Islam_in_Focus_text

the other elements of nature, which are by necessity obedient
to God. He will be consistent with the truth and in harmony
with all the other elements of the universe. But if he chooses
disobedience he will deviate from the Right Path and will be
inconsistent. Besides, he will incar the displeasure and pun-
ishment of the Law-Giver.
Because Islam signifies submission to the Good Will of
God and obedience to His Beneficial Law, and because this
i s the essence of the message of all God-chosen messengers,
a Muslim accepts all the prophets previous to Muhammad
without any sort of discrimination. He believes that all those
prophets of God and their faithful followers were Muslims,
and that their Religion was Islam, the only true universal Re-
ligion of God (Qur'an, 2:128-140; 3:78-85; 17:42-44; 31:22;
42:13).
To sum up this discussion, it may be helpful to repro-
duce my statement which appeared in the Observer Dispatch
(O.D.) of Utica on December 4, 1972. The statement shows
how much distortion and confusion there is in this regard.
The partial overlapping and repetition may be forgiven be-
cause of the extreme sensitivity of the issue and the need to
reiterate the Islamic point of view.
A particular news item (O.D., Nov. 25) is alarming. It
invites sympathy for the misinformed public and pity for
many a school teacher or men of the pulpit. It calls upon