tree will bear evil fruit… By their fruits ye shall know them". (Mathew
7:16-20). Why are you afraid to apply this test to the teachings of Muhammad?
You will find in the Last Testament of God, the Holy Quran, the true fulfillment
of the teachings of Moses and Jesus which will bring to the world the much
needed peace and happiness. George Bernard Shaw was quoted as saying: "If a
man like Muhammad were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he would
succeed in solving its problems that would bring it the much needed peace and
happiness." The weekly news magazine Time dated July 15, 1974, carried a
selection of opinions by various historians, writers, military men, businessmen
an others on the subject: "Who were History’s Great Leaders?" Some
said that it was Hitler; others said Gandhi, Buddha, Lincoln and the like. But
Jules Masserman, a United States psychoanalyst, put the standards straight by
giving the correct criteria wherewith to judge. He said: "Leaders must
fulfill three functions: Provide for the well-being of the led, Provide a social
organization in which people feel relatively secure, and Provide them with one
set of beliefs." With the above three criteria he searches history and
analyses Hitler, Pasteur, Gaesar, Moses, Confucius and the lot, and ultimately
concludes: "People like Pasteur and Salk are leaders in the first sense.
People like Ghandi and Confucius, on one hand, and Alexander, Caesar, and Hitler
on the other, are leaders in the second, and perhaps the third sense. Jesus and
Buddha belong in the third category alone. Perhaps the greatest leader of all
times was Muhammad, who combined all three functions. To a lesser degree, Moses
did the same." According to the objective standards set by the professor of
the Chicago University, Jesus and Buddha are nowhere in the picture of the
"Great Leaders of Mankind", but by a queer coincidence groups Moses
and Muhammad together, thus adding further weight to the argument that Jesus is
not like Moses, but Muhammad is like Moses. Deut 18:18 "Like unto
thee", like Moses! In conclusion, I end with a quotation of a Christian
Reverend the commentator of the Bible, followed by that of his Master: "The
ultimate criterion of a true prophet is the moral character of his
teaching." (Prof. Dummelow). "By their fruits ye shall know
them." (Jesus Christ) A concluding suggestion : come let us reason
together! "Say: ‘O People of the Book! Come to common terms as between us
and you: that we worship none but Allah (God); that we associate no partners
with him; that we erect not, from among ourselves, lords and patrons other than
Allah (God)’. If then they turn back, say: ‘Bear witness that we (at least) are
Muslims (Bowing to God’s Will).’ " (the Holy Quran 3:64) People of the Book
is the respectful title given to the Jews and the Christians in the Holy Quran.
The Muslims are here commanded to invite, O People of the Book!, O Learned
People!, O People who claim to be the recipients of Divine Revelation, of a Holy
Scripture; let us gather together onto a common platform, "that we worship
none but Allah (God)", because none but God is worthy of worship, not
because "The Lord thy God is a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate
Me." (Exodus 20:25). But because He is our Lord and Cherisher, our
Sustainer and Evolver, worthy of all praise, prayer and devotion. In the
abstract the Jews and the Christians would agree to all the three propositions
contained in this Quranic verse. In practice they fail. Apart from doctrinal
lapses from the unity of the One True God, Allah, may He be praised, there is
the question of a consecrated Priesthood (among the Jews it was hereditary
also), as if a mere human being – Cohen or Pope, or Priest, or Brahuman, – could
claim superiority apart from his learning and the purity of his life, or could
stand between man and God in some special sense. Islam does not recognize
priesthood!. The Creed of Islam is given to us here in a nutshell from Holy
Quran: "Say ye: ‘We believe in Allah, and the revelation given to us, and
to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes (of the Children of Israel),
And that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) Prophets from their
Lord: We make no difference between one and another of them: And we bow to Allah
(in Islam).’ " (the Holy Quran 2:136). The Muslim position is clear. The
Muslim does not claim to have a religion peculiar to himself. Islam is not a
sect or an ethnic religion. In its view all religion is one, for the Truth is
one: "It was the same religion preached by all the earlier prophets."
(the Holy Quran 42:13). It was the truth taught by all the inspired Books. In
essence it amounts to a consciousness of the Will and Plan of God and a joyful
submission to that Will and Plan. If anyone wants a religion other than that, he
is false to his own nature, as he is false to God’s Will and Plan. Such a one
cannot expect guidance, for he has deliberately renounced guidance.