The Qur'an: Allah's Most Recent Revelation

As we have already stated, many people seek love, peace, inner certainty, friendship, mercy and kindness—things which only Allah can give them—in things other than Allah, such as idea of karma. These beliefs are, however, founded on superstition and error. It is only Allah, our Creator, Who understands our inner nature and knows how we can be made happy and contented. Therefore, the best and most correct way for us to follow is the way shown to us by Allah Himself. Allah has described the right way and the right religion for us in the Qur'an, His most recent revelation. This is what Allah says about the Qur'an:

Say: 'What thing is greatest as a witness?' Say: 'Allah. He is Witness between me and you. This Qur'an has been revealed to me so that I may warn you by it, and anyone else it reaches. (Surat al-An'am: 19)

That is the Book, without any doubt. It contains guidance for those who guard against evil. (Surat al-Baqara: 2)

Allah revealed the Qu'ran to the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in order to make Himself known to us, to tell us the purpose for which mankind, life in this world and death were created, to tell us of the existence of the afterlife, the end of the world and of the Day of Judgement, and to tell us many essential pieces of knowledge—such as which good qualities of character please Him. Allah revealed Himself to other prophets before He revealed the Qur'an, but all the previous divinely-revealed books have, in time, become partially corrupted. The Qur'an, however, is the most recent divine revelation and has never been corrupted. Allah tells us that the Qur'an will be protected, and will not suffer corruption, in the following verse:

It is We Who have sent down the Reminder and We Who will preserve it. (Surat al-Hijr: 9)

The faithful are absolutely confident in the knowledge that the Qur'an is the very word of Allah and is the only guide for mankind. There is a great deal of evidence for this. For instance, the inimitable style in which it is written and the hidden meanings it contains are clear evidence that it comes from Allah. Moreover, there are many miracles in the Qur'an. For example, the Qur'an tells us some scientific facts that were not known at the time when it was revealed, around 1400 years ago, but were only "discovered" in the twentieth century. (For further details, see Appendix, "Miracles of the Qur'an".)

Apart from these scientific facts, the Qur'an also contains information about future events. Many more miracles of the Qur'an took place when these events actually occurred during the course of history. (For further details, see Appendix, "Miracles of the Qur'an")

Another of the outstanding features of the Qur'an is the fact that it is entirely free from inconsistency. Throughout history, enemies of Islam have approached the Qur'an with prejudiced minds, and have spent great efforts in order to find something that was, according to their own shallow logic, inconsistent. But the Qur'an, being the word of Allah, does not contain any inconsistency whatsoever. Allah tells us of this characteristic of the Qur'an in the following verse:

Will they not ponder the Qur'an? If it had been from other than Allah, they would have found many inconsistencies in it. (Surat an-Nisa: 82)

The Qur'an is a guide that helps us to distinguish truth from falsehood

… Say: 'Allah's guidance, that is true guidance. We are commanded to submit as Muslims to the Lord of all the worlds, (Surat al-An'am: 71)

There are many ideas, philosophies and beliefs current in the world. Several of these are based on superstitious and dangerous beliefs, ideas and practices, though they also have some positive features. The concept of karma, for instance, contains several erroneous and superstitious elements. It is true that there are some things about it that might encourage people to live a morally good life. However, the only way to distinguish what is truly good from what is truly evil is to consult the Qu'ran and the Sunnah of the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, which Allah sent to us as our only guide. During the course of this book, we have described some of the characteristics of the idea of karma, and have explained why various aspects of this idea are true or false. In doing this, our only criterion and source of reference has been the verses of the Qur'an. For instance, when criticising the belief in reincarnation which forms part of karmic philosophy, we were guided by the verses of the Qur'an. The reason for this is that all sources apart from Allah's Book and the Sunnah of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, are products of human thought, so they cannot be absolutely reliable. The only absolutely reliable source is Allah's own Book and His Messenger's Sunnah. Those who delude themselves that they can live their lives according to any other book or source cannot avoid error.

Allah tells us of the Quran's ability to distinguish truth from falsehood in the following verse:

… and He has sent down the Furqan (The standard by which to discern the true from the false). Those who reject Allah's Signs will have a terrible punishment. Allah is Almighty, Exactor of Revenge. (Surah Al 'Imran: 4)

The Qur'an is the only Book that shows mankind the way to liberation, that gives us warnings about our eternal life after death, that indicates the right road and that is capable of being a guide for those who want to obtain Allah's grace and mercy, and to reach Allah's Garden. And the religion of Islam, as communicated to us in the Qur'an, is the sole religion chosen by Allah for mankind in this age. Allah tells us about this in the following verse:

If anyone desires anything other than Islam as a religion, it will not be accepted from him, and in the hereafter he will be among the losers. (Surah Al 'Imran: 85)