Ahmed Shaaban
23 August 2010
DUBAI — Islam has the solution to all the problems of the mankind, popular Indian scholar Dr Zakir Naik said at a lecture in Al Twar area opposite Dubai Airport Terminal-2, on Friday night.
The lecture was held as part of the cultural programme of the 9th Ramadan Forum.
In his two-hour lecture “Religion in the right perspective”, Dr Naik, who is also a noted surgeon, said the only way to understand a religion is not by looking at what its believers are saying or doing, but rather by looking at the scriptures and the writings.
Defining the characteristics of God as mentioned in the four major religions of the world — Islam, Judaism, Christianity and Hinduism, Dr Zakir said that in all these religions, apart from Christianity, God is one and no one is second to him; He has no equivalent or alike, He has no father or mother or sons and has no image or idol.
“Muslims have no problem with most of the characteristics of God as mentioned in different religions and they fit the description stipulated in the Holy Quran’s Surah Al Ikhlas ,which reads “Say: He is the God, the Unique; God, the Eternal, Absolute, He begets not, nor is He begotten, And there is none like unto Him.”
Dr Zakir said that if God’s characteristics in Islam are applied as a benchmark to other religions, few, if any, would stand the test. “If we took, for example, the ‘Brahma’ or the God in Hinduism, we will see that he is not the only one to claim he is God and he sometimes takes forms and shapes,” he said.
Some Hindus worship nature in the form of sun, water or fire, whereas Islam believes these to be only God’s creations and manifestations of power.”
Talking about Christianity, Dr Zakir said that unlike any other religion, Islam believes in Jesus Christ to be a Messenger of Allah and that he was miraculously born from Virgin Mary, and above all, Jesus was able, by the permission of God, to cure the blind and raise the dead. “But Islam has a lot of problems with the church teachings.”
Most believers of the Christian faith argue that God is mighty and that he can do anything, including taking shape as a human being so that he is able to tell how humans feel and what the best rules are for them. “But the moment the mighty God takes the form of a human being, he ceases to be a God and becomes exposed to human mistakes like anger and injustice,” he said. Continue reading “God doesn’t need human form to know what’s good for the humans”