A good religious person, when he is practicing his faith, that is to say, when he includes the doctrine and precepts of his religion in his daily life, in aiming divine mercy and salvation. He follows and implement the pillars of his religion as much as he can because the more he can do so, the closer he is to the goals of faith. The ultimate goal of religious faith is salvation. The condition for salvation varies from religion to religion however. It is stated in both Christian and Islamic scriptures , that salvation is a gift of God as he grants it to whom he wills. But altogether how could you know that you deserve it?
The answer to this apparently easy question is a big challenge because patience, gratitude and humility are dear to the creator and he does not owe any creature anything. The scriptures are clear about the fact that performing righteous deeds is a blessing but God alone will grant salvation : In the Christian Bible it seems clear that salvation is a grace of God to his servants:”For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God”(Ephesians 2:8). And the glorious quran makes no difference in this sense because only God chooses who deserves his mercy.He will forgive whom He wills and He will punish whom He wills. God is capable of everything .(quran 2: 284).
But is there a way we can use to measure, at a given moment of time how close we are to the almighty creator?
There is a statement repeated several times in the scriptures. It is that a believer should fear God. One of the main signs that we use to measure faith is the Arabic word Taqwa. This has been translated in English by the fear of God, or piety, or even God awareness. The ultimate measurement of faith is therefore righteousness. In comparative religions people will argue with quotations to sustain some aspects of religious doctrine but if you were to judge a religious person in general his character muss play the greatest role. A righteous person will be swift in performing goods deeds and will feel bad after he has done what is forbidden and will struggle to repent. On the contrary of what we encounter with many Christians who will just be insisting on arguing about the divine, the measurement of faith is through the attitude of the believer towards his own faults and shortcoming. A believer may not be perfect or might even have wronged his soul tremendously in the past but when he becomes aware and repent he will strive to stay of the path of righteousness. He will not keep repeating the same mistakes or will he feel remorses from time to time and repent. A believer hates any little sin and even-though no one is perfect, will shun repeating even a little sin whereas the hypocrites of disbelievers will belittle their wrong actions. The path of loss is when religion is based on arguing and attributing divinity to prophets and men without any focus of the ability of religious doctrine to transform a wretched into a righteous man or help the weak and give them a role in the community.
Jesus(pbuh), while preaching the good news focuses on the Kingdom of God, what is referred in Islamic monotheism as the hereafter. The message is the same. That the life of this world is just a test but the hereafter is everlasting. The quran alike the Torah and the gospels is full of advice to trust God, to perform good deeds and shun what is forbidden. Moreover there is a promise that those who believe and perform good deeds will be rewarded with paradise. “As for those who have faith and perform righteous deeds, they will be rejoicing in a garden of paradise.”(quran 30:15).
In comparative religions adherents adherent of a particular religion will give arguments that their religion is the best but if these arguments are not based on the capacity of the believer to implement the what God and his prophets recommended then it is just a useless discussion or a discussion with political rather than religious motives. Every religion may claim to be more suitable for a group of people or a period of time but the last revelation are more complete than the previous ones.
The quran for instance insists that Islam is the religion of God.” And whoever seeks a religion oter than Islam, it will be never accepted of him, and in the hereafter he will be on of the loosers”.(quran 3:85). But the concept of Islam is more general it means the submission to God. The religion of Moses, Abraham , Jacob, Jesus and many other prophets acknowledged in the major monotheistic religions. In this sense Islam is all inclusive as if any person was to submit himself to God at any given time his religion will be the Islam of that time.
But since Christianity was revealed before Islam its doctrine is more exclusive. Salvation in Christianity is through the believe in Jesus. And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household. (2 Timothy 1:9). This is where Islam and Christianity are opposed. Religious scholars have given enough explanation and the possibility of the transformation of meaning through translation but it is clear to those who understand that the God of Jesus and the God of Muhammad is the same. If people were to ague about this, they will difficultly come to a common agreement. The enemies of religion have use this as a mean for separation in other to conquer the hearts. But basically even the prophet Muhammad(pbuh) acknowledged that the teachings of the prophets of God are the same.
Prophet Muhammad said: “Both in this world and in the Hereafter, I am the nearest of all people to Jesus, the son of Mary. The prophets are paternal brothers; their mothers are different, but their religion is one.”And the quran makes no difference between the prophets from Abraham to Jesus , the son of Mary. While talking about them God said: “We chose them in this world and verily, in the hereafter he will be among the righteous.”
Without deep insights and understanding, religion has therefore become a political tool of indoctrination in which the main emphasis in put of making the more people share a certain faith instead of curing the ailments of the society. It is therefore necessary to insist on the value of ethics in helping those on the spiritual path understand that righteousness must be the criterion and not mere indoctrination with arguments…
