The rational person has every right to be doubtful, of course, if he or she
has never read this book. For such people, here is a small sample of what the
Final Book contains. Suppose we wanted to ask God several questions about Him
and about ourselves. Short of Him speaking to us directly (such a privilege has
been granted to only one person out of all humanity), the Book has the best
answers one can find. It is on the strength of these answers that an honest
person may be struck with the conviction that the Final Book is from none other
than God Almighty. Again, here is only a small part of the information one might
find.
Of all His attributes, God emphasizes a single one above all others in His
Final Book: that HE IS ONE. God is not two, three, four, or more beings. There
is only one deity, and He is God,
After this aspect of Unity, God chose to emphasize two of His other names
more often than the rest in the Final Book: "the Most Merciful, the One who
acts Mercifully." In fact, each chapter but one in the whole Book starts
with, "In the Name of God, the Most Merciful, the One who Acts
Mercifully." These two names cannot be emphasized enough. They are meant to
stress we should not let our sins keep us from coming back to God and calling to
Him at all times, in joy or sadness. The Creator is more aware of our
imperfections than we are, and so when we stumble and feel bad, God is far more
likely to be kind than angry.
The Last Messenger and Prophet of God (i.e. the person whom God chose to
deliver the Final Book to the rest of mankind) commented on God's mercy by
informing us that,
2. The Nature of Man
Who are we, and what makes us different from all
other things? We are creations of God, along with the rest of the universe. We
are human beings, all descendants of a common ancestry well known to most of us:
Adam and Eve. Humanity, however, is distinct from the rest of the universe in a
very fundamental way according to the Final Book,
"Verily, We did offer the trust to the heavens and the
earth, and the mountains: but they refused to bear it because they were afraid
of it. Yet man took it up - for verily he has always been prone to be most
wicked, most foolish." [33:72]
Over the years, many scholars of the Book have
tried to understand exactly what God meant by "the trust". The most
convincing argument (based on other parts of the Book, and on certain statements
of the Last Messenger) is that it refers to our ability to make decisions both
freely and intelligently. In other words, our uniqueness as human beings stems
from two gifts given to us by God:
* our ability to freely choose between actions (good and evil)
* our ability to intelligently weigh and make those choices
The price of these gifts is a tremendous amount of responsibility on our
part; the responsibility not to abuse our gifts by rejecting God or by hurting
each other unnecessarily.
The blessings of these two gifts are immeasurable, especially when God
reminds us that He could have decided things otherwise by depriving us of either
gift,
"Now had it been Our will [that men should not be able
to discern between right and wrong], We could surely have deprived them of
their sight, so that they would stray forever from the [right] way: for how
could they have had insight [into what is true]? And had it been Our will
[that they should not be free to choose between right and wrong], We could
surely have transformed them [rooted] in their places, so that they would not
be able to move forward, and could not turn back." [36:66-67]
However, God did NOT will this, and as a
result we are blessed with will and reason. The Final Book clearly warns against
abusing these blessings, either by neglecting ourselves when we don't think
wisely, or by hurting others when we deny them the right to choose,
"Verily, the vilest of all creatures in the sight of
God are those deaf, those dumb ones who do not use their reason." [8:22]
"There shall be no coercion in matters of faith.
Distinct has now become the right way from error: hence he who rejects evil
and believes in God has indeed taken hold of a support most unfailing, which
shall never give way: for God is All-Hearing, All-Knowing." [2:256]
In spite of mankind's free will and reason,
God warns us in His Book always to remember that these gifts are limited after
all. The Final Word lies with Him in all matters. However, this is not to say
that men's destinies are arbitrary - not at all. We are able to make decisions
that affect our lives, but at the same time, God is also making decisions about
us and for us,
"And had thy Sustainer so willed, all those who live
on earth would surely have attained to faith, all of them: do you then think
that you could compel people to believe, notwithstanding that no human being
can ever attain to faith otherwise than by God's leave, and [that] it is He
who lays the loathsome evil [of disbelief] upon those who will not use their
reason." [10:99-100]
"...Verily, God does not change men's condition
unless they change their inner selves..." [13:11]
5. This Life and the Next
What is the end to men's lives? There are two
parts to men's lives: the part here on earth, and the part in the Hereafter. The
dividing line between the two is known as death, followed by the Day of
Judgement or Resurrection. As far as death is concerned, everyone must go
through it, but on Judgement Day people will be sorted out from each other into
different categories,
"Every human being is bound to taste death: but only
on the Day of Resurrection will you be requited in full [for what you have
done]..." [3:185]
Resurrection Day will actually be a huge
period of time (not a regular 24-hour day) in which every single human will be
resurrected and judged by God on his or her beliefs and deeds. No human being -
not even any Prophet - knows when this Day will come, for this is knowledge
known only to God. The Final Book does describe it in several passages as a
giant disaster on many scales (physical and ecological among others), and the
Last Messenger was told of some of its foreshadowing signs which he communicated
to us.
6. Messengers and Prophets
Who delivered God's Message to mankind? God
has sent us many `reminders' of Him and of our obligations to Him over the
centuries, culminating in the Final Book almost 1400 years ago. Every one of
those `reminders' was delivered to us via a selected human being, one who was
strong enough to deliver God's message to his people. These human beings are
called the Prophets. They were not supernatural or immortal or different in any
way from other human beings except that they were entrusted by God to speak in
His Name,
"For [even] before thy time, [O Prophet], we never
sent [as Our messengers] any but [mortal] men, whom We inspired - hence [tell
the deniers of the truth] `If you do not know this, ask the followers of
earlier revelation' - and neither did We endow them with bodies that ate no
food, nor were they immortal." [21:7-8]
Some of the Prophets were allowed to perform
supernatural miracles but only with God's permission (i.e. if He willed it).
However, the Final Book stresses that every Prophet is no more than a servant of
God - they do not have a share in His Divinity.
There is also a small group of Prophets who were also Messengers. Every
Prophet has called his people to the Truth, but Messengers were additionally
given a rejuvenated Message from God to convey. Every Messenger is a Prophet,
but not every Prophet is a Messenger. There have been many Prophets, of which
here are the names of a few mentioned in the Book: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Lot,
Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, Elijah, Elias, David, Solomon,
Jonah, Job, Zacharias, John, Jesus, and, of course, the Last Messenger.
7. Eternal Salvation
Are certain people arbitrarily guaranteed the Favor
of God, while others are excluded? The Mercy of God is not restricted
arbitrarily to any one peoples. Everyone and anyone is free to accept the path
to God using their own free will and reason,
"And they claim, `None shall ever enter Paradise
unless he be a Jew' - or `a Christian'. Such are their wishful beliefs! Say
[to them, O Prophet]: `Produce an evidence for what you are claiming, if what
you say is true!' Yea, indeed: everyone who surrenders his whole being unto
God, and is a doer of good, shall have his reward with his Sustainer, and all
such need have no fear, and neither shall they grieve." [2:111-112]
The consequence of this is responsibility -
everyone will be held accountable on the Day of Judgement. Some of us may be
uncomfortable with this, but it is simply the price of freedom,
"It may not accord with your wishful thinking - nor
with the wishful thinking of the followers of earlier revelation - [that] he
who does evil shall be requited for it, and shall find none to protect him
from God, and none to bring him succor, whereas anyone - be it man or woman -
who does good deeds and is a believer, shall enter paradise, and shall not be
wronged by as much as [would fill] the groove of a date-stone." [4:123-124]