The Dangers of Misinterpreting Religion
Celestial books are easily misunderstood.
The following is a transcript of Younus AlGohar’s reply to a question from a viewer on YouTube. Watch him live every day on AlRa TV’s YouTube channel starting at 10:00 PM UK Time.
Q:What is the difference between Christianity and Islam?
There is a lot of difference, such as the difference of religious law and the difference of the prophet and messenger. The thing is, Jesus was able to freely propagate divine love. What has been seen as obscure conversation between Prophet Mohammad and God, had already been revealed by Jesus publicly.
So, I think the Bible is more into divine love and the Quran is more into identifying God as unique.
The Quran’s main focus is that you should not appoint partners with God and that you should call upon God alone.
The Bible talks about the oneness of God. It is a monotheistic religion. However, the Bible does not intensify this concept of God’s oneness. Islam repeatedly tells us of one thing: that God is one, there is nobody for except God and there is no other creator for except God.
Jesus was more focused on spreading love; therefore, if you want to sum up the entire message of the Bible, you can sum it up in this particular verse:
‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.’ [Luke 10:27]
Then Jesus said, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ [John 14:6]
So actually, when you read such a thing in the Bible and you want to be a Christian, you understand that without Jesus, you cannot reach God. However, in Islam, the majority of Muslims are still suffering from this dilemma: whether to follow the Quran or Prophet Mohammad. A majority of Muslims today do not understand whether or not they will reach God without Prophet Mohammad.
Among Christians, they know that without Jesus, nobody reaches God. In Islam, Mohammad has been sidelined.
They say, ‘If you want to call anybody for help, then you only call upon God for help. Nobody else can help you.’ The irony is that we cannot relate this to our lives because we have been helped by human beings. However, if somebody hasn’t helped us, that is God.
Islam has many issues. For people, it is not clear whether there should be a legal mediumship in Islam. Most people today who interpret the Quran are of the opinion that you don’t need any mediumship or intermediary. They believe that you can directly call upon God and ask God for help.
So there are some real issues with Islam. Understanding the religion of Islam has become a very difficult thing today.
A majority of Muslims claim to understand Islam, and in trying to do so, they have divided themselves into more than 73 divisions. That being said, there are divisions among Christians too.
These [celestial] books, like the Torah, Talmud and the Quran, are more dangerous than swords and machine guns. If one word from these books is misinterpreted, many millions of people will hold their guns and open fire.
[They are] so volatile. You have to be careful. Stay away from performing the holy mission of interpreting the Bible or Quran; it is a very difficult job unless God appoints you to do so.
When you are divinely ordained to do the job, only then will you do justice with the interpretation and translation [of celestial books].
If you have not been delegated by God, run away from these books as far as possible — because one wrong word from these books will turn you into a monster.
This is what is happening. [Terrorist organisations like] ISIS, Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba are all those who didn’t get the Quran right. They were so vulnerable intellectually and spiritually that they fall prey to the ones that mislead you.
The Bottom Line
There is a lot of difference between these two religions. However, today you need a pure, clean heart. You do not need a religion today because religions have been tampered with. A lot of freelance opinions from people [have become part of the religions].
Some religions claim to teach you love, but you end up learning hatred, short-sightedness and you engage in bloodshed.
So I would strongly advise against going after these religions. Adopt non-religious spirituality. Love God with all your heart and soul.
Younus AlGohar is the CEO of Messiah Foundation International. Read more of his work on his website.
