(part 1 of 3): The end of prophecy
What is meant by “inclusiveness of Islam” is the fact that Islam is valid for all times and places. No matter who or where a person is, Islam should be their religion and way of life. This applies to those who lived during the Prophet’s lifetime that God’s blessings and peace were upon him, as well as to those who will live in 2525 (if God wants there to be such a year).
The correct understanding of this fact revolves around a number of things. The first and most important of these is the end of prophecy with the appearance of the Prophet Muhammad. The second concerns the perfection of religion and the way in which it is able to guide humanity through all ages.
The end of prophecy
God has determined that the Prophet Muhammad will be His last friend. God says:
“Muhammad is not the father of one of your husbands, but the Messenger of Allah and the last of all prophets, and Allah has full knowledge of all things …” (Quran 33:40)
The Prophet Muhammad said himself:
“I am been sent to all in creation and the prophets were sealed by me. ” (Sahieh Muslim)
And he said again:
“The children of Israel were led by the prophets; whenever a prophet died, a prophet followed (him). Please refer! There will be no prophet after me. ” (Sahieh Al-Bukhari, Sahieh Muslim)
So finally the prophet came who explicitly declared that he was the last prophet. The prophets who came before this prophet – as far as is clear from what has been reported about them – made no such claim themselves. For example, in Deuteronomy God says to Moses that He will send another messenger “as you are” in the future. In the New Testament, John 14: 15-16, Jesus speaks of „another comforter“ sent by God. (Also in John 16: 7-8 and John 16: 12-13, Jesus speaks of someone who will come in the future.) The Prophet Muhammad, on the other hand, made it very clear that after him no prophet will come.
Since he was the last messenger sent to humanity, there had to be some aspects that must be unique about this last prophet. These include:
First, since no one can come later to correct any mistakes or changes, the revelation that the last prophet received had to be preserved in its original purity. It would go beyond the scope of this short article, but a study of the Quran and Sunnah would show that they have both been preserved with great care.
Second, the type of „sign“ of the last prophet also had to be different. Because this sign should convince not only the people who lived in the time of the Prophet, but also all those who would come afterwards. The „sign“ of the Prophet Muhammad was the Quran and his wonderful way will be appreciated today and will be appreciated in the future.
Third, this last prophet could not simply be sent by humanity for a community – each would have its own last prophet that would be different. This last prophet had to be clever for all of humanity, put an end to the succession of prophets and be suitable for the whole world. Prophet Muhammad was the only prophet to announce that he was sent not just for a specific people, but for all peoples in the world. The Jews, for example, consider themselves a chosen people and think that their message is only for them. Therefore, many Orthodox Jews do not believe in the conversion to their belief. The New Testament also clarifies that Jesus was sent to the tribes of Israel. We read in Matthew 10: 5-6
“These twelve Jesus sent and commanded them, saying: Do not go on the Gentile road and do not go to the Samaritan cities, but go to the lost sheep from the house of Israel.”
It is reported that Jesus said when the Canaanite woman asked him for help:
“I have not been sent but only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24). [1]
This limited mission of Jesus is also confirmed by the Quran (61: 6). But about the Prophet Muhammad God says:
“(O Muhammad) say:“ O people, I am a Messenger of Allah for all of you … ‚”(Quran 7: 158)
In another verse we read:
“ And we only have you Sent Good News and Warner to All People ”(Quran 34:28)
There are other verses that make the same sense. The Prophet Muhammad himself also confirmed that he differs from the previous Prophets in five ways. The last
thing he mentioned was: „[Before] a prophet was only sent to his own people, but I was sent to all of humanity.“ (Sahieh Al-Bukhari, Sahieh Muslim)
Fourth, the laws and teachings of this message had to be firm and leading in matters that must be established for all of humanity by the day of judgment; but adaptable and flexible in matters that need to be open to change according to the changing circumstances of humanity. This will be discussed in more detail later.
All of these points show that it is the Prophet Muhammad’s message that meets all of these criteria. In addition, all of these aspects make it fairly clear that Prophet Muhammad is suitable and sufficient to be the Messenger for all mankind and that the religion that all mankind should adopt is Islam.
Footnotes:
[1] In the same context, Jesus is quoted in Matthew 15:26 as saying about the help of the Canaanite woman: “It is not nice to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs ..” God only knows what parts of the gospel that are attributed to Jesus were really said by him.
(part 2 of 3): A religion for all mankind
Obedience to the Prophet Muhammad is a must for everyone
Before we talk about how universal the laws of Islam are, it is important to briefly discuss the subject of those who follow God’s earlier confirmed prophets. These people may argue that the Prophet Muhammad may be truthful, but it is enough for them to follow the Prophet to whom they have hitherto followed.
In fact, nobody has the right to accept the other prophets and to deny the Prophet Muhammad, God’s blessing and peace be upon him. Nobody has the right to say that Muhammad was truthful, but „I still want to follow Jesus or Moses.“ Logically speaking, one cannot expect this to be accepted by God. God has sent His last Messenger to be believed and followed, to abolish and abolish what is replaced by the teachings of the previous prophets. In the Quran, God describes this behavior:
“When they are told,“ Believe in what God has sent down, „they say,“ We believe in what was sent down to us, „while denying what came after, although it is about the truth that it is affirms what is in their possession … ”(Quran 2:91)
God has also declared such people to be unbelievers. He says:
“Truly, those who do not believe in God and His messengers and make a separation between God and His messengers and say:“ We believe in some and reject others „and want to take an intermediate route these are the unbelievers in the true sense, and We have prepared a shameful punishment for the unbelievers. But those who believe in God and His messengers and make no difference between them are the ones to whom He will give their reward; and God is Forgiving, Merciful. ” (Quran 4: 150-152)
The Prophet said:
“[I swear] by [God], the one in whose hand is my soul, there will be none of the people to whom I have addressed, be it a Jew or a Christian who hears from me and dies without to believe what I was sent with, except that he will be one of the inhabitants of Hellfire. ” (Sahieh Muslim)
The Prophet even said to his companions:
„If my brother Moses were still alive today, he would have no choice but to follow me.“ (Ahmad and al-Daarimi)
So the universality of Islam is addressed to everyone who also followed the previous prophets. They have no logically acceptable alternative other than accepting and following Prophet Muhammad.
The universality of Islam and its timelessness
As noted above, the Prophet Muhammad declared that he was the last prophet to be sent for humanity. At the same time, it is unthinkable if one knows the mercy of the merciful that He can leave people without any clear guidance of any kind. In other words, what He gave to his last messenger must be suitable to lead all of humanity after him until the day of judgment. The Prophet himself, in essence, emphasized this when he said,
„I have left two pieces of good news for you so that if you hold on to it you will never go astray: the Book of God and the Sunnah of His Messenger.“ (Sahieh Muslim)
God also says:
“… Today I have perfected your religion for you and completed My grace to you and chose Islam for you to believe.…” (Quran 5: 3)
So religion is complete and perfect and there is no need for any change or change. The message has come and should be enough until the day of the judgment. The prophet who has been sent to all peoples has already come.
This indicates that the Prophet’s teachings are valid and mandatory for all of humanity. This means that his example and teachings were not just for the people of Arabia in his day. Rather, they are just as valid and just as important for every single Muslim today, be it in New York or Malaysia.
At this point one could logically ask: how can it be that this law is able to meet the needs of all of humanity until the day of judgment? Human society changes from day to day. How can it be that a „law“ provides guidance for everyone at all times? The answer to this question has something to do with the beauty of the law. If you study the law promulgated by the Prophet Muhammad, you find that it has the elements of flexibility needed to be as applicable today as it was during the Prophet’s lifetime. Essentially, the things that must be firm and consistent are so in Islamic law. The things that need to be flexible So that they can be handled differently for different peoples at different times, Islamic law has been left flexible. So the way of life of divine guidance is suitable and applicable for all people up to the day of judgment.
(part 3 of 3): Complete guidance is sufficient forever
First, human nature does not change over time. Laws or guidance that regulate moral and ethical behavior should always remain the same, because what harms the soul will always harm the soul, precisely because human nature does not change. For example, lying and cheating displease our Lord and damage the soul and it will always be so. Therefore, laws and guidance related to things of this nature should be in place and remain fully applicable until the day of judgment. Ritual acts of worship, which underline the development of human character, do not need to change either. God only knows how He wants to be worshiped and if He has declared these acts to be correct and acceptable by the day of judgment, no one can claim that this may be different. When describing this type of law or guidance, you can say that Islamic law is adamant, but that’s only because it’s supposed to be rigid on these points. However, this has no influence on their universality and applicability at all times and in all places.
Second, there are some harmful things that people need to avoid. These were also explicitly and permanently banned. For example, alcohol and intoxicants will always be harmful to humanity. Time and time again, people will find something useful about alcohol, as God mentioned in the Quran, but all in all, no society can rightly argue that alcohol consumption is a good thing. You only have to consider the social costs of drinking in the United States alone. Many families are torn apart by alcohol abuse. Driving under the influence of alcohol is considered a danger to society and, although great steps have been taken to get it under control, many people still die or are seriously injured as a result. Many alcoholics cannot get a job and become dependent on the state, burdening the other fellow citizens with their care. When it comes to such issues, Islam forbids such practices forever, because there can be no serious argument that alcohol should be allowed. (Indeed, one might argue that it is only allowed today because the cost to hold people back from this addictive „drug“ is prohibitive. In reality, this is just another sign of how dangerous and bad alcohol is.)
Third, aside from that, people only need a few detailed laws, but many general principles that allow them to live their lives at all times and in all places. This is exactly what Islamic law gives them. Therefore, God provides detailed laws about the things you can eat, the inheritance, who is allowed as a spouse, international relations, etc. From these detailed laws, a scholar can derive the regulations for many new situations. From the general principles, a scholar can derive guidance for various topics that, for example, did not arise during the time of the Prophet.
Fourth, in the area of social contracts and business, for example, the general principle is that anything is allowed unless there is evidence to show the other. In fact, the Islamic law leaves a lot of freedom within the law. In business, Islam has banned interest, overly risky transactions, lottery, deception, fraud, selling or trading illegal things and coercion. In general, it is the harmful aspects that have been banned. In other words, the guidance is such that when new forms of business are developed, as in modern times, one can determine which ones comply with Islamic guidelines and which ones do not. So Islamic law has been applicable for over 1400 years, according to Islamic teachings, it will remain applicable until the day of judgment. Two businessmen can enter into any contract as long as the basic and harmful aspects are avoided. One cannot even imagine how many types of transactions are allowed under Islamic law.
Finally, it must be recognized that this complete and comprehensive guidance, which will remain in effect until the day of judgment, is a great grace from God, and is another sign that people should turn to the guidance of God. On their own, people would never be able to find a suitable way of life for any place and any time, not to speak of something that has been valid for centuries or even millennia – although people would try to hold on to it what they have followed in the past. Sayyid Qutb has expressly described this point:
If a person tries to construct a metaphysical concept or way of life through his own efforts, this concept or system cannot be comprehensive. It can only be partially valid, good for one time and place, but not for other times and other places, and appropriate for one type of circumstance, but not for another. Furthermore, even if he looks at only one problem, he is unable to look at it from all possible sides and consider all the consequences of the proposed solution, because this problem extends over a space and a time and is with previous ones Linked events and incidents that lie outside the perspective and understanding of human beings.
We conclude that no philosophy or way of life produced by human thoughts can be „all-encompassing“. It can only comprise part of human life and can only be valid for a certain period of time. Because of this limited scope, it is always defective in many respects, and because of its time limit, it certainly causes problems that require changes and changes to the original philosophy or way of life. People or peoples whose social, political or economic system is based on human philosophies are always confronted with contradictions and „dialectics“. [1]
Just look at an example that has recently been the subject of much debate to understand why using God’s guidance for all places and times is best for humanity. Circumcision is a well-known and well-established issue in Islam. Over the past few decades, because of people’s limited understanding of reality, doctors ‚and scientists‘ opinions have been going back and forth when it comes to circumcision. They support this for a decade, while in the following decade they say that it is useless and harmful to the child. Now they have found out – or think they have found out, because maybe it turns out to be wrong again – that circumcision is a great protection against HIV AIDS. Now hurry up
Eventually, after so many cases like this, it will become clear to people that there is guidance that is complete and perfect, that comes from God and that is what people need and need, no matter what time and where.
The guidance is complete and sufficient forever
In summary, we can state that the guidance is complete and suitable for all times and places. It is everything that Muslims need for joy in this world and in the hereafter. It cannot be improved. Therefore, there is no need to add, change or omit anything. Those who think they can improve something that God has revealed are extremely arrogant and go far beyond what they could at most achieve. For this obvious reason, the Prophet has warned vigorously of innovations, introductions, heresies, and changes in belief. This is not necessary at all and they will disturb the beauty and perfection of Islam. So the Prophet said:
“The worst things are the renewed ones. And every renewal is a fallacy. ” (Sahieh Muslim)
He also said:
„And every fall is in the hellfire.“ (al-Nasaai)
The Prophet also said:
„Anyone who introduces something into our affairs that is not part of it will be rejected.“ (Sahieh al-Bukhari and Sahieh Muslim)
Footnotes:
[1] Sayyid Qutb, The Islamic Concept and Its Characteristics (American Trust Publications, 1991), pp. 85-86.
Source: https://www.islamland.com/deu/articles/die-inklusivitt-des-islam