The other day lunch was to be served. It looked more than coincident that the (Tabriz Petrochemical Complex) Project site I/C was sitting just opposite to me as if drawing me into a casual conversation. The chief wanted to know the open secret of disaffection between the two major religious communities in India, i.e. divide and rule politics of the Zionists.
I however replied that Islam and Muslims are both hated or held in high esteem everywhere and every time due to their single principle of equality, justice, liberty, unity and fraternity without any discrimination whatsoever.
In spite of positive historical proof of coexistence of a spectrum of communities in all Muslim states throughout history both as per theory (Shari’ah) and in practice, the Zionists and other enemies of Islam through their propaganda machinery of money, media, and mafia are trying to negate the facts.
Dr. Zakir Naik in his book, Answers to the Questions of Non-Muslims about Islam, answers a key question as to ‘why one should follow Islam (Shari’ah) (i.e. the Qur’ān and Sunnah)’ only, while saying that all the messengers of Allah sent to all people, during all times are not to be differentiated among, as all of them represented the same basic monotheism, in line with the verse, ‘the messenger believeth to what hath been revealed to him from his Lord, as do the men of faith, each one of them believeth in Allah, His angels, His books, and His messengers, we make no distinction(they say) between one and another of His messengers’ (2:285)? The answer is very simple and clear. Just as a previous edition of a book is abandoned or becomes void, as and when new edition of the book by the same author is published, the latest edition of the divine scripture is ought to be adopted in its totality as superseding all the previous ones, even though there may still be existing connecting material in all the editions in one form or the other.
I can draw from my experience another striking analogy of revisions of drawings issued for a construction project starting with revision-0, revision-1, revision-2…. and so on till the final drawing is issued. Islamic Shari’ah, revealed through the Last Messenger of Allah, is thus claimed as the final divine law valid till the Day of Judgment, while acknowledging all the previous scriptures as genuine as and when they were originally revealed.
There is no room even today for panicking whenever one hears about Islamic law being imposed saying minorities and women are not protected in an Islamic state; because the Qur’ān says ‘let there be no compulsion in religion’ (2:256) and instructs its audience to say to its disbelievers ‘to you be your way and to me mine’ (109:6).
It also says, ‘Then shall anyone who has done an atom’s weight of good see it! And anyone who has done an atom’s weight of evil shall see it’ (99:7-8). Besides, the Blessed Prophet said there are numerous levels of heaven. In another hadith we learn there are 70 levels of good deeds, the lowest being removing of a hurting stone from the way.