Conclusion

From the above studies, it is patently clear that the Messengers were chosen by Allah (PEBH), as mediators, in order to carry His message to people, in the language that these latter understood. […]

Each Divine Message has two sides: one doctrinal (dealing with faith’s dogmas) and another practical (preaching the practice of some rituals). Faith reminds Man of Allah (God) and of the Hereafter, and aims to strengthen man’s natural believing predisposition against deceitful temptation and the wicked forces of evil that strive continuously to push him to reject faith and to surrender to impiety. These forces try to deceive man into believing that, by this impiety and this rejection of faith, he can free himself from any constraints imposed upon him by religion, and that in the absence of these constraints, he will find his peace and freedom. But all this is but an illusion. It has been known that excessively indulging in the pleasures of life and its delights leads to boredom, and boredom, as it is well known, can be a form of constraining bondage. Opulence as well as poverty are both earthly severe trials which befall both believers and unbelievers. The common wisdom would have it that the worst constraints that a person can be subjected to, whilst outside Allah’s path, are those that will make life become so bitter as to be bitterness itself. Moreover, whoever has not tasted the sweetness of faith, reaps for himself only life’s worries and futilities, which will leave him be a prey to disgust and boredom.

It is unconceivable that Allah (PEBH) would have revealed to human beings Messages that contained contradictions with respect to faith. Likewise, it is unacceptable to think of Allah saying in a Divine Message that He is the Unique God, and saying in another Message, the universe is managed by two or more gods. That is because Allah, the Creator of the universe is eternal, and His Divine Essence is subject to no change or alteration, unlike that of all His creatures. 

The second side in the Divine Message comprises all sorts of worship and rituals that one has to accomplish, besides the good behavior one must have, the benevolence one has to show to others, and the sins that one must avoid. All this, of course, in strict obedience to Allah’s commands regarding worship and rituals. Differences may be found as one goes from one Message to another. But, these have no effect on the quintessence of religions. This is so because they are differences that correspond to the various circumstances through which human societies lived and the varied ways in which they evolved.

As for essential matters having to do with good and evil deeds (e.g. theft, adultery, murder, etc.), it should be pointed out that these latter have always been forbidden in all Heavenly Revealed Religions.

Man has to believe in all the Prophets and in all the Messages that were revealed by Allah. This requires that efforts must to be made so that he (i.e. man) gets well informed about the sources of the Divine Message, in its authentic relation (especially as concerns its purity and clarity). When this is done, all the ideas and contradictions spread by man’s hands and tongues, and which were wrongly attributed to Allah (Exalted and Glorified Be He), will dissipate.

What are the sources of contradiction in our knowledge about Heavenly Revealed Religions?

It is to be noted that contradictions are not found in the religions themselves; rather they exist in the knowledge we had about these religions. Had the original and authentic documents of all religions been available, they would have indicated clearly the truth about the content of their Messages (i.e religious messages). Moreover, they would have shown to people, with a great deal of certainty, that the mission they all had in common was to make Allah known, as the Unique God, with no associate at all.

In the old days, human communities relied much more on oral discourse than on writing, as this latter was used in a very limited way. Therefore, because the Messages that the Prophets brought to their peoples were addressed to every individual, the main concern that people had was to memorize and learn by heart whatever the Prophet said orally. And as it goes without saying that people’s abilities to memorize have always been different, their relations could never have had the same level of accuracy and organization. Therefore, while some could commit to their memories –and in an organized manner- the exact words uttered by Prophets, others could not. They stored the Prophet’s message in a disorganized way, which made it incomplete or changed (because of the substitution of sounds or words), or mixed with additions originating from their thinking or imagination.

Be this as it may, there exists one common denominator among humans; it is that the great majority of the individuals remain confident about the knowledge that they have acquired while casting doubt on that of the others.

Given the aforementioned facts, it ought to be clear that oral memorization alone was not sufficient for the fixation and the preservation of Divine Messages, since naturally, people disagree on things and engage in polemics with each other. Even people with good memories, who keep authentic and accurate information, find it difficult to convince others to make of the authentic and accurate message the prevalent one. Because of this, as soon as a Prophet dies, there appear disagreements and contradictory views regarding the content of the Message that he conveyed. The problem does not only lie in the sharpness or the dimness of people’ s memory; it goes much deeper than that. After the death of Prophets, hypocrites and unbelievers rid themselves of a fear that limited the scope of their intended deeds and comportments and seize the chance to declare their disdain towards the Divine Messages. Opportunities to propagate their heresies and lies become numerous and it becomes easy for them to attribute falsehoods to the Prophets and to their followers.

The unbeliever and the hypocrite take to enjoying some security after the Prophets’ death as their actions are not curtailed and prevented from having a certain effect on the souls of many a weak person. Besides, they have more chances to do what they wish. As for the opportunities to bring them for reckoning, they become limited.

On their part, ignorant people can alter the bases of religious knowledge by adding to the texts things which were not there, believing that, in so doing, they will attract people to religion, and make it easier for them to understand it. In this way, Holy texts are mingled with legends, with anecdotes and with imagination.

Due to all this, written recording directly from Prophets is of great importance and is the safest way to preserve the Divine Message exactly as it was revealed to the Prophet and taught by him to his followers. If there occur differences between people’s opinions, or between texts written about a Divine Message, all they will have to do is to go back to the first manuscript that was directly recorded from the Prophet, in order to distinguish the truth from falsehood.

In what language did the Prophets preach? And what did people record from them?

Writing existed very long ago, but its learning and use were limited to members of the elite in societies. Were there, among this elite, any people who directly wrote the messages of Moses, of Jesus and of Mohammed (PBBUH)?

If some people say the tablets given to Moses were a prodigy from Allah (PEBH), and that the Holy divine ideas appeared to Moses and to his brother Aaron, from a simple look at them, we will certainly not object to this. Yet, it is our right to ask the following question: “Did this prodigy only concern Moses and his brother, as Prophets, or was it destined to all people, who would be able, too, to perceive those Holy ideas from a simple look at the tablets?”

If we take into consideration the first supposition, the following question arises: “What may people have recorded directly from the heavenly discourse that they had heard from Moses, in their own language?” In the same context, another question can be: “what was the language of interaction used by people at that time?” Was it Aramaic, Egyptian or were there any other languages spoken in the land where the Divine Messages were revealed?

If we take the second supposition into consideration, the question that comes readily to mind is: “Where are the tablets that Moses was given?” All people will long to see them so that they show them the ideas and the significance of that Divine Message, as pure and authentic as they were revealed. In that way, all people will be able to understand this Message, no matter what language they speak.

As for what is said about Jesus (PBBUH) that he was sent to people with different ethnic, linguistic and cultural backgrounds, it was one of the miracles with which Allah has strengthened his mission: he used to preach in one voice and all the hearers of Jesus’ voice would hear him in the sounds of their language even if it was not the one Jesus used. Thus, the following question still persists: “What did the people record from Jesus directly in the language in which they heard him, be it Aramaic, or Hebrew or Syriac or any other language?”

Why do we seek to find those original documents?

The original documents of the heavenly revealed Messages are a property of the whole mankind. It was incumbent upon past generations to preserve them all. But the vicissitude of time, and the changing circumstances of societies must have led to the loss of the first documents on which were recorded the original texts of the Divine Messages revealed before Islam. Thus, only the Koran remained, as an original, authentic and complete document of a Heavenly Message that was recorded by literate people, exactly as it was imparted to them by the Prophet (PBBUH). We can even say that it is the unique original document left of a divine text that was kept safe from any addition or omission. It is the Concluding Message that belongs to the entire humanity, and that is addressed to all people and all societies.

There is no doubt that we, the people of the current century, have everything in hand, as we live in this era of writing, printing and of computers and new information technologies, (e.g. the Internet). The principles of scientific research require that we look for the original documents and sources of all the Heavenly Revealed Religions and undertake some investigation, concerning them, with the highest degree of precision possible.

In this respect, we can draw the following parallel: if two translators of a particular book, for instance, disagree on something in their translations, it will be necessary to go back to the original text. But this text must be written in a living language, so that it would be possible for the examiners to distinguish between what is correct and what is not.

For this reason, in order for the first original documents conveying a Divine Message to be of value and interest for people, the Prophets’ Message should have been recorded immediately and exactly as they had imparted them. Besides, the languages in which those original messages were to have been recorded should be among modern languages, still in common use. This would spare people the trouble, which the deciphering of their signs and the uncovering of their contents, would have occasioned. The importance of written recording is something unquestionably very evident. We all know that oral memorization is subject to forgetfulness, as well as to alteration and change.

In the same way, translations often assign a meaning that is different from the one intended for the words used in the original message.

If we start from the premises that no contradiction is possible to emanate from Allah, and that it is impossible for us to collect all the original texts of the early Divine Messages, we will have to admit that the presence of a Message that was recorded immediately from the Prophet who imparted it, in a still current modern language, must be sufficient as a truthful reference for understanding the essence of the Heavenly Message, and proving the soundness of the belief in it.

Such is the logical reasoning that Moslems adopt in support of their belief in the uniqueness of Allah, in all Divine Messages that He sent and in the magnanimous Prophets who were dispatched to mankind with these messages.

Regarding worshipping practice and rituals, the belief in all the Prophets in no way goes against the obligation for people to follow the precepts ordained by Allah in the latest Message which He sent to them. In a way this evokes the attitude that one must adopt towards positive laws. A citizen always has to follow the latest laws issued by the official authorities of his country. He must not follow an old law on the ground that it was issued by the same authorities. Religious precepts are no different. Earth is a property of Allah and people are citizens on this earth. And it is known that the Divine Message makes no distinction between people, in terms of where they live, what their sex is or of what color they are.

In the past, being literate was limited to the elite of scholars and to the children of Kings and Princes. Teaching people to be literate was entrusted to temples and convents and to theologians. In the society of the Arabic peninsula, there were very few people who could read and write. Yet, Prophet Mohammed (PBBUH), who was an illiterate himself, insisted that the verses of the Qur’an which were being revealed to him be recorded. He used to call upon Zayd Ibn Thâbit for this purpose. But Zayd was not the only one to have done this. Others, who were aware of the importance of recording the Qur’anic verses, voluntarily and willingly undertook this task. Among them were Ubay Ibn Ka‘b, Mu‘âdh Ibn Jabal and a man called Abû Zayd. Some relations mentioned Abû Ad-Dardâ’. Moreover, some of the Prophet’s Companions wrote the whole  Qur’an from their memory, which could store an entire Qur’an. Some others did it based on documents that others had transcribed, etc.

Under the inspiration of Allah, who revealed the Qur’an, as the Concluding Message, Prophet Mohammad ordered that the young be taught. He even went  further than this, during his struggle with the unbelievers: he went as far as to set free the unbelieving literate prisoners on condition that they teach a number of youth reading and writing from the available books.

The outcome of this was that, not long after the Prophet’s death, the copies of the Qur’an, that were transcribed, were widely used among Moslems, and scribal copying flourished in the society. Thanks to this, the Divine and Concluding Message was recorded in a complete and immediate way, directly from the Prophet (PBBUH). This guaranteed its authenticity and exactness. People then were able to learn the Qur’an, and to check their learning from these copies. In this way, rote learning of the Qur’an was based on –and came from- what was written in the “Masâhif” (Qur’anic books); the same obtains for any recitation or review. Therefore, the Qur’an contents that were committed to memory were kept safe from any deletion, addition, change or substitution. Moreover, the learning of the Arabic language, depended on the Qur’an, as it started from it and was established on its basis.

From the moment the Divine Message, consigned in the Qur’an, was revealed to the Prophet (PBBUH), a large number of people learned it by heart orally and communicated it, from generation to generation, in parallel with the wide diffusion of the written versions of the “Mushafs”. Do we find a huge and quasi unlimited number of rote learners and declamers of a Divine Message’s text - in all the past human generations - save that of the Reciters of the Qur’an?

No Holy book has ever been so widely learned, through generations, as the case has been with the Qur’an. From the early days of Islam, until now, Moslems recited the same texts of the Qur’an in their prayers. Yet the language in which it was written, remained the same up to this day and continues to thrive as a modern language, spoken throughout the world. Moreover, people do not find any difficulties, in our modern societies, to read the Qur’an in Arabic, nor to understand its meanings, when it is translated into other languages.

Our standing by the Qur’an is justified by the documented scientific reasons given above. It also finds its justification in the fact that its eloquence has defied the ability of all Arabs, who are well known for it, to produce a text similar to it, or even one single surah like those contained in it. Moreover, non-Arab readers find in the translation of its meanings wisdom, exhortation, psychological balance, coherence and all the attributes particular to Allah (PEBH) in His Message to people. The Qur’an exhorts and guides; it promises and warns. It attributes to all Prophets the best qualities that befit them. Owing to this, millions of non-Arabic speakers have adopted it, believing it to be the Concluding Message to all mankind.

Our being Moslems is of little benefit in this lowly world, unless we apply all the precepts of the Qur’an, by obeying its orders and avoiding its interdicts. We all admit that this Divine Message is addressed to all people, and not to Arabs only. We also know that any society, with any linguistic or ethnic background, is able to lead Humanity towards the revival of religion and its own renaissance, because Allah will be at its sides. This is what is meant by the following Holy verse:

“O mankind! We have created you from a male and a female and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Verily the most honorable of you with Allah is that (believer) Who has At-Taqwâ”. Verily, Allah is all knowing, all aware.” (Surah of “Al-Hujurât” (the Dwellings); v. 13).

      This has been proven through history, as there were nations where Islam flourished so eminently, even though neither their tongue, nor their origins were Arabic.

The Holy Prophetic tradition supports the Qur’an. It explains its precepts, makes explicit its semantically obscure verses, and helps with their application. Allah inspired it to the Prophet by meaning and not by words. This is understood from the Prophet’s sayings, from his behavior and from his sanctions related to religious matters. In this respect, the Prophet (PBBUH) said: “I have left among you that which, if you adhere to it, will keep you from going astray: the Book of Allah, and the “Sunna” (the tradition) of His Prophet”.

The Koran is the Divine, complete and safeguarded Divine Message. And the “Mushaf” (Book of the Qur’an), is the truthful written record of that Holy Message, carrying Allah’s Concluding Message, as authentic as it was revealed. And anyone who denies this will be categorically denying that humanity had ever owned the original text of any heavenly revealed Message.