Problems Caused by Successive Divine Revelations

There is no way I can say that God is not testing us. Like many other areas, this area is also being tested under the divine scheme. It would be a folly to consider that everywhere else man is being tested, but when it comes to knowledge and realization of the straight path, man has been exempted. Quran says that on the Day of Judgment, man will be questioned about each and every blessing that had been given to him:

God’s law and guidance to man is also one of His blessings. With respect to Children of Israel, Quran has specifically pointed towards this blessing in the following verses:

When God gave His guidance to the children of Israel, He called it a blessing. The nation or the people who have been given the guidance are also being tested as to how they behave with the guidance. Everything that we go through is really a part of the test of life.

When Adam (pbuh) was being sent to this earth, God promised that his progeny will be sent guidance and whoso will follow that guidance will be led aright. (See Quran 2:39). Given this condition, everytime the guidance of God was distorted or corrupted, God sent His prophets and messengers to recover that guidance. We learn from the Old Testament that God asked its recipients to ensure bible was kept safe from distortion and corruption:

We learn from Quran, as well as from history, that bible was not kept intact by the people who received it:

Therefore, it was required that this guidance be revived for later generations everytime it was distorted in accordance with God’s promise. With respect to a “single nation” and differences that have evolved in it, Quran has the following claims to make:

As evident from these verses, the difference between people happened because of ‘hatred’ between them even though God’s book was sent only so such differences would be resolved. In other words, irrespective of the book, there was definitely at least a section of people who decided to differ still. The second verse that has been quoted indicates that because of something that God had ordained, God did not settle those differences between those nations. In my opinion, this was allowed because man has been given freewill and is allowed to act accordingly for a limited time. When that time limit will end, a day will come when all the scores will be settled and everyone will be dealt with justly.

From these verses, it can also be concluded that there were multiple revelations probably because people differed when the original ones had arrive to man. In this context, when Quran says that Quran abrogates verses from the previous revelations, this is because prophet Muhammad (pbuh), like other prophets, was also sent to revive the law of God into its correct form. This is a natural consequence of the original law of God not having survived till the time of Muhammad (pbuh), and when the insititution of prophethood was coming to an end, it was necessary that a completely correct revelation of God be provided to man so the later generations would be able to get guidance.

In addition to this fundamental issue, there have been some other reasons too that may have required a new revelation by God. Due to circumstances and needs of mankind, some of the previous revelations contained law that needed to be abrogated by the time Quran was revealed. That law was created in the first place because of needs of man. As communities developed, it was necessary for a new law to be sent down from God that would be protected for the remaining time, and one that would also suit the needs of the rest of mankind and provide guidance till the end of time.

It would also be naïve to believe that the concept of God would not be distorted amongst some people had there been only a single revelation from God. There are many religions other than the Abrahamic religions that have much different concepts of God. They represent such concepts that are not compatible with Islam at all. God has not claimed that these religions are a result of revelations sent from God. However, these religions and their concepts have, after all, come into existence and they have significant following in terms of their believers. Thus we cannot claim that only one revelation from God would have saved us from such differences.

Lastly, even if we were to believe that all mankind had just one book and one religion, I do not believe that it would not have left mankind divided in terms of religion. Even if we take just Muslims, we see that they have only one book yet they are also divided in numerous sects. This is true of followers of many other religions too who believe in the same books.

However, having this division is not necessarily something bad. This is so because we know that we are being tested. As I explained previously, we are also undergoing a test in finding knowledge and truth and living by it rather than living according to our desires. This division also serves as an additional area for testing us and this is by design so that those who strive to find their Lord and His guidance, and live by it can be distinguished from those who are overtaken by worldly desires and are willing to compromise everything for their mundane desires.

Disunity and hatred is a result of such mundane desires. When one’s approach is to prove others that their religion is correct or their ideology is the right one without any regards to any evidence or arguments to the contrary, then their actual effort is no longer finding truth. Instead of productive dialogues and genuine research in religion, such traits often lead to confrontation with opposing parties. Furthermore, disunity and hatred is not restricted only to religion. This disunity, hatred and consequent division between man exists outside the scope of religion too. In my opinion, revelation happens to be one channel that man uses for his own benefits.

There is really no problem with difference in religion and beliefs so long as everyone is willing to find the truth, learn from others and respect each other wherever there is a difference. If there is a difference and they believe they cannot learn from each other, then it might be prudent to part ways than to show each other that other’s beliefs are necessarily incorrect, wrong or meaningless. Man’s duty, therefore, can be summed up by saying that he must always strive to find the truth, and wherever he finds it, he should bow down to it unconditionally and live by it. The system around him acts merely as a testing ground.