" The Word of Truth about which they are in Dispute "
The ways of peace
Islam
This is my response to a Japanese Jew who has a wrong wiew towards Islam:
(I have some difficult to add this at the comment, so I sent it here).
I would say that your view about Islam is so confused, because it's surely based upon wrong prejudgment and misconception about Islamic belief, the Prophet and the Quran.
My wish is that Allah guides you to accept the truth about divinity, life and destiny, which is the subject and fundamental aim of the Holy Quran.
The Holy Quran is a revelation of Allah (God) the Almighty and the creator of the universe, the real God who is worthy of worship, who sent in succession all Prophets to guide people to his path, since Adam to Muhammad, including Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus (PBUThem all), all of them brought the same belief which is Islam, except laws which differ from one another, and each one of the previous prophets was sent to his people only, while Muhammad (PBUH) was sent to the worlds.
Allah says what means:
"He has ordained for you of religion what He enjoined upon Noah and that which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], and what We enjoined upon Abraham and Moses and Jesus - to establish the religion and not be divided therein. Difficult for those who associate others with Allah is that to which you invite them. Allah chooses for Himself whom He wills and guides to Himself whoever turns back [to Him]."
Translation of Quran(42/13)
And He says what means:
"Indeed, We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], as We revealed to Noah and the prophets after him. And we revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, the Descendants, Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and Solomon, and to David We gave the book [of Psalms]."
Translation of Quran(4/163)
So, the message of Islam is the last message of God, the Only true God, and Muhammad is the seal of the prophets, as Islam is the religion of all prophets who call to the oneness of God. And its message is universal.
Allah says what means:
"And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds."
Translation of Quran(21/107)
َAnd He said what means:
"Blessed is He who sent down the Criterion upon His Servant that he may be to the worlds a warner -"
Translation of Quran(25/1)
َAnd He said what means:
"It is (Holy Quran) but a reminder to the worlds."
Translation of Quran(38/87)
In this context the Quran invites the people of the book (Jews and Christians) to follow the last messenger of Allah, who is surely Muhammad (PBUH):
"O People of the Scripture, there has come to you Our Messenger making clear to you much of what you used to conceal of the Scripture and overlooking much. There has come to you from Allah a light and a clear Book.
By which Allah guides those who pursue His pleasure to the ways of peace and brings them out from darknesses into the light, by His permission, and guides them to a straight path."
Translation of Quran(5/15-16)
َAllah ordered His Apostle (PBUH) to invite the People of the Book through a special speech :
"Say, "O People of the Scripture, come to a word that is equitable between us and you - that we will not worship except Allah and not associate anything with Him and not take one another as lords instead of Allah ." But if they turn away, then say, "Bear witness that we are Muslims [submitting to Him]."
Translation of Quran(3/64)
Therefore, Islam came to confirm the common belief and to correct what was corrupted in the previous book regarding faith and the fundamental principles of rules.
Allah says what means:
"Allah - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of existence.
He has sent down upon you, [O Muhammad], the Book in truth, confirming what was before it. And He revealed the Torah and the Gospel, Before, as guidance for the people. And He revealed the Qur'an. Indeed, those who disbelieve in the verses of Allah will have a severe punishment, and Allah is exalted in Might, the Owner of Retribution."
Translation of Quran(3/2-3-4)
Irrespective of this special speech, to the people of the book or that which is directed to the prophet and the believers or that which is directed to the unbelievers, the message of the Quran remains global to all the humanity, as it's mentioned in the last verses (21/107), (25/1), (38/87).
Thus, Allah reminds people their origin and they all belong to Adam and Eve, so as to get to know each other and to connect and to cooperate with each other:
"O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. And fear Allah , through whom you ask one another, and the wombs. Indeed Allah is ever, over you, an Observer."
Translation of Quran(1/4)
And:
"O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted."
Translation of Quran(49/13)
So, Allah declares :
1- "Indeed this, your religion, is one religion, and I am your Lord, so worship Me."
Translation of Quran(21/92)
2-"And who is better in religion than one who submits himself to Allah while being a doer of good and follows the religion of Abraham, inclining toward truth? And Allah took Abraham as an intimate friend."
Translation of Quran(4/125)
3-"Indeed, the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam. And those who were given the Scripture did not differ except after knowledge had come to them - out of jealous animosity between themselves. And whoever disbelieves in the verses of Allah , then indeed, Allah is swift in [taking] account."
Translation of Quran(3/19)
4-"And whoever desires other than Islam as religion - never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers."
Translation of Quran(3/85)
No compulsion in religion:
" And had your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed - all of them entirely. Then, [O Muhammad], would you compel the people in order that they become believers?"
Translation of Quran(10/99)
"And say (O Muhammad), "The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills - let him believe; and whoever wills - let him disbelieve." Indeed, We have prepared for the wrongdoers a fire whose walls will surround them. And if they call for relief, they will be relieved with water like murky oil, which scalds [their] faces. Wretched is the drink, and evil is the resting place."
Translation of Quran(18/29)
According to this call, Islam came to establish peace on earth, the name "Islam" in itself is derived from Peace, in Arabic one of the meanings of Islam is Salam which means Peace.
Then, the ultimate goal of the teachings of Islam is to gather people in a peaceful community. Accordingly, all rules regarding Belief, worship, treatments and social rules and including Ethic serve this noble purpose.
The tagline of Islamic message remains forever "Peace", and the Greeting of Islam is :"Peace be Upon You".
Islam calls to peace:
Allah says what means:
"O you who have believed (People of the book), enter into peacefulness (Islam), the whole (of you), and do not ever follow the steps of As-shaytan; (The all-vicious, i.e., the Devil) surely he is an evident enemy to you. ."
Translation of Quran(2/208), see also the previous verses:(5/15-16).
Islam is a mercy sent to mankind as it's mentionned in the verses before, the following story is a clear evidence of this truth:
Ja'far ibn abi Talib, Ali's brother and a cousin of the Prophet (PBUH), was chosen to speak for the Muslims to the King of Abyssinia (Ethiopia), wherein they took refuge from the torture of their people in Mecca.
When the king asked them to tell him about their religion, Ja'far replied:
" 0 King, at first we were among the ignorant. We and our ancestors had turned from the faith of Abraham, who, with Ishmael, rebuilt the Ka'bah and worshipped only Allah.
We used idols in our worship of Allah;
We ate meat that had not been killed in the right way;
We did not respect the rights of our neighbors;
The strong took advantage of the weak.
We did terrible things of which I dare not speak.
This was our life until Allah sent a Messenger from among us, one of our relatives, whom we have always known to be honest, innocent, and faithful.
He asked us:
- To worship only Allah,
- And to give up the bad customs of our forefathers.
- He asked us to be truthful and trustworthy,
- To respect and help our neighbors,
- To honor our families,
- And to put a stop to our bad deeds
- And endless fighting.
- He asked us to look after orphans.
- He ordered us not to slander or speak evil of women or men.
- He ordered us to worship Allah alone and not to worship anyone or anything else alongside Him.
- He ordered us to pray, to give alms, and to fast.
We believe he is right and therefore we follow him and do as he has commanded us.
The Meccans began to attack us and come between us and our religion.
So we had to leave our homes and we have come to you, hoping to find justice."
1 -"Say: the things that my Lord hath indeed forbidden are: shameful deeds, whether open or secret; sins and trespasses against truth or reason; assigning of partners to Allah, for which He hath given no authority; and saying things about Allah of which ye have no knowledge."
Translation of Quran(7/33)
2 -"Forbidden to you (for food) are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which hath been invoked the name of other than Allah; that which hath been killed by strangling, or by a violent blow, or by a headlong fall, or by being gored to death; that which hath been (partly) eaten by a wild animal; unless ye are able to slaughter it (in due form); that which is sacrificed on stone (altars); (forbidden) also is the division (of meat) by raffling with arrows: that is impiety. This day have those who reject faith given up all hope of your religion: yet fear them not but fear Me. This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion. But if any is forced by hunger, with no inclination to transgression, Allah is indeed Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful."
Translation of Quran(5/3)
3 -"They ask thee what is lawful to them (as food). Say: lawful unto you are (all) things good and pure: and what ye have taught your trained hunting animals (to catch) in the manner directed to you by Allah: eat what they catch for you, but pronounce the name of Allah over it: and fear Allah; for Allah is swift in taking account."
Translation of Quran(5/4)
4 -"Allah doth command you to render back your Trusts to those to whom they are due; And when ye judge between man and man, that ye judge with justice: Verily how excellent is the teaching which He giveth you! For Allah is He Who heareth and seeth all things."
Translation of Quran(4/58)
5 -"Allah commands justice, the doing of good, and liberality to kith and kin, and He forbids all shameful deeds, and injustice and rebellion: He instructs you, that ye may receive admonition."
Translation of Quran(16/90)
In addition, Islam is a way of life:
It is not restricted in ritual worship, but it covers all sides of life, either of the individuals or of the whole community, including belief, worship, transaction and treatment, moral principles, ..,since the beginning of human creation in the womb until he is buried in the grave.
Islam is the light that leads to the true salvation:
"Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The Parable of His Light is as if there were a Niche and within it a Lamp: the Lamp enclosed in Glass: the glass as it were a brilliant star: Lit from a blessed Tree, an Olive, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil is well-nigh luminous, though fire scarce touched it: Light upon Light! Allah doth guide whom He will to His Light: Allah doth set forth Parables for men: and Allah doth know all things."
Translation of Quran(24/35)
The happier one is who is guided by the light of Islam:
This light will enlighten his life, either in this world or in the hereafter, in the grave until he reaches the ranks of righteous people in Paradise.
"So, whomever Allah wills to guide, He expands his breast to Islam; and whomever He wills to lead into error, He makes his breast straitened, restricted, as if he were laboriously climbing up in the heaven. Thus Allah sets (Literally: makes) abomination upon (the ones) who do not believe."
Translation of Quran(6/125)
"Whoever works righteousness, man or woman, and has Faith, verily, to him will We give a new Life, a life that is good and pure and We will bestow on such their reward according to the best of their actions."
Translation of Quran(16/97)
"And they say, "None will enter Paradise except one who is a Jew or a Christian." That is [merely] their wishful thinking, Say, "Produce your proof, if you should be truthful."
Yes [on the contrary], whoever submits his face in Islam to Allah while being a doer of good will have his reward with his Lord. And no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve."
Translation of Quran(2/111-112)
So, I wish you will be amongst those whom Allah expands their breast to the Truth of Islam, not amongst those who go astray, far away from the truth.
It is worth noting that the Holy Quran honors knowledge and scholars, and urges people to use reason, so the first revealed verse was about learning:
"Recite in the name of your Lord who created -
Created man from a clinging substance.
Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous -
Who taught by the pen -
Taught man that which he knew not."
Translation of Quran(9/1-5)
"Is one who is devoutly obedient during periods of the night, prostrating and standing [in prayer], fearing the Hereafter and hoping for the mercy of his Lord, [like one who does not]?
Say, "Are those who know equal to those who do not know?" Only they will remember [who are] people of understanding."
Translation of Quran(39/9)
On the contrary Allah blames those who lose reason, those who do not benefit from their knowledge:
"And We have certainly created for Hell many of the jinn and mankind. They have hearts with which they do not understand, they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear. Those are like livestock; rather, they are more astray. It is they who are the heedless."
Translation of Quran(7/179)
On the other hand, the beloved people to Allah are those whose knowledge make them fear Allah:
"Do you not see that Allah sends down rain from the sky, and We produce thereby fruits of varying colors? And in the mountains are tracts, white and red of varying shades and [some] extremely black.
And among people and moving creatures and grazing livestock are various colors similarly. Only those fear Allah , from among His servants, who have knowledge. Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Forgiving."
Translation of Quran(5/27)
Therefore, Islam is the straight way of God:
"And, [moreover], this is My path, which is straight, so follow it; and do not follow [other] ways, for you will be separated from His way. This has He instructed you that you may become righteous."
Translation of Quran(6/153)
"So is it other than the religion of Allah they desire, while to Him have submitted [all] those within the heavens and earth, willingly or by compulsion, and to Him they will be returned?"
Translation of Quran(3/83)
May Allah Guide us to the right path and save us from hell.