Muslims Required To Honour Other Faiths & Their Scriptures
By
T.O. Shanavas, New Age Islam
17 July
2024
Muslims Should Show Respect And Reverence
Towards All Other Faiths, Their Holy Books, And Followers. Islam Should Be
Embraced As A Personal Choice And Not As A Means To Belittle Or Discredit Other
Faiths. It Is Crucial To Foster Understanding And Unity Among Diverse Religious
Beliefs.
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Muslims
should show respect and reverence towards all other faiths, their Holy Books,
and followers. Islam should be embraced as a personal choice and not as a means
to belittle or discredit other faiths. It is crucial to
foster understanding and unity among diverse religious beliefs. Criticizing or
fault-finding in other faiths is not the responsibility of Muslims. It is not
necessary for Muslims to strive to be more devout in their Islamic beliefs than
the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself. Muslims should follow the guidance of
the following sources of wisdom in their conduct.
Muslims are
reminded not to insult the deities worshipped by non-Muslims, as doing so may
lead to wrongful insults towards Allah without proper knowledge.
This verse
from Surah Al-An'am (“Abuse not those to whom they pray, apart from Allah,
or they will abuse God in revenge without knowledge…-Qur’an 6-106)
emphasizes the importance of respecting the beliefs of others and refraining
from disrespectful behaviour.
Hadith
sources also demonstrate that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
respected the Torah and advised Jews to adhere to its teachings in a case
involving a Jewish couple and extramarital relations, as illustrated in the
following hadiths.
“Narrated
'Abdullah bin 'Umar:
The Jews came to Allah's Apostle and told him
that a man and a woman from amongst them had committed illegal sexual
intercourse. Allah's Apostle said to them, ‘What do you find in the Torah (old
Testament) about the legal punishment of Ar-Rajm (stoning)?’ They replied,
‘(But) we announce their crime and lash them.’
Abdullah bin Salam said, ‘You are telling a lie; Torah contains the
order of Rajm.’ They brought and opened the Torah* and one of them
solaced his hand on the Verse of Rajm and read the verses preceding and
following it. Abdullah bin Salam said to him, ‘Lift your hand.’ When he lifted
his hand, the Verse of Rajm was written there. They said, ‘Muhammad has told
the truth; the Torah has the Verse of Rajm.’ The Prophet then gave the
order that both of them should be stoned to death. ('Abdullah bin 'Umar said,
‘I saw the man leaning over the woman to shelter her from the
stones.’" Ref: (Bukhari: Book #56, Hadith #829); (Muslim:
Book #017, Hadith #4211).
Narrated
Abdullah Ibn Umar:
A group of
Jews came and invited the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)
to Quff. So he visited them in their school.
They said:
AbulQasim, one of our men has committed
fornication with a woman; so pronounce judgment upon them. *They placed a
cushion for the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)
who sat on it and said: Bring the Torah. It was then brought. He then withdrew
the cushion from beneath him and placed the Torah on i* saying: I believed in
thee and in Him Who revealed thee. He then said: Bring me one who is learned
among you. Then a young man was brought.
The transmitter then mentioned the rest of the tradition of stoning similar to
the one transmitted by Malik from Nafi'(No. 4431).
REF: Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 38 (Kitab al-Hudud,
i.e., Prescribed Punishments), No. 4434.
It is
important to note that instead of enforcing the Qur'anic decree of 100 lashes
for extramarital relations, the Prophet
(peace be upon him) recommended stoning to death in accordance with the
Torah for the Jewish couple, as their punishment was based on the laws outlined
in the Torah. Prophet‘s (peace be upon him) judgment is guided by the Quranic
verse “To you your religion, and to me my religion!'”
It is
crucial to highlight that instead of implementing the Qur'anic decree of 100
lashes for extramarital relations, the Prophet recommended stoning to death in
accordance with the Torah for the Jewish couple, as their punishment was
prescribed by the laws of the Torah. The Prophet's decision was guided by the
Quranic principle of "To you your religion, and to me my religion–Qur‘an
109:6.“
Based on
the Hadiths, Prophet's (peace be upon him)
reverence for the Torah is evidenced by his act of placing it on the
cushion where he was seated. His request for a Jewish Torah scholar to
interpret the scripture for him signifies that Muslims should refrain from
interpreting the scriptures of other faiths.
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T.O. Shanavas is a native of Kerala, but is now
based in the USA. He is the author of “Islamic Theory of Evolution The Missing
Link Between Darwin and The Origin of Species.” Co-author of the book, And God
Said, "Let There Be Evolution!": Reconciling The Book Of Genesis, The
Qur'an, And The Theory Of Evolution. Edited by Prof. Charles M. Wynn and Prof.
Arthur W. Wiggins.
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