Good Example Of God Speaks To Humankind Research Paper

God Speaks to Humankind

John Alden Williams in the book The Word of Islam embarks on a quest that many before him have been through. He seeks to clarify what the Islam religion is, what it stands for and what it does not. In his book, he aims at challenging readers and critics alike to know what the Quran provides before passing Islam as a violent and gender discriminating religion. Williams encourages those who have the desire to know more about Islam to read from the ancient Islam writings. The ancient writings are said to be true and accurate, not corrupted by the modern generation translation. He also equates religion to an ocean. Similar to an ocean religion cannot be bottled up or conclusively and entirely summed up. The ocean has many positive and negative aspects about it (John 2012). The same may be said about Islam religion. In his texts, he also provides a guide to Arabic pronunciations to assist those not familiar with the language to read with ease.
Since The Word of Islam is based on the Quran, Williams begins by justifying it. He describes the Quran as the channel of communication between God and Human beings since He created them. God is referred to as the Yaweh or God of Abraham, the first prophet God spoke to. Williams also claims that since God’s communication with Abraham, perverse and deceitful people have tried to corrupt the message of God to His people. Their deception was however put to a stop by God sending Prophet Mohammed ( peace be upon him) to lead his people. Mohammed is the last prophet that God used and is seen as the way to redemption for all believers. Williams also emphasizes on the fact that kafir is used to describe the act of not believing in God’s word in the Quran and not a discriminating term against non-believers of the Quran. He describes kafir as an action and not the quality or amount of belief one has (John 2012).
The Word of Islam contains several chapters, it starts by asserting the Fact that God speaks to mankind. God speaks in different ways among them through prophets who are called and chosen by God Himself. The prophets act as God’s messenger to the people. Abraham and Moses were among the first prophets. They were chosen to draw people from worshipping of false gods to the true worship of God. Jesus is also viewed as prophet in the Quran. He was sent to deliver God’s message but the Jews rejected him, this led to God taking him to Himself. The Islam believes that Jesus did not die on the cross and Christians are blasphemous by worshipping him as God. According to Williams, Mohammed was a necessary figure in the Islam religion as initially, Jesus’ disciples were Muslims but the word was corrupted making them Jews . Therefore in order for the apostles to have a God sent leader, Mohammed came into the picture (Alislam organisation 2013).
The Quran is God’s word, therefore, it is by reading it deeply and holistically that one gets to understand God’s message and hear Him. Williams discourages people from reading the verses in the Quran singly as this would lead to it appearing as though it contradicts itself. However, by reading verses in context helps ring out the nature of God as caring, loving, compassionate and a teacher to His followers. There is a atonement to be paid for rejecting the words and the teachings of God. According to Williams’ interpretation of the Quran, disobedience makes God lead people further away from Him. All that humans perceive about God is just limited to what He allows them to know about Him. As per the Quran, God is unknowable and unfathomable and no one will be able to know Him totally (Alislam organisation 2013).
God being the sustainer of mankind commands people what to do and what not to do. In order for one to know what God expects, the Quran should be a book they reverently read. The Quran spells out what should not be done, for example foods that should not be eaten like swine meat. On the other hand, Williams brings out the point that God being kind and compassionate is willing to exonerate those who sin against Him by disobeying His law if they seek His forgiveness. For everything that one does, there is a consequence. Obedience to the laws of God leads to a reward while disobedience leads to punishment. God is fair and just and judges everyone accordingly (Mohamed 2012).
The book The Law of Islam helps those seeking to understand the Islam religion get a brief overview of what the Quran contains. The book focuses mainly on the characteristics of God, His commands and issues of controversy especially between Jesus and Mohammed . Williams urges readers of the Quran to be open minded and keen to be able to understand what the Quran stipulates (Mohamed 2012). He also points out that there can be no error in the word of God other than that which man introduces through misguided interpretation.

Bibliography

Alislam organisation. The Holy Quran, English Translation. Chicago: Oxford press, 2013.
John, Williams Alden. The Word of Islam. New york: Adventure Press, 2012.
Mohamed, Zafrane. Encyclopedia Of Islam And The Muslim World. 11 1, 2012. https://archive.org/details/EncyclopediaOfIslamAndTheMuslimWorld_201211 (accessed 3 12, 2015).