Why Is Islam True?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

I know that amazing sweet feeling in my heart indicating that Islam is the true religion. But this thought is coming to my head again and again, what if Christianity is the true religion and if I don’t follow it I will go to hell. Please help me I’m tired of this battle with my brain every month, I’ve run out of all reasons to help myself that Islam is the true religion. But please give me more reasons to Help why Christianity is false to make my heart stronger.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

Regarding your question – why is Islam true? – I would be greatly recommended subscribing and listening to this podcast directly addressing your question.

The God Made Religion

In summary, since time immemorial, there has only been one God-Made Religion. This is the religion taught by the Prophets of God sent throughout time with Divine revelation to teach creation what to believe regarding God, their purpose in this world and how God Almighty wants them to live, and that which is to come after death.

All the Prophets (Allah send peace and blessings on them all) came with the send core message: There is none worthy of worship except God, the Creator of the Heavens and Earth, alone, with no partners associated with him – and to follow the guidance of the Prophet of their time.

That said, Moses (peace be upon him) taught the oneness of God Almighty and to follow his guidance. Jesus (peace be upon him) taught the oneness of God Almighty and to follow his guidance. This is how it always has been since the first Prophet, Adam till the last Prophet, Muhammad (peace and blessings upon them all).

So Why Are There So Many Religions?

Since God Almighty gave mankind the freedom of choice, people have chosen to believe many things. Some believed and worshipped inanimate objects of creation, such as the sun, the moon, the tree, the stone; some worshipped animals; and so on. Due to this, there are many religions and beliefs.

Another reason is that when a Prophet passed away or was taken away, the people began to adulterate the purity of that prophet’s message, either intentionally or unintentionally. The revelation was changed and altered to correlate with personal gains and desires. Sometimes the revelation was lost or the understanding of the revelation was distorted.

Generally, when this would occur, God Almighty would send a new Prophet, to renew that which had been lost of the previous revelation or to bring a new revelation clarifying once again to the path to God’s Divine Contentment.

That said, many of the adulterations in the revelation or in the understanding of the revelation were then taken on by others and that would become a new belief, a new religion that diverged from the original God-Made Religion.

It Has Always Been Islam?

The religion taught by all of the Prophets from the beginning was a religion of submission. To submit one’s freedom of choice in preference of that which God Most High wants from His creation, in both beliefs and practice. This is what all the Prophet taught and themselves implemented and acted upon. They were all people of submission to the Divine Will. They were all essentially Muslim.

Although people ascribe their Christianity to the following of Jesus (peace be upon him), they diverge from Jesus’ true teachings and by that created a new religion. Note that the name Christianity does not appear in the Bible, nor the terms trinity or even Bible itself. These were terms coined later on. A basic historical study of the religion of Christianity will show that there was great ambiguity and disagreement as to the teachings of Jesus.

Paul who did not meet Jesus during the latter’s life was the source of the Christian creed; This is ironic in that the doctrine is established by a person who did not meet Jesus and with whom the actual disciples of Jesus differed and went their separate ways.

The religion of Christianity,  historically is more accurately the religion of Paul not the religion of Jesus. In fact, the argument can and has been made, here and elsewhere, that the religion of Jesus was Islam but then was distorted.

Three Traits of God Made Religion

If one were to intellectually consider the traits of the God Made Religion one would necessarily have to consider that God Almighty, having knowledge of all things, is the Eternally Just.

Therefore, if salvation is dependent on following this religion, it must contain the following:

1) The religion must be applicable to everyone at every time and place. If the religion is exclusively for people of one time period or one specific place – it is an injustice to those in other times and places.

In this vein, if the Christian creed depends almost entirely on the belief that Jesus died for the sins of mankind (note that this is far from the Muslim belief about Jesus), then what is to be said of those who lived alongside Jesus but died before him. Or what of those who died before Jesus was even born. Are they destined for Hell Fire or deprived of the grace of God. This is inconceivable.

2) The name of the religion should be explicitly stated in the revelation and not left for people to guess. If God Almighty intended Christianity to be the religion He is pleased with, He would have clearly stated that in the revelation. There is no benefit in ambiguity or illusion with regards to the name of the religion. Likewise, Judaism is not mentioned in the Pentateuch.

How About Islam?

To be fair, let’s examine Islam in the light of these two traits.

1) The religion must be applicable to everyone at every time and place.

Islam means submission and surrender to the will of God Almighty. Salvation is attained through belief in One God without any partners and obeying His commandments taught and exemplified by the Prophet of one’s respective time period. This meaning is applicable whether one lived in the time of Adam (peace be upon him), the first Prophet or today.

2) The name of the religion should be explicitly stated in the revelation and not left for people to guess.

Allah Most High says in the Qur’an (the Final revelation), “This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.” [Quran, 5:3]

Summary

This is a drop from the ocean of reasons why Islam is the truth and the one religion which the Prophets (peace be upon them all) have taught since the beginning. This is in no way, to dispraise people of other faiths; however, it is important that one make their own decision and make that decision on the basis of their intellect alongside their hearts.

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani 

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.