Let\u2019s talk frankly. Almost never do non-Muslims study Islam until they have first exhausted the religions of their exposure. Only after they have grown dissatisfied with the religions familiar to them, meaning Judaism, Christianity and all the fashionable \u201c-isms\u201d\u2014Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism (and, as my young daughter once added, \u201ctourism\u201d)\u2014do they consider Islam.<\/p>\n
Perhaps other religions do not answer the big questions of life, such as \u201cWho made us?\u201d and \u201cWhy are we here?\u201d Perhaps other religions do not reconcile the injustices of life with a fair and just Creator. Perhaps we find hypocrisy in the clergy, untenable tenets of faith in the canon, or corruption in the scripture. Whatever the reason, we perceive shortcomings in the religions of our exposure, and look elsewhere. And the ultimate \u201celsewhere\u201d is Islam.<\/p>\n
Now, Muslims would not like to hear me say that Islam is the \u201cultimate elsewhere.\u201d But it is. Despite the fact that Muslims comprise one-fourth to one-fifth of the world\u2019s population, non-Muslim media smears Islam with such horrible slanders that few non-Muslims view the religion in a positive light. Hence, it is normally the last religion seekers investigate.<\/p>\n
Another problem is that by the time non-Muslims examine Islam, other religions have typically heightened their skepticism: If every \u201cGod-given\u201d scripture we have ever seen is corrupt, how can the Islamic scripture be different? If charlatans have manipulated religions to suit their desires, how can we imagine the same not to have happened with Islam?<\/p>\n
The answer can be given in a few lines, but takes books to explain. The short answer is this: There is a God. He is fair and just, and He wants us to achieve the reward of paradise. However, God has placed us in this worldly life as a test, to weed out the worthy from the unworthy. And we will be lost if left to our own devices. Why? Because we don\u2019t know what He wants from us. We can\u2019t navigate the twists and turns of this life without His guidance, and hence, He has given us guidance in the form of revelation.<\/p>\n
Sure, previous religions have been corrupted, and that is one of the reasonswhy we have a chain of revelation. Ask yourself: wouldn\u2019t God send another revelation if the preceding scriptures were impure? If preceding scriptures were corrupted, humans would need another revelation, to keep upon the straight path of His design.<\/p>\n
So we should expect preceding scriptures to be corrupted, and we should expect the final revelation to be pure and unadulterated,for we cannot imagine a loving God leaving us astray. What we can imagine is God giving us a scripture, and men corrupting it; God giving us another scripture, and men corrupting it again \u2026 and again, and again. Until God sends a final revelation He promises to preserve until the end of time.<\/p>\n
Muslims consider this final revelation to be the Holy Quran. You consider it \u2026 worth looking into. So let us return to the title of this article: Why Islam? Why should we believe that Islam is the religion of truth, the religion that possesses the pure and final revelation?
\n\u201cOh, just trust me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, how many times have you heard that line? A famous comedian used to joke that people of different cities cuss one another out in different ways. In Chicago, they cuss a person out this way, in Los Angeles they cuss a person outthat way, but in New York they just say, \u201cTrust me.\u201d<\/p>\n
So don\u2019t trust me\u2014trust our Creator. Read the Quran, read books and study good websites. But whatever you do, get started, take it seriously, and pray for our Creator to guide you.<\/p>\n
Your life may not depend on it, but your soul most definitely does.<\/p>\n
Copyright \u00a9 2007 Laurence B. Brown; used by permission.
\nAbout the author:
\nLaurence B. Brown, MD, can be contacted at BrownL38@yahoo.com. He is the author of The First and Final Commandment (Amana Publications) and Bearing True Witness (Dar-us-Salam). Forthcoming books are a historical thriller, The Eighth Scroll, and a second edition of The First and Final Commandment, rewritten and divided into MisGod’ed and its sequel, God\u2019ed.<\/p>\n
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Source: https:\/\/www.islamland.com\/eng\/articles\/why-islam<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"