It can be said that the difference between religions is...

It can be said that the difference between religions is similar to the difference between today’s educational institutions: elementary school, secondary school and university in that as mankind advanced a new religious system would be revealed appropriate to the stage which had been reached, until the time came when Islam was proclaimed as the religion of mankind for all time.

All religions share the same common essence and their difference lies in details and certain characteristics which have developed according to the advancement of the human race. Question: Does Islam develop or not? Answer: Islam has two aspects: The fixed and unchanging aspect of Islam in which there is no place for development, and in which if changes were to take place there would only be insanity and confusion.

In this category falls the exhortation to the telling of the truth and trustworthiness; finding repugnant oppression and The Islamic faith miserliness; the prohibition of hoarding and murder; the obligation to pray and fast and to seek the consent of both parties in a sale or purchase and so on. The second aspect of Islam is where change and alteration are legitimate. Islam has enunciated overall principles that can be applied to matters that undergo development.

For example, means of transport have changed from fourlegged animals to carriages and have then developed further to motorcars and trains, and then to aeroplanes and missiles. The means of lighting have gone from candle to oil lamps and from there to electricity and nuclear power. Islam allows such developments and in fact encourages them in all these spheres. Question: Is Islam sufficient for all man’s needs? And how are those needs fulfilled?

Answer: Islam is sufficient for all man’s needs because it is a faith that God has revealed in such a manner that it can be applied to all aspects of life. You ask, how can Islam be all sufficient? This is because the Holy Qur’an and the sunna1 have set out two types of laws: Laws which relate particularly to a specific issue such as forbidding the drinking of wine. Laws which establish a general principle such as the one forbidding the imbibing of anything that intoxicates.

Question: How can you say that Islam is sufficient for all man’s needs seeing that now new matters and problems have arisen which are not mentioned in the Qur’an or Sunna such as banks or insurance? Such things did not exist at the time of the advent of Islam?