Histories of previous
communities are recited throughout the Quran,
according to God’s commandment to Gabriel as this
honest messenger released the Quran into Mohammad’s
memory.
Concise descriptions of the
efforts of prophets and messengers delivering or
confirming God’s words to previous communities are
recited to us. With only one exception, the
transgressing communities described in Quran prior
to the time the Quran was revealed to Mohammad have
been annihilated, despite the fact that God’s words
were offered to all of those communities, quite
often supported by profound miracles. The single
exception in Quran is the community Jonah warned,
probably Nineveh, Iraq . That the city was Nineveh
is according to previous scripture, which can no
longer be relied upon absolutely.
There are numerous verses found
in Quran which discuss covenants, some are for
specific purposes, but there is one covenant in
particular which stands out as being universal to
all people:
We learn from these verses that
God has covenanted with all children of Adam - all
humans on earth – that He is our lord and we would
not worship the devil. So what does this mean?
To start with, the singular is
used as God describes the devil as our most ardent
enemy. We know from other verses in Quran this
refers to Iblis. The histories God recites don’t
point-blank inform us that previous communities were
knowingly worshiping Satan, but they do inform us
those communities rejected God’s words. Is this one
and the same thing? Well, without
going that far, but the latter must certainly put us
at risk of the former. Given the consequences, it
seems a fair premise that worshiping anything or
anyone other than God puts us at risk of violating
our covenant with God. So, how do we avoid following
the footsteps of previous communities?
How do we avoid violating our covenant with God and
end up worshiping Satan? It stands
to reason that following God’s words to us is the
one sure way to avoid worshiping other than God.
Sure enough, this idea is the central consistent
message all messengers and prophets have brought us
from God. The first commandment in each scripture
tells us to devote our worship absolutely to God
alone. How do we know this? When,
as the Quran informs us, our final dispensation is
either hell or redemption, what we worship is
something we need to be certain of.
Praise God, this present
community, this very generation of humans, has been
blessed with proof of a scripture containing God’s
own words to us, complete and intact.
[6:115] The word of
your Lord is complete,* in truth and justice.
Nothing shall abrogate His words. He is the Hearer,
the Omniscient.
*6:113-115 Upholding any
source beside the Quran reflects disbelief in the
Quran (Appendix 18).
[7:158]
Say, "O people, I am GOD's messenger to all of you.
To Him belongs the sovereignty of the heavens and
the earth. There is no god except He. He controls
life and death." Therefore, you shall believe in GOD
and His messenger, the gentile prophet, who believes
in GOD and His words. Follow him, that you may be
guided.
[22:24] They have
been guided to the good words; they have been guided
in the path of the Most Praised.
These Are All the Words We Need
[31:27] If all the
trees on earth were made into pens, and the ocean
supplied the ink, augmented by seven more oceans,
the words of GOD would not run out. GOD is Almighty,
Most Wise.
Wonderful! But just having
these words is not enough to guarantee redemption,
does not guarantee we will not violate our covenant
with God. Just having these words does not guarantee
we will not be duped into worshiping something or
someone other than God.
It is clear from the recited
histories in Quran that past communities rejected
God’s words. Are we not at risk of doing the same
thing? It would be arrogant to
assume we of the Submitters' Community have some
special immunity because we have a proven source of
God’s words. Now that we have these words, we are
admonished by God to study them carefully, and to
follow no other source beside the Quran.
[18:27]
You shall recite what is revealed to you of your
Lord's scripture. Nothing shall abrogate His words,
and you shall not find any other source beside it.
The Quran is
All We Need
[12:111] In their
history, there is a lesson for those who possess
intelligence. This is not fabricated Hadith; this
(Quran) confirms all previous scriptures, provides
the details of everything, and is a beacon and mercy
for those who believe.
Quran: Our Means to Salvation
[17:9] This Quran
guides to the best path, and brings good news to the
believers who lead a righteous life, that they have
deserved a great recompense.
God's Messenger of the Covenant
[5:19] O people of
the scripture, our messenger has come to you, to
explain things to you,after a period of time without
messengers, lest you say, "We did not receive any
preacher or warner." A preacher and warner has now
come to you. GOD is Omnipotent.*
[2:151]
(Blessings) such as the sending of a messenger from
among you to recite our revelations to you, purify
you, teach you the scripture and wisdom, and to
teach you what you never knew.
Aside from the fact that
reciting the word of God encompasses explaining,
preaching, and clarifying when looked at in the
light of the overall context of the Quran, 5:19 and
2:151 don't by any means add any holiness to a
messengers' materials. Messengers don’t claim any
divinity for themselves, but they do know the words
of God they are sent to deliver or confirm are
divine. Their attempts to convey the teachings and
wisdom of the word of God should NEVER be considered
as an additional source of law. Drawing clear lines
between a fallible man-made word and the divine
infallible word of God defines the difference
between idol worship and absolute devotion to God
alone.
[3:79]
Never would a human being whom GOD blessed with the
scripture and prophethood say to the people,
"Idolize me beside GOD." Instead, (he would say),
"Devote yourselves absolutely to your Lord alone,"
according to the scripture you preach and the
teachings you learn.
[3:80]
Nor would he command you to idolize the angels and
the prophets as lords. Would he exhort you to
disbelieve after becoming submitters?
[55:1] The
Most Gracious.
[55:2] Teacher of the Quran.
[55:3]
Creator of the human beings.
[55:4]
He taught them how to distinguish.
[75:16]
Do not move your tongue to hasten it.
[75:17]
It is we who will collect it into Quran.
[75:18] Once we recite it, you shall follow such a
Quran.
[75:19] Then it is we who will explain it.
The
“we” in 75:19 does not include any human messengers.
Even
the messenger who unveiled the mathematical proof of
Quran emphasizes that we must not use any other
source besides the proven word of God as a source of
guidance. To ignore this would literally be
disobeying the messenger God sent.
Quran: The ONLY Source
[17:46] We place
shields around their minds, to prevent them from
understanding it, and deafness in their ears. And
when you preach your Lord, using the Quran alone,*
they run away in aversion.
The
footnote for the above verse supports Rashad's
assertion in the subtitle with the mathematical
"proof". Here, I use the term proof not in a
strictly logical sense but in the sense of
messengers being supported by proofs from God.
*17:46 The Arabic word "alone" refers to God in
7:70, 39:45, 40:12 & 84, and 60:4. If you add these
numbers, you get 361, 19x19. But if you include
17:46, which refers to the Quran, the product is not
a multiple of 19. "Alone," therefore refers to the
Quran in 17:46 (Appendix 18).
This
subtitle translates to "The messenger of the
covenant has instructed the submitters to use the
Quran alone as a source of guidance". Notice the
word "only" is emphasized in all caps in the
subtitle. It is only wishful thinking of some to
believe that Rashad meant for this to be questioned
or construed to mean something else. There are no
exceptions, no 'buts' or 'ifs'. To obey the
messenger would be to discontinue accepting any
other source besides the Quran itself as an
infallible authority on the path God offers us.
This
leaves only two options when it comes to the
footnotes, appendices, and recorded materials from
Rashad:
1)
These are not to be used as an infallible source of
guidance, but must be verified in light of Quran. In
this, the case has been made by God in the Quran and
confirmed by Rashad, that only the Arabic Quran is
infallible.
2)
The second option is to consider the footnotes,
appendices, and recorded materials from Rashad as
part of the Quran. In order to adopt this option,
one would have to completely ignore the fact that
the footnotes, appendices, and recorded materials of
Rashad do not exist in the Arabic Quran. And one
would have to accept that Rashad was given a new
scripture, that he was sent by God to add to the
Quran.
This
second option cannot be supported in light of the
Quran. Any attempt to do so amounts to proclaiming
disbelief in the Quran. This second option is the
embryo of idol worship. For any who can see, it is
dangerous misguidance.
Now
this second option can be seen as an objective when
considering whether to bar the use of the Arabic
text of the Quran as the only ultimate truth.
Whether the individuals who support this
preposterous course are aware of the premise it is
based on or not is another matter, even though we
have witnessed this second option professed verbally
and in writing.
God
has explained an important fact to us in the verse
immediately preceding that of the present analysis:
Disbelievers Cannot Understand Quran
[17:45] When you
read the Quran, we place between you and those who
do not believe in the Hereafter an invisible
barrier.
Here, the subtitle seems to be included more as an
easy way to find topics, serving as a kind of
highlight of the subject in the verse. It doesn't
add anything to meaning. The verse immediately
following 17:46 describes the behavior of those who
don't believe in the Hereafter towards people who
advocate using the Quran alone.
[17:47] We are fully
aware of what they hear, when they listen to you,
and when they conspire secretly - the disbelievers
say,"You are following a crazy man."
We
have witnessed this behavior in those who profess
the second option. God Himself has explained very
clearly in these 3 verses who it is that follows the
path of the second option, and who it is that
attacks those who insist on using Quran alone -
disbelievers.
God
has also given us guidance in Quran for what to do
when encountering disbelievers.
That
exploration will be left for another reminder, God
willing. For now, and since the reminder benefits
the believers, this verse is once more the choice to
remind with:
Follow the Word of God
[39:18] They are the
ones who examine all words, then follow the best.
These are the ones whom GOD has guided; these are
the ones who possess intelligence.
May God bless you and guide you
with His truth.
