Universalism and perfection of the Divine guidance
Divine guidance, according to Islam, has been universal. Adam was the first man and also the first Prophet of God. After him guidance continued to come from God to all the communities and countries of the world. The Holy Quran says: “Every people had a Guide”. This guidance was fundamentally the same wherever it came, because it came from one God and it came to the same humanity. Though the same in its fundamentals, it was at the same time evolutionary, expanding and developing in its scope as the various human communities progressed from a lower stage of culture and civilisation to a higher one, until when humanity reached maturity it was finalised, matured and perfected in the Divine guidance given in the form of the Holy Quran given to the Holy Prophet Muhammed (Peace be upon him), who is the last Messenger of God. The Quran is the only Book of God which exists without any interpolation and change up to this day.
A parallel phenomenon might be sought in the education of the child. The child is sent to school by the parents to begin education. The first book that he gets to read may be spoilt and torn and thrown away by him on the way-side a number of times. This negligence and lack of understanding and appreciation of the value of education continues for a long time. But neither the parents nor the teachers are wearied of it. The parents continue to supply him fresh copies of books when he tears down those in his possession, while the teachers continue to teach him lessons again and again when he misunderstands them or forgets them. A stage ultimately arrives when the child attains maturity of understanding and is capable of appreciating the benefits of knowledge and education. It is only then that he preserves his books as well as his knowledge. A point of ultimate perfection in studentship is finally reached in the degree of Doctorate, when he is told by his educators that he can no more be considered as a student to be spoon-fed. He is told that he has attained maturity in studentship and should thenceforth pursue knowledge on the basis of his personal initiative and research.
Role of the last prophet in Human History
The Holy Prophet’s personality and mission form a landmark in the history on mankind. He came as the last Messenger of God with the Crown of final revelation in the form of the last Book of God, the Holy Quran on the one hand, and to inaugurate the era of Science on the other hand. He gave to humanity a Book from God which proclaims the attainment of maturity by humanity, which contains complete and comprehensive guidance for humanity in all her multifarious problems without limitations of time and territory, and which is destined to abide with humanity forever without the change of the dot or a dash. And he also laid down the principles of rational quest for enabling humanity to walk with her own feet under the Light of Divine Guidance vouchsafed in the Holy Quran, gave the inductive method and built up an ideological community which established and developed modern science.
