The heart of the matter:
I always repeat the wonderful words of Dr. Abdel Wahhab El-Messiri, in which he says:
“Today, the world is experiencing a crisis of forgetting the essence of the matter; the world stands without a basic and fundamental pillar, which is the reference”.
He also says:
“Human memory has been lost; human memory is what gives a person his humanity. Through memory, we learn and get history. Through memory we know good, bad, right, and wrong. Thus, we establish our lives on this basis and choose between good and evil. If we forgot the essence of life, our lives would be suspended between heaven and earth”.
I did not find a more accurate story than the story of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, with his uncle “Abu Talib”, as a simplified explanation of what Dr. Messiri said.
What “Abu Talib” presented in defense of the Messenger of God, is incomparable to what anyone else offers to support Muslim causes today. Despite that, the Creator forbade His Messenger to ask forgiveness for his uncle.
It is not ˹proper˺ for the Prophet and the believers to seek forgiveness for the polytheists, even if they were close relatives, after it has become clear to the believers that they are bound for the Hellfire. (Al-Tawba:113)
The Messenger did not get angry or frustrated saying: This is my uncle, he defended me and my cause.
Why?
Because the essence of the Messenger’s mission as a human being in this life is to put the right of the Creator at the top of his list of priorities.
The mission of prophet Muhammad, which is spreading the religion of monotheism, is the basis of every religious cause today; it is the basis of every sacred place for a Muslim today. However, it was not more important than the basic cause, which is the right of the Creator.
If every Muslim today adopts the basic cause, the basic essence, and the main goal of his existence in life, which is to defend the right of the Creator, then Muslims will obtain victory and empowerment in their sanctities.
As a Muslim, I should not get angry except for violating the right of the Creator, and I should not grieve except for violating the right of the Creator.
The Creator does not tolerate violating His right.
The belief in the Creator is based on the fact that things do not appear without a cause or by chance, not to mention this vast inhabited material universe and its creatures who possess an intangible consciousness and obey the laws of non-material mathematics. In addition, we need an independent, immaterial, eternal source to explain a finite, material universe. All what modern science do is discover the universal laws. They didn’t originate these laws. The Creator did.
Believing in the Creator. He has no partner or son. The Creator is not a human; He is neither male nor female. The use of the pronoun “He” is because of the language inability to have articles and pronouns to refer to the Creator.
The Creator said:
Indeed, God does not forgive associating others with Him ˹in worship˺, but forgives anything else of whoever He wills. And whoever associates others with God has indeed committed a grave sin. (Al-Nisa)
The right of the Creator should not be the least of the rights for a Muslim.
If I want to know the priorities of someone, I just have to look at what makes that person intolerant and angry.
Is the right of the Creator a priority in a person’s life?
We find people today when a person helps them and gives them love and support, then colliding with an issue that concerns their loved ones, they say:
You are dear to me and have helped me a lot, but:
- My father is a red line.
- I do not underestimate the right of my husband.
- My children are my weakness point.
- My family is my life.
On the other hand, we find them neglecting the truth, and tolerate violating the Creator’s right.
But what is the right of the Creator?
Almighty says:
Indeed, the believers, Jews, Christians, and Sabians—whoever ˹truly˺ believes in Allah (The Creator) and the Last Day and does good will have their reward with their Lord. And there will be no fear for them, nor will they grieve. (Al-Baqara:62)
The right of the Creator based on the noble verse, is to believe in Him.
But who is the”God” mentioned in the verse?
And how do we believe in Him?
He is the One and Only Creator, Who Has no partner or son.
The Only Truth and Power in the sky, the Creator of Buddha, Ram, Krishna, Jesus Christ, Mohammed. and all human beings, to Whom all seek refuge when they exhaust all means to save them from crises.
The Creator said:
They claim: “The Most Compassionate Lord has taken a son to Himself.” Surely you have made a monstrous statement. by which the heavens are about to burst, the earth to split apart, and the mountains to crumble to pieces. in protest of attributing children to the Most Compassionate. It does not befit ˹the majesty of˺ the Most Compassionate to have children. There is none in the heavens or the earth who will not return to the Most Compassionate in full submission. (Maryam 88:93)
Followers of Christ were to worship the Creator, not to worship Christ himself, nor believe that Christ is the Son of God.
The Creator has no image known to humans. Nothing is like Him.
˹He is˺ the Originator of the heavens and the earth. He has made for you spouses from among yourselves, and ˹made˺ mates for cattle ˹as well˺—multiplying you ˹both˺. There is nothing like Him, for He ˹alone˺ is the All-Hearing, All-Seeing. (Al-Shura:11)
No vision can encompass Him, but He encompasses all vision. For He is the Most Subtle, All-Aware. (Al-Anam: 103)
- The Creator does not incarnate in any of His creations or any idol. It is illogical to accept the Creator of the matter to be in the form of the matter; the maker of the phone is not a phone. In the same way the Creator of the human is not a human.
- The Creator created Prophet Jesus without a father, as He created Prophet Adam without a father or mother. The Creator creates but begets not.
Does a person accept that someone changes his data in his identity? In this case, he becomes another person in the first place.
For example, my name is Faten Sabri. I am from Jordan, and I have 3 children. If some people spread the idea that Faten Sabri is from Egypt and she has 20 children. In this case, they are talking about another Faten, not the true one.
A person’s value in the sight of his Creator is measured by the extent of the perception that this person puts in his heart about the Creator, which results in feelings, emotions, reactions, and actions of varying degrees according to how much he glorifies the Creator in his heart.
Moreover, humans need to directly connect with the Creator, not through any idol, priest, saint, grave, Prophet, or family member of any Prophet.
Humanes know their status in the sight of the Creator when they worship Him alone and do not attribute a son, nor any human or animal characteristic to Him, that are not befitting of His majesty, as embodiment is a sign of defect and imperfection (weakness, need, poverty, humiliation, etc).
Those who say, “God is one in a Trinity,” have certainly fallen into disbelief. There is only One God. If they do not stop saying this, those who disbelieve among them will be afflicted with a painful punishment. (Al-Maeida:73)
All human beings must also believe in all the prophets from Adam to Muhammad, including Moses and Jesus Christ. May the blessings of God be upon them all.
Say, ˹O believers,˺ “We believe in God and what has been revealed to us; and what was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and his descendants; and what was given to Moses, Jesus, and other prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them. And to God we all submit.” (Al-Baqara:136)
Humans must believe in the Day of Judgment, where human beings will be held accountable for their actions.
We will set up the scales of justice on the Day of Judgment, so no soul will be wronged in the least. And ˹even˺ if a deed is the weight of a mustard seed, We will bring it forth. And sufficient are We as a ˹vigilant˺ Reckoner. (Al-Anbia:47)
These are the conditions for acceptance of safety after death.
These conditions have been over the decades and times.
Since the time of Adam, the father of humans, the Creator used to choose the pious among his people as their messengers whenever the message of the previous Prophet was distorted and they deviated from the straight path, and they differed among themselves by worshiping someone other than their Creator, and to provide them with satisfactory answers to the existential questions that revolve in their minds (the source of their existence, the purpose of their existence, and their fate after death).
We surely sent a messenger to every community, saying, “Worship God and shun false gods.” But some of them were guided by God, while others were destined to stray. So travel throughout the land and see the fate of the deniers.(An-Nahl: 36)
Idolatry, i.e. worshiping other than the Creator by turning to Christ or his mother Mary, any idol, stone, or saint or priest, or even the Messenger of God Muhammad or any member of his family.
As many prophets and messengers that God sent to different nations, were mentioned in the Qur’an (such as Jesus, Moses, Abraham, Noah, David. Salomon, Ismael, Isaac, Joseph, etc.…), others weren’t. Therefore, the possibility that other famous religious teachers such as the Hindu Lords Rama, Krishna, and Gautama Buddha were prophets of God cannot be outrightly negated. But these people used these symbols for polytheism.
When Prophet Jesus for example, came to confirm the message of Moses, the followers of Moses had to accept Jesus, and to testify that there is no god worthy of worship except the Creator, and Jesus, Moses, Abraham are His messengers.
Prophet Muhammad came to confirm the message of Jesus. The followers of Jesus had to accept Prophet Muhammad and testify that: ‘I bear witness that no god is worthy of worship except the Creator, Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad, Jesus, Moses are messengers of God.
Each heavenly message confirms what was brought by the previous one, as the messengers, peace and blessings be upon them, graduated in delivering the message of God. They were united in receiving the message of monotheism from God, but they had different laws according to the human need.
This is the correct religion intended by the above verse.
Hereafter scales:
Let’s imagine that the students of a final year school together unanimously agreed to love a person who helped everyone and did not leave an opportunity to defend their cases, solve their problems, and secure daily food and drink for them at his own expense, but he was not originally registered in the school and did not prepare for the day of the test and neglected to know the basics of the conditions for passing the test.
Do the students then have the right to demand that their friend take the certificate just because he defended their causes?
How should we treat the non-Muslims?
How can we be tolerant with him?
Tolerance is in respecting the will of choice that God has bestowed on everyone, and in dealing fairly with a non-Muslim, and not oppressing him or undermining his rights. On the other hand, tolerance is not about acknowledging the wrong religion itself and recognizing it as right.
How do we know that a non-Muslim died on the wrong religion?
It is not our task to know other than what he himself declared before his death.
Whoever works and strives in this world, then it is thanks to the Creator’s justice to hasten his reward in this world, and commemorating his memory among the people for whom he worked during his life before his death, and by that he has taken his reward from humans with love and appreciation.
But the reward of the afterlife have other laws and different standards.
Therefore, Knowing how the Creator will hold the non-Muslim accountable and where his fate will be, is up to the Creator.
It should not be confused between the moral matter towards the non-Muslim represented in the strong emotions, which should be expressed by consoling, sympathizing, righteousness and kindness to him that the Creator commanded, and with a doctrinal matter related to the constants of religion, which has nothing to do with morals. This confusion is represented in asking forgiveness from God for non-Muslims, which is forbidden in Islam.
The Creator is the One Who takes over the affairs of a non-Muslim after death. The Creator asks the Muslim not to interfere in what does not concern him.
Humans will not be more merciful than their Creator, Who will decide to treat them after death, either by His mercy or by His justice.
But what is the criterion for our judgment on things?
What is the reference and centrality on which we issue our judgments?
The criterion of a Muslim and the centralization of decision-making and issuance of judgments must be the methodology of his Creator.
The methodology, which is the religion chosen by the Creator, is:
- Organizing a person’s relationship with his Creator and explain how to communicate with Him.
- Organizing a person’s relationship with the people around him, defining rights and duties, his relationship with other beings, and how to deal with them.
We must worship the Creator and communicate with Him in the way He choose, not in our ways and whims.
Whoever wants to communicate with me via phone or e-mail, for example, cannot use any phone number of his invention or any e-mail. I am the one who has to provide him with my personal number or email.
The Creator says:
And We brought to what they did of work, and We made it as scattered dust (Al-Furqan: 23)
In fact, if we do not follow the correct path of the Creator, we will end up following our own moods and whims. And thus to loss and destruction.
But how do we know which is the right approach?
Which Scripture on earth is valid today?
The criterion for differentiating between the valid book from the distorted one is:
- The valid book should not ascribe animal or human attributes to the Creator.
- The valid book should honour and purify the Creator’s messengers from shortcomings.
- The valid book should be preserved in its original language.
- The valid book should not have contradictory and multiple copies of it.
- The valid book should not be inconsistent with human instinct.
- The valid book should not be inconsistent with modern science.
- The valid book should be preserved from distortion.
- The valid book should acknowledge all the Creator’s messengers from Adam to Muhammad, including Jesus Christ and Moses, peace be upon them all.
These conditions are all met in the Holy Qur’an, which is the seal of the previous books, which were distorted by its followers.
Peacefull coexidtance:
An Arab Christian asked me one day:
Give me an evidence that a Muslim should treat non-Muslims kindly.
I said:
Did the Copts of Egypt not welcome the Muslims and consider them liberators from the persecution of the Romans and helped them to get rid of this persecution?
Who restored his churches to the Coptic Patriarch in Egypt and lifted the injustice imposed on him by returning him to his work when the Romans persecuted him?
Isn’t the companion “Amr ibn al-Aas” who recognized by this noble act the freedom of religion that he learned from the Messenger of God Muhammad?
Didn’t Calif Omar “Ibn Al-Khattab”, after his complete control over the city of Jerusalem, refuse to pray in the Church of Sepulcher so that Muslims would not think that it was a permission to convert the church into a mosque?
Is not the key of this church in the custody of a Muslim family to this day?
A member of this family says:
“My family has been honored with this sacred mission since 1187, when the Conqueror, “Salah al-Din”, followed in the footsteps of Caliph “Omar Ibn Al-Khattab” after liberating Jerusalem from the hands of the Crusaders. He wrote with his hand the assurance of safety to the people of Aelia (known as al-ʿUhda al-ʿUmariyya). A covenant shows the tolerance of the Islamic religion, which gave the Christians a covenant that guaranteed to practice their religious rituals in Jerusalem.”
The practice of non-Muslim rituals in accordance with the ‘Umar’s Covenant was subject to conditions, including: “Not to harbor spies in their churches or homes, not to deceive Muslims, not to strike their bells except lightly in the hollow of their churches, along with other conditions.“
We understand from the foregoing that the Companions’ treatment of non-Muslims was one of the most sublime at the level of international laws, but they did not recognize the religion of a non-Muslim as a true religion.
Dr. Al-El-Messiri says:
“I always advise my friends and students to stay away from the little battles that are imposed upon them, and which can drain a person, even destroy him.
And he say:
“the Creator is the basic foundation of everything, the basic foundation of communication between people, to ensure that the truth is true. If humans forget the Creator – Who is the basic foundation of the universe – then everything ends’.
Note:
The reference of God to Himself as WE or US in many verses of the Qur’an denotes Grandeur and Power in Arabic. In the English language this is known as the royal WE, where a plural pronoun is used to refer to a single person holding a high office, such as a monarch. For the avoidance of doubt, the Qur’an has consistently reminded us of the SINGULAR pronoun in reference to God, when called upon by His servants.
The Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the Middle East use the word “Allah” to refer to God, which refers to The Only True God.
The word Allah was mentioned in the earlier version of the Old Testament 89 times. (Refer to Genesis 2:4, Book of Daniel 6:20 Hebrew and Arabic Bible).The word ‘Allah’ appears in the original Sanskrit text. (Reg Veda – Book 2 hymn 1, Verse 11).
The Qur’an is the last sacred book sent by God, but not the only book, as Muslims believe in all the earlier revelations of God (the scriptures of Abraham, the book of David, the Torah, the Gospel,etc.). Muslims believe that the original message in all the sacred books is Pure Monotheism (unifying God in worship). Unlike the Divine scriptures that preceded, the Qur’an has not been kept in the hands of any particular group or clergymen of allMuslims which would lead to the misinterpretation or alteration of it. On the contrary, the Qur’an has always been within the reach of Muslims who recite it in their daily prayers, and they refer to it for all their concerns. Muslims read and recite the same Qur’anic text that was read and recited during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions. Not a single letter has been added or removed from the Qur’an. The language of the Qur’an, the prophecies which came true, the accuracy in historical accounts, the mathematical inimitability and scientific accuracy, all prove that the Qur’an could not have been produced by a man who lived in Arabia in the 7th century and who could not read or write. God the Almighty challenged the Arabs and the non-Arabs to bring forth a book similar to the one He revealed, even though the Arabs at that time were masters of eloquence and rhetoric, they were unable to meet the challenge, and they realized that the Qur’an could not be from any other than God, the Lord of the universe.