When we return to our main topic, this fact is clear in all its truth. If there are those on the earth who have not received the news of the descent of the Holy Qur’an and the message of the last prophet, let them know that the religion of everyone, with the exception of those people, is Islam, as declared by our Lord. If there are still those on earth who have not received this message, they will be gathered as the people of Purgatory. Their situation is known to our Lord. But all other human beings are subject to the religion of Islam because they have been created with the right constitution for the practices of this religion. This is because Allah has seen fit for us to be on this path (i.e. the straight and narrow path) in order to please Him and lead a peaceful and prosperous life. No other path will be accepted. He has also declared this. So it means that all humanity, except the people of Purgatory, are on Islam. But there will be those who say that we have heard about Islam, but we have never considered ourselves Muslims, we have never defined ourselves as Muslims, we have never known ourselves as Muslims. The situation of these people is dealt with in two different areas: those who hear and do not accept, and those who are Muslims, those who hear and accept. This is where the importance of the word shahadah for hearing, being subject to and accepting Islam comes to the fore.

Therefore, the first condition for being subject to the religion of Islam is to know Allah as the only God, as we have already explained the historical process above, and to accept the Prophet Muhammad as the servant and the last prophet as the complement of this religion.

In this way, man voluntarily declares that he bears witness to this truth. In other words, it means to believe that there is no god but Allah, that He has no son or daughter, that all the deeds and beliefs He is pleased with are found in the last book in its latest form, that the religion of Islam is now complete, that He will not accept any other beliefs and deeds, and that the last person sent was the Prophet Muhammad, and that he was a prophet who fulfilled his duty properly and was a servant apart from this. So, I ask you, don’t you want to hear and obey, bring the shahada and enter the religion that you have already learned is yours, don’t you want to embrace it?

I think we have done justice to the title we have given to this article with our explanations so far, and we have been able to express the answers to the questions that may arise in your mind from a historical and religious point of view. This religion is neither Arab, nor Middle Eastern, nor the religion of any group, but the religion of Allah alone. It suits our nature as human beings. Thus, the test is fair. Throughout history, according to Islamic belief, there is a unity and continuity between the prophets. The prophets confirmed those who came before them and gave good news to those who would come after them. The relevant verses are as follows: (2/41, 97; 3/3, 39, 50, 81; 5/46; 46/30; 61/6)

In order to do justice to the subject, it would be appropriate to mention the following point. Throughout history, some prophets have required different practices or special changes. There is an understanding that each of these different behaviors represents a separate religion. However, this is absolutely not the case. They are the new practices of the Messenger, the last Shari’ah holder sent within a religion, in the name of human law. These rules are understood as different religions, leading to a distinction between “our religion and their religion”. This is a completely erroneous conclusion. For example, in the Sharia of Moses, two sisters could be taken as wives at the same time, but Muhammad abolished this practice and declared it forbidden after him. Because Islam was not understood correctly with these and similar decisions, different faiths such as Mohammedan, Jewish, Islamic, etc. have emerged in the historical process and based on these, it is claimed that their religions are different.

But there is only one religion. And that is Islam. Sharia is a law within the religion that is updated by Allah through His Messengers at certain intervals of time. If it is asked, “Why is there a need for different shari’ahs within the same religion?”, we state that shari’ahs are updates that religion receives as a result of changing and developing moral, social and commercial conditions in human life. Just as the operating systems in the computers we use today receive new updates at the end of a certain period of time in line with the needs, the Islamic religion updates itself with Sharia in the process of human-oriented change and development. For example, the abolition or prohibition of the practice in the example we have given was abolished with the new understanding of the ummah. Because while marriages were previously made within a certain lineage, there is no longer any need for this condition. But it was necessary in terms of community development, custom and social aspects. Many rules such as these were changed, and the current version was amended by the Messenger, who is the owner of the Shari’ah. Therefore, this shows that this different definition of religion is wrong.

With the updating of all these Sharia laws in accordance with the development and change in human law, the Holy Qur’an states in different verses that all prophets were members of the religion of Islam, that is, the only religion. These statements reveal to us that Islam is the only religion and that the rules have been changed with different practices over time. If we look at what the Qur’an informs us about this issue: Noah said, “I have been commanded to be one of the Muslims” (10/72); Abraham and Jacob advised their sons, “Allah has chosen this religion for you, so die only as Muslims.” (2/132) Moreover, all prophets from Adam to the last prophet preached Islam, which is called “the religion of Allah, the true religion, the straight religion, the true religion” (3/83; 9/33). (3/83; 9/33, 36; 39/3) When we look at the prophets sent to Israel, they are presented as people who surrendered to Allah with verbs and nouns from the same root as the word Islam (5/44), and even the last prophet ordered those who believed in him and the religion he preached to be Muslims (6/14, 163; 40/66). The result is that Islam is the only religion in the sight of Allah (3/19).

There was no difference between them in terms of the level of prophethood, nor was there any essential difference in the principles they set forth. Each of them preached belief in the oneness of Allah, the Last Day and the divine messages brought by the prophets. The differences are only in the details, which may change according to the needs of the time and the expectations of the society. This is in accordance with the social and psychological structure of human beings and the realities of life. Jesus was sent to confirm the Torah and to make some of the things forbidden to the Children of Israel lawful (3:50), and Muhammad, who was foretold in the Torah and the Gospel, was sent, among other duties, to remove the burdensome laws from the previous nations (7:157). Each of these messengers came to teach the principles that would meet the needs of their times and tribes. With this understanding, the last prophet, Prophet Muhammad, was sent as a mercy to the worlds. When the purpose of completing the religion through the book revealed to him is considered, his target audience is not only a tribe or a region, but all times and all humanity. Therefore, the principles he proclaimed are addressed to all humanity.

And finally, the Holy Qur’an is a book that inherited all the revelation from the beginning until its own time. For example, the ten commandments of the Torah that were revealed to the Prophet Moses are preserved in the Qur’an (2/224; 4/29; 5/32, 38, 89; 17/23; 22/30), albeit in different forms. This book, which is the main source of Islam, accepts the previous prophets and the divine messages brought by them, and states not to discriminate between prophets as the basic condition of its religion. After mentioning their names and qualities, it is said, “Those are the prophets whom Allah has guided, so follow their path” (6/90).