The Holy Koran never purports to add to, or to subtract from, the essential core of prophetic teachings that belong to all humanity. To respect and accept the Koran means to affirm as well all of Allah's revelations throughout history, which share precisely the same essence.
The various Divine Revelations, which have historically developed into the revealed tradition as we know them today, are unique and self-authenticating holy ways of life, not just various sets of doctrines.
Although history presents a picture of great religious diversity, Allah assures humanity in His Holy Koran that such diversity should not be regarded as the deviation of one tradition or another from the truth, but as a Divine Mystery which will be explained and illuminated by Allah Himself in a context of consciousness which transcends history.
"The Ever-Present Source has revealed an uniquely authentic holy way to each and every nation, true spiritual disciplines that should be performed with care and constancy...One the Mystic Day when you awaken from the sleep if finite existence, Allah Most Wise will explain clearly to you the diversity that now appears to divide His various Revelations." (22:67-70)
This aspect of the Koranic vision, the harmony of religions, represents much more than human generosity, tolerance, and ecumenical spirit. Only Allah can offer such absolute assurance concerning the unbroken and unbreakable unity of all revealed traditions. This religious unity is not a mere wish, nor an intellectual speculation, nor even a high moral ideal that may or may not be capable of fulfillment.
The essential teaching transmitted through all the prophets is stated clearly by Allah again and again in the Koran as revealed truth. It is surprising and direct, full of healing and illuminating power to transform our basic way of experiencing the world.
The instinctive feeling of separation between members of different religious or cultural bodies can be dissolved only through contemplating revealed truth and not through the rational and diplomatic processes which allow our self-centered, divisive motivations to continue functioning.
"Throughout the course of history the Source of Wisdom has sent Holy Messengers to bear only one essential Message: 'There are no conscious beings separate from the infinite I Am that I am. Therefore surrender your very being to the Source and Goal of Being.' " (21:19-25)
The coherence and inclusiveness of this single message at the center of the drama of revelation is self-evident, not just because it has been stated so clearly by the Holy Koran but because it really has been the essential point of all revelations throughout history. This message is self-evident because our consciousness is created to be harmonious with the truth that there is no fundamental separation within the one Reality.
Revelation does not consist only of general principles but is characterized by rich particularity and uniqueness. None of the historical situations which have become vehicles for Divine Revelation are ever to be dismissed in favor of a general theory of revelation. And no previous revelation is meant to be replaced by more recent revelation.
The fact of radical religious diversity does create tensions between historical traditions, although according to the Koranic vision these feelings of tension or foreignness between the peoples of revelation are to be discarded and Allah's own explanation is to be humbly awaited.
Nonetheless, once the Truth reveals itself through a unique, unrepeatable historical figure, that person remains a bearer of supreme blessing to humanity for all future ages. Thus the voice of Truth assures the Virgin Mary in the Holy Koran:
From before eternity, Allah Most Merciful has ordained this spontaneous childbirth as a unique demonstration of His Love and Compassion for human beings to contemplate throughout history. (19:16-36)
The stature of a Holy Prophet is extremely exalted. Islamic tradition recognizes souls to be eternal by nature, which is to say that Allah created even from before eternity all the souls who would ever descend into the spatial and temporal realm of history. Among these radiant human souls--each one of whom received as its eternal life the very breath of Allah, and each one of whom is irreplaceable--the souls of the prophets appear as suns among candle flames, so transparent are they to the boundless Divine Light.
As we contemplate the life and teaching of any of the exalted prophets of Allah, the sense of awe, the sense of gazing at a magnificent rising sun, should pervade our awareness. This overwhelming intuition of prophetic magnificence, which is ultimately the magnificence of truly awakened humanity, is an essential aspect of the Koranic vision.
"The Source of Wisdom placed from before eternity this penetrating spiritual understanding in the soul of My beloved Abraham so he would be a leader for those who turn with perfect clarity toward Allah alone." (6:74-83)
The fact that Jews, Christians, and Muslims have all emerged from the lineage of the Prophet Abraham gives some indication of the measureless stature of this prophetic soul.
In the drama of revelation, however, the life of a Holy Prophet, no matter how glorified his soul, is never without terrible struggle and suffering, is never a fantasy of worldly power and adulation. As Allah consoles His Prophet Muhammad:
"The Holy Messengers before you were also branded as imposters. With patient and unwavering hearts they accepted this calumny, deeply saddened, until the very Source of Love, Who manifests through you, flooded them with Peace and Power." (6:33-34)
Far from being in some fundamental, atavistic competition with one another, the various prophetic revelations confirm, expand upon, and safeguard each other. Once again, this deep perception of harmony is based on revealed truth. It is not just a rational or empirical theory put forward by well-meaning scholars or reformers.
As revelation, this universal harmony of religions must be deeply contemplated and prayerfully assimilated rather than debated in the intellectual or political dimensions of our surface awareness.
"Through the Prophet Jesus, the Source of Wisdom transmitted the Radiant Gospel, full of the same light of Truth that streams through the Living Torah...the Eternal Source now reveals through you, My beloved Muhammad, this sublime Book of Truth, which confirms and safeguards the essential teaching of the Torah, the Gospel, and all the other authentic scriptures that existed before them." (5:49-52)
We may wonder why Allah permits religious diversity and even outright doctrinal contradiction to develop around the essential message of conscious participation in the oneness of Reality. This is similar to another root question: Why did Allah generate such a diversity of created beings, even in deadly conflict, within the perfect peace of the Divine Unity? The answer is te same: for the spiritual education and strengthening of souls.
"The Source of Power could have united all peoples into a single nation, but Allah Most Merciful has chosen to manifest His Truth through various holy traditions as teaching and testing for human beings. If each spiritual nation practices faithfully the path revealed through its own Prophets, then all humanity will return together to the Source of Love." (42:13-18)
The integral nature of each revealed tradition is stressed because human beings need rich, historical soil in which to be rooted. Souls cannot live and grow in strength by floating in an abstract space of general principles. That would be philosophy, not revelation. Allah wishes to protect the balanced ecology of each living environment of His Revelation.
"Thus Jewish and Christian traditions should be accepted reverently in the light of the Glorious Koran...But you should not accept, My beloved, any teachings or practices of these earlier traditions which have sprung from limited human conceptions or which contradict the clear principles of truth revealed through the Living Koran." (5:49-52)
This Divine Warning is not meant to generate an attitude of divisiveness, but simply to sharpen our realistic recognition that the historical process can produce subtle or obvious distortions in any precious body of revelation, which nevertheless remains essentially authentic, pure at its core, and worthy our reverent acceptance.
The decision about which aspects of a given tradition have become distorted is complicated by the chaotic surface of cultural differences as well as by deep problems of communication. To follow this Divine Instruction is not aggressively to criticize other great traditions, but to exist humbly in awe of the Divine Unity while remaining fully integrated with the continuous initiatory transmissions of the particular body of revelation in which one actually lives and breathes.
However, the soul is never to be essentially identified with one historical strand of revelation as opposed to another, for we have seen that revelation is one, just as Allah is one. The Holy Koran allows us a precious vision of the one revelation, the religion beyond religions which nonetheless constitutes the living core of each religion, the religion which is the very nature of humanity as created by Allah.
"All nations are given precisely the same spiritual instruction from the Source of Wisdom. The Voice of Truth calls human beings to turn around completely toward their own True Source, to plunge wholeheartedly into prayer each day, and to offer constant tenderness and assistance to those in any kind of need. This is the one Religion of Truth, natural to the human soul, which transcends all religious factions with its perfect clarity and directness." (98:1-5)
The various Divine Revelations, which have historically developed into the revealed tradition as we know them today, are unique and self-authenticating holy ways of life, not just various sets of doctrines.
Although history presents a picture of great religious diversity, Allah assures humanity in His Holy Koran that such diversity should not be regarded as the deviation of one tradition or another from the truth, but as a Divine Mystery which will be explained and illuminated by Allah Himself in a context of consciousness which transcends history.
"The Ever-Present Source has revealed an uniquely authentic holy way to each and every nation, true spiritual disciplines that should be performed with care and constancy...One the Mystic Day when you awaken from the sleep if finite existence, Allah Most Wise will explain clearly to you the diversity that now appears to divide His various Revelations." (22:67-70)
This aspect of the Koranic vision, the harmony of religions, represents much more than human generosity, tolerance, and ecumenical spirit. Only Allah can offer such absolute assurance concerning the unbroken and unbreakable unity of all revealed traditions. This religious unity is not a mere wish, nor an intellectual speculation, nor even a high moral ideal that may or may not be capable of fulfillment.
The essential teaching transmitted through all the prophets is stated clearly by Allah again and again in the Koran as revealed truth. It is surprising and direct, full of healing and illuminating power to transform our basic way of experiencing the world.
The instinctive feeling of separation between members of different religious or cultural bodies can be dissolved only through contemplating revealed truth and not through the rational and diplomatic processes which allow our self-centered, divisive motivations to continue functioning.
"Throughout the course of history the Source of Wisdom has sent Holy Messengers to bear only one essential Message: 'There are no conscious beings separate from the infinite I Am that I am. Therefore surrender your very being to the Source and Goal of Being.' " (21:19-25)
The coherence and inclusiveness of this single message at the center of the drama of revelation is self-evident, not just because it has been stated so clearly by the Holy Koran but because it really has been the essential point of all revelations throughout history. This message is self-evident because our consciousness is created to be harmonious with the truth that there is no fundamental separation within the one Reality.
Revelation does not consist only of general principles but is characterized by rich particularity and uniqueness. None of the historical situations which have become vehicles for Divine Revelation are ever to be dismissed in favor of a general theory of revelation. And no previous revelation is meant to be replaced by more recent revelation.
The fact of radical religious diversity does create tensions between historical traditions, although according to the Koranic vision these feelings of tension or foreignness between the peoples of revelation are to be discarded and Allah's own explanation is to be humbly awaited.
Nonetheless, once the Truth reveals itself through a unique, unrepeatable historical figure, that person remains a bearer of supreme blessing to humanity for all future ages. Thus the voice of Truth assures the Virgin Mary in the Holy Koran:
From before eternity, Allah Most Merciful has ordained this spontaneous childbirth as a unique demonstration of His Love and Compassion for human beings to contemplate throughout history. (19:16-36)
The stature of a Holy Prophet is extremely exalted. Islamic tradition recognizes souls to be eternal by nature, which is to say that Allah created even from before eternity all the souls who would ever descend into the spatial and temporal realm of history. Among these radiant human souls--each one of whom received as its eternal life the very breath of Allah, and each one of whom is irreplaceable--the souls of the prophets appear as suns among candle flames, so transparent are they to the boundless Divine Light.
As we contemplate the life and teaching of any of the exalted prophets of Allah, the sense of awe, the sense of gazing at a magnificent rising sun, should pervade our awareness. This overwhelming intuition of prophetic magnificence, which is ultimately the magnificence of truly awakened humanity, is an essential aspect of the Koranic vision.
"The Source of Wisdom placed from before eternity this penetrating spiritual understanding in the soul of My beloved Abraham so he would be a leader for those who turn with perfect clarity toward Allah alone." (6:74-83)
The fact that Jews, Christians, and Muslims have all emerged from the lineage of the Prophet Abraham gives some indication of the measureless stature of this prophetic soul.
In the drama of revelation, however, the life of a Holy Prophet, no matter how glorified his soul, is never without terrible struggle and suffering, is never a fantasy of worldly power and adulation. As Allah consoles His Prophet Muhammad:
"The Holy Messengers before you were also branded as imposters. With patient and unwavering hearts they accepted this calumny, deeply saddened, until the very Source of Love, Who manifests through you, flooded them with Peace and Power." (6:33-34)
Far from being in some fundamental, atavistic competition with one another, the various prophetic revelations confirm, expand upon, and safeguard each other. Once again, this deep perception of harmony is based on revealed truth. It is not just a rational or empirical theory put forward by well-meaning scholars or reformers.
As revelation, this universal harmony of religions must be deeply contemplated and prayerfully assimilated rather than debated in the intellectual or political dimensions of our surface awareness.
"Through the Prophet Jesus, the Source of Wisdom transmitted the Radiant Gospel, full of the same light of Truth that streams through the Living Torah...the Eternal Source now reveals through you, My beloved Muhammad, this sublime Book of Truth, which confirms and safeguards the essential teaching of the Torah, the Gospel, and all the other authentic scriptures that existed before them." (5:49-52)
We may wonder why Allah permits religious diversity and even outright doctrinal contradiction to develop around the essential message of conscious participation in the oneness of Reality. This is similar to another root question: Why did Allah generate such a diversity of created beings, even in deadly conflict, within the perfect peace of the Divine Unity? The answer is te same: for the spiritual education and strengthening of souls.
"The Source of Power could have united all peoples into a single nation, but Allah Most Merciful has chosen to manifest His Truth through various holy traditions as teaching and testing for human beings. If each spiritual nation practices faithfully the path revealed through its own Prophets, then all humanity will return together to the Source of Love." (42:13-18)
The integral nature of each revealed tradition is stressed because human beings need rich, historical soil in which to be rooted. Souls cannot live and grow in strength by floating in an abstract space of general principles. That would be philosophy, not revelation. Allah wishes to protect the balanced ecology of each living environment of His Revelation.
"Thus Jewish and Christian traditions should be accepted reverently in the light of the Glorious Koran...But you should not accept, My beloved, any teachings or practices of these earlier traditions which have sprung from limited human conceptions or which contradict the clear principles of truth revealed through the Living Koran." (5:49-52)
This Divine Warning is not meant to generate an attitude of divisiveness, but simply to sharpen our realistic recognition that the historical process can produce subtle or obvious distortions in any precious body of revelation, which nevertheless remains essentially authentic, pure at its core, and worthy our reverent acceptance.
The decision about which aspects of a given tradition have become distorted is complicated by the chaotic surface of cultural differences as well as by deep problems of communication. To follow this Divine Instruction is not aggressively to criticize other great traditions, but to exist humbly in awe of the Divine Unity while remaining fully integrated with the continuous initiatory transmissions of the particular body of revelation in which one actually lives and breathes.
However, the soul is never to be essentially identified with one historical strand of revelation as opposed to another, for we have seen that revelation is one, just as Allah is one. The Holy Koran allows us a precious vision of the one revelation, the religion beyond religions which nonetheless constitutes the living core of each religion, the religion which is the very nature of humanity as created by Allah.
"All nations are given precisely the same spiritual instruction from the Source of Wisdom. The Voice of Truth calls human beings to turn around completely toward their own True Source, to plunge wholeheartedly into prayer each day, and to offer constant tenderness and assistance to those in any kind of need. This is the one Religion of Truth, natural to the human soul, which transcends all religious factions with its perfect clarity and directness." (98:1-5)
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