RE: HOW I BECAME AN ATHEIST! (PART 4)

Could it be possible that the Glorious Quran was copied from other sources? Since God did not hold dictation classes, how did Angel Jubril (Gabriel) bring the Scripture? Why is it that since 1400 years ago, Quran has not be revised, reviewed, re-edited or re-modified? In answering these questions, it is universally acknowledged by Muslims, backed with historical facts and scientific reasoning, that the Glorious Quran is a revealed book from the Almighty Allah through Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) unto mankind over a period of 23 years. Essentially, scholars in Wikipedia consider Qur’an as a book with 2 unique qualities - moral values and spiritual essence. The Supreme Being asserts critically that “Do they (Scientists, Agnostics, Atheists, Non-Muslims…. etc) not consider the Quran (with care)? Had it been from other than Allah, they would surely have found therein much discrepancy” - Quran 4:82.

While contributing to the debate on the originality of the Quran, the New Catholic Encyclopedia has a very interesting subject under Qur’an. In an article under this subject, the Catholic Church states that “Over the centuries, many theories have been offered as to the origin of the Qur’an… Today, no sensible man accepts any of these theories!!” Now, here is the age-old Catholic Church, which has been around for so many centuries as the only body of Christ, denying these futile attempts to explain away the Qur’an. Indeed, the Qur'an is a problem for the Catholic Church. It states that it is revelation, so they study it! Certainly, they would love to find proof that it is not, but they cannot. They cannot find a viable explanation. But at least they are honest in their research and do not accept the first unsubstantiated interpretation which comes along. The Church states that in fourteen centuries it has not yet been presented a sensible explanation.

Again, Rev. Bosworth Smith said in his book, Mohammed and Mohammedanism, published in London, that “Al-Quran as a miracle of purity of style, of wisdom and of truth, it is the one miracle claimed by Mohammed, his standing miracle, he called it, AND A MIRACLE INDEED IT IS!”

In reference to Rev. Smith’s book, he ascribed “Mohammedanism” to “Islam” as a religion founded by Prophet Muhammed (pbuh). Again, Why is it that the etymology of the word “Islam” as a religion cannot be traced to Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) unlike every other world religions? Why do Atheists, Orientalists and other Non-Muslims alike erroneously thought that Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) was the founder of Islam? Again, there is NO documentary evidence that proved that Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) is the founder of Islam. Islam started with the creation of Adam (ASW) and Eve through all the messengers sent unto mankind as the way and the truth to the Supreme Being.  Almighty Allah asserts that “Say: We believe in God, and the revelation given to us, and that given to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to all prophets (including Prophet Muhammed) from their Lord. We make no difference between one and another of them and we submit to God” - Quran 2:136. Muslims love and believe in all God’s prophets including Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Jesus and Muhammed (peace be upon them all). Muslims also proclaim that they all come with one mission of monotheism and Islam.

In corroborating God’s manual (from Islamic views) in the postulation of “Tales of Two Manuals” and holding a critically divergent views of Atheists on why God would have to wait for 2000 years ago before sending “His chosen one” with a sacred Book, the Glorious Qur’an makes it clear that there has always exist a guide to humanity since the creation of Adam (ASW) across different tribes and languages. Almighty Allah, The Creator authoritatively asserted that “And verily, We have sent among every nation a Messenger (proclaiming): "Worship Allah, and avoid all false deities.'' Then of them were some whom Allah guided and of them were some upon whom the straying was justified” - Qur’an (16:36). In addition, the Supreme Being admonished us that “O Mankind! We have created you from male and female and made you nations and tribes that you may appreciate one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous (that is, conscious of Allah). Indeed, Allah is All-Knowing and All-Acquainted” – Qur’an 49:13.

Confirming this wonderful concept of universality and equality in Islam, Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) in his last sermon said: “O people, your God is one and your father is one. You are all from Adam and Adam is from dust. An Arab is not superior to a non-Arab, and a non-Arab is not superior to an Arab. A white has no superiority over a black, nor does a black have superiority over a white. You are all equal. Nobody has superiority over others except through piety and good action”. Again, it becomes controversial and illogical to claim that someone is not from Adam and yet one does not know his genealogies (origins). In my own candid opinion, only those that can categorically state their genealogies can debunk the claim that they are not from Adam. Yet, people have claimed that they are certainly not from Adam and they do not know their genealogies. What a fallacy of hasty generalization! (apology to Dr Dipo Fashina – “Jingo”).

In contributing to this controversial argument after careful and extensive study, John Esposito, a Roman Catholic distinguished professor of Religion and International Affairs pointed out in his book, Islam: The Straight Path (Oxford University Press, 2004), that “Muhammed was not the founder of Islam, he did not start a new religion”. He stressed further that “Islam brought a reformation; it was the call once again to total submission (Islam) to Allah and the implementation of His will as revealed in its complete form one final time to Muhammed, the last, or seal of the prophets. Thus, for Muhammed, Islam was not a new faith but the restoration of the true faith…”

In conclusion, citing the words of the famous Italian orientalist, Dr Laura Veccia Vaglieri in the book “Apologia dell’ Islamismo” translated into English as “Interpretation of Islam” by Dr Caselli (pp. 33-34), she wrote “Thanks to Islam, paganism in its various forms was defeated. The concept of the universe, the practices of religion and social customs were each liberated from all the monstrosities which had degraded them, and human minds were made free from prejudices. Mankind finally realized its dignity and humbled itself before the Creator, the Lord and Master of all mankind…Man became the servant of Allah alone and towards another free man. Each Muslim was distinguished from other Muslims not by reason of birth or any other factor not connected with his personality, but by his greater fear of God, his good deeds, his morals and intellectual qualities”. She also stated “It was, therefore, neither by means of violence of arms nor through the pressure of obtrusive missionaries that caused the great and rapid diffusion of Islam, but above all, through the fact that this book (Qur’an) presented by the Muslims to the vanquished, with the liberty to accept it or reject it, was the Book of God, the Word of Truth, the greatest miracle Mohammed could show to those in doubt and to those who remained stubborn. The strength of this message was its crystal clear simplicity and marvelous easiness. For Islam reached out to the soul of the people without having recourse to long explanations or involved sermons”…….. QED

(These responses have been expressed for the purpose of stoking discussion on the subject matter from Islamic Philosophy and not to demean or bring down anyone else or otherwise. Any contributors should critically review the original post and my responses – PART 1 (Oct. 21), PART 2 (Oct. 28), PART 3 (Nov. 4) and PART 4 (Nov. 11, 2013), holistically before joining in the discussion.)