Returning to our main topic, the following truth is clearly evident. If there are those on earth who have not received the news of the revelation of the Holy Quran and the message of the last prophet, then everyone except those individuals should know that their religion is Islam, as proclaimed by our Lord. If there are still those on earth who have not received this message, they will be resurrected as the people of Araf. Their situation is known to our Lord. However, all other humanity, having attained the age of reason, are subject to the religion of Islam because they were created with a nature compatible with the practices of this religion. For Allah has deemed it appropriate for us to be on this path (the straight path) in order to please Him and to live a peaceful and prosperous life. No other path will be accepted. He has also declared this. So, it means that all of humanity, except for the people of Araf, are subject to Islam. However, there will be those who say, “We heard about Islam, but we never saw ourselves as Muslims, we never defined ourselves as such, we never knew.” The situation of these people is considered in two different areas: those who hear and do not accept, and those who hear and accept, i.e., Muslims. Here, the importance of the word of testimony emerges in order to hear and submit, to accept.

For this reason, the first condition of submitting to the religion of Islam is, as we have explained above in the historical process, to know Allah as the only god and to accept that the Prophet Muhammad is His servant and the last prophet as the complement of this religion.

Thus, a person declares with their own will that they bear witness to this truth. In other words, they declare 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 their final form in the last book, that Islam is now complete, that He will not accept any other beliefs or deeds, and that the last person sent was the Prophet Muhammad, who was a prophet who fulfilled his duty and was a servant beyond that. So I ask, don’t you want to hear and obey, bear witness and enter the religion that you already know is yours, and embrace it?

I believe that with our explanation up to this point, we have done justice to the title we gave to this article and have been able to answer any questions that may have arisen in your mind from a historical and religious perspective. This religion is not Arab, Middle Eastern, or belonging to any particular group; it is solely the religion of Allah. It is in accordance with our human nature. Thus, the test is fair. Throughout history, according to Islamic belief, there has been unity and continuity among the prophets. The prophets confirmed those who came before them and announced those who would come after them. If you wish to research this, the relevant verses are as follows: (2/41, 97; 3/3, 39, 50, 81; 5/46; 46/30; 61/6)

To do justice to the subject, it would be appropriate to mention the following point. Throughout history, some prophets have needed to make certain different practices or special changes. There is a perception that each of these different behaviors represents a separate religion. However, this is definitely not the case. These are new practices made by the Messenger, who was sent as the final lawgiver within the religion, in the name of human law. These rules, understood as different religions, lead to division by saying, “our religion, their religion.” This is a completely erroneous conclusion. For example, while in the Sharia of Moses, two sisters could be taken as wives at the same time, the Prophet Muhammad abolished this practice and declared it forbidden after him. Because of decisions like this, Islam was misunderstood throughout history, leading to the emergence of different beliefs such as Muhammadism, Judaism, and Christianity, which claimed that their religions were different.

However, there is only one religion. That is Islam. Sharia is a law within religion that is updated by Allah through His Messengers at specific intervals. If someone asks, “Why are different sharias necessary within the same religion?”, we would say that sharias are updates to religion as a result of changing and developing moral, social, and commercial conditions in human life. Just as the operating systems we use in computers today receive new updates at certain times to meet new needs, the Islamic religion also updates itself through Sharia in a process of human-centered change and development. For example, the removal or prohibition of the practice in the example we gave has been removed due to the new understanding of the ummah. Because while marriages were previously made within a specific lineage, this condition is no longer necessary. However, it was previously necessary for the development of society, customs, and social aspects. Many such rules have been changed and updated by the subsequent Sharia holder, the Messenger. Therefore, this indicates the inaccuracy of this different definition of religion.

Along with the updating of all these Sharia laws in accordance with development and change within human law, the Qur’an states in various verses that all prophets were Muslims, meaning they belonged to the religion of Islam, the one religion. These statements reveal to us that Islam is the one religion and that rules and practices have changed over time. Looking at what the Holy Quran says on this subject: 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 as Muslims.” (2:132) Furthermore, all the prophets from Adam to the last prophet preached Islam, which is called “the religion of Allah, the true religion, the straight religion, the pure religion.” (3:83; 9:33, 36; 39:3) When we look at the prophets sent to the Children of Israel, they are presented as people who submitted to Allah with verbs and nouns derived from the same root as the word Islam (5:44), and even the last prophet commanded those who believed in him and the religion he preached to become Muslims. (6/14, 163; 40/66). Therefore, the conclusion reached is that Islam is the only religion accepted by Allah. (3/19)

Just as there is no difference between them in terms of their prophetic status, there is also no difference in the principles they put forward, as can be understood. Each of them advised belief in the oneness of Allah, the Day of Judgment, and the divine messages brought by the prophets. The differences only concern details that may vary according to the requirements of the time and the expectations of society. This is a fact that is in line with the social and psychological structure of human beings and the realities of life. Jesus confirmed the Torah and was sent to make lawful some things that were forbidden to the Children of Israel (3:50), while Muhammad, who was announced in the Torah and the Gospel, was sent to remove the burdensome judgments imposed on previous nations (7:157), among other duties. Each of these messengers came to teach the principles that would meet the needs of their times and peoples. Viewed in this light, the final prophet, Muhammad, was sent as a mercy to the worlds. Considering the goal of completing religion through the book revealed to him, his target audience is not just one tribe or one region, but all times and all of humanity. Therefore, the principles he proclaimed address all of humanity.

Finally, the Qur’an is a book that has inherited the entirety of revelation from the beginning until its own time. For example, the Ten Commandments, which are found in the Torah and were revealed to Moses, are preserved in the Holy Quran (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 they brought, and states that not making distinctions between prophets is a fundamental condition of the religion. After mentioning their names and attributes, it is stated, “These are the prophets whom Allah has guided; follow their path!” (6/90).