well-nigh impossible to recover the original form and substance of
these adyaan.
The only exception is the Deen of Islam. Its Nabi and his
companions lived in the limelight of history. His teaching and
actions were extensively recorded by his followers and they can be
checked by the accounts given by contemporary historians of
neighbouring lands. Authentic facts about his life and doings are
numerous and easily accessible in contemporary records. Moreover,
the Qur’an, on which Islam is firmly based, has come down to us
exactly as it was delivered through the Rasool. It has always been
transcribed with scrupulous care. No Muslim scribe has ever dared
to omit or insert a single letter. The source of Islam has thus
remained untouched and unadulterated. We can reasonably hope,
therefore, that a close study of Islam will give us the clue to the real
nature and function of deen.
References- W.M. Urban, Humanity and Deity, p.15.
- E.S. Brightman, A philosophy of Religion, p.18.
- J. Huxley, Religion without Revelation, p.40.
- A.N. Whitehead, Science and the Modern World, p. 222.
- George Galloway, The Philosophy of Religion, pp.181, 184.
- A.C. Campbell, One Selfhood and Godhood, p. 248.
- Cf. Ibid., p. 234.
- H.J. Paton, The Modern Predicament, p. 59
- P.D. Ouspensky, In search of the Miraculous, p. 299.
- Brightman, op. cit., p. 81.
- Henry Bergson, The Two Sources of Religion and Morality, pp.245-6.
- Fulton J. Sheen, Philosophy of Religion, p. 238.
- Arnold Tyonbee, An Historian’s Approach to Religion, p.18.
Islam: A Challenge to Religion 46