Sources of Authentic Authority

Sura 53: The Star

"1By the star when it sets! 2 Your companion has not strayed; he is not deluded; 3 he does not speak from his own desire. 4 The Qur an is nothing less than a revelation that is sent to him. 5 It was taught to him by [an angel] with mighty powers 6 and great strength, who stood 7 on the highest horizon 8 and then approached––coming down 9 until he was two bow-lengths away or even closer––10 and revealed to God’s servant what He revealed. 11[The Prophet’s] own heart did not distort what he saw. 12 Are you going to dispute with him what he saw with his own eyes? 13 A second time he saw him: 14 by the lote tree beyond which none may pass 15 near the Garden of Restfulness, 16 when the tree was covered in nameless [splendour] 17 His sight never wavered, nor was it too bold, 18 and he saw some of the greatest signs of his Lord."

In all religions, including Islam, their holy book claims to have the divine revelations of the one true god. They assert their truth is the real truth, and no others should be trusted - but if all of these religions claim the same thing, who is to be believed?

The choice of belief is obviously very personal. It requires a lot of self-research, soul searching, and life experience. In Sura 53, the writers of the Quran are obviously emploring you to believe that Prophet Muhammed partook in divine conversation with the Lord and ultimately ascended into heaven during the Night Journey, specifying that he 'saw it with his own eyes' and that 'his heart did not distort what happened'.

In a practical way of thinking, eye witness accounts do not hold up today - it is not so easy to say that something is true because someone saw it - I do not think this is exactly what the Quran is saying, though. The intent of the Quran is to incur belief in others - to inspire divine reflection and to wholeheartedly believe that the Quran contains God's word. You should not believe that the Quran holds truth because of one random eye witness - that eye witness comes with inspired belief, faith, and legend. The Prophet's story goes into a larger narrative, one in which Muhammed was chosen and given truth for the Lord.

The claims of different holy books, including the Bible, Torah, and Quran, all have similar claims about authority and authenticity. Choice of belief will be personal and up to the individual. It is wildly interesting to see that these religions have a variety of factors that make them similar, but enough differences to inspire different people to believe certain things. Coming from an outside perspective, it is fascinating to study these differences and to point out similarities that may have been overlooked from those within the religions.