Life and Teachings of the Prophet Muhammad
12. The Relevance of the Quran and Sunnah in Modern Times
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12. THE RELEVANCE OF THE QURAN
AND SUNNAH IN MODERN TIMES
E
VERY
religion revealed by God was, in its original form, eternal in
character, just as the sun and the moon, the air and the water have
a timeless character about them. Religion, in fact, is another name
for eternal values, which in their nature are timeless and uniformly
applicable in all situations and at all times.
A religion loses its relevance in succeeding ages when it is no
longer preserved in its pristine form owing to human additions and
interpolations. The Prophet of Islam who came in the 7th century,
did not bring a new religion. His mission in fact was aimed at
sifting the divinely revealed parts from the human additions which
had swept into the ancient religions over the ages. The divine
religion thus needed to be established in its original form. This
reality has been expressed thus in the Quran:
“I will show mercy to those who follow the Messenger,
the unlettered Prophet, whom they find mentioned in
the Torah and the Gospel, he enjoins on them good
and forbids them evil, and makes lawful for them the
good things and forbids them the bad things, and
removes from them their burden and the shackles that
were upon them. So those who shall believe in him,
and honour and support him, and help him, and follow
the light that has been sent down with him shall surely
triumph.” (7:157)
