Divine Message - Part Ii

Written by husayn Tuesday, 07 November 2006 - One God, One Message Moses came approx. 1500 years prior to Jesus. And Jesus came approx. 580 years prior to the final prophet, Muhammad. Take note of the time differences. Now let us look at how this Message from God, was taught to these Messengers. Some will say, without any historical support, that perhaps they were taught by other people of that time via oral or written transmission. But should one look back into history, one will find that it is generally accepted from religious and non-religious texts alike that: Moses - received stone tablets inscribed with laws from Mount Sinai (and then further laws as they wandered the wilderness, directly from God as the "manifestation" of a column of fire at night and a cloud at day). "The Lord said to Moses, 'Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them." Exodus 24:12 Jesus - was arguably born with divine knowledge from God, via immaculate conception (without the involvement of man), and spoke with much wisdom from early childhood. Muhammad - received revelations from Archangel Gabriel, which were then noted down and memorised and forms the Qur'an today. Interestingly, all 3 Messengers spent 40 days alone. Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness (Mathew 4:2, Mark 1:13, Luke 4:2). Moses spent 40 days on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:18) and Muhammad spent 40 days in a cave. 40 days has a spiritual significance in terms of purification. Much like the rains that came down for 40 days (Genesis 8:6) in the time of Noah in order to cleanse/purify the earth of the filth that had then become rife. But the point is that none of these, divinely appointed Messengers, were taught the divine guidelines by man via lessons or oral transmission. It was always directly or indirectly from God. - One Message Same Laws So, with hundreds of years between each Messenger and with no-reported teacher but God... Previously, we saw that the Qur'an supported the theory that God teaches mankind the same teachings through all His Prophets/Messengers. Now, we look a little deeper into each of the 3 monotheistic religions. Judaism: In the Old testament we are told God spoke to Moses to tell him to pass on numerous laws to the children of Israel. After completing these God also commanded Moses to say to the Children of Israel: "Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;" Old Testament, Deut. 7:9 Perhaps it is worth noting here that as well as God giving man guidance, God makes us aware of the source of the teachings i.e. God.

Christianity: One of the first teachings that Jesus gives to the people is that the laws remain the same. He tells them that he has NOT come to change the laws of Moses, but has come to fulfil them. And he makes absolutely CRYSTAL clear that not the smallest detail of the Law will be done away with till the end of the "time". "Do not think that I have come to do away with the Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets. I have not come to do away with them, but to make their teachings come true. Remember that as long as heaven and earth last, not the least point nor the smallest detail of the Law will be done away with - not until the end of all things. So then, whoever disobeys even the least important of the commandments and teaches others to do the same, will be least in the Kingdom of heaven." New Testament, Matthew 5:17-19 Interesting... so, Jesus came to teach the same as Moses. So, the question that is springing in my mind is "why do nowadays Christians and Jews not practice exactly the same thing?" What link is missing? But let us continue. Islam: The following verse of the Qur'an, we have already seen. It confirms that God has only ever taught the One Religion to All Prophets and Messengers, which of course makes logical sense. And also, we see that the Final Prophet has also confirmed the Messengers that came before him as being legitimate divine guides of God. "The same Religion He has established for you as that which He enjoined on Noah that which We have sent by inspiration to you - and that which We enjoined on Abraham, Moses, and Jesus: namely, that you should remain steadfast in Religion, and make no divisions therein." Qur'an 42:13 So, it would seem, according to the Messengers, themselves, that not only did each one claim to teach the same teaching of God, but also confirmed the Messenger(s) before him. They did not say "my religion is correct so do not follow that of the Messenger before". Nor were they taught the teachings of the Messengers before them so that they could copy their teachings. So just how did they know the teachings of the other Messenger(s) before them in order to confirm them? There must have been divine guidance... According to the Qur'an, this is the case: "Not a Messenger did We send before you [Muhammad] without this inspiration sent by Us to him: that there is no god but I; therefore worship and serve Me." Qur'an 21:25 In fact, there was not a Messenger that came that did not tell the people about God and tell them that the teachings were from God, and not themselves. Moses: "Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him." Old Testament, Deut. 8:6 Jesus: "Jesus answered, 'What I teach is not my own teaching, but it comes from God, who sent me. Whoever is willing to do what God wants will know whether what I teach comes from God or whether I speak on my own authority." New Testament John 7:17 Muhammad: "You [Muhammad] are indeed one of the Messengers, On a Straight Way.

It is a Revelation send down by (Him), the Exalted in Might, Most Merciful," Qur'an 36:3-5 It would seem that God has always tried to keep man on the same straight path and make us aware of Him. So, why is it that today we seem to have such distinctly segregated religions?