Are Religions From God?

Most people throughout the world associate God with good. Even agnostics lean in this direction. Regardless of the specific religious affiliation each “believer” “knows” that God is good. However, few ever intellectually analyze their belief system and its relationship with other beliefs which may be diametrically opposite.

Man is probably the only member of the animal kingdom which is aware of his minuteness in the universe, fragility of health, and impending death in a relatively short span of time. This sense of unimportance and profound weakness creates the need for an omnipotent protector, God.

Many cultures have worshipped multiple gods, assigning specific roles to them such as fertility, bountiful crops, health, etc. Sun worship has been common throughout the world. Idols and other symbols of the gods, along with the common practice of sacrifices, have been severely criticized as evil by monotheistic religions. Superstition has always had a role in belief systems. Fear of not pleasing the deity has made certain practices and prohibitions mandatory for “believers”. Many of today’s religious practices are ritualistic, which are perpetuated by not only a desire to please God, but also not to make God angry. Ethics have been closely related to religion and have had very positive effects.

The widely accepted belief that there is but one God Almighty stems from Moses in the 13^th century, BC, though an Egyptian pharaoh, Amenhotep IV (Akenaton) attempted a monodeistic culture (worship of Aton) about a hundred years earlier.

Islâm, Judaism, and Christianity trace their roots to Abraham and Moses. Over the past three thousand years man’s varied interpretation of events and prophet-borne directives have led to widely divergent beliefs, though each claims allegiance to one God. The stronger the position of faith, the more likely for conflict with others of strong faith when the systems could not both be correct and opposite. Throughout history religions have required of members activities and beliefs which are not compatible with those of other religions; for example, Christianity and Islâm. In the former, belief in Christ as Son of God is required for entrance to Heaven. In the latter, one must accept Allah as the only God (Christ being a mortal prophet only) for a trip to paradise. Non-believers are not to be trusted as they are destined for Hell.

Introduction to the Korân

The Korân is not a widely read book in the Western World. Since September 11, 2001, interest in Islâm has dramatically increased in America. These selected passages from the Korân have been chosen in order to present the reader an overview of the basis of Islâmic thoughts and actions. After several readings of the Korân, it is clear to this writer that peace is not a high priority issue within its precepts, and that there exists between Korânic teachings and those of Judeo-Christian proponents serious and profound elements of conflicting values. Reading the entire Korân objectively is highly recommended.

Mohammed (Prophet of Islâm) lived 570 to 632 AD. Moslems believe he was the last messenger of God. He was uneducated but smart. Through force he united the tribes of Arabia, who had been mostly polydeists. Mohammed preached against the injustice of the wealthy Meccans and assisted the poor. The angel, Gabriel, appeared to him and told him that he was to be God’s messenger. The Korân was gradually written by scholars from Mohammed’s numerous lectures [“inspired words from God (Allah)”]. Mohammed’s successors spread the faith widely over the hundred plus years following his death in 632 AD at Medina. The Arab world flourished while Europe was in the Dark Ages during the 7^th and 8^th centuries.

Many modern scholars of Islâm consider the teachings of Mohammed written into the Korân during his time around 632 AD at Medina to be indicative of a more tolerant and benign approach to non-Muslims. Mohammed had fled from Mecca in an emigration called the Hegira. While in the latter months at Mecca, Mohammed was under great duress and the survival of Islâm was in question. His proclamations of this period were militant and harsh.

After Mohammed’s death in 633 AD, violent controversy ensued over who should be his successor, the first Caliph. The so-called orthodox Mohammedans (Muslims) selected Abu Bakr as the first Caliph and adopted the Sunna as a basic set of laws. The Sunna is based generally on Mohammed’s teachings and is accepted on a par with the Korân in importance by most Sunnites, also called Sunnis. On a worldwide scale the Sunnis account for over three-fourths of all Muslims. The other major division of Islam is the Shiah. Its followers, knows as Shiites or Shias, reject the first three Caliphs and the Sunnite books which were propagated during these early days of Islâm. The Shiites believe that Mohammed’s son-in-law, Ali, was the legitimate successor to Mohammed. Eventually these major sects regionalized and learned to coexist. Persia (modern Iran) became mostly Shiite. The Arabian Peninsula remains mostly Sunnite. They represent the largest group of Muslims. A smaller Islâmic faction, the Wahabites, has become an important force in the modern spread of Islâm. The Wahabites are believers in the doctrines and strict interpretation of the Korân preached by an 18^th Century Islâmic reformer, Abdul Al Wahabi. From their base in Arabia, these fundamentalist Islâmics (extremist fanatics depending on one’s point of view) have used violence and intimidation as methods of installing their belief system.