Article appeared Friday, October 29th, 2010 in The News Today, Bangladesh

The Revelation (153) yousuf mahbubul Islam, PhD

Day-in and day-out we busy ourselves with our day-to-day activities and affairs. The harder we
work, the more successes we have. Having worked so hard and put in so much effort, is it
difficult to thank the Creator when we finally achieve success or when we get what we want?
Surprisingly, before getting what we want, we do approach or pray to the Creator directly, i.e.
we actually know that we need the Creator’s active support to Give us what we want. The
question is why do we find it so difficult to thank the Creator when we finally get what we want?

Do we pray just-in-case-a-creator-exists or are there other problems as well? To help us

understand our own natures, let us look at what famous thinkers and writers have said. Johann
Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), the German writer and polymath points to a major problem
in our nature:
“The greatest act of faith takes place when a man finally decides that he is not God.”{1}

How often does man give in to such arrogance? Is it this arrogance that prevents man from
thanking the Creator directly? Are there innovative ways to avoid thanking the Creator? Can one
avoid the Creator by imagining other things or beings have power? To help understand this line
of thought, Michel Eyquem De Montaigne (1533-1592), one of the most influential writers of the
French Renaissance, wrote in his essays:
“Man is certainly crazy. He could not make a mite, and (yet) he makes gods by the
dozen.”{2}

Another translation of the same quote {2} goes: “Man is certainly stark mad; he cannot make a
flea, and yet he will be making gods by dozens.” Throughout the history of man, what are
examples of man-made “gods”? When we pursue gods other than the Creator, Gilbert Keith
Chesterton (1874-1936), the prolific and diverse English writer, points to a compounding
problem:
“For when we cease to worship God, we do not worship nothing we worship
anything.”{3}

What are the additional things that we worship today? Do we worship the things that the Creator
has given for the enjoyment and fulfillment of our lives? Robert A Laidlaw (1885-1971), a
businessman, Christian writer and philanthropist suggests that it is the fear-of-accountability that
prevents us from believing in the Creator!
“God exists whether or not men may choose to believe in Him. The reason why many
people do not believe in God is not so much that it is intellectually impossible to believe
in God, but because belief in God forces that thoughtful person to face the fact that he is
accountable to such a God.” {3}

Is it this fear that attracts people to man-made concepts that avoid accountability? As an
example, in Galatians 2:16 of the Bible, Paul offers the following concept that helps avoid
accountability:
“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law, but by the faith of Jesus
Christ...”{4}

Paul’s assertion that sins will be forgiven not by following the Law Given by the Creator, but by
simply having faith in Jesus (pbuh) contradicts the clear explanation of accountability given in
Ezekiel 18:20 of the Bible;
“…The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the
son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness
of the wicked will be charged against him.” {5}

And contradicts the concept of forgiveness given in Ezekiel 18:21-22:

 “But if a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all My
decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. None of the
offenses he has committed will be remembered against him…” {5}

If we believe that there is a Creator, and that we are all created, what variations could religions
possibly have? The most recent Revelation, the Qur’an points to the origin of the recently
Revealed religions:
“They say: "Become Jews or Christians if you would be guided (to salvation)." Say (or
reply): "Nay! (I would rather follow) the religion of Abraham, the true, as he joined not
gods with Allah."” [2.135]

Could the Creator have changed His Mind since Abraham (pbuh)?
“Or do you say that Abraham, Isma’il, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes were Jews or (were
they) Christians? Say: Do you know better than Allah? Ah! Who is more unjust than
those who conceal the testimony they (themselves) have from Allah? But Allah is not
unmindful of what you do!” [2.140]

As Jesus himself explained in Mark 12:29-30 of the Bible, all Revealed religions point to the
same truth:
“And Jesus answered him, the first of all the commandments is, hear, O Israel; the Lord
our God is one Lord: And you shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all
thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the First
Commandment.”{6}

Allah explains this truth in the Qur’an:

“"If not Him, you worship nothing but names which you have named, you and your
fathers for which Allah has sent you no authority: the Command is for none but Allah: He
has Commanded that you worship none but Him: that is the right religion but most
men understand not...” [12.40]

If we look for power in things or beings other than the Creator or look forgiveness in concepts
not given by the Creator, Allah asks:

3.83 “Do they seek for (something) other than the Religion of Allah? While all
creatures in the heavens and on earth have willingly or unwillingly bowed to His
Will and to Him shall they all be brought back.”
Given that we are all created, how many belief systems can there be?

3.84 “Say: "We believe in Allah and in what has been Revealed to us and what
was Revealed to Abraham, Isma’il, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes and in that given
to Moses, Jesus and the Prophets from their Lord; we make no distinction
between one and another among them and to Allah (our Creator) do we bow our
will."”

3.85 “If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (submission to the Creator)
never will it be accepted of him; and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of
those who have lost.”
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{Notes}:
{1} http://www.quotationcollection.com/author/Johann_Wolfgang%20von_Goethe/quotes
{2} http://www.famousquotes.com/show/1036118/
{3} http://www.proofthatgodexists.org/favourite-quotes.php
{4} http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+2%3A16&version=KJV
{5} http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+18%3A20-22&version=NIV
{6} http://www.irr.org/mit/one-god.html