What is true meaning of 'religion'? Is it thoroughly misunderstood by most of the living communities?

Question

ligare' means to bind together - 're' means again.
so religion should unite the world communities. But lot of damage to the existing societies is being done in the name of propagation, evengelization of... fanaticism etc. What could be the root cause for this destructive diversification by the so called religious zealots?

Answer 1

Grace (not law) unto you, and peace (not division),
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus -> Christ.

Indeed. At last an intelligent & challenging question.
God cannot be one by divisions; But is one by unity.
The root cause of all divisions is the Law: Legalsim.
Mark & Avoid them which cause divisions: Rom 16
Jesus caused division: Mt 10:34; Lk 12:51; Jn 7:43

God is NOT [the author] of confusion, but of "peace".
God is not the author of divisions, but rather of unity.
Where envy and strife, there confusion and evil(law).
Where there's laws, there's strife among the people:

Religions preaching Global-division = oxy-MORON?
It's believed by morons: "know not" children & servants.
So higher exhortation is be neither children vs children;
Neither of servants of sin vs servants of righteousness.
Be neither of the Broadmindead nor Narrowmindead;
for such is as the Hatfields vs the McCoys vs McCoys.
Broad Way <- Narrow Way -> More Excellent Way

"Christ": "is the end of the law", is our "peace" (not war).
To "wit", that God was in Christ RECONCILING the world.
That God was not in divisional Jesus alienating the world:
"Jesus": "made under the law": "division" and not peace
"Christ": "is the end of the law": "peace" and not dividead
"Peace" with God is notably "THROUGH Jesus -> Christ".

Peace isn't won by wars, rather it's the absence of war.
It's as disastrous to win a sides war as it is to lose one.
All blame game players get inducted to a hall of shame.
Being right to make others wrong is as division, not unity.
Both law of law vs law & grace of law vs grace are faulty.
For both give place to the law: d-evil, by which all perish.

War? What is it good for? Absolutely NOTHING.
It is the friend only to the Under-Taker: The Law.
Law is the source & strength of sin's death sting.
Law is the ministration of condemnation & death.

Gandhi: the choice is non-violence or non-existence.
The allegory of such: the choice is grace or law law.

Einstein:
Peace can't be kept by force.
It's achieved by understanding.

Plato:
No law or ordinance is mightier than understanding.

Solomon:
With all thy getting, get understanding = grace glory

Biblically there are two sorts of religion to compare:
- Impure religion: Law: mortal, corruptible, imperfect
- Pure religion: Grace: immortal, incorruptible, perfect
Pure religion paid a visit, to all afflicted by the law(evil).
It notably arrived undefiled & also remained unspotted.

Grace neither tempts(laws) nor can be tempted(lawed).
Grace cannot lie(law) nor die(law). Law Law does both.
Which biblical things are an "allegory" and a "mystery".

That God is light(only) declared the END from the begin:
Let there be LIGHT(ONLY)---> there was LIGHT(ONLY):

The GRACE(ONLY) of our Lord Jesus->Christ with you->all. Amen.

Answer 2

Spirituality is the closeness of one's relationship to God. Religion are the daily activities that we perform. Some people pray religiously and attend church religiously. Others exercise religiously and write religiously. Whatever we do is our religion.

"Religion is ... often described as a 'way of life'." "scrupulous conformity" "conscientiousness" "a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith"
- re·li·gion·less adjective

Answer 3

Despite what religion consists of, it is man-made. The truth is that there can be only one truth and since there are so many religions, the religions clash and cause more problems than they solve.
The truth about religion is that it makes men powerful and rich the more popular it becomes.

Answer 4

Religions is originally natural code of daily life by the Creator of the universe as He created it. I am sending one chapter of my to give you an idead:

Chapter 1 – INTRODUCTION TO TRUTH

EESHWAR SAT HAI, meaning "God The All-Mighty is The Truth" is believed by every Hindu. Any religion is neither more nor less than this! So what has diversified humanity so much that killing of one has become piety for others. God Himself selected the prophets and sent for our guidance. Noah to Abraham, Moses to Jesus Christ and Mohammad (May peace and blessing of Allah upon all of these) all have same message. They gave us a clear message of truth but we are still in doubt and uncertainty. This uncertainty is higher in comparison to that of Heisenberg's. We will try to find out, "WHAT IS THE TRUTH?"

1.1) Sages Through Ages:

This ignorance is really unbelievable and wonderful when we find the inquiring Greeks Homer, Herodotus, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes and Euclid among us. They founded the basis of worldly knowledge and morality just from roots. And Muslims Ibne Sina, AlFarabi, Yaqub AlKundi, AlKhawarzami, AlHazen with their deep quest for natural science are real but non-recognized precursor and harbinger of Renaissance of Europe. Shakespeare, Marlowe, Ben Johnson, Carlyle, Shaw … were capable to probe deeper nooks of human feelings, emotion and reactions. And they depicted the worldly stage that we feel our-self willingly suspending our disbelief about fictions.

And the naturalist Newton …Einstein and Abdul Qadeer have gone so deep for the search of natural laws that now we are becoming sure that one day our science will be able to find the deepest secrets of the creation of The Al-Mighty. I think for that time, the Creator Himself was proud, when angels were doubtful about the quarrelsome behavior of the man. And He (The Al-Mighty) said:

Note that occasion, when your Rabb said to the angels: “I am going to place a vicegerent on earth”. The angels said: “Will you place there one who will make mischief and shed blood while we sing Your praises and glorify Your name?” Allah said: “I know what you know not.” He taught Adam the names of all things; then He presented the things to the angels and said: “Tell Me the names of those if what you say is true?” “Glory to you,”they replied, “we have no knowledge except what you have taught us: in fact you are the One who is perfect in knowledge and wisdom.” (Quran;2-30,31)

Newton, Sir Issac (1642-1727), English physicist, mathematician, and natural philosopher, considered one of the most important Scientist of all time. He is founder of laws of universal gravitation and motion – laws that explain how objects move on Earth as well as through the heavens. He established study of optics (behaviour of light) – and built the first reflecting telescope. His mathematical insight led him to invent the area of mathematics CALCULUS. He used laws of motion and gravitation for converting physics from a mere science of explanation into a general mathematical system with rules and laws. His experiments explained the phenomenon of light and colour and anticipated modern developments in light theory. His calculus gave science one of its most versatile and powerful tools.

It is told, even, when he was a young boy he made sundials, model windmills, a water clock, a mechanical carriage and flew kites with lanterns attached to their tails.

Such a great in-sighting brain when started thinking about religion, he could not able to find reasonable answers. He was perplexed and he adopted a doubtful attitude to the prevailing ideas about religion. He was sure that the reality lies in some other facts. Since he was unable to find any true guidance he was confused about the unsolved theological problem though he was a great solver ever since. At last he became insane and died as a mental case!!!

1.2) Creation of Universe – A Proof for Presence of All-Mighty God:

You know friends, “Cosmologists believe the universe came into being approx. 10-20 billion years ago as a result of a Big Bang. !.

Then He turned towards the sky, which was but SMOKE, He said to it and to the earth: ‘Come forward both of you willingly or unwillingly,’and they submitted:‘We shall come willing’. (Quran;41-11)

The theory is based on the mathematical equations, known as the field equations, of the general theory of relativity set forth by Albert Einstein in 1915. Russian physicist Alexander Friedmann provided a set of solution to field equation to prove Relativity. Then American astronomer Edwin Hubble proved that the galaxies were moving away from each other as the light of distant galaxies was universally shifted to the red end of spectrum. This dispersing universe is closed not open as some scientist thinks. It will contract one time like exploding stars that will be end of current universe with all its terror. Light is transformed in the matter and matter to light. British, Jeans, Sir James Hopwood thinks that our universe before big bang was a huge mass of matter. It may be smaller particles or light but the question is how such a big mass of matter came into existence because matter cannot come into being by itself. Really it looks like a horrible dream in which we are alone shuddering because of fear of meaninglessness, nothingness. We feel our self just a silhouette smeared by a blasting destruction, one side the shuddering cold, and on the other side heat upto milions of degrees Fahrenheit. Touch yourself you are a real body with feeling and senses and an imagination; if you are reality then this event is not a dream. Lo! God is creator of that matter and innovator of Big Bang!. Mark a blue point at the tip of your nose and try to see it without glass. Can you see? We cannot see radio, T.V., Mobile, wireless signals but small machines can see them! This mighty creation and continuity of same message to all nations in different ages, different lands and different languages is wonderful and undeniable proof for people who think. We will discuss about this in detail.

Look! he gave us life, and believing him gives meaning to our existence, otherwise; all this birth, …, and death! Oh! Nothing not even a nought! He is infinite, immutable, eternal, good, Omniscience and Omnipotent. Believe him personal, transcend and unique.

Ask them: “ Do you really deny the One Who created the earth in two periods and do you set up rivals in worship with Him while He is the Rabb of the worlds. He set upon the mountains towering high above its surface, He bestowed blessings upon it and in four periods provided it with sustenance according to the needs of all those who live in it and ask for it. Then He turned towards the sky, which was but SMOKE, He said to it and to the earth: ‘Come forward both of you willingly or unwilling,’ and they submitted: ‘ We shall come willing’. So, from this creation, He formed the seven heavens in two periods and to each heaven He ordained its laws. He adorned the lowest heaven with brilliant lamps and made it secure. Such is the design of the Al-Mighty, the All-Knowing”. Now if they turn away, say to them: “I have given you warning of a thunderbolt, like the thunderbolt which struck Ad and Thamud”-Quran;41-9…13)

Quran again and again gives invitation to think about the mysteries of this universe and it will automatically reveal about the power of its creator.

If you ask them: "Who has created the heavens and the earth?" They will certainly say: "Allah". Say: "Praise be to Allah!" But the fact is that most of them do not use their common sense to understand. (Quran-31 Luqman:25)

God the All-Mighty created all this and exalted himself on the high Throne.

It is Allah Who has created the heavens, the earth and all that is between them in six periods, then, firmly established Himself on the Throne of Authority. You have no guardian or intercessor besides Him. Will you not then take heed? (Quran-32 Al-Sajda:4)

God has created a system for management of this universe. He ordained laws which regulate all this automatically. And His obedient angels are always ready at His behest. But presence of his throne and all this system does not mean that He do not know or cannot manage. Quran tells us about this:

It is He Who created the heavens and the earth in six periods, then firmly established Himself on the throne of authority. He knows all that enters the earth and all that emerges from it, all that comes down from Heaven and all that ascends to it; and He is with you wherever you are. Allah is aware of all your actions. (Quran-57 Al-Hadid:4)

Now another complicated question arises that He is merciful and kind and He has same love for His creature. He is surely kind but there is difference between believers and disbelievers. Even here we find angels imploring forgiveness for the believers only.

"Those angels who bear the Throne of Allah and those who stand around it glorify their Rabb with His praises, believe in Him and implore forgiveness for the believers, saying: "Our Rabb! You embrace all things with your mercy and knowledge. Forgive those who repent and follow Your Way, and save them from the punishment of the blazing fire. (Quran-40 Al-Mu'min:7)

Quran denies the same treatment meted out for all, despite God is ready to forgive anyone who begs His forgiveness.

Do the evil doers think that We shall hold them equal with those who believe and do good deeds, and that their lives and deaths shall be alike? Bad is their judgment! (Quran:45 Al-Jathiya 21)

And as far worldly benefits are concerned, these things have no value for the Lord but the ultimate salvation will be special for the believers and good people. We see most of the truthful prophets suffered throughout their life. In Al-Quran Sura Al-Zukhruf verse no.32-35 presents a very strange narration about worldly gains "Is it they who distribute the blessings of your Rabb? It is We Who distribute the means of their livelihood in the life of this world, raising some in rank above others, so that one may take others into his service. But the blessing of your Rabb is far greater in value than the wealth of this world which they amass. And were it not that all mankind might become one nation of unbelievers, We would have given those who disbelieve in the Rahman (Compassionate Allah), such houses whose roofs, stairways by which they go to upper chambers all made with silver, and also the doors of their houses and couches on which they recline, along with ornaments of gold - for all these are nothing but merely comforts of this worldly life. It is the life of the hereafter which your Rabb has reserved for the righteous".

If praying and not praying is same why He sent so many prophets and ordered for it so many times? Why His messenger bore a lot of trouble from the hands of cruel people? Just for telling, what is good or bad for no use?

Question is what we would select among Vedas, Ramain, Mahabharata, Gita, Garanth, Torat, Talmud, Book of David or Injeel (New Testament), Quran & Hadith? Peruse the book to decide this.

1.3) Baseless Modern Ideas About Start of Religion:

Modern scholars are trying to find the origin of religions just from a gradual awareness of lower level of understanding a super power to the peak achievement of getting conception of one All-Mighty God. "Encyclopedia of World Religions" is treating the religion with the same parameters as "Story of Modern Languages" is treating languages. They feel man during all its evolution or creation was just a dumb fellow. And when he really started living in community he started developing words. When he felt pain or when they were pulling, cutting or hunting; they uttered some ambiguous words which caused creation of languages. This conception as far evolution to many and more sophisticated languages is concerned is okay but the man was having some basic/ reasonable language at the time of their creation/ or final stage of evolution as God devised. The Ping-Pong and Bow-Wow is just name of theories to fill some page of book or to take a part of memory of the linguistic readers, for nothing. Similarly about religion; the human being was given the religion with all the basic conception like any modern monotheistic religion, except with a lesser approach to social orders and civil rules. The theories of Neanderthal man who was small stature and small headed, and later Kromini and Neolithic religions is just a gossip of mad, who believes that a monkey pressing randomly on the key board of a type writer, will be become able to complete the "Venus and Adonis" by Shakespeare. American Indian and Africans have truly strange religions; but you will find clearly that they have clear conception of One All-Mighty God, beside their deities and souls etc. And Adam (pbuh) was the first man and prophet of God. He told his offspring all about Oneness of God, about good things and also about his real experience of heavens which remained in the memories of men in all generation despite so much diversion and strayed beliefs. And later prophets and believers continued telling about the Truth.

1.4) Human Being was Given Regular Religion from His Birth:

"Mankind was one nation having one religion. Later when people invented other religions, Allah appointed prophets as bearers of good news and warnings; and revealed to them the Book with the True Guidance to settle the matters of dispute between mankind. But the very people to whom it was given, stared disputes after the clear arguments had come to them, because of rivalry between one another. Allah has guided the believers by His will to the truth in those matters in which they had differences. Allah guides whom He pleases toward the Right path." (Quran: Al-Baqara, V-213)

In later chapters we will see that Hindus books have discussed the same topic and Bible is telling the same.

Belief in Oneness of God was accepted belief of Europe before arrival of Christianity, although there were some unnecessary superstitious rites also prevalent. The Druids were the priests or ministers of religion among the ancient Celtic nations in Gaul, Britain, and Germany. Our information respecting them is borrowed from notices in the Greek and Roman writers and it is also compared with the remains of Welsh and Gaelic poetry still extant. The Druids taught the existence of one god, to whom they gave a name “Be’ al,” which Celtic antiquaries tell us means “the life of everything,” or “the source of all beings,”. Writers have stated that this belief is similar to the Phoenician belief about Baal and they think it correct only because the Druids as well as the Phoenicians compared their supreme deity with the Sun and Fire was regarded as a symbol of the divinity (but we can say with full belief and assertion that this was just a comparison; Did Prophet Moses not see the light or fire on the Tur mountain? Does Quran not mention that Allah is light of heavens and earth? Similar comparing with sun could also be seen with Aryan invaders of Pakistan and India. They are recalled as worshipper of sun but from the belief of their Aryan brothers in Europe it becomes clear that since God is light of heavens and earth, Europeans Aryans only compared the God with sun while Aryans of sub-continent compared at first stage and started worshipping at a later stage in the history. Similarly Jesus Christ pbuh was regarded as an exalted man in the first centuries but later Christian started believing divinity of Christ and only this idea prevailed and original idea was banned as heresy by Roman authorities and Councils of Nicaea held in 325. This first ecumenical council was convened by Constantine I, emperor of Rome, to settle the Arian dispute concerning the nature of Jesus Christ. Of the 1,800 bishops in the Roman Empire, 318 attended the council. The Nicene Creed, which defined the Son as consubstantial with the Father, was adopted as the official position of the Church regarding the divinity of Christ. And in the Second Council of Nicaea held in 787 and convened by Irene, empress of the East, and it was attended by 350 bishops, most of whom were Byzantine. In spite of strong objections by the iconoclasts, the council validated the veneration of images and ordered their restoration in churches throughout the Roman Empire. We will discuss later in Chapter No.3 that all Aryans were believers of true God and follower of a truthful prophet named Zarathustra, who gave message about one true God and told his follower that God is the creator of the universe, He is light and cannot be compared with anything other than him. Later his followers; Aryan compared God with sun and even started worshipping it, Magis and Parsis compared with fire and later started worshipping fire and forgot the true teaching of that great Prophet.) Druids used no images to represent the object of their worship, nor did they meet in temples or buildings of any kind for the performance of their sacred rites. A circle of stones (each stone generally of vast size), enclosing an area of from twenty feet to thirty yards in diameter, constituted their sacred place. The most celebrated of these now remaining is Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain, England. It is evident that the Druids offered sacrifices to their deity (be'al) but there is some uncertainty as to what they offered and they were also observing two festivals in each year. The Druids were the teachers of morality as well as of religion. Of their ethical teaching a valuable specimen is preserved in the Triads of the Welsh Bards, and from this we may gather that their views of moral rectitude were on the whole just, and that they held and inculcated many very noble and valuable principles of conduct. They were also the men of science and learning of their age and people. Whether they were acquainted with letters or not has been disputed, though the probability is strong that they were, to some extent. But the Roman writers admit that “they paid much attention to the order and laws of nature, and investigated and taught to the youth under their charge many things concerning the stars and their motions, the size of the world and the lands, and concerning the might and power of the immortal God.” The Druidical system was at its height at the time of the Roman invasion under Julius Caesar. These conquerors of the world directed their unsparing fury against the Druids, as their chief enemies. Perhaps only because they were believers of a physically un-definable and un-discernible God who is One in authority; instead of their visible and palpable deities in large number performing differently distributed jobs. The Druids were harassed at all points on the mainland, and they retreated to Anglesey and Iona, where for a season they found shelter and continued their now dishonoured rites (by Romans). The Druids retained their predominance in Iona and over the adjacent islands and mainland until they were supplanted and their beliefs were overturned by the arrival of St. Columba, the apostle of the Highlands, by whom the inhabitants of that district were first led to profess Christianity. And they started believing in "Trinity", instead of one “Be’ al,”. And druids' repercussion can be seen even in very recent times by Maximilien Robespierre who celebrated this creed in 1794 when after controlling the government of France in the 1790s after the French Revolution he wanted to restart a religion based on acknowledgment of the supreme being (One God) and the soul's immortality to replace Christianity (belief of Trinity).

Besides Druids' religion it will be interesting to study about Mithraism. It was one of the major religions of the Roman Empire except the original Roman mythological gods believers. They were believer in Mithra who was the ancient Persian god of light and wisdom. It is same or one branch of monotheistic religion of Zoroastrianism. Mithra was name of the chief yazata (Avestan, “beneficent one”) or good spirit, and ruler of the world. After the conquest of Assyria in the 7th century bc and of Babylonia in the 6th century bc, belief about Mithra was modified and similar to Aryans mentioned above it became the god of the sun, which was worshipped in his name. The Greeks of Asia Minor, by identifying Mithra with Helios, the Greek god of the sun, helped to spread the cult. It was brought to Rome about 68 bc by Cilician pirates whom the Roman general Pompey the Great had captured, and during the early empire it spread rapidly throughout Italy and the Roman provinces. At first It was a rival to Christianity in the Roman world because Mithraism was similar to other monotheistic religions and Christianity in many respects, for example, in the ideals of humility and brotherly love, baptism, the rite of communion, the use of holy water, the adoration of the shepherds at Mithra's birth, the adoption of Sundays and of December 25 (Mithra's birthday) as holy days, and the belief in the immortality of the soul, the last judgment, and the resurrection. They differed from Christianity in the exclusion of women from its religious ceremonies and in their willingness to compromise with polytheism. Believers of Mithraism were very soon converted to Christianity because they were believers in One God and follower of a true creed (though a little modified by the lapse of time), and their willingness to compromise with polytheism allowed them to understand and believe the idea of Trinity without more hesitation.

Truly God is light of heaven and earth; incomparable with any existent thing and un-apprehensible by human senses. And human being is prone to probe into the nature of things by his very nature, that's why human being always tried to compare God with some mighty thing. Mainly with Sun, as it is the only and most powerful visible source of light and benefits (light, heat, growing of plant and season etc.). And humanity was aware about God (that He is light and he is creator and benefactor) by narration of their first father Adam (peace be upon him) who saw his vision, later by their second father Noah (peace be upon him) and other prophets coming time to time to different nations of the world (who knew him directly or through the messenger angels of God, The All-Mighty).

Before concluding this topic it will be better to look into another picture of God identified in the shape of Sun. Aten named Egyptian god was originally a more purified aspect of Ra (Ra or Re is the Sun god of Egyptian mythology and was considered the primal creator deity and controller of the universe who brought into being the other gods Shu and Tefnet, and from whose tears the first human beings were formed. He is depicted as a man with the head of a hawk, and his chief symbols were the sun disc and the obelisk). And Akhenaton (Egyptian Pharaoh, the last important ruler of the 18th dynasty of the New Kingdom and he ruled 1353-1337 bc, he was son of Amenhotep III and Tiy and husband of Nefertiti, whose beauty is known through contemporary portrait busts) proclaimed Aten as the supreme and only god. He was represented as a solar disc with long rays terminating in hands. He believed Aten to be a universal, omnipresent spirit and the sole creator of the universe. And scholars credit him being the first recorded monotheist believer, because the Hebrew prophets preached about the universal God seven or eight centuries later in the land that Akhenaton once ruled. He is regarded as an eccentric monotheist by the critics because after he established the new religion he changed his name from the royal designation Amenhotep IV (a pharaoh with absolute power) to Akhenaton, meaning “Aten is satisfied”. He moved his capital from Thebes to Akhetaton (now the site of Tell el-Amarna), a new city devoted to the celebration of Aten, and he ordered the obliteration of all traces of the polytheistic religion of his ancestors. He also fought bitterly against the powerful priests who attempted to maintain the worship of the state god Amon, or Amen. A new religious literature was also developed but this proved a short-lived move toward monotheism. This blossoming of this culture, however, did not continue after Akhenaton's death. His son-in-law, Tutankhamen, moved the capital back to Thebes, restored the old polytheistic religion, and Egyptian art once more became ritualized.

All other nations have similar touch of oneness of God in their belief. We will study about the beliefs of African Zulus and old Canadian peoples' in one God and about the Prophet Gloss Cop in next chapter. American Indians were not far from them! So it is concluded that God sent prophets to all the nations even to the gins!

And message was always same and it was absurdity and wrong-headedness of the man who was able to devise strange things out of regularly organized information for his benefits. In this disorganization process Satan is always an inveterate, verified and reliable colleague for the disorganizers.

1.5) It was Satan Who Misguided Humanity from True Path:

God the Al-Mighty gave the Satan a freedom of arch rivalry to mis-lead the weak among the men and ginn. And Satan filled with pride of his knowledge and superiority is constantly busy in misguiding the slaves of God with a weaker faith. And very strangely to humiliate the mankind often he made them to worship idols made of wood and stone. And he did not become content only thus, he made them to worship cow, elephant, rats, monkeys, goats, horses, souls, trees and ugly human faces. And often we find the follower of Satan more powerful than follower of the Truth.

Remember when your Rabb said to the angels: "I am about to create a man from sounding clay, black mud moulded into shape; when I complete his moulding and breath into him of My spirit, kneel down and prostrate before him." Accordingly the angels prostrated altogether, except Iblees (The Satan); he refused to join those who prostrated. Allah asked: "O Iblees! What is the matter with you that you did not join those who prostrated?" He replied: "It does not behoove me to prostrate myself to this man whom You have created from sounding clay, black mud moulded into shape." Allah said: "Get out of here, you are accursed. The curse will remain on you till the Day of Judgement." At this Iblees requested: "Rabb! Give me respite till the Day of Resurrection."Allah said: "All right! You are given the respite, till the Day of appointed time." Iblees said: "Rabb! Since You let me go astray, I will make evil fair-seeming to them on earth and I will seduce them all, except those of them who are Your sincere devotees." (Quran:Al-Hijr 28-40)

The same topic is discussed here:
When We ordered the angels: "Prostrate before Adam in respect," they all prostrated except Iblees (Shaitan) who refused in his arrogance and became a disbeliever. To Adam We said: "Dwell with your wife in Paradise and eat anything you want from its bountiful food from wherever you wish, but do not approach this tree, or you shall both become transgressors." But Shaitan tempted them with the tree to disobey Allah's commandment and caused them to be expelled from Paradise, and We said: "Get out from here, some of you being enemies to others, and there is for you in the earth an abode and provisions for a specified period." Then Adam received appropriate words from his Rabb and repented, and Allah accepted his repentance. Surely Allah is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful. "Get out from here all of you," We said at the time of Adam's departure from Paradise. "There will come to you a guidance from Me, those who accept and follow it shall have nothing to fear or to regret. But those who reject and defy Our revelations will be inmates of Hellfire wherein they shall live forever." (Quran: Al-Baqara 34-39)

Here also we see that Satan is inveterate for his mission:

Allah said: "What prevented you from prostrating when I commanded you?" He replied: "I am better than he; you created me from fire and him from clay." Allah said: "Get down from here. You have no right to brag here of your superiority. Get out, henceforth you are of the petty ones." Shaitan requested: "Give me respite till the Day of Resurrection." Allah said: "The respite you requested is hereby granted." Shaitan declared: "Since You let me deviate, now I will lie in ambush for mankind on Your Right Way. I Will come upon them from the front, from the rear, from the right, and from the left, and You will not find most of them to be grateful." (Quran:Al-A'raf 12-17)

Similarly like verse no.17 of Al-A'raf in Quran, we see in Bible book of Job;

6) Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.
7) And the Lord said to Satan, "From where do you come?" So Satan Answered the Lord and said, "From going to and fro on earth, and from walking back and forth on it."
8) Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?"
9) So Satan answered the Lord and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing? ….. (Bible: Job.6-..)

1.6) Satan a Strong Rival to The True Prophets:
Noah (peace be upon him) despite his 950 years continual preaching was defeated by the Satan's forces. He was able to get only a few truthful followers and because of utmost perversity all his nation was destroyed in deluge except the few believers with Him. Later we see Abraham (peace be upon him) in a multitude of follower of idols (a devise of Satan's worship).

And Makkah people, the tribe of Prophet Ishmael, were keeping 360 idols inside Ka'aba (The House of Lord). When Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) told them to worship only one God it looked very strange and unacceptable to them. And they decided to torture any one who will speak that God is one. Leaving the others his uncle Abu La'hab was beating him with the help of his friend and slaves, so fiercely that many a times he became senseless for a long time. Later when they were disappointed from him all tribes decided to kill him collectively to avoid any murder charge. Then God informed him and ordered him to migrate to Madinah, where a group of people accepted the message because of influence of Jews there. After migration, Meccan did not leave them peacefully, they attacked them many times to destroy all believers with him. Gradually number of believers increased and at last the Apostle of Allah entered Makkah with ten thousand pious followers and destroyed the idols from Ka'aba. We will read this in detail in the chapter, 'Life of Prophet Mohammad pbuh".

1.7) Israel Tribe and Message of God:
Isra'el was a selected tribe of God, sons of truthful prophets, just as utmost trial and many prophets were sent to them. And those prophets were continuously preaching, prophesying and warning then against evils. But despite this they were attracted to the heinous crimes and worshipping of idols, like Cananite god of fertility named Baal, and this Baal was ugly face of Satan carved in wooden, stone or metal images. And there were many prophets to Baal and they were prophesying in its' name. And as later we will discuss they were giving many correct information which they were getting from their great leader Satan. Satan in general has power to visit and know any current event and also in those days Satan was visiting the nooks of the skies to steal new and future information. It is reported Prophet Elijah (peace be upon him) met the prophets of Baal in a contest. We find all prophets, warning the Isra'el people against that worship and their disobedience. The Book of prophet Ezekiel, Jeremiah, etc. are full of these details. Even the Al-Mighty God used the word jealous for Himself for this worship.

I see some scholars for their simplicity take word 'Jealous' as a point to discuss that God of Isra'el is jealous meaning having feeling of human being and so on. And this they used to prove the changes made in Bible. It is sure that Jew books were burned many times and they were destroyed many times by the hands of other nations. And in complete shape these are not available with us. But astonishingly we find the message of Bible is same like Quran, although not complete and detailed like it. The mistake is in chronology and history. Some wrong events narrated about prophets are just as listened and narrated by common scribes. Otherwise, when we peruse the books of prophets we wonder how God has kept same message throughout the centuries and generations. And we wonder the truthfulness of Jew scholars that they tried to keep the originality of the message of God, despite, as we see all Old and New Testament is speaking against them.

Now we will peruse some verses of Quran about the people of the Book, and it is mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah and Ezekiel more harshly:

O children of Israel! Remember My favors to you; fulfill your covenant (firm Commitment) with Me and I will fulfill My covenant with you, that you should fear none but Me. Believe in My revelations, which are confirming your scriptures; do not be the first one to deny My revelations, and do not sell them for a petty price, fear Me and Me alone. Do not mix the Truth with falsehood, or knowingly conceal the truth. Establish Salah (prayers); give Zakah (charity); and bow down with those who bow down in worship. Would you ask others to be righteous and forget to practice it yourselves? Even though you read your Holy Book? Have you no sense? Seek Allah's help with patience and Salah: it is indeed hard to be patient and to be punctual in offering Salah except for those who fear Allah, who are certain in their mind that they are going to meet their Rabb and that they are going to return to Him for final judgment. O' Children of Israel! Remember the special favor which I bestowed upon You; that I exalted you above all other nations. Guard yourselves against the day on which one soul shall not avail another, no intercession shall be accepted, no ransom shall be taken and no help shall be given.
(Quran: Al-Baqara 40-48)

Prophet Jeremiah writes the message:

"And like their bow they have bent their tongue for lies. They are not valiant for truth on earth. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know Me, "says the Lord. "Every one take heed to his neighbor, and do not trust to any brother; for every brother will utterly supplant, And every neighbor will walk with slanderers. Everyone will deceive his neighbor, and will not speak the truth; they have taught their tongues to speak lies; they weary themselves to commit iniquity. Your dwelling place is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know Me," say the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: "Behold, I will refine them and try them; for how shall I deal with the daughter of my people? Their tongue is an arrow shot out; It speaks deceit; One speaks peacefully to his neighbor with his mouth, But in his heart he lies in wait. Shall I not punish them for these things?" says the Lord. "Shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?' (Jeremiah 9:3-9)

1.8) Islam and Jews Books:

Verse 44 of Al-Baqara says "Even though you read your Holy Book? Make clear the truthfulness of message and again we go to the last Apostle of God (Mohammad peace be upon); Narrated Abdullah Ibn Umar, "A group of Jews came and invited the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) 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 Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) 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 it 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. (Sunan of Abu-Dawood: 4449-2092)

Some times Prophet of God disapproved listening of bible from Jews, because they were reading it in Hebrew and translating it in Arabic as they liked! It was for guidance purpose only because Apostle of Allah was present among those people and he was revealing direct words of God in the form of Criterion (Quran). Which is a challenge; for all the humanity in its content and accuracy of expression. And it contains message of God in more detailed and completed shape as compared to old books. That the world collectively cannot find any fault in this book.

Among some other things, a change about Prophet Ishmael (peace be upon him) sacrifice to God is made by some respected scribes. Even we see bible tells us about blessing on Hagar and twelve princes of her, who are twelve sons of Ishmael and fathers of Arabs (Prophet Mohammad being from his one son Kedar).

20)"And for Ishmael, I have heard you, Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation."
(Bible: Genesis 17).

But when they changed the word Isaac in place of Ishmael, by chance they kept the word, "only son", (Genesis 21-2) and only could be only Ishmael, because when Isaac is present he does not remain only. And next pages tell that Ishmael was thirteen years when Isaac was born. And some people of the book think that Ishmael being born from bond woman was not regarded like real son of Abraham. We will read bible to clear this conception:

23) So Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house and all who were brought with his money, every male among men of Abraham's house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin that very same day, as God had said to him.
24) Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
25) And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
26) That very same day Abraham was circumcised, and his son Ishmael; (Bible: Genesis 17:23-26)

1.9) Why Jews and Christians did not Accept Islam:

There truthfulness in wonderful, why they did not believe in the last Apostle of God (Mohammad peace be upon him). By careful study we find that that national bias and gap of (disbelief of) Jesus Christ peace be upon him took them away from the easy recognition of Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him). And as far Christians are concerned; after study of Bible it becomes very clear that their religious belief is different from the Bible (Old and New Testament). It is based on ideas of Saint Paul. Who with good intention, to prove the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) devised very strange and new ideas and based Christianity on a different theme, different from the teaching of Bible e.g.

Christian eats pig, while bible says "Also the swine is unclean for you, because it has cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud, you shall not eat their flesh or touch their dead carcasses (Bible-Deuteronomy 14:8). And we see Christian friends have the biggest number of dishes in pig.

About circumcision, a Christian have belief of circumcision of heart by faith in Jesus (peace be upon him), while Bible says it is must as we have already read about in description of Ishmael (peace be upon him). Even Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) was also circumcised on eighth day of his birth. "And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. (Bible-Luke:3-21) But we see Saint Paul claims. "Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who become circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. (Saint Paul's Epistle to Galatians 5:2-4). While we see teaching of Jesus Christ tells us, "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one title will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled (Bible-Mathew:5:17-18). And we are sure that up till life of Saint Paul heaven and earth were present. Decision is your, I have only mentioned.

Because hanging of Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) on wood and resurrection was conflicting with the teaching of the Bible. So to justify Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) as a real prophet as per that biblical statement, Saint Paul went away from his real teaching. Quran has finalized the question by telling that the death of Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) never happened and it is not against the teaching of Bible any more. He was not hanged but taken to the heaven by angels by order of God. And his deceiving friend Judas Iscariot was hanged in His place as his face was changed like that of Jesus Christ by the order of God to punish him. And it made Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) a miracle; from his birth to resurrection and his second coming. We will discuss it later also.

And as far the word Son or the word Father for God; I have made a general study for you review.

The gospel according to Mathew' Jesus (peace be upon him) used the word Father for God or Son of God for himself 17 times, but he used the same 14 times for other people also; and in the same book He used the word' Son of Man' for himself 27 times.

The gospel according to Mark' He used the word Father once for himself and twice for others, while he used the word Son of Man 14 times.

The gospel according to Luke, Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) uses the word Son of God or Father for God, for himself 6 times for himself and 5 times for others. And He used the word Son of Man 25 times.

And in the gospel according to John he used Father for God, 105 times and for others 3 times; while He used Son of Man' for Himself 13 times.

Actually the word, Son is used for obedient and pious people in Bible as above we read in book of Job also the word Sons of God for pious worshipper in the temple. And father means creator and provider. As Jesus pbuh himself has forbidden to say "Father" to anyone because "Father is God", meaning creator; actually he did not forbade to say father to our fathers but to believe them or any other as creator and provider.

The word like jealous must not be taken for criticism. First this is used by God Himself just to express the scope of the action as the Arabic word "Makar", meaning craftiness or planning in Quran.

"Those unbeliever who have passed before them also devised plots; but Allah is the Master of all planning. He knows the actions of every soul. Soon the unbelievers will come to know who will get the home of paradise in the hereafter. (Quran: Ar-Ra'd 42)

The unbelievers among the children of Israel plotted against Isa (Jesus) and Allah also devised a plan to raise him up, and Allah is the best in planning. (Quran: Al-e'Imran 54)

1.10) Human Being a Supreme Creation of God:

He created first Ginns self willed and free in their thinking from the fire, like Satan is also created from fire. Prophets were sent to ginns some they believed some they disobeyed. Later God the King created Adam from clay weaker in power, as we know ginns were able to fly up to skies but this new babe was able to jump only equal to his height in maximum power. Man has more physical requirements and is weaker in approach. His need for food, drink, sex and leisure (sleep etc.) make him very weak against temptation. But we wonder that gins despite their powers, did not become able to make jet planes, computer, atomic bombs. And in facing troubles for faith and in obedience he far surpassed the fellow gins and became vicegerent of the Al-Mighty. That is why Quran is sent to all nations of human being and gins. Don’t be confused demons mentioned in Bible were ginns. Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) removed demons from many demon possessed people. Demons are originally mischief-maker and disbeliever gins. Read Bible Old and New Testament but the message is not given to them by the prophets because all prophets were sent to their respective tribe. And gins were having their own prophets.

Human nature is generally prone to the physical luxuries, and love for possession. Gaining unlimited power, wealth and enjoying unlimited sensuality is hidden dream of body. Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) is reported to have said that If son of Adam will get wealth equal to mountains, he will ask for more, only dust can fill ones brain", here dust points to the death. Aldus Huxley was right when he pointed out that "Physical will always overcome the spiritual". So the same sensuality of human physique is hidden in worshipping the Idols rather than believing the true God who cannot be seen by us. Secondly the new organizers and innovators of religious systems never allowed the people to think freely to understand any thing. Socrates was ordered to take poison because of his blasphemous (though correct) remarks about Greek gods. Galileo was asked to beg pardon or otherwise to bear a hard punishment for merely telling that earth is revolving around the sun. Galileo begged forgiveness, and earth still did not stop, it continued revolving around the sun. When we read Bible carefully it does not deny this fact. That was only to satisfy Priests self interpretation of some lines. But truth of religious education need deeper care and sincerity, instead of commanding authority of self, just allow speaking; only what you interpret!

1.11) Why to Follow a Prophet:

Friends question arises that why we cannot keep contact with Omnipresent God our-self, instead of following one or all prophets. Surely you can keep your personal relation with God but you are a social being. You need a house, marriage, children, eating, traveling and many other things in your life. You are son of one, brother of another, husband of that, father of those and neighbor of all these. So you have to take care of all of your fellows, even animals and birds. And in this case if everyone will follow the direction of his nose, the result will be disaster! So, God has given us guidance for all this, even method of prayer in almost all religions is congregational, to teach us a better social behavior. We can understand that it is inevitable to follow the chosen prophets of God for proper guidance. In following the truthful prophets, we are just following the eternal principles of nature as it was created by the creator himself. And you will see that prophets of all nations brought very clear and same message despite the difference of ages, languages and lands which is a miracle and proof of One All-Mighty guide.

If we peruse philosophy we will find every region, race and age have very deep ideas imbued with high technique of explanation but without any practical usage and guidance. Western, Chinese, Greek and Indian philosophies have clear differences. And a common man cannot understand the philosophical ideas but the message of prophets is clear, practical and useful.

1.12) Modern Concepts and Religion:

The entire modern world is rejoicing over its magnanimous success over passing the rules of Geneva Convention and United Nation Charter. These celebrated rules are basic principles of any religion. The agreement made by the Muslim Caliph Omar (may God be pleased with him) for the Jews of Palestine when he conquered Jerusalem was a better draft than this convention and it was practiced also? That is the reason when this convention was agreed; the representative of Jewish community exclaimed that better than this agreement was given to us fourteen hundred years before by the conquering Muslim. Although, modern world have succeeded in establishing United Nations but permanent members, Veto and super powers nullify all validity of this useful Organization. When the big power needs anything to be approved, it is approved! And when they decide vice-versa, then we see it silent without any sound for justice. At that time it looks like a puppet without soul.

And modern concept of freedom leads to lawlessness and unscrupulousness unless there is no strong and active police. You will find robbers and wayfarer at many bridge crossing and smaller streets in New York, Los Angeles, Paris and London. They remain always ready to deprive you of your bare money when you come to pass them. Freedom does not mean to allow any thing which you want. It does not allow a wolf to become free to do what he likes. "Nakedness in thought is similarly ugly as nakedness in body", say Roger Bacon. Modern free thinking has given freedom and legal protection for the marriage of man and man. Animals and even the uncivilized nations of the past ages will shudder over idea of this homosexual marriage. Freedom of dressing and sex has left European ladies a valueless piece of decoration. Going to more and more nakedness is showing ugliness of mans feature but still we are insisting for more. It has broken ties of faith, sincerity and love; which is key to a happy life, ever since. The people who are claiming to bring perfect justice, removal of hunger abolishing of disease from the world; have no time and opportunity to see their parent dieing of hunger, helplessly. Husband sees his wife coming late at night drunk with her boy friends but he has no reaction like a pig, because he is a free citizen. His neighbor is sick since ten years but he does not know. His daughter has started smoking and using heroin but he has no power to stop her because she is a free citizen, after all. Even we see animals more caring for their families than these modern, civilized, and good but nameless citizens. They have no individuality, no opinions, no options, no deeds, just follow up of civil codes until is watched by police or sometimes by neighbors.

1.13) Concluding Remarks: Message of God was received by all nations of the world including jinns (an unseen creature made of spark by order of God, similar in thinking to human being, as angels are made from light by Him) from among themselves.

"At that time Allah will also ask: "O Assembly of Jinns and mankind! Did not there come to you the Rasools from amongst you who proclaimed to you My revelations and warned you about the meeting of this Day?" They will reply: "Yes they did, We bear witness against our own souls." Today this worldly life has deceived them but on that Day they will testify against themselves that they were indeed kuffar (unbelievers)". (Quran: Al-An'am, V-130)

Message of Islam (Quran and Hadith) is the last sequence of all this and it was sent to all nations of the world for their benefit and well being.