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Chapter
3: Revealed Books and their Contents:
Though all the peoples in the world
were respectively given a book for their guidance from the
Lord, they are all lost today with the exception of the
Vedas, the Bible, and the Quran. The first two scriptures
are of a kindred nature, but the third exhibits an
absolutely different character. The Vedas and the Bible
speak respectively of some particular nations, the so-called
“chosen people” of God or gods; while the Quran is
neither a narrative of a tribe nor a story of any
individual. It concerns itself exclusively with man in
general. Man and his God is its chief theme.
The
Bible:
After speaking of the creation
of the world and man, the chief interest of the Hebrew
Scripture lies in one particular branch of the human race -
the descendants of Abraham through Isaac. It speaks of the
migration of the Israelites from the land of Abraham, their
settlement in Egypt, their subsequent bondage under the
Egyptian yoke, their liberation by Moses under God’s
command; then comes a mention of their religious and
ceremonial code; again their wandering in the wilderness,
their conquest of the promised land, and the establishment
of the Hebrew governments, their grandeur and splendour;
their subsequent iniquities and misdeeds; their stubbornness
and vicious indulgences, and finally prophetic references by
Jesus to their down fall. All these facts are arrayed in the
Book, one after the other, as it were, on an historical
basis. The Bible also contains a narrative of the Hebrew
Patriarchs, who impart religious teaching accompanied by
comprehensive curses directed against their enemies. The
Book also speaks of the visitations of God from time to time
and the appearance of angels with good news. In short, the
Bible is a complete story of the rise and fall of the
Hebrews, with Moses at their head as the lawgiver and
bringer of good tidings of the coming rise, and with Jesus,
the last of the race, shedding tears of grief on the
imminent fall.
The
Vedas:
Just as the Holy Bible
concerns itself with the Hebrews, so the collection of the
Vedas speaks of another race from Central Asia called
Aryans, who crossed the river Indus and took up their abode
in the western part of India. The Hindu Book speaks of the
Aryan settlement in India as of an agricultural class, where
they sang hymns in praise of the elements or other
manifestations of nature which sent timely rains to
fertilize their lands and bring them good crops. It speaks
of their rituals and sacrifices, it refers to their fights
with the aborigines of the country and the final victory of
the former over the latter; their civic and marital life;
the establishment of their governments and their other
occupations; and in the end their self-indulgence and
luxury, all painted in poetical strains.
The
Quran:
Thus the two books above are
more or less a history of the two tribes, with the mention
of religion and its accessories as a matter of incident.
Al-Quran, on the other hand, is purely a book of God’s
religion given to man. The elevation and progress of the
human race or its degradation or downfall are the chief
topics of the Arab Revelation. The Quran, doubtless, speaks
of certain persons and certain nations, but such allusions
are not the main object of the Book; they come in by way of
illustration. For example, the Book lays down certain
principles and doctrines for human edification; it warns man
against the deeds that are sure to bring him to the lowest
ebb; it reads him lessons of morality and of ethics; it
speaks of spirituality and godliness; and it is in
elucidation of these teachings that it makes reference to
events in the lives of certain men - prophets and their
enemies - and nations. It is for this reason that the Quran
has not generally given full accounts of the people thus
alluded to. It is not a collection of stories, but a book of
economic, moral and spiritual instruction. The Bible and the
Vedas may, perchance, give inspiration to the descendants of
those for whom they were first revealed, but they cannot be
of any great interest to mankind at large; while the Quran,
on the other hand, is the book for all men of every time and
clime, and cannot fail to command universal
interest.
Top
Books
Section
> Islam
- My Only Choice
> Chapter 3: Revealed Books and their Contents
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