The age-old dream of the human caravan is not to send astronauts in their orbit in outer space.. it is to send its individuals - every single individual in his orbit of self-realization. It is high time that this dream be thus reinterpreted. It is also the sacred duty of every man and woman to help intelligently reorientate human endeavour towards the culmination of this pilgrimage.

Mahmoud Muhammad Taha - Answers to the questions of Mr. John Voll - 17.7.1963

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The Return of Christ

The Unification of the three Religions


We base our conception of the unification of the three religions on the accurate scientific understanding of the nature of each religion.
Allah sent Moses to a society with a more recent experience of the law of the jungle, hence the message of the Old Testament to that society was little more than the requirement to be just and fair (a life for a life, and an eye for an eye), as that was closer, and more acceptable to their primitive human nature. In that way the laws of the Torah (Old Testament) came at one extreme, more in the nature of excessive materialism.
Then Jesus Christ came with a message that went to the other extreme. Hence the New Testament came more in the form of excessive spirituality, in response to the previous revelation of excessive materialism. These were, however, lofty moral commandments that remained suspended high above that primitive reality. Thus, Jesus told his disciples, “You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, do not resist one who is evil. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
Then came Islam, with Mohamed, in the middle, between the two extremes. The Koran reads, “Thus we made you a middle nation, so that you may be witnesses upon people, and Prophet be a witness upon you.” (Sura 2, Aiya 143).
In that way, Islam combines the features of both Judaism and Christianity. As the Koran says, “Penalty for a wrong is an equal wrong but he who forgives and reforms shall be rewarded by Allah; He does not love the unfair ones” (Sura: 42, Aiya: 40). The phrase, “Penalty for a wrong is an equal wrong,” corresponds to the phrase in the old Testament as reported by Jesus, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” while the Koranic phrase, “He who forgives and reforms shall be rewarded by Allah; He does not love the unfair ones,” corresponds to Jesus Christ’s phrase on forgiveness, “But I say to you, do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you the right cheek, turn to him the other one also.” It also corresponds, in more accurate way, to Christ’s statement, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you and drive you out of your homes.”
That is how Islam gradually develops the human self, by asserting, first, the rule of justice, which is closer to the self in its primitive, primary nature; and then Islam educates that self through its techniques of worship and daily practice, until it is able to act in accordance with ultimate forgiveness and reforms, which is closer to its better and mature nature. Thus, while Islam rises above the primitive level at which Judaism found humanity, it provides the techniques which make Jesus Christ’s lofty moral commandments practically possible. This is what we believe to be the basis for uniting the three religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
It is for this reason that Islam came with two messages: a first message at one end corresponding to Judaism, and a second message at the other end corresponding to Christianity. Both messages are contained in the Koran, as revealed to Mohamed, the final Prophet. The First Message was based on Islamic law, which had to come down to the primitive realities of the seventh century. Hence it was founded on the principle of guardianship that of the Moslems over the non-Moslems, of the ruler over his subjects, and of men over women.
This First Message is to be found in those parts of the Koran revealed in Medina which repealed or abrogated, at that time, those parts previously revealed in Mecca. The Second Message, on the other hand, is based on the personal example of the Prophet himself, in contrast to Sharia for the nation at large. Hence it is based on the principle of freedom, and is to be found in the parts of the Koran revealed in Mecca, which were binding on the Prophet personally, although they were repealed or abrogated with respect to the nation as a whole.
As the First Message was designed for immediate popular implementation,
while the Second Message was binding on the Prophet alone, we find that the First Message was detailed in the Koran and Hadith, while the Second Message was expressed only in general terms, with no details except insofar as given in the Prophet’s personal example.
The Final Messiah shall now come to detail, and apply the humanity of twentieth century, which has been prepared and groomed by Judaism, Christianity and the First Message of Islam, up to its present high standards.
The phenomenon of the two messages, as reflected in the Koran of Mecca, and that of Medina, may be clearly observed by contrasting Koranic texts of the two stages. Of the Koran of Medina, expressing the First Message, one may quotes, “Fight them so that there may be no turmoil, and religion be to Allah. If they desist, then there shall be no attack except on the unfair ones” (Sura 2, Aiya: 192). This may be contrasted, for example, with the Koran of Mecca, reflecting the Second Message principle, “Say that the truth is from your Lord, and you may elect to believe or to disbelieve.” (Sura: 218, Aiya: 29).
The coming of the final Messiah is therefore dependent upon the revival and implementation of those parts of the Koran which were previously repealed or abrogated in the seventh century, and making them the Islamic Sharia law for today, thereby repealing or abrogating those parts which were appropriate and applicable in the seventh century.
By enacting and implementing those previously repealed parts of the Koran, we would elevate Islam from its faith stage to its scientific stage, where people may be distinguished according to their intellect and moral values, and not faith or sex. One may not be asked of his religion or sex, but only his clarity of thought and perfection of deed.
Thus, in the Islamic Sharia law of this Second Message, and accordance with the Islamic Constitution, there shall be no discrimination against any citizen because of his religion or sex. In fact, the Constitution itself is not described as Islamic, because it does not purport to establish a theocratic regime, but rather a humanist regime where all people share and enjoy equal rights and duties, regardless of race, sex, religion, etc.
The source of this Constitution is the Koran, because it is designed to cleanse every human nature of all traces of ignorance and fear, until the essence of the clear mind and the wholesome heart emerges. At this level, Islam is the religion of the human essence, as described in the Koran, “The essence of Allah, in accordance with which he had deemed all people, there is no changing of the creation of Allah. That is the proper Religion, but most people do not know” (Sura: 30, Aiya: 30). This is the Religion where all religions meet.
Humanity, from Adam to Mohamed, had known religion as a faith, at which level, “Each party is proud of what they have got” (Sura 30, Aiya 32). But the second Message of Islam which the Final Messiah comes to implement, and which we prophesy today in order to make his coming possible, is really the culmination of the faith stage of all religions, and with them all human heritage, as it presents religion at its scientific level for the first time in history. This is what we mean by the unification of religions.