Sources of Islam

In this article we propose to study briefly the sources of Islam in order to find out whether or not there is an overall perspective of an Islamic model. The attempt here is made to search in these sources for universal references revealing universal relationships and defining meanings for man's existence. We maintain the idea that the Qur'anic text is ample enough to provide with such a framework. Its convincing power lies in the ‘content of ideas' and the ‘representation form'. This power level is not shared in any Arabic literature of the epoch, nor of the following epochs. The Hadith (Sayings of Muhammad) stands short of the Qur'an and is considered by Muslims as an ordinary human language.

The readings of such references can provide interpretations of general dimensions as we shall see in the following Qur'anic postulates.

 In the following verses we read about what the Qur'an advances as a presentation of the idea of God:

‘Say: He is the one and only God, the eternal, He begets not nor is He begotten and no one can be equal to Him.'  112: 1-4

 Reference to God as the origin of the Universe informs:

‘It is He who created the heavens and earth in truth.'  6: 73

 ‘To God belongs the dominion of the heavens and earth.'2: 107

Sura 35 informs us of God as the One who holds the Universe together:

‘God keeps heavens and earth from vanishing and should they vanish who can hold them together after Him?'  35: 41

 In Sura 23 we are informed about the creation of Man:

‘Verily We have created Man from a lineage of clay.'  23:12

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What the Quran says about the Purpose of Life

So what does the Creator, Allah, tell us about our purpose in life? Allah states in the Quran that He created man to be His Khalefah, His trustee on earth (Quran 2:30). Mankind’s basic trust, our responsibility, is to believe in and worship Allah:

 And I did not create the Jinn and mankind except to worship Me…  (Quran, 51:56-58)

Very simple! The purpose for man’s creation is to worship the Creator. The essence of Allah’s message through all of the prophets also was:

   O mankind, worship Allah, you have no deity other than Him.  (Quran, 7:59,65,73,85; Also 11:50,61,84; and 23:23,32). 

Allah further states that He made this life in order to test man so that every person may be recompensed after death for what he has earned:

 [He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed - and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving.  (Quran, 67:2)

But in order to worship Him, we have to know Him well otherwise we may form a distorted concept of Him and then go astray. In the Quran Allah tells mankind what He is and what He is not. For example, in response to a question about Allah that was posed to the Prophet Muhammad , Allah instructs Muhammad  to give the following reply:

 Say (O Muhammad): He is Allah [Who is] One, Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, nor is there to Him any equivalent.  (Quran, 112)

It is clear from this that Muhammad  is not the author of the Quran otherwise he would not have shown that someone is dictating to him what to say.

Also, Allah has to tell us how He wants to be worshipped, which He does in the Quran. He also tells us in the Quran that all Prophets came with the same identical message to their people - that is to believe in Allah and to worship Him. He also tells us in the Quran that all the people of other religions have deviated from the original teachings of their prophets. This is due to two reasons. The first is that earlier scriptures were not preserved simply because of the absence or scarcity of writing paper and so the teachings were transmitted orally and with time became distorted. The second reason is because the clergy of various religions introduced doctrines that were never there (e.g., the Christian trinity creed was introduced only after the council of Nicea in 325 AD and the Council of Constantinople in 386 AD). Because of the changes that crept into earlier religions, Allah tells us that He sent the Prophet Muhammad  as the last and final prophet and guidance to mankind with a scripture that He promised would be preserved forever. Allah provides a test to prove that the Quran is from Him. Allah says:

 Then do they not reflect upon the Quran? (i.e. its meanings and its objective) If it had been from [any] other than Allah, they would have found within it much contradiction.  (Quran, 4:82)

The Quran is available for scrutiny and investigation by any person to try to find even one error or contradiction in it. In fact this test must be applied to any other scripture that claims it is the word of God.