Islam Holy Scriptures And The Ahmaadiyaa Perspective

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Words of God and Religions

Dr. Ijaz-ul-Haque
The Review of Religions, April 1993

Apart from the pagan cults that profess association with the Devil, all traditional religions, in one form or another claim their origin from some Supreme Being. These religions assert their autonomy and independence from each other to the extent of extreme antagonism, yet they all proffer the Ultimate Wisdom, Guidance and Salvation for the whole of the world for all times. The religions claim, that guidance and wisdom infuse into their faiths from the Supreme Being or their Creator, which they respect and revere as their sacred scripture. This extreme antagonism has caused intense hatred, unjustifiable bloodshed and many a violent, vicious and protracted war between contending peoples.



The scriptures available today can be grouped under five headings:

1. Hindu scriptures, i.e., Vedas, Ramayana and Bhagwat Gita. The history of their origin is quite obscure. They are in Sanskrit, which is essentially a dead language. Although they appeared much earlier, their written records may be about 2500 years old. These books are third person narratives in the epic style and do not claim to be the Divine Words of God. This does not mean that these are devoid of all good or truth but on the contrary there are lots of good words and teachings in them. In the Gita, the great Prophet Krishna, peace be upon him, asked his good disciple Arjuna a rhetorical question as to what would he do, if next to the old village pond from which he used water for his daily needs, he found a new spring gushing out fresh clear and sweet water in abundance?
   
   The books have been translated into other languages, but there is no mechanism for validation and certification of the text. These books provide general guidance about good and bad; but offer no viable solution for the ills of the societies of the present times. These books are essentially novelty reading.
2. Buddhist scriptures, i.e., Tripitika and others came on the scene nearly two thousand four hundred years ago. These books are narration of the life and sayings of Prophet Buddha, peace be upon him. They are in Pali language which is a mutation of Sanskrit. These books have also been translated into other languages. Again there is no mechanism for validation and certification. These books also provide a general guidance about good and bad but offer no viable solutions for the present day man.
3. Jewish and Christian scriptures i.e. the Torah, the Old Testament and the New Testament are discussed in detail later.
4. Islamic scriptures, i.e. The Holy Quran, and the Hadith. These are also discussed in detail latter.
5. There are a few other books that are also given the reverential status by the devotees, such as:

(a) Guru Grunth Sahib: The scripture of the Sikh religion. It is a record of the teachings and traditions of the founder of the Sikh religion i.e. Hazrat Guru Baba Nanak Sahib. This was collected and compiled by his fifth successor, Guru Arjan Dave. It is also a third person narrative and is in Punjabi language. It is recited in the Sikh worship, but does neither claim to be the word of God nor to be free of corruptions. It does not have any world-wide programs. It has been translated into other languages, but has the status of only novelty reading.

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