Page 61 - History of The Quranic Text | Kalamullah.Com

CHAPTER THREE

REVELATIONS AND THE PROPHET MUI:IAMMAD ~

From early Islamic history we now turn to face Prophet Muhammad's
message itself, to its nature as well as to its link with the teachings of earlier
prophets. Allah created humanity for the singular purpose of worshipping
Him, though He is in no need of anyone's worship as it adds nothing to His
supremacy. The manner of worship was not left to the dictates of individuals
or communities, but was explicitly delineated through the dispatching of
prophets and messengers. As all messengers received their commission from
the same Creator, so the core message remained essentially the same; only
some of the practical details were altered. Nl'Llf (Noah), Ibrahim (Abraham),
Isrna'il (Ishmael),Ya'qiib Gacob),Ishaq (Isaac),Yusuf IToseph), Dawud (David),
Sulaiman (Solomon), 'Isa (Jesus) and the countless others He sent forth
each bore a message of finite scope, intended for a particular community
at a particular time. These were all invariably corrupted or lost, nullifying
the message and leaving its followers in the throes of idolatry, superstition,
or fabrication. With Muhammad however, the time was ripe for a message
that would not be hedged in by national boundaries or a particular epoch,
a faith that could never be nullified because it was intended for all people
and for all time.
Islam refers to theJews and Christians as 'people of the Book'. These three
religions have a common patriarch in Ibrahim, and hypothetically worship
the same God that was worshipped by Ibrahim and his sons Isrna'nand
Ishaq. In discussing these religions we inevitably encounter some common
terms, but though the words appear similar to the eyes the underlying
implications often are not. For example, the Qur'an states explicitly that
everything in the universe has been created for the solepurpose of worshipping
Allah, while inJewish mythology the entire universe was created for the merit
of the children of Israel. 1 In addition the Israelite prophets supposedly
indulged in fashioning images of false gods (Aaron) or committed adultery
(David), while Islam insists on the virtuous character of all the prophets.
Meanwhile, the Christian concept of a trinity - withJesus being the sole
member of the Godhead visible within church confmes - thoroughly con-
tradicts the precise Oneness of Allah in Islam. We will therefore briefly cover

1 See the quotes at the beginning of Chapters 14 and 15.