The Prophet...

The Prophet, salla-llahu 'alayhi wa alihi wa sallam, recommended that his followers neither confirm nor deny what they say be­ cause his message, the Qur'an, would eventually become evident and supercede the knowledge of the Christians and Jews. An example of this is the simple case of the stoning of the adultererwhich was enjoined by the Prophet lbrahim, `alayhi-s-salam, and recon­firmed by the Prophet Musa, `alayhi-s-salam, and then by the Prophet `Isa, alayhi-s-salam.

But in the traditions of questionable authenticity that have been handed down to the Christians, the Prophet `Tsa, alayhi­-solam, dismissed the adulteress who was brought to him by witnesses. He asked them: Which one of you is righteous and has no sin? When none of them could answer, he dismissed the woman. `Isa's criterion for freeing the woman was not complete.

The Prophet, salla-llahu 'alayhi wa alihi wa sallam, clearly estab­lished the law that there is a need for four sinless, righteous men to have actually observed the act. Recognizing the law transmitted by Muhammad, salla-llahu 'alayhi wa alihi wa sallam, as the perfect law, there is no question of discussion or argument. The Muslim follows what he regards to be the ultimate and perfect law. All that he can do is to say that his Lord and their Lord are one.

Diving into the ocean of tawhid, he hopes that they will recognize the perfection of the path of submission. A book is not necessarily contained within pages. Muslims and seekers must not judge against other paths which do not have one visible book or one visible prophet. A book means a way of conduct. From this point of view the Buddhists may be considered people of the book, (ahl al-kitab). A book reveals the nature of Reality and indicates the way towards understanding it.

Many cultures of the world have a book, such as the people of China and India. The Christians and Jews are mentioned in the Qur'an while the Buddhists and Taoists are not, because the former were there at the time and in the region in which the Qur'an was revealed. The correct behavior towards the people who believe or have had a message from a Prophet is that one should discuss things with them in the best possible way.

There are no differences in what the , salla-llahu 'alayhi wa alihi wa sallam, brought and what the other Prophets brought before him. The message is one but it may be distorted or ignored.