is islam the only path to god ? does the quran extend the validity of religions beyond islam
to any who believe in god and act rightly ? or does the quran insist that islam is the exclusive and
only path to god ? and what is the idea that some have come up with from their reading of the quran
that at the heart of the world's major religions and faiths there is an essential unity of truth .
now this is a controversial question and whatever answer we give will attract much criticism . i am
not a scholar so this is just my personal view please correct me if i am wrong . the quran is
unambiguous when it says : he who seeks a religion other than islam , it will not be accepted of him
and in the hereafter he shall be among the losers
3 85. elsewhere it states : the true religion in allah's sight is islam 3 19. whatever other
verses may be considered on this subject these two must surely be central
turning to the words of the prophet we find him proclaiming : by him in whose hand is the
life of muhammad . anyone from this nation be they a jew or a christian who hears of me and
dies without believing in what i have come with shall be among the inhabitants of hell .
on this hadith imam al-nawari says : it contains a proof that all religions have now been abrogated
by the prophethood of our prophet . also , in its explicit meaning is a proof that those to whom
the call of islam does not reach are excused . end quote . not only has the religion of islam that the
prophet was sent with superseded or previous revealed teachings . this last dispensation is a
universal one too . the quran says : say o mankind truly i am the messenger of allah to you all
7 1 5 8 . the prophet's sacred law then has abrogated and superseded all earlier revealed laws
except those provisions in them that the new sacred law has reconfirmed . in the last century
a view has arisen which says that islam affirms the validity of other religions recourse has been
taken to the following verse to justify this claim : those who believe in the quran , the jews ,
the christians and the sabians whosoever believes in allah and the last day and does what is right
shall be rewarded by their lord . no fear shall come upon them nor shall they grieve . that's second
surah verse 62 . this verse it is believed extends the validity of religions beyond just islam and
the possibility of salvation beyond just muslims to whoever believes in allah and the last day .
the era of such a claim can be gauged from the following three points . first: apart from
ignoring the above protect proof text to the contrary the earlier verses and the hadith . (i
quoted) this view stands against islamic orthodoxy which states as per imam al-nawawi : one thou who
does not consider a person who follows a religion besides islam like a christian to be a disbeliever
or doubts that such a person is a disbeliever or deems their religion to be still valid
is himself a disbeliever even if along with this he manifests islam and believes in it . end quote .
how should this verse 262 be read then ? scholars of tafsir along with the belief that the quran's
message now supersedes all previous heavenly teachings offer the following interpretations
for this particular verse 262. firstly , it is said to refer to those seekers of
truth who believed in the imminent arrival of the final prophet , individuals like habib al-najar
says ibn sadha and waraka nafal baraka (excuse my pronunciation) bahira the monk and solomon al-farsi
and others . some of them reached the prophet and accepted islam at his hand others didn't reach him
but nonetheless they're included among those who believe in allah and the last day . a second
option of the tafsir writers is that it refers to the believers of previous nations following the
prophets of their respective times . another option is its claim to refer to those jews and christians
who prior to accepting islam in the time of the prophet muhammad followed the unaltered teachings
of moses and jesus peace be upon them both . a few say it refers to the hypocrites which is
somewhat odd . whatever the correct intent of this passage is (262) : the view which
extends salvation unrestrictedly to include even those who deny the prophet muhammad's prophethood
is conspicuous by its absence in the classical tafsir literature . now Ibn Kathir
helps put the above verse into context with his customary hermeneutics . and i think this is
a really good quote from him . he explains : quote : the faith of the jews was that of those who adhered
to the torah and the way of moses peace be upon him until the arrival of jesus with the advent
of jesus those who follow the torah and the mosaic laws not leaving them to follow jesus were doomed .
the faith of the christians was that of whoever adhered to the gospel and to the teaching of jesus
they were believers and their faith valid until the advent of muhammad
peace be upon him . those who reject muhammad by not leaving the gospel and jesus way
are doomed . this (he writes) doesn't conflict with what ali relates from ibn abbas
who said that (quote) : those who believe in the quran , the jews , the christians , and the sabians whoever
believes in allah the last day was followed by allah revealing he who seeks a religion
other than islam it will not be accepted from him and in the afterlife he will be among the losers .
end quote . for what ibn abbas is simply informing is that no path is acceptable from anyone nor any
deed unless it conforms to the sharia of muhammad now that he has been sent prior to this anyone who
followed the particular prophet of his time was upon right guidance and the path of salvation .
so in the light of all this teaching , the philosophies that speak of the essential
unity of religions or perennialism are disbelief (kufr) the metaphysics of these
philosophies is such that they insist the world's major face : judaism , hinduism , buddhism , christianity
like christianity like islam , all contain at their heart a core set of esoteric truths despite them
differing immensely in their external appearance forms and practices and even in their many beliefs .
they also believe that these major religions again like islam are still valid retain their validity
even today . the metaphor used to describe the unity of religions is that of a bicycle wheel . the
spokes represent the different religions , the hub symbolizes god the supreme being the transcendent
reality . just as the spokes come closer to each other as they near the hub so too as each path
comes closer to the one reality , it comes closer to all other paths . now as appealing as this sounds to
some people , it can never pass for authoritative orthodox chronic teachings as has been shown .
asserting that such perennialist philosophy is clear disbelief (kufr) does not amount to
an accusation that each specific individual who holds such a belief is necessarily an unbeliever (a
kafir) as is well attested to in mainstream sunni theology . the maxim in this matter runs as follows
this is the principle in sunni theology : not everyone who falls into disbelief
becomes a disbeliever . the sharia upholds the distinction between a general charge of disbelief
and the charge of disbelief upon a specific individual . as sheikh ibn tamir said
(quote) : they have not given proper consideration that making takfir has conditions and
impediments that must be actualized if it is to be applied to a specific individual
because a general declaration of takfir doesn't imply takfir on a specific individual until
conditions are fulfilled and impediments lifted . end quote . i think it's very helpful distinction
the perennialist philosophy or the religious parentis (in the latin) was first propagated in
the late nineteen thirties it was fitch dropped schuon who appears in my last video who would bring
this idea to its fruition : among those who come under or came under schuon's
influence were those like martin lings and guy eaton (two englishmen) and side Hussein nasser
the first two rather are converts to islam . now such muslims who through a mistaken
interpretation that led them into perennialism , they are part of a highly learned body of
authors and academics who offer some of the finest critics from a traditional perspective
and profound and they offer profound spiritual expositions of islam
to modern beleaguered hearts and minds and their writings have brought to many westerners
they brought many westerners into the fold of islam particularly via sufism .
perennial beliefs aside their writings are a reminder that to hold to a simple faith without
much intellectual and spiritual content is no longer possible in our modern world .
so just to conclude the quran insists that every prophet came with a core set of universal truths
centered around tawheed (god's oneness) the quran says : we have sent to every nation a messenger
proclaiming worship god and shun false gods 16 36. it's possible therefore that buddhism and hinduism
to have been in the ancient past divinely revealed . i'm not saying they were but it's possible it's
equally true that the quran insists of previously revealed religions and their scriptures that they
have long suffered alteration and corruption at the hands of men and that whatever revealed truths
were once present in them have long since been forgotten changed compromised or overshadowed by
corrupted and idolatrous beliefs and practices . so while the world's major faiths do show
similarities with islam , this does not prove their essential unity with it as they currently exist
for they haven't only been altered but they've also been abrogated and superseded by what was
revealed to the final prophet muhammad . this is why he who seeks a religion other than islam it will
not be accepted of him and in the hereafter he will be among the losers . until next time