12. The Hindu religion has Vedas which were written by saints. But how did Islam originate? How did Muhammad connect to ‘Allah’ as there was no proof of Allah’s existence during that time? How did he start this new religion?
The Veda is supposed to have been transmitted as Shruti (oral tradition). That is, the one who wrote the Vedas was not the ‘author’ of the scripture, instead he wrote what he had heard from others. Before being written, the Vedas existed only as oral tradition.
According to Islam, the Quran is the revelation from God that came down to the Prophet Muhammad by means of the angel Gabriel. Whenever the Prophet received a revelation which the angel Gabriel brought to him, he would immediately recite it to one of his companion scribes. These scribes would write down the words recited by the Prophet on leaves, pieces of paper and other material. Many of the Companions of the Prophet also committed the entire Quran to memory. The Quran was not revealed all at once in the form of a book, rather it was revealed in parts depending upon the circumstances and the situations faced by the Prophet and Muslims. Towards the end of the life of the Prophet, the Quran, in written form, was compiled together in its current form. So the whole of the Quran was preserved in two ways: first, in writing and second, in the memory of many Muslims at the time of the Prophet.
The Prophet Muhammad did not author the Quran. He was the receiver of the message that God had sent to him. The message of the Quran was not from the Prophet Muhammad, but from God.
The Prophet did not start a new religion. The religion he conveyed was the same as that which was revealed to the earlier prophets Adam, Abraham, Moses and Jesus, as has been mentioned in the Quran. Muhammad is only the Last Prophet and the Seal of Messengers.
The word ‘Allah’ is simply an Arabic word for ‘God’. When the Bible is translated in Arabic, ‘God’ is written as ‘Allah’ and when the Quran is translated in English ‘Allah’ is written as ‘God’. The Prophet Muhammad did not introduce a new God, he rather referred to the same One God, which in the Arabic language of his time was known as Allah.
