There are many religions in the world, and each of them is claimed to be the one and only true religion by its followers. In almost all the cases, each believer expresses certainty with varying justifications that his doctrine is the best and the straightest way.

The religions are many and then which of them is the true one? It is impossible that they could all be true, because the truth is one and has no multiple. If all those beliefs are true at the same time, there would be contradicting truths and sound minds always refuse to believe contradicting truths.

Every individual is born in a family which is not of his own choice. He gradually becomes accustomed to the religious faith and practices in his family and his natural instinct is built in that way. By the time he is mature, he is fully brain-washed and he believes that his family faith is the only true faith. Thus the religious faith of the family of an individual gets imprinted upon his soul slowly from the childhood and permanently at maturity.

However, attaining maturity and being exposed to other religions in the society people sometimes get confused. Many thoughtful people begin to question the validity of their own religion. Besides, people who are grown up in secular countries may not have any exposure to religion. Neither in the family nor in the society they are exposed to any religious education and are devoid of observing any ritual practice. Upon maturity some of this people become curious to know about religions.

However, like every other religion or belief, Islam is also claimed to be the one and only true way to God by Muslims. In this consideration it is no different from other belief-systems. The person who is born in a Muslim family naturally adheres to the Muslim belief and rituals. In principle, being free from any biasness he should also examine every pros and cons of Islam to be sure whether he is following the right path or not.

Today, there are many people over the world who are looking for the right path. They want to know for sure which the true religion is. Then how does the seeker of truth choose the right way? It’s a very difficult task to find out the true path for a person who is adherent to his family religion.

Because one’s inclination to a particular religion is an impediment towards understanding the truth. So, it should be borne in mind that in order to find out the true religion one needs very strong determination of mind putting aside all sorts of inclinations, prejudices, emotions and blindness to any tradition. Only then, one can use one’s God-gifted intelligence to exactly identify the truth and can reach to a rational and correct decision.

In order to identify the true religion one should have some basic conceptions. Firstly, one needs to understand that the true religion must express Oneness of God since the Creator is only One. All worships in the true religion should be devoted to the singular God.

Secondly, a genuine religion must have come from God for the right guidance of humans. So, the true religion must have proofs that it is from the divine source. Thirdly, one should also understand that a true religion remains valid at all times since God is eternal and human nature and major human needs are basically the same at all times.

These basic conceptions can provide a guideline to examine the existing religions in the world to identify the true one which has come from the Creator. Actually, the true religion differs from the false religions in many respects. However, based on this basic knowledge, we can set up some gross criteria to identify the true religion. The gross criteria could be to look for answers to the following questions.

• Is the religion absolutely of monotheistic belief?
• Is the Scripture of the religion of divine origin?
• Is the religion selected or chosen by the God?
• Is the religion universal?
• Is the religion free from idolatry?

Positive answers to the above questions can qualify a religion to be the ‘True Religion’. Now let us try to examine major religions followed by humans all over the world with these criteria.

Monotheism in the Religion

An important point for a religion to be true is that it should be absolutely monotheistic. Monotheism refers to the uniqueness and supremacy of God Who is the singular Master and the Creator of the universe. All acts of worship should be devoted to the absolute power and authority of the universe. Any religion in which this concept is compromised in any form cannot be a true religion at all.

In pure monotheism God alone is the Creator of all things.  He alone causes everything to happen.  He is All-Powerful.  No one shares in His dominion.  None can resist His decree. None besides God has ever created anything out of nothing. He, and only He, is the Creator, whereas everything besides Him is a creation of His. Everything in the cosmos, the stars and the constellations, the earth and its mountains, oceans, rivers, vegetation, small or large beings, and the humans, who live on it, are all among His creations.

‘Tawhid’ or Monotheism is the single most important and foundational concept in Islam. Everything in Islam is built upon the concept of Tawhid. Belief in Tawhid means that Muslims must recognize the absolute Oneness of God and reject any form of polytheism or association of partners with God. Muslims believe in One God Who created the universe and has power over everything within it. He is unique and exalted above everything He creates, and His greatness cannot be compared to His creations.

Furthermore, He is the only one deserving of any worship and the ultimate purpose of all creation is to submit to Him. The Islamic concept of God is distinct from all other religions and beliefs in various respects since it is based on a pure and clear understanding of monotheism.

Muslims often refer to God as ‘Allah’ which is the Arabic name of God. Interestingly, this name appears very close to the Aramaic and Hebrew names for God, ‘Allaha’ and ‘Elohim’. The Arabic word ‘Allah’ cannot be pluralized and is not limited to any specific gender. It means God is One and unique. He is One singular God with no partners or equals. Muslims use this original Arabic name ‘Allah’ for God since it perfectly expresses His unique qualities.

Numerous Qur’anic verses testify the fact that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'la (SWT), is One and peerless and can never have a partner in His authority, or a similitude, nor can He have a son, a daughter, an aunt, or any kin. A few of such verses are:

فَاطِرُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ جَعَلَ لَكُم مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَٰجًا وَمِنَ ٱلْأَنْعَـٰمِ أَزْوَٰجًا يَذْرَؤُكُمْ فِيهِ لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِۦ شَىْءٌ وَهُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْبَصِيرُ

(He is) the Originator of the heavens and the earth; He made mates for you from among yourselves, and mates of (and for) the cattle, too, multiplying you (humans and animals) thereby; nothing is like Him; and He is the Hearing, the Seeing.” - (Qur’an 42:11).

قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ

“Say: He, Allah, is One. Allah is He on Whom all (beings and things) depend. He does not beget, nor is He begotten. And none is like Him.” - (Qur’an 112:1-4).

All these verses, and many others, testify that Allah is the One and Only God, negating the theories of dualists or polytheists.

There are peoples who categorize the three Abrahamic religions as monotheistic. They are Judaism, Christianity and Islam. This is totally wrong. Because except Islam the other two religions are not at all monotheistic, rather they associate partners with God and are actually polytheistic.

Tawhid (Monotheism) is the core concept in Islam. Islam says God is One but Christianity says God is trinity (one in three beings). Islam says Allah is Only God. Christianity says God is three beings, God-the Father, God-the Son (Jesus) and God-the Holy Spirit. In Christianity Jesus (Prophet Isa) is God himself in human flesh.

Thus Christianity is not a monotheistic religion rather it is a polytheistic belief regarding God where Islam and Christianity mainly differ. It is interesting that Christian Bible does not claim trinity, but the Churches introduced this concept for the followers of Christianity. Jesus (peace be upon him) did not tell his followers to worship him but to worship God. Nor did Jesus (peace be upon him) worship himself when he worshiped, but he worshiped the singular God. And Jesus (peace be upon him) was reported in the Gospels to have said:

It is written: Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only. - (Luke 4:8).

We learn from the Qur'an that on the Day of Judgment Allah will ask Jesus (Isa) “Did you ask your people to worship you?” Jesus will deny it and he will say that he never asked his people to worship him but he asked them to worship Allah only. It is stated in the Qur'an:

وَإِذْ قَالَ ٱللَّهُ يَـٰعِيسَى ٱبْنَ مَرْيَمَ ءَأَنتَ قُلْتَ لِلنَّاسِ ٱتَّخِذُونِى وَأُمِّىَ إِلَـٰهَيْنِ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ قَالَ سُبْحَـٰنَكَ

 مَا يَكُونُ لِىٓ أَنْ أَقُولَ مَا لَيْسَ لِى بِحَقٍّ إِن كُنتُ قُلْتُهُۥ فَقَدْ عَلِمْتَهُۥ تَعْلَمُ مَا فِى نَفْسِى

 وَلَآ أَعْلَمُ مَا فِى نَفْسِكَ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ عَلَّـٰمُ ٱلْغُيُوبِ

"And behold! Allah will say: O Jesus, the son of Mary! Did you say to men, worship me and my mother as gods besides Allah?; He will say: Glory to you, I could never say what I had no right (to say)" - (Qur'an 5:116).

We also learn from the Qur'an:

وَقَالَتِ ٱلْيَهُودُ عُزَيْرٌ ٱبْنُ ٱللَّهِ وَقَالَتِ ٱلنَّصَـٰرَى ٱلْمَسِيحُ ٱبْنُ ٱللَّهِ ذَٰلِكَ قَوْلُهُم بِأَفْوَٰهِهِمْ يُضَـٰهِـُٔونَ

 قَوْلَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ مِن قَبْلُ قَـٰتَلَهُمُ ٱللَّهُ أَنَّىٰ يُؤْفَكُونَ

“And the Jews say: Uzair (Ezra) is the son of Allah, and the Christians say: Messiah is the son of Allah. This is a saying from their mouths. They imitate the saying of the disbelievers of old. Allah’s curse be on them, how they are deluded away from the truth!” - (Qur'an 9:30).

It is quite evident from these verses that not only the Christians but also the Jews associated partner to Allah by assigning son to Him. Therefore, it is obvious that both the Christianity and Judaism are polytheistic religions and are quite different from the pure monotheistic belief of Oneness of God.

All other conventional and man-made religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Wicca, Confucianism, Shintoism, various African and American tribal and/or folk religions are polytheistic. All these religions are based on worship of many gods and deities and neither of them could be regarded as the true religion. Only Islam qualifies as an absolute monotheistic religion in all respects among all the religions practiced on earth.

Divinity of the Scripture

In the quest of a true religion one needs to compare and contrast the scriptures of different religions against each other. Only the scripture of a religion alone can tell you about its beliefs and what it teaches. The true scripture from God will stand out to speak to us differently. It will have no mistakes and contradictions.

So, in the pursuit of determining the true religion, the first thing one has to investigate is that the scripture of the religion should have a divine origin, that is, it should have come from Allah (SWT), the Creator of the universe. Another important point is that the scripture should be revealed to a Prophet or Messenger of God at a particular land and period.

Authentic evidence of divinity, place and time and the person to whom it came are not available for man-made religions. Whenever someone asks the followers of man-made traditions about the evidence for their beliefs, in most cases they tell that they found their fathers doing this and so they are following their footsteps. Then they tell stories and reports that have no sound basis and the scriptures of those religions are not free of faults and discrepancies.

They rely on inherited books whose sources are unknown. They do not have any proof of who wrote or said them, or in which language they were originally written, or in which land they originated. They sometimes claim that these texts are words of some saint, but with no proof that the saint received it from God. These texts appear rather as a mixture that has been gathered and written in a book. They respected it and were passed down from generation to generation with no proper scientific examination of the source of the text or of the text itself.

These unknown books and stories and blind veneration do not provide valid proof with regard to religions and beliefs. It is impossible that all these man-made religions and human traditions could have come from God. The true religion is supposed to have come from God through a Messenger with definite proof of its divine origin.

According to Islam, down the ages many Messengers or Prophets were sent on the earth by Allah (SWT). The mission of the Prophet-hood began with Adam Alaihissalam (A), the first human on the earth and the first Prophet. The mission was closed with Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) who is the last Prophet. Some of the Prophets were given revelations from Allah (SWT) to convey His message to the people.

The Qur'an was revealed to the last Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). Allah (SWT) has mentioned the names of many Prophets and the lands where they were sent and their periods of Prophet-hood. In the following verses of the Qur'an Allah (SWT) has informed us of the books revealed to some of the Prophets.

إِنَّآ أَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَيْكَ كَمَآ أَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَىٰ نُوحٍ وَٱلنَّبِيِّـۧنَ مِنۢ بَعْدِهِۦ وَأَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَىٰٓ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ

وَإِسْمَـٰعِيلَ وَإِسْحَـٰقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ وَٱلْأَسْبَاطِ وَعِيسَىٰ وَأَيُّوبَ وَيُونُسَ وَهَـٰرُونَ وَسُلَيْمَـٰنَ وَءَاتَيْنَا دَاوُۥدَ زَبُورًا

“Indeed, We have sent revelation to you ‘O Prophet’ as We sent revelation to Noah and the prophets after him. We also sent revelation to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and his descendants, as well as Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and Solomon. And to David We gave the Psalms.” - (Qur'an 4:163).

نَزَّلَ عَلَيْكَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ بِٱلْحَقِّ مُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَأَنزَلَ ٱلتَّوْرَىٰةَ وَٱلْإِنجِيلَ

“It is He Who has sent down the Book (the Qur'an) to you (Muhammad) with truth, confirming what came before it. And he sent down the Tawrat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel).” - (Qur'an 3:3).

وَقَفَّيْنَا عَلَىٰٓ ءَاثَـٰرِهِم بِعِيسَى ٱبْنِ مَرْيَمَ مُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ مِنَ ٱلتَّوْرَىٰةِ وَءَاتَيْنَـٰهُ

 ٱلْإِنجِيلَ فِيهِ هُدًى وَنُورٌ وَمُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ مِنَ ٱلتَّوْرَىٰةِ وَهُدًى وَمَوْعِظَةً لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ

“We sent, following in their footsteps, Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming that which came before him in the Torah; and We gave him the Injeel (Gospel), in which was guidance and light and confirming that which preceded it of the Torah as guidance and instruction for the righteous.” - (Qur'an 5:46).

These verses of the Qur'an confirm that many prophets were given revelations and of them Prophet Daud (David) was given the book Jabur (Psalms), Prophet Musa (Moses) was given the book Tawrat (Torah) and the Prophet Isa was given the book Injeel (Gospel).

No doubt that all those books were from the divine source as they were revealed to specific Prophets of specific period and place. But the fact is that they are not available now in their original form since people modified or corrupted those for their interests through the ages. Allah stated this fact in the following two verses of the Qur'an:

أَفَتَطْمَعُونَ أَن يُؤْمِنُواْ لَكُمْ وَقَدْ كَانَ فَرِيقٌ مِّنْهُمْ يَسْمَعُونَ كَلاَمَ

اللّهِ ثُمَّ يُحَرِّفُونَهُ مِن بَعْدِ مَا عَقَلُوهُ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ

“Do you (faithful believers) covet that they will believe in your religion inspite of the fact that a party of them (Jewish rabbis) used to hear the Word of Allah [the Taurat (Torah)], then they used to change it knowingly after they understood it?” - (Qur'an 2:75).

فَوَيْلٌ لِّلَّذِينَ يَكْتُبُونَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ بِأَيْدِيهِمْ ثُمَّ يَقُولُونَ هَـٰذَا مِنْ عِندِ ٱللَّهِ لِيَشْتَرُوا۟ بِهِۦ

ثَمَنًا قَلِيلًا فَوَيْلٌ لَّهُم مِّمَّا كَتَبَتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَوَيْلٌ لَّهُم مِّمَّا يَكْسِبُونَ

“So woe to those who write the “scripture” with their own hands, then say, “This is from Allah,” in order to exchange it for a small price. Woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for what they earn.” - (Qur'an 2:79).

The Great Creator Allah (SWT) has clearly mentioned in the above verses that people distorted or corrupted the previous divine scriptures for their worldly interests. The existing versions of those books in the corrupted form have lost their originality and can no longer be regarded as divine books.

So, the Old Testament of the Bible followed by the Jews is different from the Torah revealed to Prophet Musa (A). Similarly, the New Testament of the Bible followed by the Christians is not the same book (Injeel) revealed to Prophet Isa (A). Thus both the Old Testament and New Testament are not at all divine books but they are the modified versions of Torah and Injeel respectively. For this reason the religions Judaism and Christianity are actually deviant religions and have assumed the form of man-made religions although they originated from divine source.

The Qur'an, the scripture of Islam was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) through the angel Jibril (A) in the seventh century in Makkah and Madinah of the then Arabia. Allah (SWT) says in the Qur'an:

تَنزِيلَ ٱلْعَزِيزِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

“[This is] a revelation of the Exalted in Might, the Merciful.” - (Qur'an 36:5).

It is the final and master piece of divine book revealed from Allah for the guidance of the entire humanity till the end of the world. It was revealed gradually in small portion at a time spanning over a period of 23 years. The revealing time and period and the process of revealing is documented historically as well as the event of revealing of a particular chapter or portion is also mentioned in the text of the Qur'an.

Very careful measures were taken to preserve the Qur'an since revelation of any part of it. The Prophet himself and his followers used to memorize it immediately after revelation. In order to ensure that the Qur'an is preserved correctly in the memory of the Prophet, Allah (SWT) sent the angel Jibril (A) to the Prophet to listen Qur'an from him (the Prophet) once every year and twice at the year he died.

The Prophets also used to listen Qur'an from his followers so that they do not make any mistake. During the time of the Caliph Uthman Radiallahu'anhu (R) Qur'an was written down. No alteration could take place in the Qur'an since its revelation.

Many Hafij-e-Qur'an are there all over the world who have memorized the entire Qur'an comprising 114 chapters and can recite from memory correctly. 1,400 years have elapsed since the revelation of Qur'an and no change could occur in it. Several copies of the Qur'an written during the time of Uthman (R) are preserved in museums all over the world.

It has been found that the old copies of Qur'an in museums written 1,400 years ago are the same Qur'an what we read today. The Qur'an which is read in any part of the world is the same which is read in Makkah and Madinah. Furthermore, its purity is guaranteed by Allah (SWT) Himself in the Qur'an. He has declared in the Qur'an:

إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا ٱلذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُۥ لَحَـٰفِظُونَ

“Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur'an and indeed, We will be its guardian” -(Qur'an 15:9).

So, it is Allah the Almighty Who has taken the responsibility of preserving the Qur'an from any kind of corruption and alteration. No other religious book bears this kind of guarantee from the God. Even, Allah (SWT) did not provide any guarantee for the two of His ancient books Torah and Injeel in terms of its preservation and their present versions, Old Testament and New Testament respectively do not bear any status of divinity.

Moreover, He has mentioned in His last revelation that Torah and Injeel have been modified by their followers for their worldly interests. The rests of the religious books are man-made and do not possess any authentic proof of divinity.

Qur'an was revealed 1,400 years ago to a person who was unlettered and most of the people in that society could not read or write. Not only that there was no printing press at that time. In that context it was a very big challenge to make a claim that your book would be preserved for ever. Only Allah (SWT) could make such a challenge and He made it happen.

No change or alteration has occurred in the Qur'an in 1,400 years. Hence, Islam is proved to be the only true religion from the consideration of the divinity of its scripture, Qur'an.

Religion Selected By God

Through the ages people of a particular region or community having common culture and moral values began to worship certain human beings or some objects or figures which appear to possess supernatural power in their sight. They establish certain traditions for worshipping their chosen god/gods and assume this as their religion and name it according to their choice. Such conventional religions and man-made traditions cannot possess any link to the Creator. A true religion must be the one chosen by the God for His servants.

Many religions have been named after the preacher of that religions or after the name of some tribes, for example, Judaism has been named after the tribe Juda, Christianity has been named after Jesus Christ, Buddhism after Gautama Buddha, Hinduism after the Hindus, Confucianism after Confucius and like this. It is evident from the name of those religions that they are not from the God.

The religion of Islam was neither named after a person nor was it decided by a later generation of men. The Arabic word ‘Islam’ means submission or surrender of one's will to the only true God, known in Arabic as ‘Allah’. One who submits his will to Allah is termed in Arabic a ‘Muslim’. Islam is the religion which was given to Adam (A), the first man and the first Prophet of God, and all the Prophets who was sent afterwards preached the same religion Islam to the mankind. Furthermore, the name Islam was chosen by Allah Himself which is clearly mentioned in the final scripture, the Qur'an. In the Qur'an Allah (SWT) has stated:

ٱلْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِى وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ ٱلْإِسْلَـٰمَ دِينًا

فَمَنِ ٱضْطُرَّ فِى مَخْمَصَةٍ غَيْرَ مُتَجَانِفٍ لِّإِثْمٍ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

"This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and I have chosen for you Islam as your religion." - (Qur'an 5:3).

It is quite evident from this verse that the name ‘Islam’ has been given and selected by Allah (SWT) Himself. Allah (SWT) has declared that He has chosen the religion ‘Islam’ for His servants. Allah (SWT) has also stated in the Qur'an:

وَمَن يَبْتَغِ غَيْرَ ٱلْإِسْلَـٰمِ دِينًا فَلَن يُقْبَلَ مِنْهُ وَهُوَ فِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ مِنَ ٱلْخَـٰسِرِينَ

“And if anyone desires a religion other than Islam, never will it be accepted of him; and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual good).” - (Qur'an 3:85).

In the above verse Allah (SWT) has categorically declared that no other religion is acceptable to Him. If anyone desires a religion other than Islam he will be among the losers and will be punished in the afterlife. Hence, Islam is not a new religion brought by Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) but it is the same expression in its final form of the true religion of Almighty God, Allah. The religion which was originally revealed to Adam (A) and subsequent prophets was Islam only. All the prophets called their people to surrender completely to the will of Allah which is the teaching of Islam.

Allah (SWT) states in another verse:

إِنَّ ٱلدِّينَ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلْإِسْلَـٰمُ وَمَا ٱخْتَلَفَ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا۟ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ إِلَّا مِنۢ بَعْدِ مَا

 جَآءَهُمُ ٱلْعِلْمُ بَغْيًۢا بَيْنَهُمْ وَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِـَٔايَـٰتِ ٱللَّهِ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ سَرِيعُ ٱلْحِسَابِ

“Indeed, the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam. And those who were given the Scripture did not differ except after knowledge had come to them – out of jealous animosity between themselves. And whoever disbelieves in the verses of Allah, then indeed, Allah is swift in [taking] account.” - (Qur'an 3:19).

Allah (SWT) again emphatically expresses that only Islam is the religion to Him. He also mentions that the people of the books (Yahudi and Christians) know from their books that Islam is the true religion and despite their knowledge they reject it out of jealousy.

It is evident from this verse that Islam was also the religion of previous Prophets and people of the books (Yahudi and Christians) knew it well. They denied to accept Qur'an and the last Prophet knowingly. Allah will take into account of their denial promptly on the Day of Judgment.

It may be pointed out here that the followers of ‘Christianity’ and ‘Judaism’ claim that their religions are the true paths. In reply to their claims it can be said that nowhere in the New Testament and the Old Testament God has mentioned ‘Christianity’ or ‘Judaism’ as His religions. In other words, the names ‘Judaism’ and ‘Christianity’ has no divine origin or bear no approval from God.

Long after the departure of the Prophet Musa (Moses) his followers named their religion as ‘Judaism’ and in a similar way the followers of Isa (Jesus) named their religion as ‘Christianity’ after his demise. Islam is the only religion on earth which has been chosen by the Creator Himself for His servants to follow and practice to attain eligibility for paradise in the afterlife.

Universality of the Religion

The human beings are the creations of God, and, therefore, the guide lines (religion) for them to follow must come from God. And it is also true that human nature and major human needs are basically the same at all times. So, from the beginning of the human race on earth there must have been only one true religion coming from the One and the same God.

The true religion of God must have been universally understandable and universally attainable at all ages. It should have been effective to deal with the human problems of all times and all places. In other words, the true religion of God cannot be confined to any one people, place and period. It must continue eternally to be understandable and attainable throughout the ages till the end of the world. Also it is not logical that such a religion should impose conditions to establish relationship of man with God, such as baptism, or belief in a savior or an intermediary.

In the definition of Islam (the surrender of one's will to God) lie the roots of Islam's universality. Whenever a man realizes that God is one and distinct from His creation, and submits himself to God, he becomes a Muslim in body and spirit and is eligible for paradise. Rejecting the worship of creation and turning to God alone anyone at any time and at any place of the world can become a Muslim, a follower of God's religion, Islam.

But it should be borne in mind that Islam was not taught by Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) alone. Actually, Islam had also been taught by all the previous prophets. All the messengers of Allah came with the same prophecy that there is no God but Allah, there is none to be worthy of worship except Him. Those who believe in Islam and submit their will to Allah are called Muslims. The true followers of Ibrahim (A), Musa (A) and Isa (A) and all other Prophets were all ‘Muslims’. Allah says in the Qur'an:

وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ مِن رَّسُولٍ إِلَّا نُوحِىٓ إِلَيْهِ أَنَّهُۥ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّآ أَنَا۠ فَٱعْبُدُونِ

“Never did We send any Messenger before you to whom We did not reveal: There is no god but Me. So serve Me alone.” - (Qur'an 21:25).

Islam descended on the earth with the descent of Adam (A) and never changed. So Islam has been, and will continue to be, the true universal religion of God, because God is one and changeless. Human nature and major human needs are fundamentally the same, irrespective of time and place, of race and age, and of any other considerations.

Therefore, the path for the guidance of the mankind at all times should have to be universal and perfect. Islam is such a perfect and complete religion from God, the Creator of human beings, that it serves the purpose of keeping the humans on the right path at all times and places.

Many conventional faiths have gradually disappeared with time since they failed to cater the human needs with advancement of time. There are many religions those are confined to certain regions and tribes and do not attain universality. Also, there are some which have been modified to adapt with the time and place. Only Islam is a perfect and complete religion which has been proved to be universal being valid for all ages, nations and places and is qualified as the true religion.

No Idolatry in the Religion

No one has the right to be worshipped except God (Allah).  This concept is the central idea that was proclaimed by all the Prophets throughout the ages.  It is the most important creedal belief in Islam.  The purpose of Islam is to call people away from the worship of creation and call them towards the worship of the Creator.

A false religion has one thing in common that they all invite to worship creations. They claim that a specific man was God; some claim that all men are gods, some claims that nature is God, and some other claim that God is a figment of man's imagination. A false religion claims that God may be worshipped in the form of His creation. They sometime believe that some attributes and aspects exist within His creation. So worship of His creation is worship of God.

Christians today claim Jesus (peace be upon him) to be son of God and they worship him although in his lifetime Jesus (peace be upon him) never claimed him to be God. He always asked his people to worship God alone. Buddha was a reformer and he introduced many humanistic principles in the traditions and culture of India. He did not claim himself to be God and did not advise his followers to worship him.

Nevertheless, most Buddhist communities today all over the world have taken him to be God and they prostrate themselves to idols of him made in the form of his likeness according to their perception.

It must be noted here that while Muslims esteem all of the prophets sent by God, including Jesus and Muhammad (ﷺ), they do not worship any of them. In fact, worshipping any one besides the One God is strictly prohibited in Islam. Rather, Muslims invoke God to send blessings upon all the Messengers and Prophets.

The religions those suggest worshipping creations or anybody other than the Almighty God are false. Allah (SWT) says in the Qur'an:

مَا تَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِهِۦٓ إِلَّآ أَسْمَآءً سَمَّيْتُمُوهَآ أَنتُمْ وَءَابَآؤُكُم مَّآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ بِهَا

 مِن سُلْطَـٰنٍ إِنِ ٱلْحُكْمُ إِلَّا لِلَّهِ أَمَرَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوٓا۟ إِلَّآ إِيَّاهُ ذَٰلِكَ ٱلدِّينُ

 ٱلْقَيِّمُ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ

"That which you worship besides Him are only names and you and your forefathers have invented for which Allah has sent down no authority; the command belongs only to Allah: He has command that you worship Him; that is the right religion, but most men do not understand." - (Qur'an 12:40).

Worshipping creation is the greatest evil in the sight of Allah. It contradicts the very purpose of the creation by God. Humans were created to worship Allah alone as explicitly stated in the Qur'an:

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ

"I have only created jinns and men, that they may worship Me." - (Qur'an 51:56).

It is obvious from the above verse that in Islam, worship is the very purpose of our existence in this world. Muslims worship God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, out of love and submission. They believe that Allah is the One God who is completely unique and only He deserves to be worshipped.

Worshipping idol/idols is the principal ritual in many religions. There is idol worshipping in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and in many other religions. The followers of these religions worship gods in many forms. These religions and many other man-made religions are mainly based on polytheistic belief. The Almighty Allah does not have any image and assuming any physical form and making image of Him is a great sin.

So, the religions based on idolatry can never be true religions since they make image of Him and associate the attribute of Allah to the image and worship it. In Islam idolatry is Shirk, an unforgiveable crime. Allah (SWT) may forgive any sin if He wishes but He never forgives Shirk. The Quran states:

إِنَّ اللّهَ لاَ يَغْفِرُ أَن يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَلِكَ لِمَن يَشَاء

وَمَن يُشْرِكْ بِاللّهِ فَقَدِ افْتَرَى إِثْمًا عَظِيمًا

“Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills. And he who associates others with Allah has certainly fabricated a tremendous sin.” - (Qur'an 4:48).

In Islamic conception the Creator cannot be described by the created. The Only Being worthy of worship in Islam is the One Who created everything from nothing. Islam is completely free from worshipping creations, any form of idolatry and stands as the only true religion.

From the above analysis and discussions it is obvious that most of the existing religions fail to satisfy the requirements of the criteria set forth as a test for genuineness. These religions do not have any sound proof of divinity, monotheism and approval of God.

They are either in a deviated form from the true path or they are man-made traditions and conventions with no proof of divine connection. Polytheistic beliefs, worshipping creations and idols have proved them to be false religions.

Only Islam has been found to have complete compliance with all the points of the criteria. Islamic faith is absolutely monotheistic that teaches Tawhid or Onenes of God.

Islam rejects the existence of any partner in the absolute power of Allah and strongly prohibits worship of any other deity. Idolatry is also forbidden in Islam and is considered as an unforgivable sin that will lead one to hell fire in the afterlife. From all considerations Islam is proved to be the unique and absolutely true religion sent by God Almighty for the guidance of the mankind.

Allah (SWT) has declared that He has chosen Islam as the religion for His servants in the Qur'an. No such declaration from God exists for any other religion in the scripture of that religion. This declaration is enough proof for Islam to be the true religion of the Creator, Allah (SWT).

Furthermore, the scripture of Islam, the Qur'an is a miraculous book with absolute divine nature. Its purity is maintained over the ages in a miraculous way. It is a big miracle that millions of people around the world have memorized the whole Quran from cover to cover and can recite it to people with hardly a mistake. Is there any other book in the world where millions have memorized it in its entirety? How many people have memorized the entire bible cover to cover?

It is significant to note that the memorization process of the entire Qur'an has been continuing throughout the ages and now, thousands of years later millions have memorized it. Not only millions have memorized it but most of them did so in a language they don’t even know. Can you imagine memorizing a 600 page Japanese book when you don’t know Japanese or a Chinese book when you don’t know Chinese? It has been possible because Qur'an is a miraculous and divine book.

Islam is not a new religion; the previous Prophets also came with the same religion. This fact leads to the conclusion that there is only one true religion coming from the One and the same God to deal with the human problems of all times. So, Islam has been the valid religion of all times proving its universality.

Muslims should express their gratefulness to Allah Almighty for giving them birth directly to the true religion which is a special mercy to them. Those who embraced Islam afterwards should also thank Allah (SWT) for guiding them to the true path.