CREATION (GENESIS)

    The subject of the creation is mentioned in The Old Testament (O.T.) in The Genesis section. The texts available on the subject in different versions of the Old Testament  are in essence similar. Creation is also mentioned in The Qur’an but is dispersed in various verses of the different chapters(suras). In The Qur’an, the same method prevails to other issues too. Let us now remind ourselves of some of the verses which relate to the creation, from The Old Testament:

(O.T. Creation) 1-1,2 In the beginning, when God created the universe, the earth was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that  covered everything was covered in total darkness, and the power of God was moving over the water.

(O.T. Creation) 1-3,4,5 Then God commanded, “Let there be light,” and light appared…Then He separated the light fromthe darkness, and He named the the light “Day” and the darkness “Night”. Evening passed and morning came,  that was the first day.

(O.T. Creation) 1-6,7,8,9,10 Then God commanded, “Let there be a dome to divide the water…”_ and it was done… He named the dome, “Sky”…  that was the second day.

Then God commanded, “Let the water below the sky come together in one place, so that the land will appear,” and it was done.He named the land “Earth”, and the water which had come together He named “Sea”.

      The creation of different species of plants as a result of God’s command is given in verse (1-11). The beginning of the illumination of the earth, and the concept of time, are narrated in The Old Testament in the following verses,

(O.T. Creation) 1-16,17 So God made the two larger lights, the sun to rule over the day and the moon to rule over the night; He also made the stars. He placed lights in the sky  to shine on the earth.

    The Old Testament then proceeds with the creation of different organisms in the seas and on the land on earth; verses (1-21,24) of the Creation chapter of the Old Testament,    and lastly the creation of man is given in the verses (1-26,28). The creation on the other hand is more detailed in the second part of the same chapter. Now let us remember some of the verses which talks about the creation in The Qur’an,

(Qur’an) 6-1  Praise be to God, Who created Heaven and Earth and granted darkness and light!

(Qur’an) 41-11,12  Then He soared up to Heaven while it was still a haze, and told both it and the earth: "Come, either obediently or reluctantly." They both said: "We shall come willingly!"

      He determined His will of them as seven heavens [constructed] within two days, and inspired its own order in each heaven. We have beautified the lowest heaven with lamps and a safeguard. Such is the decree of the Powerful, the Aware!

(Qur’an) 21-30 Have not those who disbelieve seen how Heaven and Earth were once one solid mass which We ripped apart? We have made every living thing out of water. Will they still not believe?

 (Qur’an) 21-33 He is the One Who has created night and day, the sun and the moon; each floating along in an orbit

(Qur’an) 51-49 With everything We have created pairs, so that you may reason

   Both The Old Testament and The Qur’an talk about the duratıon of the creation in similar terms, 

(O.T. Creation) 2-1,2,3 And so the whole universe was completed. By the seventh day God finished what He had been doing and rested. He blessed the seventh day  and set it apart as a special day,…

(Qur’an) 11-7 He is the One Who created Heaven and Earth in six days.

(Qur’an)  50-38  We created the Heavens and the Earth and whatever lies in between them in six days, no weariness ever affects Us.

    Reading the verses above, even though one may notice some differences between the verses of The Old Testament and Qur’an with regard to the way it is expressed, it may be possible to find  a parallelism on the creation of the universe  and more so on the creation of the earth. One may also find the knowledge given in some of the Qur’an verses rather interesting. Let us look at the verses given above again,

(Qur’an) 41-12  ... We have beautified the lowest heaven with lamps and a safeguard (protective shield).

 (Qur’an) 21-33 …and the sun and the moon; each floating along in an orbit

    One wonders if that shield placed  to protect the earth means the ozon layer (which the human race has been damaging) or the electromagnetic belt around the globe? The other verse which points out to the presence of the orbits of the earth and the moon seems incredible if one remembers that the The Qur’an was sent to the human race during the first half of the seventh century. 

    Both The Old Testament and The Qur’an express that the creation is completed in six days.The term “Day” used in both sources, I do not think has any relation to a twenty four hour time span with the earth time. Actually, some verses of The Old Testament and The Qur’an give some light on the meaning of that term “Day”,

(O.T. Psalms) 90-14 O Lord, you have always been our home.

                                 A thousand years to You are like one day;

(Qur’an) 32-5 … He organizes the matter from Heaven [down] to Earth; then it will soar back up to Him on a day whose measure is a thousand years according to the way you count

(Qur’an) 70-4 The angels and the Holy Spirit ascend to Him in a Day the measure whereof is fifty thousand years,

    Considering the last three verses, the term “Day” probably denotes a time span of varying length with the time concept on earth. The creation of man is mentioned and expressed again in a unique way both in The Old Testament and in The Qur’an following the creation of the material universe.

(O.T. Creation) 2-7 Then the Lord God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it; He breathed life giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live.

    It appears that the first man on earth, who was named as Adam in later verses, was created from the soil of thr earth earth. After taking a note of this, let us remember some  verses from The Old Testament (O.T.). Planting a garden in a place called Eden, which is said to be in the east, and the placing of Adam there is given in verse (2-8) while God bringinging every  creature to Adam and all of them being given a name by Adam is given in verse (2-19) of the Creation chapter o the Old Testament. The creation of a wife for Adam are given in the following verses,

(O.T. Creation) 2-21,22  …While he slept, He took out one of the man’s ribs …

                                    He (The Lord God ) formed a woman out  of the rib and brought her to him.

   Because the female was created from the bone and the flesh of man, he called her the woman and the result of the way she was formed is expressed in the following verse,

(O.T Creation) 2-24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united  with his wife, and they become one.

    Now let us look at the verses of The Qur’an which show how the creation of man was expressed,

(Qur’an) 38-71,72 Remember once your Lord told the angels: "I am going to create a man out of clay. When I have fashioned him and breathed from My spirit into him, drop down on your knees before him."

 (Qur’an) 38-73,74 The angels all bowed down on their knees together except for Satan; he was too proud and was one of the disbelievers.

 (Qur’an) 7-189  He is the One Who has created you (all) from a single soul, and made its mate from it, so he may settle down with her.

    Looking at the verses on the creation of Adam and his wife in The Old Testament and in The Qur’an, it seems that both sources share quıte similar expressions. Although the verses in The Qur’an are quite concise, some of the knowledge given seems rather interesting. God’s desire for the angels to prostrate to Adam after God breathed from His soul into him requires one to think deeply since God  requires mankind to prostrate only to Himself. The behaviour of Satan in this affair  which is not mentioned in The Old Testament, seems rather interesting. According to The Old Testament (2-19), Adam named every creature. On this subject The Qur’an uses a different approach,

(Qur’an) 2-31,32,33  He taught Adam all the names of everything; then presented them to the angels, and said: "Tell me the names of these…"   

.

      They said: "Glory be to You; we have no knowledge except whatever You have taught us.!"

              He said: "O Adam! Inform them of their names," …       

   It is obvious that Adam had learned of everything with the will of the Creator.   Regarding the birth of mankind, no knowledge exists in The Old Testament, but the same issue is touched on in The Qur’an and as usual is dispersed, in several verses,

(Qur’an) 22-5 …0 men, if you have ever been in doubt about rising again, well We  created you from dust; then from a sperm; then from a clot; then from a lump of tissue either shaped or shapeless, so We might explain [things] to you.

 (Qur’an) 76-2 Verily, We have created man from drops of semen, we transform him from one state into another, in the end  We made him hearer and  seer.

(Qur’an) 32-7,8 …  He began by creating man from clay; then He made his offspring from an extract of discarded liquid;

40-67  "He is the One Who created you from dust, then from a drop of semen, then from a clot.

    The verses of The Qur’an given above point out that  in the creation the starting stage was the creation of Adam from the dust of the earth while the generations which followed were created by insemination. Nevertheless,  these verses and the others related to the same subject do not explain the physical differences of the people on earth, but some other verses from The Qur’an  make an oblique mention of this issue,

(Qur’an) 30-22 Among His signs are the creation of Heaven and Earth, as well as the diversity in your tongues and colors. In that are signs for those who have knowledge.

(Qur’an) 49-13 0 mankind, We have created you from a male and female, and set you up as nations and tribes so you may recognize one another with the aid of  your customs.

   Other beings, like angels and demons, besides the human race, although mentioned in The Old Testament and The New Testament in different verses no knowledge is given concerning their creation. The Qur’an mentions their creation too in different verses,

(Qur’an) 55-14,15 He created man from ringing clay just like the fired clay,

              while He created sprites from a smokeless fire.

 (Qur’an) 18-50,51 Remember when We told the angels: "Bow down on your knees before Adam," they all knelt down except for Satan; he was a sprite and acted against his Lord's command. Will you adopt him and his offspring as patrons instead of Myself? They are enemies of yours!

    … I did not make them as witnesses to the creation of Heaven and Earth, nor even at their own creation…

 (Qur’an) 15-27 and the sprites We had created earlier from smokeless fire.

(Qur’an)  6-100  People have set up sprites as associates with God, even though they were created by Him! People have even dared to impute sons and daughters to Him without having any knowledge

(Qur’an) 43-19 They even pretend the angels who are the Mercy-giving's servants are females! Were the people present at their creation? …

(Qur’an) 35-1 All the Praise be to God, Originator of Heavens and Earth, Who appoints the Angels as messengers messengers with wings in pairs, and in threes and fours.

   It seems that the sprites existed before the creation of Adam and they were probably created from a form of energy of which we are  not yet aware. The Qur’an also gives us some clues to the existence of some other intelligent beings in addition to mankind in the universe,

(Qur’an) 30-20  Among His signs is that he created you from dust; then you have become a human species and you have been spreading all around the globe.

(Qur’an) 17-70 And indeed We have honoured the Children of Adam, and have made them superior to  many of those whom We have created.

(Qur’an) 4-132 And to God belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on  earth. And God is Ever All- Sufficient as a Disposer of affairs.

(Qur’an) 3-83 Do they crave something other than God's religion? Yet the conscious ones in the Heavens and those on Earth have been submitted to Him, willingly or unwillingly ; to Him only, will they be returned.

   In Turkish society it was expressed frequently by the scholars of religion that the human race is the most superior being created. However the verses of The Qur’an given above say we are a human species. If The Qur’an verses are telling the truth, and I cannot think otherwise, then one may be inclined to think that some other human species did exist or may still exist. Furthermore, the verses also say that the human race is superior to many of those created. This makes us to think that there are beings superior to mankind.  Furthermore, according to the above verses, the human beings then are the ones on earth who are the those with conscience in the heavens?  If we are the ones on earth who are those with conscience in the heavens?

    In the verse (6-100) of The Qur’an, the creation of sprites was  mentioned but they cannot be seen by the human eye. The Qur’an also gives a clue concerning other beings on earth,

(Qur’an) 27- 82 Whenever the Sentence prevails against them, We shall bring forth a being       (dabbe) from the earth for them who will tell  them that mankind has not been convinced by Our signs.

   It appears that there may be other life forms, of which we are not aware, either sharing the earth with us or outside our globe. One must remember that  humans perceive things with their five senses. For instance to talk to people who lived centuries ago, before the discovery of  the microscope, on microorganisms would have been meaningless. Furthermore, we have to remember that our biology allows us to percieve a three dimensional material universe. Therefore, whatever we cannot perceive does not exist to us. I wonder if what we perceive reflects the whole truth?  Would it be possible that our material universe is only a part of a four or five or a multidimensional universe, and in that some other life forms exists. Perhaps in time mankind may learn the answers.

    When one looks at the creation that we are aware of, concrete or abstract, it is possible to notice the duality. The first verses of The Old Testament mention the light and the darkness. Do not we all see the same duality in everything? This same duality is observed in human  behaviour too. On which thinking of this subject let us remember a verse from The Qur’an,

(Qur’an) 91-7,8 The flesh is perfected by Him.

        Then He inspired in him hypocrisy and his piety.

     It may be possible now, to say that the hypocritical, as well as the pious behaviour of human beings, is only possible with the inspiration and will of The Creator, as is the case of every thing. In such a situation,  then one should accept the decree assigned to us, and try  to understand the truth with regard to the good news given in the holy books.

   As it was said in the Qur’an verse (18-51) that neither  Satan nor his offsiprings were made witnesses to the creation. If one asks, was there anyone who witnessed the creation? The Qur’an seems to have some clues concerning this. Remember the verse from The Qur’an, when Abraham was talking to his people  with these words,

(Qur’an) 21-56 He said “rather your Lord is the Lord of Heavens and Earth, and the One Who originated them, while I am one of the witnesses for that.”

   As far as we know, one can be a witness only to what one sees. It also appears that Abraham was only one of those who was a witness to the creation of the Earth and the Heavens. In relation to this, let us remember some other verses of The Qur’an,

(Qur’an) 53-12,18  Yet will you (all) distrust him about what he saw?

              He certainly did see some of his Lord's greatest signs!

 (Qur’an) 48-8 Verily,We have sent you as a witness, herald and warner.

     The verses (53-12,18)  seems to be related to the ascension of Muhammad  while he was still in the flesh. Durıng that journey, what he saw we do not know.

     The issue of  the creation in the gospel of John is approached  somehow differently  than that  given in The Old Testament and in The Qur’an. The first verses of John’s gospel says that at the beginning there was Logos which was with God, and everything was created through Logos. In the following verses it is stated that Logos became a human as Jesus and lived amongst the people. The followers of Jesus believe that Jesus was the Son of God. In the gospels accepted by the church it is not possible to see any verse belonging to Jesus himself saying that he was the son of God. Instead he always said that he was the Son of Man. This belief among the followers of Jesus appears to have created some controversy in some parts of the world. The Qur’an approaches this issue quite differently,

(Qur’an) 3-59,60  Verily, the case of Jesus with God was the same as Adam's: He created him from dust; then told him: 'Be!" and he was.

            That is theTruth from your Lord, so do not be a waverer.

In the gospels, although limited, some knowledge can be found concerning the identity of Jesus,

(John’s Gospel) 8-23 Jesus answered,” You belong to this world here below, but I come from above. You are from this world, but I am not from this world.

    This verse from the Gospel seems to put some light on the uniqueness of the birth of Jesus, (a virgin giving birth to Jesus in flesh), even if not very clear. If we remember the verses on creation from the first book of The Old Testament, every step of the creation was accomplished simply by the desire of God Allmighty and Him saying “Be”. If we accept that the power of God All mighty is sufficient to carry out everything, then such an uniqueness in the birth of Jesus can be understood. Certainly we must be aware of the fact that the term uniqueness  is the result of the limitations of the capabilities of the human race. It is also possible to remember another but  similar birth from The Old Testament. When Isaac was born to Abraham, he was more than a hundred years old and his wife Sara had already passed the age of  conceiving a child. Nevertheless Isaac was born, because it was the decree of God.   

    After reciting some verses from The Old Testament, from The New Testament and The Qur’an, in relation to different aspects of the creation, it may be necessary to include another question, which I think may be a common one to most people, i.e. what was the reason for the creation?   We can find a likely answer in The Qur’an,

(Qur’an) 51-56 I have created sprites and men so they may worship only Me;

44-38,39  We did not create Heaven and Earth and anything in between them just for our amusement.

        We have created them  only to reveal the Truth, even though most of them do not realize it.

In addition to that, the aim of the creation of the earth is given in another verse of The Qur’an,

77-25,26 Have We not made the earth as a round up for the living and the dead ?

    On the whole, probably with some small differences, the verses of both The Old Testament and The Qur’an  seem to be talking about the same past, probably with some small differences. This certainly fulfills one of the the duties of The Qur’an, namely the confirmation of the previous messages. This confirmational aspect of The Qur’an will be further underlined in the following chapters. While closing this chapter it may be interesting to recite some more verses of The Qur’an as thought provoking,

(Qur’an) 30-8 Have they not even thought about their ownselves? God has only created Heaven and Earth and whatever lies in between them for the Truth and until a specific deadline. Yet many men disbelieve about meeting their Lord.

(Qur’an) 30-11 God begins with creation, then He performs it all over again; finally to Him you will be returned.

 (Qur’an) 10-4  To Him will you all return. This is a divine promise; He begins with creation then performs it all over again so that He may reward those who believe and perform honorable deeds.

RELIGION

   The  term  ‘religion’ in Arabic is ‘din’, which according to Adıvar, goes back to the Aramaic and Hebrew languages. In Arabic it means decree,  as well as it expressing devotion to God. Öztürk also quotes the meaning of the same term according to some of the scholars of religion (Kur’an’ın Temel Kavramları).

   If one considers  human history, as much as we know of, and the  verses of  The Qur’an  related to the aim of the  creation, then  we  may  be justified in saying  that  religion is a method of teaching arranged by the  Creator. The principles of the teaching is given in the  holy  books  and  the  books were proclaimed to the public by the messengers,  whose  deeds were also  another way  of teaching the  principles given. The  messengers  we may say, are the teachers of the message, and it appears that they were  the ones selected by God.. The creater of  religion is God and therefore religion itself belongs to God. This truth is expressed rather strongly in the following verses of the Qur’an.

(Qur’an) 39-3 Certainly pure and clear religion belongs to God  alone! …

 (Qur’an) 40-65  He is the Ever Living; there is no deity except Him, so appeal to Him,allotting religion to Him. …

 (Qur’an) 30-30  As a true believer, O Muhammad, turn your face towards the religion which God has created for mankind.

    The pure and genuine religion is expressed in The New testament (N.T.) with the following words:

(N.T. James’ Letter) 1-27  What God the Father considers to be pure and genuine religion is this: to take care of orphans and widows in their suffering and to keep oneself from being  corrupted by the world.

   The word Religion is almost always used in the singular form in the Qur’an with the exception of some verses given below,

(Qur’an) 48-28 He is the One Who has sent His messenger with guidance and the True Religion so He may have it prevail over all religions. God is the All-Sufficient as a Witness!

​

(Qur’an) 9-33 He is the One Who has sent His messenger with guidance and the True Religion so He may cause it to prevail over all religions, no matter how disbelievers may hate it.

​

    In these verses I think the word religion is used in the plural form to point out  the man-made belief systems, I do not think that pluralism has anything to do with Judaism and Christianity, both of which have been named by mankind and accepted as different religions by the human race. The term ‘disbelievers’ used in the above verse certainly does not point to the followers of the Old Testament and the New Testament.

   The subject of this study is mainly The Old Testament, The New Testament and The Qur’an which, in general terms,  names the followers of the first two books as the                                                                                                                                                         “ People of the Scripture.” According to The Qur’an, the book  known as The Psalms in The Old Testament is called  Zebur and it is the one which was given to prophet David. It may be interesting to note the fact that, we do not know how accurate the translations from the old scriptures are, we know that in The Old Testament,  The Creator is called as The Lord God who gave Moses, The Law.  

    Looking at the texts of the teachings of Jesus, the Gospels, accepted by the church hierarchy a long time ago, there was no mention of the word Christian. We must remember that according to The New Testament the word ‘Christian’ was first used at Antioch (Antakya in Turkey) for the followers of the teachings of Jesus.   

(N.T. Acts) 11-27  …It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.

​

    The Qur’an, in some verses(Qur’an 5-47), calls the members of the church all over the world as The Followers of  the Gospel (Injeel). This terminology actually  prevents the creation of any division  between the followers of the different books. Within this approach, I personally prefer to call the people who worship in the synagogues as The Followers of The Old Testament and the people who worship in the mosques as The Followers of The Qur’an. As we all know, it is interesting that the followers of any of the books, while accepting the previous book, with the exception of a minority  tend to reject the book which came after. Nowadays, we are all aware of a development known as  “dialogue between the different religions.”  Actually, it is a dialogue arranged between the members of the religious hierarchy of the followers of those three books. It is difficult to understand why people still use the term religion in the plural form. To my knowledge,  these dialogues have been fruitless. I personally do not expect any positive outcome from those meetings unless the members of the clergy who partipitate in those meetings overcome their personal prejudices towards people who follow a book different in name than the book which themselves follow. I wonder if the same prejudice which exists in the minds of the majority of the people who follow one of those  three books, has  been put in their minds by  the members of the clergy.  I am sure everyone will be able to find out the answer, by simply looking at the way they have been taught the so called ‘teachings of religion’, which quıte often has no relation to the source book, i.e. the book that the person is supposed to follow. Although the teachings in the source books are ‘Universal’, because of the way they were taught, have been designed by man and that is the source of the creation of prejudice between the people who follow different books. The prejudice against people who are followers of  different books, has caused many tears  for almost a thousand years and  still continues, especially in the Middle East, to this day. It appears that the children of Adam  have either not been able to understand the universality of God’s teachings, or some of them, preferred diversification   in order that they might  use this as a source for material gain. Faith is between the man and The Creator, why do the clerical institutions still have power on the running of the daily activities of the individuals and furthermore play a role in running the state policy in some countries even in the Western world, in this century is beyond the grasp of an ordinary believer.  On the other hand, this problem of diversification between the peopleof the followers of different books had  already been overcome by the people themselves of the followers of all three books in Turkey. As one example, we can mention the cities of Mardin and Antakya(Antioch in times of Jesus). This requıred state of the practices of faith might be due to the fact that the state in Turkey is secular. Probably secularism may be helpful in taking some significant steps to overcome the diversification between the followers of Holy Books.

   If we remember the verses mentioned in the previous chapter concerning  the Creation, it is clear that both The Old Testament and The Qur’an  are giving us the same information. This tells us that the source of the message is the same. If this is the case, could it be possible that the teachings of religion  might have changed in time from the essentials? The answer may be found in the following verse of The Qur’an, which clearly expresses the oneness in the teachings of religion,

(Qur’an) 42-13  He has decreed what He has suggested to Noah from religion for you all and what He has inspired in you (Muhammad) and what we have suggested to Abraham, Moses and Jesus saying: "Maintain religion tight and do not stir up any divisions within it."

    A similar approach is also noticeable in the New Testament,

(N.T. Ephesians)  4-4,5,6  There is one body and one Spirit, just as there is one hope to which God has called you.

       There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

       there is oneGod and Father of all mankind, who is Lord of all, and is in all.    

  (N.T. 1 Corinthians)  12-13  In the same way, all of us, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether slaves or free, have been baptized into the one body by the same Spirit, and we have all been given the one Spirit to drink. 

​

    When we look at the present day, what we see is unbelievable diversification, not only amongst the followers of different books, but even amongst the followers of the same book. This behaviour of the human beings can simply be called as ‘going against “God’s Law.” The following verses of The Qur’an stresses the fact that the teachings of religion  is One and it belongs to The Creator,

(Qur’an) 24-2 … do not let any pity for either party distract you from [complying with] God's religion if you believe in God and the Last Day.

 (Qur’an) 3-83 Do they crave something besides God's religion?

(Qur’an) 110-2 and you see mankind entering God's religion in droves;

   This unity in  religious teaching is also mentioned in The NewTestament in Paul’s  letter to the Ephesians,

(N.T. Ephesians) 4-4,5,6  There is one body and one Spirit, just as there is one hope to which God has called you.

     There is one  Lord, one faith, one baptism;

     There is one God and Father of all mankind, who is Lord of all, Works through all, and is in all.

    If the faith is one, then the basics of the teachings of religion is also one, and there should be continuity in it right from the very beginning. While the essence of the teaching should be the same, the teaching aids and the rules without doubt show some differences. This is a natural result of the development of the human consciousness. The teaching of the youth  is definately different than the teaching of the children. For that reason what seems to be differences, do not violate the universal character of the teachings of religion. Every so often the continuity in the religious teaching is stressed, by The Qur’an, and while doing so, it fulfils one of the duties of The Qur’an - the confirmation of the message proclaimed by the previous messengers,

(Qur’an) 87-18,19 Verily, All this has been written on the earliest scrolls,

                the scriptures of Abraham and Moses.

 (Qur’an) 57-26,27  Indeed we sent Noah and Abraham as messengers, and granted prophethood and the Book to the offspring of them both. …

     Then We made Our messengers follow along in their footsteps and We followed them up with Jesus the son of Mary.  We gave him the Gospel and placed compassion and mercy in the hearts of those who have followed him; But monkhood, yet they initiated it: We did not prescribe it for them-accept through (their) aspiring for God's approval.

     We have the scriptures of Moses but unfortunately we do not posses the scriptures of Abraham. It is also interesting that throughout the past, the messengers who were given the duty to proclaim God’s message seems, according to the Old Testament and the Qur’an, have the same family tree. This fact is expressed in detail in the Genesis part of  The Old Testament.

     With regard to the continuity of the teachings of religion,  in The Old Testament  and in The New Testament one can find verses which confirm the previous message while some  others give us information about the next Messenger to come to life and proclaim the message. The Qur’an, on the other hand only confirms God’s message previously given. The continuity of the teachings of Religion is underlined by Jesus in the following verse;

(N.T. Luke’s Gospel)  5-17  “Do not think that I have come to do away with the Law of Moses and the teachings of prophets. I have not come to do away with them, but to make their teachings come true.”

One may remember the following verses from The Old Testament as an example which tell us about the new Messenger to come.    

(O.T. Deuteronomy) 18-17,18,19  So the Lord said to me, “They have made a wise request.

          I will  send them a prophet  like you from among their own people; I will tell him what to say, and he will tell the people everything I command.

          He will speak in my name,…

(O.T. Isaiah)  7-14  …The Lord himself  will give you a sign: a young  woman who is pregnant will have a son and will name him ‘Immanuel’.

(O.T. Isaiah) 9-6,7  A child is born to us! A son is given to us! And he will be our ruler…

             …He will rule as King David’s successor, basing his power on right and justice, from now until the end of time…        

    These verses above seem  to be pointing to the coming of a new Messenger, Jesus, whose arrival at Jerusalem later in his life, was forseen in the book of Zechariah in the following words,

(O.T. Zechariah) 9-9  …Look your king is coming to you! He comes triumphant and victorious, but humble and riding on a donkey- on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

     The way Jesus arrived in Jerusalem  given in further details in the gospels that it is simply the confirmation of the verse (9-9) from the book of Zechariah. Looking at the texts of  Gospels one can see the signs of  another messenger  to come after Jesus,

(N.T. John’s Gospel)  15-26  The Helper will come – the Spirit, who reveals the truth about God and who comes from the Father, and he will speak about me.  

(N.T. John’s Gospel) 16-13,14 …He will not speak on his own authority, but he will speak of what he hears…

               He will give me glory, because he will take what I say  and tell it to you.

    These verses give  clues concerning  the coming of a messenger after Jesus. Indeed Muhammad who came after Jesus told people of what he had heard. Jesus says “he will tell him what to say”, Really, what we know is that Angel Gabriel told Muhammad what to say.   The prophecy, that the next messenger to come after Jesus, who was going to mention Jesus (N.T. John’s Gospel 16-13,14) was fulfilled to a great extent in The Qur’an, such that Jesus and his mother  Virgin Mary, the miracle of the birth of Jesus and the miracles performed by Jesus, are all mentioned  especially in the Meryem and Al-i Imran suras(chapters) of The Qur’an,

(Qur’an) 3-42  So the angels said: "O Mary! God has chosen you and purified you. He has exalted you over all the women of the creation.

 (Qur’an) 3-45  Thus the angels said: "Mary, God announces good news to you with a word from Himself . His name will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, [who is] well regarded in this world and the Hereafter, and one of those drawn near to God.

    While telling us the stories of the previous messengers, The Qur’an also tells us about the talks exchanged between people in the past, especially between the messengers and their communities. This is a different approach not seen in other books, and an example  is given below,    

(Qur’an) 61-6 Remember when Jesus son of Mary said: “Children of Israel, I am God's messenger to you, confirming whatever came before me in the Torah and giving glad tidings about a messenger coming after me whose name will be Ahmad. …

     In this verse the unity in the  teachings of religion, as well as its continuity is clear. None of the messengers give us any knowledge which contradicts the  knowledge given previously. We can see this virtue in different verses of  The New Testament and The Qur’an,

(John’s Gospel) 1-17 God gave the Law through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  

(Mathew’s Gospel) 8-4 Then Jesus said to him, “Listen! Don’t tell anyone, but go straight to the priest and let him examine you; then in order to prove to everyone that you are cured, offer the sacrifice that Moses ordered.” 

   The previous verse was about a man, suffering from leprosy, who was healed by Jesus. I do not remember reading either in the Gospels or in The Qur’an about Jesus sacrificing an animal. I think this verse is an outstanding example which shows us that the messengers do not reject the previous teachings. Instead it gives us different facets which were suitable to the human consciousness of that time. Such an approach, I am sure, takes into consideration  the state of the awareness of  mankind of the time that the message was proclaimed and perhaps, help the awareness of people to be improved. In this context, in addition to the previous verses,  one should pay attention to the following verses from The New Testament and The Qur’an,

(N.T. Matthew) 19-8  “Jesus answered, “Moses gave you permission to divorce your wives because you are so hard to teach. But it was not like that at the time of creation.”

(N.T.  Mark)  2-18,21,22  …Some people came to Jesus and asked him, “Why is it that the disciples of John the Baptist and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but yours do not?”

        “No one uses a piece of new cloth to patch up an old coat, because the new patch will shrink and tear off some of the old cloth, making an even bigger hole.

        Nor does anyone pour new wine into used wineskins, because the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins will be ruined. Instead, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins.

(Qur’an) 46-12 …while this Qur’an given in Arabic and confirms the previous ones…

(Qur’an) 35-31 What We have revealed to you from the Book is the Truth confirming what has preceded it. …

 (Qur’an) 22-78  ... Follow the religion, of your forefather Abraham. God has named you Muslims both previously and  now in this Qur’an, …

 (Qur’an) 2-132 Abraham as well as Jacob commissioned their sons saying: "My sons, God has selected your religion for you. Do not die unless you are Muslims."

​

(Qur’an) 5-3 Today I have perfected your religion for you, and completed My favor towards you, and have consented to grant you Islam as a religion: i.e. total submission to God. … 

      It is apparent that Abraham’s religion was that which was chosen, in other words, organized by God Allmighty right from the very beginning. One should not be adversely affected by the word Muslim or Islam, especially remembering the context in which it has been used in our times. Islam is an Arabic word, meaning  “submitting  totally to The Most Merciful” and Muslim is the word used for people who submit themselves to God.  With this meaning one wonders how many Muslims exist on earth? It is a difficult question to answer. In the Qur’an verse (5-3) it is mentioned that  religion has been perfected by the message given in The Qur’an and that no other prophets will follow. The verses taken from the Holly Books have shown us that there are different facets in the teaching of religion. Taking into consideration  that The Qur’an was sent down after The Old Testament and The New Testament in the seventh century, one may be able to see that  the awareness of  mankind has changed incredibly since the time of Moses, the time of Jesus and even the time of Muhammad. Can anyone argue that the teachings of religion proclaimed, and most likely explained to the people by the messengers of the times when the messengers were still alive have been the same after they passed away? Therefore, shall we continue to acknowledge religion in the same  way as we did in the past  or shall we try to understand the Holy Books better without being drowned within the rules and rituals mostly added and interpreted as the religion by the clerical hierarachy? I hope that before it is too late we may be able to answer that question.

    We learned from The Qur’an that the first followers of  The Qur’an,  used to turn their faces to Jerusalem when  they were praying. Then, they were asked in another verse, given to Muhammad at a later date, to turn to the sacred house Kabba, in Mecca. This change in the  behaviour of the believers of  The Qur’an  was probably criticized  by the Jews of that time who were living in the same area. Then the following verse was given to Muhammad,

(Qur’an) 2-142 Some fools among you will say: "Whatever turned them away from the Direction [of Prayer] toward which they used to face?" SAY: "God holds the East and West; He guides whomever He wishes towards a Straight Road."

    Nowadays, we can reason the rituals which the believers perform when they are praying. The believers, turning their faces into one direction only, means togetherness. I do not think it has any sacred meaning. Certainly, in the time when the message was given to the people, it must have been very important to them. Although the act of the believers turning their faces into  the same direction does estabilish togetherness between them,  that direction may not necessarily lead them to “the true” direction. The true direction is the one which may lead people to their Lord. It is essential that people turn to that direction which I do not believe is either in the East or in the West, or in any other geographical direction. Geographical directions are only useful for  humans living on earth in a three dimensional space.

    The reason for the existence of  the differences between the rituals, not only in the prayer direction but in all other ceremonies, obeyed by the followers of the different books is explained in the following verse of The Qur’an,

(Qur’an) 22-67 Each nation have We granted rituals which they must follow; so do not let anyone argue with you about the matter.  Appeal to your Lord for you are on a path of straight guidance.

   The true direction of prayer may be that mentioned in the verse above as ‘the path of true straight guidance’. Probably in time mankind may find that path.

   The reason for sending different books to mankind is explained in the following verse,

(Qur’an) 13-38  We have sent messengers before you, O Muhammad, and granted them spouses and offspring. No messenger would have brought any sign except with God's permission. For each period there is Decree from God.

    The Torah, The Gospels and The Qur’an were sent to the people living in the same geographical area, but at different times. Even though the rituals may be different, the message in essence was the same, i.e. believing in the oneness in the God Allmighty  and to be a good human being. The ordinary person, whose main aim is to bring bread to the family, may not be able to understand  the oneness in the message.  Why?  Is it that with the exception of  a few religious scholars, most members of the clergy  failed to show us the truth?  It is not easy to find a satisfactory answer to this question. Furthermore some members of the clergy, throughout history, provoked  the followers of the different books and encouraged their followers to go to war, in the name of God.  However, the followers of those three books have been ordered not to kill  innocent people without a just cause and quite often they were advised to forgive. I  personally  believe that the members of the clergy in any faith are supposed to be the men of God. Taking a look at the past, one starts to wonder who, most  members of the clergy were serving? Were they the servants of God or the servants of man? Everybody has to answer this question for  themselves. If  somehow we start to question why they behaved in that way we may reach some answer. On the other hand in The Qur’an we may find the answer to our question;

(Qur’an) 10-19 Mankind was once just one nation; then they disagreed. …

(Qur’an) 2-213 Mankind was [once] one nation, so God dispatched prophets as heralds and warners. He sent the Book down along with them to bring the Truth, so as to judge among mankind concerning whatever they had been disagreeing about. However only those to whom the Book  was addressed to showed differences in understanding it due to mutual jealousy  towards one another, after explanations had been brought to them. By His permission, God has guided those who believe in the Truth of that they may have disagreed about. God guides anyone He wishes to a Straight Road.

   It appears that, the evil in some individuals, although they may have been  members of the clergy, overcame the piety in themselves, which caused the divergence  from the essence of the teaching. Certainly, those individuals who were  the cause of the diversification from  the oneness of the belief,  could not lead people onto the right path. Actually, according  to the Gospels, those who were involved in the teaching of religion to the Jewish society  two thousand years ago, were probably not following the true path and were  severely accused by Jesus.

(N.T. Luke’s Gospel)  20-46,47  “Be on your guard against the teachers of the Law, who like to walk around in their long robes and love to be greeted with respect in the market place; who choose the reserved seats in the synagogues and the best laces at the feasts,

     Who take advantage of widows and rob them of their homes, and then make a show of saying long prayers! Their punishment will be all the worse.”   

(N.T. Matthew’s Gospel)  23-13 How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You lock the door to the Kingdom of heaven in people’s faces, but you yourselves don’t go in, nor do you allow in those who are trying to enter.

      Since that time  things don’t appear to have changed much. In spite of this,  let us not be  too pessimistic.  The Qur’an gives some hope for the future of the human race,

(Qur’an) 43-33 If it were not that mankind would become a single nation, …

    We can take this verse as a promise to  mankind for a better future. That time will probably come when all the people on earth finally achieve peace after solving the disagreements and disputes on different issues and then become one human nation.  This nation,  will be composed of individuals of higher consciousness  and everything will be much different from the past and  present times. One wonders if at that time, it will be like living in heaven on earth…

   The continuity of the teaching of religion stressed  in some of the verses of The Qur’an from time to time has some rather interesting  expressions,

(Qur’an) 14-6 And remember when Moses told his folk:

(Qur’an) 61-6 And remember when Jesus, son of  Mary, said: "O Children of Israel! I am the Messenger of God unto you confirming whatever came before me in the Torah…

    Human beings have the ability  to remember things of which they were aware previously. And in these verses, Muhammad was asked to remember some incidents which had happened  long before he was born. Muhammad was somehow a witness to those incidents mentioned. This suggests that this is an issue worth thinking about, and an answer to that question may be found in the following verses,

(Qur’an) 17-1 Glory be to Him Who had His servant Muhammad travel by night from the Hallowed Mosque to the Further Mosque (Jerussalem) whose surroundings We have blessed, so We might show him some of Our signs! He is the Alert, the Observant!

(Qur’an) 53-18 Indeed, Muhammad did see some of the greatest signs of his Lord.

    Certainly in this context one should also remember some verses from The New Testament,

(John’s Gospel)  8-58 “I am telling you the truth,” Jesus replied. “Before Abraham was born, ‘I Am’.”

(John’s Gospel) 1-29,30  The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and said…

                 This is the one I was talking about  when I said, ‘ A man is coming after me, but he is greater than I am, because he existed before I was born.’

    These verses  concerning  Jesus and Muhammad  give some indications  related to the truth concerning  the messengers that we are not yet aware of. Perhaps in the future, the human race may be allowed to  have more knowledge about the truth of the messengers, provided that  mankind is ready to receive and accept that knowledge.  

     Now, let us remember a verse from The Qur’an again which stresses on the continuity of the teaching of religion,

(Qur’an)  2-136  O believers SAY: "We believe in God and what has been sent down to us, and what was sent down to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and their descendants, and what was given to Moses and Jesus, and what was given the [other] prophets by their Lord. We do not discriminate against any one of them and to Him we are submitted. 

     It is apparent that The Qur’an expects its followers to believe in all the messengers, who conveyed the Holy Message to mankind, without making any distinction between them. This verse should be taken as a duty to be fulfilled by the people who call themselves  Muslims and they should try to see, so called ‘different faiths’ followed by different communities,as One, and by doing so they will encourage others to understand the onenes of the teaching of religion which should be be named as the Unity in faith. Remembering a verse mentioned previously from The New Testament (Ephesians 4-4,5,6);  the message that I received from that verse is nothing but unity in  religion. This idea is seen to be further strengthened in another verse of The Qur’an,

(Qur’an) 13-7 … and for every community there has been a guide

    Therefore the announcement of every guide who showed the good deeds to their communities should be taken in consideration within the oneness of the teaching. This will allow us eventually to embrace all the faiths and eventually all the nations. As it was shown in some verses of The Qur’an (10-19 and 43-33)  the promise given to the human race then may come to life.

​

    The Qur’an shows us what to understand from religion,

(Qur’an) 3-19  Truly, the religion at God’s presence is  Islâm…

(Qur’an)  5-3 Today I have perfected your religion for you, and completed My favor towards you, and have consented to grant you Islam as a religion: a commitment to live in peace. … 

(Qur’an) 3-85  And whoever seeks a religion other than Islâm, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers.

   The meaning of the word Islam was given previously, i.e. submission to God, and  it was said that the word did not mean a new religion but the one that had existed from the very beginning. Submission to God by the believers is also mentioned in The Old Testamen and The New Testament,

(O.T. Psalms)  20-7  Some trust in their war chariots and others in their horses, but we trust in the power of the LORD our God.

(O.T. Psalms)  37-5  Give yourself to the LORD; trust in him, and he will help you.

O.T. Psalms)  125-1  Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which can never be shaken, never be moved.

(O.T. Psalms)  3-5,6  Trust in the LORD with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know.

        Remember the LORD in everything you do, and he will show you the right way. 

(N.T. James’s Letter)  4-7  So then submit yourselves to God. Resist the Devil,…

(N.T. Romans) 6-13  …give yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life, and surrender your whole being to Him to be used for righteous purposes.

(N.T. James)  1-20,21  Man’s anger does not achieve God’s righteous purpose.

        So get rid of every filthy habbit and all wicked conduct. Submit to God and accept the word that he plants in your hearts, which is able to save you.

​

    The book that was given to Muhammad, The Qur’an, as we now know  that it was the final book given to a prophet within the teachings of religion. These  verses of  The New Testament, The Old Testament as well as so many verses of The Qur’an advise us to submit to God. It was mentioned before that in Arabic, the word Islam means submitting to God. The continuity of the teaching of religion is shown in the verses of all  three books. Therefore, now we are talking of one religion, which was named as Islam in Arabic, whether we like it or not. According to The Qur’an,  all the previous scriptures  gave  the same message which came from the same source. Therefore,  the message given to mankind throughout the past should not cause  diversification between  people. For this reason, as mentioned before, it might be preferable to call the believers according to the book they prefer to follow. For instance – the people of The Old Testament, the people of the New Testament or the people of The Qur’an. If  one day we come to the  understanding that there is one God, one faith which was expressed in different books in a way suitable to the level of understanding of the people of that time, then we may be able to eliminate at least some of  our differences. At this point it might be necessary to ask the following question:  

   Who determined the book which  an individual should follow? In  most  cases  it  was determined by our parents and by our society. Children  are given the teaching of the  religion of their parents at an early age and therefore everyone follows the teachings of religion as passed on to them without any questions being raised, and this way of teaching has continued for centuries.  On the other hand we have been taught to question every issue related to our lives on earth. We may be able to understand from the Holy Books that  reward and punishment are on an individual basis. If this is so, why is a person forced  to choose the path that his parents are following. This is against the individual freedom of thought. If  we believe in the creation, we must by now, know that  everyone is given the ability to reason. Therefore, it is then up to the individual to reason. This act I believe is only possible when the person is aware that he IS an individual. The practice of freedom of thought, although it has been accepted particularly in the Western Countries, the reality seems to be different. Such that the believers seems to be settled with that which was put in their minds from the childhood by their parents and more so by the members of the clergy. The same issue of practicing freedom of thought in the area of teaching of religion in the countries where the majority of the population follow the Qur’an seems to be rather disappointing such that even questioning some of the practices, which has been accepted by the society but have no relations to the essence of the teaching of religion, is not very common and in some countries it may even result in  capital punisment.    

    Now it is time to remember a verse from The New Testament           

(N.T. Mark’s Gospel)  2-27  And Jesus concluded, “The Sabbath was made for the good of man; man was not made for the Sabbath.”

​

    Throughout the world, even in the countries where rational thinking has been a strong element of the society, essentially due to the contribution of man, the  teaching of religion contain taboos in so many ways. One wonders if this way of practising religion allowed genuine religion to be penetrated by  religious idols? We can answer this question only by reading the book we are following  and by looking at the rituals performed  in the temple (synagogue, church or mosque). If, one day, we come to the understanding that religion is planned, organized and performed for man, on that day, man will start feeling as free as a bird. Because one aspect of religion is, giving man his freedom. We can see this aspect of  religion  stressed in the Holy Books,                                 

(N.T. John’s Gospel)  8-31,32  So Jesus said to those who believed in him, ”If you obey my teaching, you are really my disciples; you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  

    Since we believe that  Jesus’ words came  from God, and there was nothing of man made religion in it, then everything he then said to his followers was from the Source. So why did Jesus use the word ‘truth’ ? Was it because the knowledge, in addition to the rules and regulations, given in The Old Testament was perhaps screened, or was it that in his times, the teaching of religion was contaminated by  humans; by the religious teachers of those times?  Since one can see how harshly  Jesus approached   the members of the clergy in his times, we feel  that the most likely possibility is that genuine religious teaching was no longer there.

      We see that “Freedom” is also mentioned in Peter’s Letter, where he draws the boundaries of personal freedom which should be remembered  by  everyone, particularly by the followers of  The New Testament,

(N.T. Peter’s First Letter)  2-16  Live as free people; do not however, use your freedom to cover up any evil, but live as God’s slaves.

    The Qur’an  likewise talks about freeing people in addition to making things easy for the believers,

(Qur’an) 7-157 those who follow the Messenger, the Unlettered Prophet whom they will find written down for them in the Torah and the Gospel. He commands them to be decent and forbids them dishonor. He permits them wholesome things and prohibits them evil things, and relieves them of their heavy burdens and from the bindings that were upon them. …

 (Qur’an) 2-256 There should be no compulsion in religion. Normal behavior stands out clearly from error; so anyone who rejects the Arrogant ones and believes in God has grasped the Firmest Handle which will never break. God is Alert, Aware.

(Qur’an) 73-20 …So  Read whatever seems easy from the Qur’an…

​