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Anyone who sincerely studies the Quran will find that true Islam is not about violence or worldly conquests at all. Instead it is a religion that focuses on submission to the will of God who is the Creator and Provider of everything in the Universe and more, who never had and never will have any equal or partner. This is the quintessence of our faith.
What the fanatics and corrupted so-called Islamic leaders preach today is not the true religion of Islam. Those who say God’s religion of Submission (Islam in Arabic) is outdated are ignorant of the truth and wisdom in the Quran.
The fact is that people including “Muslims” need to study the Quran and comprehend what it actually has to say.
A great responsibility rests on us Submitters who must, God willing, project a favourable view of true Islam (Submission). As we deplore the actions of fanatics in giving Islam a bad name, we must not give the religion a bad name ourselves. We must be careful so that what we do and say reflects the truth, impartiality and universality in Quran. We have to adhere to its tenets, and we must not forget the true message of God. We must trust in God and seek His help to cross all hurdles. God has blessed us with the Quran that has been elucidated for all humans for as long as life exists.
One of the crucial issues the Quran stresses is the acquisition of knowledge. [96:1-5] Read, in the name of your Lord, who created. He created man from an embryo. Read, and your Lord, Most Exalted. Teaches by means of the pen. He teaches man what he never knew. [20:114] … and say, “My Lord, increase my knowledge.”
Our religion has a foundation of justice [55:7-8] He constructed the sky and established the law. You shall not transgress the law; and equivalence
[2:179] Equivalence is a life saving law for you, O you who possess intelligence, that you may be righteous. When God has made laws we must hold fast to them in all areas of activities.
This verse is often quoted out of context: [3:85] Anyone who accepts other than Submission as his religion, it will not be accepted from him, and in the Hereafter, he will be with the losers. Some people think this means everyone who doesn’t call themselves “Muslim” is going to hell. But the previous verse (3:84) says:
Make No Distinction
Among God’s Messengers
[3:84] Say, “We believe in GOD, and in what was sent down to us, and in what was sent down to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob, and the Patriarchs, and in what was given to Moses, Jesus, and the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction among any of them. To Him alone we are submitters.”
The minimum requirements for salvation are laid down in 2:62 and 5:69: (1) believe in God, (2) believe in the Last Day and (3) lead a righteous life. [3:3-4] He sent down to you this scripture, truthfully, confirming all previous scriptures, and He sent down the Torah and the Gospel before that, to guide the people, and He sent down the statute book. Those who disbelieve in GOD’s revelations incur severe retribution. GOD is Almighty, Avenger.
Misapprehensions about Islam usually occur when Quranic verses are read in isolation, out of context, ignoring historical facts at the time of revelation, and the purposeful conditions as to why these verses were revealed.
As believers, we are enjoined to not make any distinction among God’s Prophets and Messengers. [4:150-151] Those who disbelieve in GOD and His messengers, and seek to make distinction among GOD and His messengers, and say, “We believe in some and reject some,” and wish to follow a path in between; these are the real disbelievers. We have prepared for the disbelievers a shameful retribution.
So, we believe in Moses and Jesus in the same way we believe in Muhammad. Hence, there should be no reason for Jews and Christians to have any issue with us.
[5:69] Surely, those who believe, those who are Jewish, the converts, and the Christians; any of them who (1) believe in GOD and (2) believe in the Last Day, and (3) lead a righteous life, have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve.
Obviously when you believe in God you have to believe in all that God says. [42:13] He decreed for you the same religion decreed for Noah, and what we inspired to you, and what we decreed for Abraham, Moses, and Jesus: “You shall uphold this one religion, and do not divide it.” The religion of all the Prophets was basically one and the same. This is also seen in the Bible, e.g., Isaiah 44:6”I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.”
The Quran is very clear that we have not been created without purpose. [21:16] We did not create the heavens and the earth, and everything between them just for amusement. We have a task to perform. We have obligations to fulfill. We will be held accountable for even our innermost thought, let alone deed. We may worship God alone, believe in God alone, uphold the Quran but we still have to modify our priorities. We cannot maintain a negligent and happy-go-lucky attitude towards life. We have to amend and restructure ourselves according to the essentials and values portrayed in the Quran. Otherwise, our appreciation of the Quran is seriously blemished.
The Quran desires a total transformation of our personal and collective behavior, a complete transformation of our manner of thought, action, habit, feeling and standard of decision making. When you try to comprehend the meaning of the Quran, your soul gets elevated and a great tranquility descends in a manner that no other words could possibly do.
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