Search for Truth

It is through reason that man justifies his belief. Rational justification strengthens his convictions. Rational argument is thus an intellectual need of every seeker. Without this he would not be able to stand firmly on his conviction. It is reason which transforms a belief system into a matter of intellectual choice. History shows that man has employed four kinds of arguments to find rational grounds for his conviction. Each of these reflects different stages in his intellectual development. Let us see how Islam stands based on these arguments.

1. Natural Argument

We can see that although the text of the original scriptures of Islam (Quran and Sunnah) is preserved, a veil of interpretation has formed over it through the commentaries and interpretations. Therefore misconceptions in Islam ensue. However all is not lost for a seeker of truth. All that he needs to do, therefore, is to rediscover Islam from its original sources – the Quran and Sunnah to find out the true face of Islam. We have to take a look at each aspect of the teachings of Islam in light of its original sources and not in the light of what the Muslims are doing.

One reason for original Islam becoming alien is that as time went by self-styled interpretations of the Qur’an and Sunnah gradually placed a veil over the original content of these texts. A time came when the original Islam was completely obscured from view. The wrong, man-made interpretations took the place of revealed guidance. In later times, people mistakenly took the misconceptions in Islam to be the real Islam.

Islam tells us that all religions revealed by God to His messengers brought true guidance from Him and, therefore, were one and the same. Therefore, Islam is not a recent religion. It is the same religion sent by God through His Prophets since the beginning of human history. So we can say that God had sent all the previously revealed books so that man might be informed of the nature of his life. The Quran, the last of the revealed books, endorses all the revealed books, which preceded it. But this endorsement applies to them only in their original, pristine versions.