Q564 :As Muslims, we believe that the Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) was the last messenger Allah sent to
mankind and that the Islamic message is the final one from Allah. As
such, it is the faith all mankind should follow. The problem is the
followers of other religions have similar beliefs, whether they are
Christians, Jews, Buddhists or Hindus, they believe that their faith is
the best, outlining the ultimate truth. This makes it very difficult to
persuade followers of other religions that Islam is the only way to
happiness in the life to nete. No one chooses where and in which family
and netmunity he is born. Please netment.
A564 : It is true that no one chooses where he is
born. Indeed, practically all children receive their education in
schools in the choice of which they have no say. Let me give you this
example: Two people are born to Muslim families that are religious. At
home they learn Islamic principles and the beliefs in the Oneness of
Allah and in the message of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is
implanted in their minds at an early age. They then go to the same
school; and receive the same type of education. However, they are
different in their make up. One of them grows up fulfilling his duties
as he is taught. He never questions anything related to Islam. He
simply accepts it and attends to what he is taught to be his duties.
The other does the same, but he questions everything. Indeed, he looks
at the basic Islamic beliefs including the cornerstone of the Islamic
faith, namely, the belief in the Oneness of Allah. His questioning
leads him to accept those beliefs with an open mind. He considers
carefully the benefits of attending to each one of the Islamic duties.
He is sure in his mind that attending regularly to prayers makes him a
better person. He realizes that the payment of zakah makes the
netmunity a netpassionate one where the rich take care of the poor. He
realizes that by fasting he achieves a high level of discipline that
enables him to attend to the greater task of jihad required by every
Muslim. Thus he approaches every one of the Islamic obligations, not
merely with the attitude of one who wants to fulfill his duties, but
also with the feeling that he, as an individual, and his netmunity
benefits by the fulfillment of those duties. Are these two persons the
same? There is no doubt that the second person is much superior to the
first. As such, he will receive a more handsome reward from Allah
because he found his belief on personal choice which netes on top of
what he has been taught. Indeed, this is what Islam requires of
everyone of us. If we are Muslims simply because we have been brought
up as such and we do not question things that have been taught to us in
childhood, we are considered to have failed in the requirement that our
belief in Islam should be based on proper investigation and enlightened
choice. If such study and investigation is required of those who are
brought up as Muslims, then it is only fair that the same requirement
should apply to people who are born in other faiths. Allah wants every
human being to choose to believe in Him. He has placed in the universe
numerous pointers and indicators testifying to His existence, oneness
and overall sovereignty in the universe. These indicators and pointers
are sufficient to guide anyone who contemplates and thinks logically to
the ultimate conclusion of Allah’s existence and man’s need to worship
Him alone. Allah did not leave matters at that. He sent prophets and
messengers to call on people to believe in Him. Those who respond will
be guided right and will make sure of learning Allah’s pleasure, that
results in admission to heaven in the life to nete. Because distortion
crept into earlier scriptures, Allah has guaranteed to make His final
message, the Qur’an, available to mankind in its pure and original
form. He has guaranteed to preserve His revelations intact. This is
indeed manifest in the preservation of the Qur’an and the Hadith.
Moreover, in all previous messages, Allah has included references to
the final messenger He would send and the requirement of the followers
of earlier religions to follow the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
once he begins to make his call to mankind to believe in the oneness of
Allah. Every prophet is required to believe in the Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) and follow him if he happens to be alive when
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) begins to preach his message. The
earlier prophets’ followers are also required to believe in the Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his message. We still can find such
references in the scriptures of several religions. Nevertheless people
tend to overlook these and to stick to what they believe to be the
truth. If they fail to use their minds and act on Allah’s instructions,
they only have themselves to blame. You speak of the difficulty in
persuading a disbeliever to convert to Islam. Our task is not to
convert people. Allah does not require that of us. What He wants us to
do is to convey His final message to other people and make it clear to
them that Allah wants them to believe in this message and implement it
in their lives. If they refuse, then they incur His displeasure and
will certainly be punished for that. Once we have made this clear to
other people, we have fulfilled our task. Allah will not ask us why
they have not responded. After all, it is He who guides people to the
right path. He tells his messenger: “You certainly cannot guide (to the
right path) anyone you please. It is Allah who guides whomever He
wills. He certainly has full knowledge of those who are guided.”
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )