7000 years of civilisation of mankind. His divine guidance helped peoples and nations on the earth to achieve 1000 years of calm and restful globalisation and led mankind, as one, to meet Almighty God and receive His pleasure. The Quran confirms this spiritual and historical fact by saying:
"Mankind were one community, then they differed among themselves, so Allah raised Prophets as bearers of good tidings and as warners..." (The Quran / Al-Baqarah 2:213-214)
27 This divine Messenger in India gave glad tidings of 1000 years of restful globalisation in our 7th millennium as well, so that our generations can also meet the Almighty and receive His pleasure.
According to this prophecy the promised globalisation in our 7th millennium would start from India. Therefore, people of India are anxiously awaiting that peaceful globalised world.
After 6000 years of turmoil and hardship, people on the entire earth would once again achieve such high a civilisation which would help them to gain one global culture, by shunning rancorous feelings and enmity against one another.
Love and harmony would then prevail to such an extent that beastly people, aggressive like lions, and the humble ones, meek like cows, would live together without the desire to harm anyone. The Innocent, will then have no fear of harm, and will live with people who were once like serpents.
Prophet Ram Chandra also warned that Kaljug i.e. the dark age of evil thoughts and actions, of peoples and nations, would simmer for 6000 years. And the 6th millennium would be the hardest time for mankind because of wars, and natural and man made calamities.
Finally, Kaljug, after reaching its climax in the 6th millennium will meet its final death at the head of the 7th millennium.
28 Prophets, from east to west, gave glad tidings of the happiest days of globalisation, as well as warned about that Dark Age when there would be no mutual trust, and even the parent-child bond, the basic unit of a family, will be devoid of happiness. For instance, endorsing prophecies of all the Prophets, Jesus defined globalisation, the stage of meeting Almighty Allah, as the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of heaven, while also warning about devastating wars and other calamities of the darkest age, saying:
...brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake... (Mark 13:1-37)
Only then will people understand the virtues of love, peace, justice, tolerance, and patience, and will begin to move fast towards the brightest age of globalisation in our present days of the 7th millennium.
29 Testifying to the truth of all divine Messengers and confirming their prophecies, Prophet Muhammad gave clear signs of Idbar, i.e. the Dark Age or Kaljug, so that men and women, in the 6th and the 7th millennium should be vigilant and try their hardest to protect themselves from afflictions ahead at every step, in order to reach the globalised world in a safe and secure manner.
He further said that in the 7th millennium Allah would reward His people to their entire satisfaction and at least for seven centuries they would find themselves in the Gardens of Eden. There would be no more rancorous feelings and enmity. Prosperity, Peace, and comfort would prevail.
30 He particularly warned the Muslims that such a Dark Age would appear due to the first fall of theirs, after the first rise of Islam, and that the endurance of afflictions of Idbar for them would be far more acute than for others. (Ibne Maja & Kanzal Al'amal)
31 Therefore prior to reaching the prophesied heavenly stage of globalisation, the Muslims and the Christians are passing through an extremely critical phase, in which every wrong move of theirs is drifting all the nations toward the devastating fire of a third world war, about which Jesus warned:
...For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation, which God created unto this time, neither shall be... (Mark 13:1-37)
32 It is interesting to note, that 1400 years ago, the Qur´an and the hadith not only mentioned the lethal weapons of mass destruction, such as chemical and nuclear weapons, atom and hydrogen bombs, aeroplanes, mountain like ships, and star war, but also America's flight beyond the confines of the earth and its landing on the moon to establish its international authority, among other developments of the modern world.
The acute turmoil in Iraq and other Arab countries because of their possession of black gold and due to the national and international hypocrisy are fully recorded in the 1400 years old warnings of the Prophet of Islam.
33 The Holy Qur´an and the Prophet of Islam have also clearly mentioned the remedial measures to save all the nations and peoples from evils of the three pronged terror and advised that if terror is not checked in time according to divinely prescribed measures, then third world war would surely strike the world like thunderbolt.
34 Since the time of Adam, culture and civilisation have been progressing according to the evolutionary process assigned by God Almighty.
Thus, during the first six millennia every people endured hardship, of the part of work they had to carry out, for the steady development of culture and civilisation, which was to lead to the most peaceful globalisation in the 7th millennium.
35 Therefore in the 7th millennium the most important task for the Muslims and the Christians is, that being the youngest and the next youngest religion at the head of the last millennium of the existing civilisation, they have to put forward their maximum efforts in developing a stronger sense of mutual cooperation for pulling out those, who did not leave their fathers' religion and got lost in ignorance and superstition.
Perhaps for this reason, in the Quran, Allah has time and again, advised the Muslims and the Christians to remain friends, as the Almighty Allah wants to meet all His children in the 7th millennium.
36 Such was the plan of Allah to prepare the Christians for their second rise at the time of the first fall of Muslims, which occurred because of their arrogance and ignorance developed due to their magnificent first rise of about 700 years, in the same way as Christians after their first rise fell on the same account.
Rise after fall, in turns, is prescribed in nature to ensure the development of culture and civilisation without break, because the divinely determined evolutionary process requires globalisation precisely in the 7th millennium, as Allah is keen to meet His children as per His plan.
37 In light of such a divine process there was no need for the 14th century Byzantine Emperor or any other so called champions of crusaders to create such calumnies against Prophet Muhammad and Islam.
Evidently their undesirable designs were only to misguide simple hearted western Christians. So that they should rise spitefully and join them to plunder and pillage Muslim countries, which at that time were globally known as cradles of knowledge and highly developed culture, full of treasures – gold and silver, and other wealth.
This is how by the use of sword, calumnies, and other injurious methods, the crusaders caused immense damage to the Muslims in their first fall i.e. after their first rise.
38 The crusaders unjustifiably tried to tarnish the image of Islam, which had been a major source of uplift of the western Christian society in the middle ages. Christians were awakened only when their culture, during their first fall, blended with the Islamic culture.
"Thou mightest deem them awake, whilst they are asleep, and We shall cause them to turn over to the right and to the left --- if thou hadst had a look at them, thou wouldst surely have turned away from them in fright, and wouldst surely have been filled with awe of them..." (The Quran/ Al-Kahf 18:18/19)
39 Christians, who slander muslims must read the 2000 years long history of Christianity and the 1400 years old history of Islam to judge: Who unduly raised their sword? Who tried to eliminate so many human races, particularly in the newly discovered world? Who snatched away helpless men, women and children from their families and used them as slaves in far off lands across the oceans, from where they could never return to see their kith and kin again? And, who developed the lethal weapons of mass destruction and killed hundreds of millions of people in the 20th century, in the two world wars and in the cold war.
I am confident, honest Christians would detest such blunders of their own people. However, Muslims do not use these well recorded disasters to coin calumnies against Jesus, accusing that such undesireable acts of the Christians were due to the guidance of Jesus or the Bible. Jesus, in the sight of Muslims, was Allah´s great Prophet, thus his teachings could not have sanctioned such criminal acts, even if they were used by some of his so called followers to commit attrocities against humanity
It should be kept in mind that calumnies, in essence, are hypocritical products of those who lack arguments.
40 While giving glad tiddings to the Muslims about the two periods of their rise, the Quran and Prophet Muhammad advised them that spiritual and intellectual faculties in the form of dialogue need to be applied to introduce Islam, and not the sword.
Prophet Muhammed strictly guided Muslims, that the rise of Islam would only be through dialogue, particularly the second rise, because during the first rise of Islam, all ancient cultures of the world would get sufficiently blended with the Islamic culture. This would help their people gain enough spiritual and intellectual awareness to have an understanding of the virtues of righteousness and morality.
41 Anti-Islam elements try to display certain misinterpreted verses of the Quran to win false arguments that Islam commands Muslims to use the sword for its propagation, but the same have been repeatedly nullified by presenting the meanings of these verses in their proper context, historical facts, and logical counter-arguments. Yet elements of this nature try to take advantage of every odd occasion for harping on such unwarranted slander.
Notwithstanding, such attitude goes in favour of Prophet Muhammad and Islam, because it has always been the fate of those who are destined to rise and gain prominence by divine plan to first face bitter rivalry and enmity without provocation. Why aren't there any issues raised about the swords of Prophets Moses, Solomon, Krishna and many others? Why aren't there any debates about how Jesus angrily turned tables of the money changers?
42 History reveals that the Muslim community during its earliest days was physically and materially extremely meager. It was common for the enemies of Islam to kill Muslims and plunder their property.
After enduring such afflictions for about fifteen years, Muslims, for the first time were allowed to resist persecutors by using the sword when their enemy began organised mass attacks with the ambition to wipe out Muslims altogether.
For instance, the enemy attacked the Muslims with an army of 1000 well equipped men, mostly on horses and camels, against which the Muslims could only manage to gather 313 men, poorly equipped. Yet the Muslims defeated their enemy with Allah's help. This opened the chapter of the defensive wars fought by the Muslims, as the enemy went on organising bigger and bigger attacks to avenge every last defeat they suffered.
43 During the first 5000 years of the existing civilisation, human population was scattered due to lack of proper communication systems. In the absence of a strong communication system, the concept of creating a common platform, like that of the United Nations Organisation (UNO), for maintenance of peace (through dialouge or in extreme cases through force) was not in place to solve their mutual problems. The rulers of each nation or tribe felt free to act in whatever manner they pleased for their security and strength.
44 Hence due to lack of mutual understanding, stronger nations or tribes were keeping weaker ones under undue pressure. Also, rulers, intoxicated with might and power were victimising and usurping the rights of their people.
Therefore whenever human suffering in one society or the other caused extreme social, economical and political suffocation and the meek could not bear pressures of iniquity any more, then God Almighty always sent His Prophets among them, whose spiritual guidance ultimately solved their problems.
In cases where the haughty nations or their indiscreet rulers went on advancing in their evil designs, God commanded the Prophets He raised in those people, to save His humble people or nations, even by raising sword, alongwith divine words of His teachings.
Examples of Prophets such as Moses, David, Solomon, Krishna and others are there, who were forced to raise their sword in self defence, as well as to protect victims of such persecutors and rulers, who in their arrogance neither listened to divine words of peace, nor stopped persecution.
45 On the same divine principle, God commanded the Prophet of Islam that he and his followers may also equitably use the sword, along with divine words, at the times appropriated by the Almighty, in the same way as Prophets before him raised divine words and swords to perish the swords of the enemies of God and the enemies of His people. So, that people could keep advancing on their journey of spiritual, intellectual and cultural evolution to reach that peaceful globalised world, promised to them, and meet their Almighty Allah.
46 For instance during the first rise of Islam, the Jews and the Christians in the western world and the Buddhist in the east, often approached the Muslim rulers, seeking help to save them from persecution in their respective countries.
On such appeals, the Muslim rulers sent their deputations, advising iniquitous rulers to rule justly and treat their people in a rightful manner. In case the unjust rulers rejected their advice and arrogantly tried to create more problems or commenced to attack the Muslim rulers, the Muslims armies saw to it that the swords of such unjust rulers perished and a newly organised administration worked equitably to protect the rights of all.
A large number of victimised Jews and Christians in the west and Buddhists in the Far East always joined Muslim armies to supplement their fighting capacity in fights against their persecutors.
47 In fact the creation of UNO in modern times is the result of 6000 years of spiritual training, which the nations and peoples received from divinely descended prophets of God. Therefore, it would not be wrong to say that the UNO charter is based on the charter of human rights introduced by the prophets of God.
That is why at the time of the creation of UNO's Charter of peace and human rights, Muslims were immensely happy, as they considered it a kind of a replica of the Islamic charter of peace, presented to the world by the holy Quran.
48 Hence every nation on the earth today is obliged to support, morally as well as religiously, the United Nations' resolutions or military actions against those who commit atrocities, violating human rights and threatening world peace.
49 However, prophets and their companions, being honest to God and His creation, never let hypocrisy penetrate the divinely descended plans and actions. Also, they never entertain thoughts or actions which compromise human rights and the freedom of conscience, even if, at times, taking such a stand goes in the favour of their enemy. Hence, the spiritual words and swords used by them always delivered timely justice and peace to all in need.
50 The fact remains that globalisation in the 7th millennium, with the prevalence of peace and harmony on the entire earth, can not be achieved without universally honest functions and actions of the UNO.
During the first rise of Islam, Quran's charter of peace prevailed for about 700 years, and delivered justice and peace to those under its command. This, for generation after generation, helped nations to enjoy a sense of security and happiness.
The end of those 700 years was also the end of the first rise of Islam, because Muslims, like Christians of the first rise of Christianity, became arrogant and ignorant, due to the misguidance of their so called religio-political leaders. They changed Prophet Muhammad's divinely revealed religion - Islam - into their own false ones. About such hypocrites Prophet Muhammad said:
"I am your predecessor at the lake Fount* and whoever will come to it, will drink from it, and whoever will drink from it, will never become thirsty after that. There will come to me some people whom I know and they know me, and then a barrier will be set up [by Allah] between me and them. I will say [to God] those people are from me. God will say [to me], 'You do not know what changes and what new things they did after you.' Then I will say [to those people] 'Far removed [from mercy of Allah] far removed, those who changed [the religion] after me!'" [ * Lake Fount - the metaphorical lake, spiritual water of which gives the highest degree of ever lasting wisdom ] (Sahih Al-Bukhari / The Book of Afflictions)
51 Since their first fall after 700 years of rise, the Muslims have been enduring afflictions not because of any deficiency in the Quran's charter of peace and human rights, but because of the disguised religious leaders of the present Idbar, or kaljug - the dark age, who have been wickedly changing meanings and interpretation of the verses of Quran and Hadith, which the Prophet of Islam left behind for his people to live by and to let live peacefully.
The wicked manipulations of such religious "scholars" are to confuse simple souls and to use them to gain political and economic powers. Prophet Muhammad identified them as a great danger to peaceful Muslims, Christians and peoples of all other societies.
52 However, the first fall of the Muslims has been harder than the first fall of the Christians, because the culture produced by the first rise of Islam, being nearer to the 7th millennium of our existing 7000 years of civilisation, was higher than the Christian culture of their first rise.
Prophet Muhammad, in light of the teachings of the Quran repeatedly warned his people, that the way Christians suffered their first fall, due to the arrogance and ignorance which they developed in their first rise, Muslims will also, on the same account, suffer a fall after their first rise, yet in a worse way. This would be because they, being followers of the youngest and the final religion of the current 7000 years of civilisation, would be standing in their first rise on a much higher culture than the preceding ones.
53 Stressing this point, Prophet Muhammad said that the first fall of the Muslims would be so hard that they will not be able to stand and meet their second rise until they receive and recognise the promised Messiah and Mahdi (reformer, to reform Muslims first through Quran), who would be his vicegerent and thus the true guardian of the Quran. Allah will send him at the head of the 14th century (of Islamic calendar, which is the end of 19th century A.D) and assign him two mighty spiritual tasks.
54 In the history of mankind, these heavenly spirits (of Mahdi and Messiah) in their nature would be unique. The spirit of Mahdi will first revive the truly peaceful religion of Islam by eliminating changes, which would have been wickedly introduced by the evil doers during the 6th millennium.
This would help honest, peaceful and law abiding Muslims to gather again as one, in the same way as earlier Muslims in the time of the holy Prophet Muhammad were together to establish justice, peace and love in the then known world.
55 After accomplishment of its task, the Mahdi spirit will support the Messiah spirit to rise and heal people and nations all over, from centuries' old cancerous wounds of the soul, such as the lack of faith in the Almighty God, hypocrisy, corruption, and immorality of all kinds, which have brought the world so near to the greatest dangers of devastating global proportions. Thus, the entire humankind will be ready to stand up again and scale the final evolutionary elevations of culture and civilisation to enter the peaceful globalisation and meet Almighty God to receive His pleasures.
56 The Holy Quran, and in its light, Prophet Muhammad, gave large number of divine signs of the time of his vicegerent's descent, so that honest people could easily recognise him at the time of his appearance with his two shining divine spirits of Mahdi and Messiah. A few of the signs out of many are given hereunder:
Severity [of world affair]) would go on increasing: the world will be covered with 'Idbar' [the Dark Age]; people would [spiritually and materially] become miser; wicked would see calamities. Under such serious conditions would appear God's chosen vicegerent of his [Prophet, Muhammad] who would be Mahdi as well as Massih – [He also said] My Ummat [people of Islam] would not be destroyed, because I am in the begining of it, and Massih would be toward its end and Mahdi would be in between. (Ibne Maja 257, Kanzal A'mal 186/7 & 187/7, Jam i Saghir 106/2)
57 Therefore, Prophet Muhammad's spiritual contribution toward justice and peace would once again be visible only when the Muslims, the Christians and all the others will receive and recognize his vicegerent with the two magnificent spirits of Mahdi and Messiah, which were shown to him in the form of two angel-like persons, on whose shoulders he placed his hands, as the holy Prophet described:
"... I saw in my dream a man of brown complexion, the best one can see amongst brown complexion, and his hair was lank and long falling between his shoulders. Water was dribbling from his head. And while circumambulating the Ka'ba he had placed his hands on the shoulders of two men. I asked 'who is this man?' I was told, 'he is Massih [Messiah] son of Mariam [Mary]'..." (Sahih Bukhari / The Prophets)
The Messiah's hands resting on the shoulders of two different persons signifies his undertaking the two different divine spiritual responsibilities given to him by the Almighty Allah.
I believe in view of such spiritual guidelines, real cooperation between Muslims and Christians would be immensely effective to spread love, peace and justice on the entire earth, as they are destined to receive and eventually recognize the divinely sent vicegerent with the twin spirits of Mahdi and Messiah.
58 During the 17th and the 18th centuries, God fearing honest Christian scholars realised that baseless calumnies against Islam and Prophet Muhammad by indiscreet Christian rulers and war lords of the Dark Ages were in fact a reflection upon the honour of Jesus and his divine teachings.
Hence they began writing against such anti-Islam slanderous campaign, to reinstate facts by using reason.
59 Dr. Henry Stubbe, the Physician (died in 1676), Mr. Charles Hornby of the Pipe Office in 1705, (died in 1739), Thomas Magney, rector of St. Nicholas, Guilford (1718), are among those who contributed much for straightening the record.
Their written works fully supported each other's views. For instance Dr. Hornby's book described: "An account of the Rise and Progress of Mahometanism, with the life of Mahomet, and Vindication of him and his Religion from the calumnies of the Christians"
60 Dr. Stubbe's 210 pages long script, which contained the following 5 chapters, was considered by the learned people of Britain as beautiful work:
61 Since then, conscientious western Christian scholars, philosophers and historians have been finding reasons for nullifying slanderous statements against Islam and Prophet Muhammad.
For instance, the most prominent British philosopher of the 20th century, George Bernard Shaw expressed his views that there had not been a greater Prophet than Prophet Muhammad and that Islam was the future religion of Europe. He also said:
"I am afraid, that by clinging too long to the obsolete features of the old pseudo-christian churches we allowed the Mahometans to get ahead of us at a very critical period of the development of the eastern world. When the Mahometan Reformation took place, it left its followers with the enormous advantage of having the only established religion in the world in whose articles of faith any intelligent and educated person could believe. ...Mahomet was a truly wise man, for he founded a religion without a church; consequently when the time came for a reformation of the mosques there were no bishofs and priests to obstruct it..." (Back to Methuselah)
In this connection many more references of various prominent Christian writers can also be provided.
62 Yet, Pope Benedict XVI wanted to know, why the 14th century Byzantine ruler wrote such unfortunate remarks about Prophet Muhammad and Islam.
I would say that, the Byzantine ruler was born 700 years after Prophet Muhammad, during the time of the crusades waged by the Christian rulers with their sword raised against Islam.
Whereas the remarks of Heraclius, the mighty Byzantine ruler of the Roman Empire, of the time of Prophet Muhammad, are absolutely different and are authentic to nullify the false remarks of the 14th century Byzantine's ruler on his crusade against the Muslims.
63 King Heraclius was the ruler of Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Southern Turkey and Yemen, as these were at that time, lands of Christian populations and were part of the Roman Empire.
Heraclius was also a prominent foreteller and astronomer, with extraordinary qualities of spiritual and political command. Hence he was a highly respected ruler in the Roman Empire.
64 He received Prophet Muhammad's letter, inviting him to join Islam. Being a vigilant ruler of the above mentioned lands, which were in close proximity to Mecca and Medina, he keenly gathered maximum information about the new spiritual movement of Islam and about its founder, Prophet Muhammad, in order to watch any developments around his lands.
65 After thorough exercise of vigilance, he declared in his court that "Prophet Muhammad is surely a true Prophet of God, thus the land underneath his feet would one day go to the Prophet of Islam." He stressed his point by saying that if he had been with the Prophet, he certainly would have washed his feet. In other words, the support of Heraclius for Prophet Muhammad carried the same divine spirit as the support of Pilate for Jesus Christ.
Heraclius then invited all the chiefs of the Byzantines to assemble in his court at Homs and spoke to them saying, "O Byzantines! If success is your desire and if you seek right guidance and want your empire to remain then give a pledge of allegiance to this Prophet (Muhammad). (Sahih Bukhari - The Book of Revelation)
66 Such suggestion of Heraclius shocked his chiefs. However in due course of time they found the words of Heraclius true, as they saw the appearance of the highly disciplined and peaceful Islamic empire, delivering justice and peace to all. Only then did they follow his advice and join Islam.
67 Relations between Heraclius and Prophet Muhammad remained cordial. Muslims used to go freely to do business in the land of the Byzantines. Such business contacts in fact were the cause of the spread of Islam in those areas.
In the same way, Muslim traders introduced Islam up to Venice in the north-west and Indonesia in the south-east, including all the lands in between.
68 During Prophet Muhammad's life, beside Byzantine's King Heraclius there were two more prominent Christian kings around Arabia, namely, King Asahama Najashi (Negos) of Abyssinia (Ethiopia / Habsha), and Coptic / Egyptian King Maquqas.
All the three Kings and their nations always remained very friendly and respectful to the Prophet of Islam. There was never any conflict between them. Rather, these kings supported the Prophet as well as his companions, especially during the years when the Arab pagans were severely persecuting the Muslims, precisely for the sake of embracing the new religion, Islam.
69 A special delegation of religious Christian leaders, sixty in number, headed by Lord Bishop of Yemen, came to meet Prophet Muhammad and stayed for a few days. As special guests of the Prophet, they stayed in the main mosque of Madina, which is considered the second holiest place by Muslims, after Ka'ba.
During those days, they held their mutual discussions. They performed their prayers inside that mosque by facing toward their own traditional direction. They ate and slept in the same mosque and returned back happily.
Today the Muslims, who have changed the religion of the Prophet of Islam, would not allow Christians to pray, to sleep, or to eat in their mosques. They do not even hesitate in destroying churches and killing Christians and destroying the properties of Jews, Buddhists, Hindus and others who do not agree with them, simply to satisfy their evil designs, going completely against the practices of the prophet of Islam.
70 In light of the following divine teachings of Jesus, the calumny of misuse of the sword by the Prophet of Islam or the righteous Muslims of the period of the first rise of Islam can be spiritually and logically examined, as Jesus said, "...for all they, that take the sword shall perish with the sword... " (Matthew. 26:52)
And God spoke to Moses, "... I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him... But the prophet which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart. 'How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken?' When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously; thou shall not be afraid of him." (Deuteronomy 18:17-22)
And in the Qur'an Allah further speaks:
"That it [the Quran] is surely the word brought by a noble Messenger ... It is a revelation from the Lord of the worlds. And if he had forged and attributed any sayings to Us, We would surely have seized him by the right hand, and then surely We would have severed his life artery ..." (The Quran, Al-Haqqah 69:40-47)
71 History of the 14th century reveals that Prophet Muhammad was always victorious against his enemies. It was the enemy who preceded the Muslims, in raising the sword against the weak, budding community.
In fact, Muslims for the first three centuries after the Prophet gained victory against every enemy and celebrated their first rise magnificently.
It is clearly mentioned in the Qur´an and the hadith that the first three centuries of the first rise of Islam would be as fast as the strike of lightening. Then it would slow down during the next 300 hundred years. After that will be the 700 years of darkness due to the first fall of Muslims.
72 The reason that the prophet of Islam and his companions were victorious was that they took the sword on God's command, only against those who raised the sword first to extinguish the light of Islam by trying to kill its followers.
If Prophet Muhammad had ever raised his sword against the will of God then surely the Almighty would have sent some other rightful sword to let the sword of the Prophet of Islam perish.
But Allah's help was always on the side of the prophet of Islam and his faithful companions, as He wanted to prove the truth He had sent through the words of His Messengers, Jesus, Moses, Muhammad and others, so that people of wisdom might not lose their faith and path of righteousness.
73 According to God's promise in the Bible and in the Quran, the descent of holy Muhammad, as the last and the final sun, i.e. a law bearing divine Messenger, was in order to unite people of the east and the west. So that in the spiritual and cultural evolutionary process in the 6th millennium, people from all corners of the world begin to move towards the common path of globalisation in the 7th millennium, as people everywhere eagerly want to meet their Almighty Creator, the Master of the origin of life.
74 Therefore the rapid spread of Islam from Spain to Indonesia and the Philippines, including Turkey, the Balkan region, Albania, the entire Middle East and Central Asia, the upper half of the African continent, as well as Iran, India, and so on, within 300 years from the time of the Prophet of Islam shows how fast a majority of Christians in the west and Buddhists in the east joined Islam and turned the insignificantly small community of Muslims into a mighty nation.
Not all Christians or Buddhists joined Islam. A considerably large number remained behind on the religion of their Christian or Buddhist forefathers, proving the fact that Islam did not spread with the sword, but with reason, otherwise the so called mighty sword of the Muslims would not have had a problem eliminating the other religions and their people.
75 During the first rise of Islam--700 to 1400 AD-- the Muslim population in the then known world was greater than the individual populations of any of the five major religions.
Prophet Muhammad, foretelling the future, had said that the Christians, as a sign of their second rise, would then be larger in number than Muslims, and also larger in number than people of all other religions.
76 Within a century, after the Prophet of Islam, the moment Arab Muslim traders and sailors, who were mainly converts from Christianity, reached the ports of India, Indonesia and other Far Eastern lands, they developed contacts with people of different religions and invited them to join Islam. Response was always positive and encouraging.
In the 1400 years old global picture, Buddhism is third to the youngest religion – Islam. But since at that time, people of the eastern culture and of the western culture were far apart from one another, it can be said that, like Christianity in the west, Buddhism in the Far East was second to the youngest religion - Islam.
For this reason, Buddhists, among the people of all other religions within their sphere, found it easier to see Islam as the very next spiritual elevation awaiting them, satisfying their spiritual requirements. Thus they joined Islam in larger numbers.
This is how, for the first time in history, through the combined working of the spiritual and the cultural process, in the east and in the west, both ends of the world joined together, bringing the entire humankind closer to one another.
77 Since the beginning of Islam, enemies have been trying hard to destroy it, but Allah always helped the Muslims to remain victorious to establish the truth he sent through the divine Prophets, Moses, Jesus, David, Solomon and many others, as they had prophesied of the descent of holy Prophet Muhammad.
Therefore, in view of the spiritual and historical facts we can say that the undesirable effort of the 14th century Byzantine ruler to prove Prophet Muhammad as untrue was in fact an unfortunate attempt to bring at risk the truthfulness of divine prophets, such as Jesus and Moses.
Prophet Muhammad gave glad tidings to Muslims also that one of the signs of their second rise would be that they would then be the largest in number among all other communities of the entire world.
78 If the Pontiff's intention was to invite the Muslims for dialogue, then it would have served everyone better if he had instructed his most able aides to present him the facts, as they are already working day and night in their highly resourceful private library. This may have saved the Christians and the Muslims from the prevailing atmosphere of terror.
It is essential that mutual dialogues be conducted with cautious words if world peace is of any value, as it is apparent that the opportunistic elements use irresponsible speech to provoke the masses towards disorder. The Muslims and the Christians especially, being the youngest and the very next to youngest religion, should join hands at the head of the 7th millennium and put their earnest efforts to save mankind from the greatest war in offing, and lead the world for its safe entry into the globalised world, the Kingdom of God, or the Garden of Eden.
79 A careful study of the teachings and the traditions of God's divine Messengers, reveals that since the time of Adam, one mankind under one God has been the root of spiritual guidance for all people in every part of the world.
God's Messengers always established one faith and one religion, but soon after they passed on, their people started dividing their faith under different names and different styles. And because of that, every society during its days of rise, power and prosperity arrogantly tries to minimise others, including their own divine Messengers. Man certainly is quarrelsome.
80 Therefore, prior to meeting His children in the globalised world of the 7th millennium, the last and the final in our 7000 years of the existing civilisation, the Almighty God sent His holy Muhammad, as the final law bearing Messenger to deliver His spiritual guidance for all the generations of mankind up to the end of the existing civilisation, so that in the 6th millennium they should prepare themselves to meet their Almighty Creator in a peaceful and elegant manner.
Hence for the first time in spiritual history of humankind, Allah, the Almighty God, delivered the following clear and indisputable heavenly Message:
"...To Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth; and whether you disclose what is in your minds or keep it hidden, Allah will call you to account for it; then will He forgive whomsoever He pleases, and punish whomsoever He pleases, and Allah has the power to do all that He wills.
...This Messenger of Ours believes in that which has been revealed to him from his Lord, and so do the believers; all of them believe in Allah, and in His angels, and in His Books (i.e. the Qur´an and the Bible, which comprises of Torait / Torah, Zabur / the Psalms, and Injil / the New Testament), and in His Messengers, saying, we make no distinction between any of His messengers; and they say, 'We hear and we obey. We implore Thy forgiveness, O our Lord, and to thee is the return'..." (The Quran/ Al-Baqarah 2:286 /285)
And,
"... O ye who believe! Believe in Allah and His Messenger, and in the Book which He has revealed to His Messenger, and the Book which He revealed before it. And whoso disbelieves in Allah and His angels, and His Books, and His Messengers, and the last day, has surely strayed far away. ..." (The Quran/ Al-Nisa 4:137/136)
81 This divine Message at the time nearest to globalisation, for meeting Allah in the 7th millennium, calls to attention the believers of all divine books, especially the Muslims and the Christians, as they are all to gather from every part of the world harmoniously and meet Almighty Allah to receive His pleasure, after becoming one people by accepting the truth of all His messengers.
82 By the end of 5000 years of our 7000 years long civilisation, the followers of Buddha had gathered in the east, whereas the followers of Jesus had concentrated in the West.
Then began the most critical phase, as the worlds of the east and of the west had to be brought together by introducing one universal divine teaching, in order to turn the entire earth into one world. Only then could people, in all parts of the world, move together to cover the last stretch of the evolutionary journey without the ugliness that arises due to mutual rivalries.
83 For such reasons did the Almighty send Prophet Muhammad, as the Seal of Prophet-hood, at this critical stage and commanded him to testify to the truth of all the prophets, so that they would all be honoured equally by people and nations of the entire world. At this high a stage of spiritual, intellectual, and cultural evolution, this requirement is attainable and necessary so that the final spiritual stage of gathering the entire mankind to meet God can be achieved. Thus the Quran proclaims: " Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of all the Prophets" (The Quran/ Al-Ahzab 33:41/40)
84 History bears witness that within a century after Prophet Muhammad, teachings of Islam reached in far off eastern lands of Indonesia and its surrounding islands through Muslim Arab traders and sailors. Islam appealed to Buddhists also, as they in the east found it the very next spiritual elevation after Buddhism.
Therefore like Christians in the west, they in the east began joining Islam in large numbers, due to which the cultures of the east and of the west kept blending under the universal, divine, discipline of Islam.
Thus, the Seal of Prophets Muhammad made it easier for people of different religions to embrace one another and move together without mutual rancorous feelings, for their triumphant entry into the Kingdom of Heaven or the Garden of Eden to meet the almighty Allah.
85Since all Muslims are obliged by Allah's command to not only believe in the Quran but also in the divine origin of the Bible and other holy scriptures, Muslims should study the Bible to appreciate the processes of spiritual evolution. The Christians can do the same by studying the Quran—a worthwhile endeavour, even if only for the sake of better understanding of another people.
86 The clamour of indiscreet Muslims on the Regensburg speech of the Pontiff created doubt amongst Christians, that Muslims consider the Pope's speech as a mistake because they do not tolerate the mention of Prophet Muhammad by the Pope or by any others.
Contrarily, Muslims have a great desire that Prophet Muhammad be mentioned by people of all the religions, which would once again establish how sweet and nourishing are the fruits which Prophet Muhammad has offered for all the generations up to the end of our world.(The New Testament/ Matthew 7:16)
87 Moreover, why should not the Christian and the Jewish people speak about the Prophet of Islam! After all, like Moses, Jesus and many other prophets in Bible, King Solomon, the divine Messenger of God belonging to the Jewish tribes, also prophesied in the Bible about the descent of the prophet of Islam. He even mentioned the name Muhammad/em, which means 'my beloved one' or 'the praised one.'
In Arabic 'Muhammad' means 'the highly praised one' which is a quality of 'the beloved ones'.
King Solomon also confirmed the divine signs about him, which were prophesied by Prophet Moses, as it is written in the holy Book. (The Old Testament/ Song of Solomon 5:10-16)
And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses, the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. And he said; 'The Lord came from Sinai' (This is about holy Moses himself, as God spoke to him in the region of Mount Sinai.) And rose up from Seir unto them... (This is about holy Jesus, as God spoke to him in the region of Mount Seir.) He shined forth from mount Paran... (This is about holy Muhammad, as God spoke to him in the region of Mount Paran/Faran.) And he came with ten thousand of saints... (After enduring persecution for 20 years, Prophet Muhammad returned to Mecca with ten thousand saintly companions.) From his right hand went a fiery law for them... (The Old Testament/ Deuteronomy 33:1-2)
Surely God gave Prophet Muhammad in his right hand, the Quran, which has been universally recognised as a concise book of fiery law. The Law of the Quran rids humanity of the stale laws of the ancient, which do not satisfy modern spiritual, social, political, and economic requirements any more.
88 The other objection of the 14th century Byzantine King was, 'What did Islam bring that was new?' Again let us look at the saying of Jesus himself to answer this objection:
"...Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasures, things new and old..." (Matthew 13:52)
Thus Jesus is saying that divine Messengers are given teachings which combine the old with the new, the measure of which is determined by the Almighty according to the spiritual and intellectual development of the people of the time, because it is God's promise that He "burdens not any soul beyond its capacity..." (The Quran / Al-Baqarah 2:287/288)
89 Surely Allah gave to Prophet Muhammad a concise account of the divine teachings of all the prophets from the time of Adam, after He perfected the same to satisfy all the present and all the future requirements of humanity, so that culture and civilisation in the 7th millennium could reach their highest evolutionary elevation.
90 Prophet Muhammad gave glad tidings that the human generations after the descent of Islam would become the most exalted ones, as people in the globalised world of the 7th millennium would meet their Almighty Allah by displaying their lofty nature in a most elegant way.
Further he said that the Almighty would be so pleased with them that He would reward them twice as much as He rewarded the generations of the past.
Such an inclusive and unifying religion should only be a source of contentment for the people of the previous messengers of God, because through Islam, they all become equally familiar with all the prophets of the past, without making any distinction. They believe and honour them all, thus strengthening their faith in the one almighty God.
This is how Prophet Muhammad's prophet-hood as the Seal of Prophets has been effectively functioning since the time of his descent and would remain effective up to the end of the world of our civilisation.
91 Allah says in the Quran that this is the last and the final divine Book of the existing world, thus, it is like an ocean, into which ultimately waters of all the rivers fall, and receive enormous benefits for all of God's creation on earth.
92 God himself chose the name Islam, which is a spiritual, universal and heavenly name, and has no earthly binding, whereas, the names of all other religions were picked by the followers of those religions or the inhabitants of the area. For instance, Israel is from Prophet Jacob´s name Israel. In Hebrew Yisrael. The name Buddhism is from the personal name of Gautama Buddha, and likewise, the name Christianity is from the name of Jesus Christ. Hinduism is derived from the old name of river Indus, since more than 4000 years ago the Indians called it Hind and the Greeks accentuated it as Ind.
Regarding the religion Islam, Allah says, "this day have I perfected your religion for you (the humankind) and completed my favour upon you and have chosen for you Islam as religion..." (The Quran / Al-Ma´idah 5:4/5 )
93 Islam is a universal name which means 'submission to the will of God.' And the word Muslim means 'the one who submits entirely to the will of God.'
The name Islam makes it clear that Muslims do not worship Allah through Prophet Muhammad. The Muslims believe in Prophet Muhammad as the greatest and final law bearing Prophet and the most righteous and perfect human being, but they neither worship him nor do they worship God through him. They worship Allah directly and independently.
In their worship or prayer Muslims are to pray as if they are watching God, or at least to pray with the realisation that Allah is watching them and that they are bowing and prostrating directly in front of Him. Thus the Muslims confidently address their creator, the almighty Allah, directly.
Since Muslims do not worship holy Muhammad, they do not like to be called Muhammadans. Such magnificent spiritual status, of direct communion with God, granted to every human being, is not proclaimed in any of the other religions.
Because submissiveness to rules and regulations is an integral part of Islam, Muslims are most docile under honest and just command, but constant wicked affairs, national or international make them restless and volatile.
The ever increasing complications in the present day international affairs and problems within Muslim countries, along with the spread of terror, are directly linked with the constant pressures of wicked activities which Muslims, in all parts of the world, have been enduring since the end of World War I.
94 Muslims in the present Dark Age are passing through grave tests and trials due to the misguidance of those so called Muslim leaders, who are taking advantage of the prevailing and severe hypocrisy against Muslims in every corner of the world. Disguised as religious or political leaders, these manipulators are brain washing simple Muslims and converting them into ignorant and angry mobs, in order to use them as fuel for the fire they are burning to create disorder on the earth for their evil gains. THE FUNDAMENTAL REQUIREMENT OF TRUE FAITH--THE USE OF REASON
95 There is a general impression among the modern western Christians that the Bible, particularly The New Testament, lacks logical reasons to support its teachings. Therefore, in this age of science they feel that the Bible deprives them of reason which is intrinsically linked with science, logic or common sense. This is why Christians, for the last couple of generations, have been drifting away from the Bible, the churches, and religion in general. They are Christians merely to identify themselves as members of the present days' powerful Christian nations.
96 Therefore they think that the Quran must also have the same deficiency. Whereas Muslims, and those from other religions who have read the Quran, are generally clear in their mind that the Quran establishes the fact that reason is intrinsically linked with God.
Allah advises that the Quran be read slowly and carefully, thus prompting Muslims to pay attention to the deeper meanings and reasons. For example in the Quran, time and again, Allah says,
"... And He (Allah) makes His wrath descend on those who would not use their reason "... Surely, in that are Signs for a people who make use of their reason. " ... Therein verily are Signs for those who are endued with reason "... Allah's is the argument that reaches home. If He had enforced His will. He could have surely guided you all.
(The Quran/ Yunus 10:101/102, Al-Nahl 16:13, Ta Ha 20:129/130, Al-An´am 6:150)
97 Moreover, according to the Quran, Allah's wisdom radiates the Truth, the Light, and the Time, all being pure and essential substances of life, and manifestations of reason.
The very opening chapter of the Quran (Al-Fatiha) illustrates the operation of the attributes of God:
1) He is Rabb ul-Alamin: That is, Allah creates everything and then fosters the same gradually towards perfection.
2) He is Rehman: That is, without any effort on the part of His creatures He provides everything that is necessary for their development and progress.
3) He is Rahim: That is, when those of His creatures that are endowed with intelligence and will, voluntarily do good and resist evil, God bestows rewards upon them
4) He is Malik-e-yaum-i-ddin: That is, the ultimate judgement concerning everything rests with Him. Everything owes its origin to Him and the end of everything is also in His hands.
98 At least 99 additional attributes of God, stemming from the above four principal attributes, along with their explanation, are mentioned in the Quran.
The Quran at every step provides reason, illustrated by the living examples of the creatures and functions of God's beautifully balanced universe. These vivid examples are more than enough to give Muslims the understanding that reason is intrinsically linked to God, thus, He is absolutely Transcendent.
Hence Muslims do not find themselves deprived of reason and logical arguments during discussions about any branch of science or the philosophy of life.
99 The Almighty Allah has been very kind to the Muslims and the Christians, the youngest and the second youngest, bestowing them with worldly and spiritual rewards, and placing them in roles of leadership in the final stretch of this magnificent evolutionary journey. The followers of these religions have enjoyed long periods of friendly relations during the first rise of Islam. It would serve humanity best if they again join hands and try to save the world from its many afflictions, and move onward toward the "Garden of Eden" and meet the Almighty Allah in the promised Kingdom of God, as awaited by all.