Believe it or not, all humans born into this world are aware of God and the knowledge of right and wrong from birth.
God Almighty was a ‘treasure’ and He wished to be known. But how can man, in our limited capabilities, know about or even find our Creator on our own? We could not. The only way that humans are able to know about God and His creation is through three sources that guide all humans back to our Creator. However, it is up top each individual soul as to whether or not they heed the call, which leads back to God Almighty.
The three sources are:
1- Inherent Nature (Fitrah)
Believe it or not, all humans born into this world are aware of God and the knowledge of right and wrong from birth. The environment they are born into, like their parent’s religious background or cultural influences, often alters them from this inherent knowledge of God and our responsibility to Him etc.
In His infinite love and compassion, God gave all humans this fitrah, which pulls them back towards Him through the message of His prophets which was finalized and preserved with the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
However, some people may either ignore the call or are so steeped in the falsehoods of their ‘given’ religion that they ignore their fitrah guiding them back to the One and Only God. This fitrah is that still small voice that ‘whispers’ to you the difference between right and wrong and makes you question the doctrination of the corruption in religion today. Can you hear it?
2- The Qur’an
The Qur’an is the last in a line of books that God has revealed to man in order to guide us to the straight path which leads to eternal bliss with Him. Amongst the other books from God include the Scripture of Abraham, the Torah, the Psalms of David, and the Gospel of Jesus. All of these books were tainted by the hands of men if not lost and replaced by historical accounts. So, who can differentiate between the word of God and the word of man?
It is a well-known fact that the Vatican readily admits that massive volumes of the Bible were either destroyed or lost over the centuries. The Qur’an is the last book that God sent to mankind and is divinely preserved as God promises since there will be no new prophet or revelation. Not a letter has been changed in over fourteen centuries and the Qur’an is the purely unadulterated speech of God Almighty to His creation.
3- The Sunnah of the Prophet
God loves us so much. It was not enough for God to send us a perfect revelation giving us a detailed outline and foundations for a peaceful God-fearing existence. But God also sent us a teacher in the form of a man named Muhammad (peace be upon him) who was well-known in his community for being trustworthy and honest from the time he was a young boy and even when he grew into a man.
As God says the purpose of sending the Prophet is to explain the Qur’an and its wisdom. Hence, we find a great deal in the Sunnah explaining the Qur’an in detail. For example, in one hadith, `A’ishah, the mother of the believers and the wife of the Prophet, was asked about the Prophet’s lifestyle by some of the younger generation. She replied:
“His character was the Qur’an.” (Al-Albani)
This means his every move was a practical application of the guidance found in the Qur’an. Muhammad faced great opposition for his propagation of Islam amongst the polytheists of Makkah. He was humiliated and scorned in his community. Several people tried to assassinate him and anyone who followed the new religion of Islam were tortured and sometimes even murdered in cold-blood. Yet through it all Muhammad never wavered in his declaration of La ilaha ila Allah (there is no God but the one God). Muhammad taught the early converts to Islam, firsthand, about the Qur’an as it was revealed to him.
All Roads Lead to God, but…
Despite all the ways in which God has introduced us to Him, many humans still ignore the call back to God, which can only be heard by submitting wholly to the Will of God according to the preserved teachings of His final Prophet. Man was created with the inherent belief in and connection to his Creator.
It is a part of human nature to acknowledge the existence of God. It is a well-known fact that throughout history the vast majority of mankind has believed in a ‘divine power’ throughout history, with most of humans believing in the Almighty Creator known in English as God.
God reveals in the Qur’an:
And (mention) when your Lord took a covenant from Adam’s progeny; asking them ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They replied ‘Yes we have now testified.’ This is lest you say on the Day of Resurrection ‘Truly, we were unaware’. Or that you might say, ‘It was only our fathers who associated other in worship with God before us and we were just their descendents after them’. (Al-A`raf 7:172, 173)
It is Satan who is man’s worst enemy leading man away from the path that leads to God. Satan and his followers constantly work to deviate man from this natural inclination that they may lead a material life following their desires void of spiritual moral values.
Living for an extended amount of time under certain environmental and cultural circumstances makes some humans confused as to what this whole life is about and what our purpose is on earth. This confusion may also make them more prone to falling into sin and accepting untruths that are far removed from what God wants from us.
God reveals in the Qur’an:
And by the soul and that which created it and then He inspired it (the soul) with what is corruptive and harmful to it (the soul) as well as what is beneficial and protective to it. Indeed he has succeeded who purifies it from corruption and harm, and truly in loss is the one who corrupted it. (Ash-Shams 91:7-10)
According to the above verses, we are all inspired with pure monotheism and the knowledge of the basics of the lawful and the prohibited. However, God still opens the gate of guidance wide for everyone. God loves for humans to have a pure faith and to follow the straight path, yet He left the choice up to us. God reveals in the Qur’an:
And as for Thamud we guided them, but they preferred their blindness to clear guidance and they received a great punishment for their decision. (Fussilat 41:17)
To reject this truth, despite the multitude of its clear proofs, is the greatest injustice man can do against himself in going against his own nature.
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