Rafed English
site.site_name : Rafed English

 

They have the word "Obedience!" on their tongues. But when they leave your presence, a group of them spend the night plotting to do other than what you say. God is recording their nocturnal plotting. So let them be, and put your trust in God. God suffices as a Guardian. (Qur'an, 4:81)

Torah Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the LORD, who do their work in darkness and think: "Who sees us? Who will know?" (Isaiah, 29:15)

Pagan Religions and Traditions

 

God reveals that some people opposed the true religion delivered by the Prophets, for their deep-rooted pagan beliefs dominate their societies, as do their misguided religious practices and some traditions. The Qur'an refers to this as the "religion of their forefathers," and the Bible and the Torah refer to it as the tradition of the elders. In reality, the true religion in His presence is the religion taught by His Prophets. Believers will not be held accountable for these pagan beliefs and traditions, but will be judged by God's Books of revelation and his Prophets' practices. The situation of the people who follow such traditions is described in the following terms:

When they are told: "Follow what God has sent down," they say: "No, we will follow what we found our fathers doing." What! Even if Satan is calling them to the punishment of the Blazing Fire? (Qur'an, 31:21)

When they are told: "Come to what God has sent down, come to the Messenger," they say: "What we found our fathers doing is enough for us." What! Even if their fathers did not know anything and were not guided! (Qur'an, 5:104)

The Torah relates that some people who had been informed of the true religion chose to follow their forefathers' misguided religious practices. One such passage is given below: They have returned to the sins of their forefathers, who refused to listen to My words. They have followed other deities to serve them... I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. (Jeremiah, 11:10-11)

The Bible reveals that the Pharisees and the Sadducees accused Jesus (pbuh) and his disciples of forsaking their forefathers' traditions. However, it would have been righteousness to abide by the true religion delivered by Jesus (pbuh) instead of following the misguided beliefs so fervently advocated by these people. Obviously, genuine believers need to abide by Jesus' (pbuh) religion in obedience to him. The Bible states that those who persisted in rejecting Jesus' (pbuh) teachings accused his disciples of forsaking their forefathers' traditions: Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked: "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders?" (Matthew, 15:1-2)

Another verse reveals Jesus' reply to such accusations, as follows: So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus: "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders?" … He [Jesus] replied: "You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!" (Mark, 7:5-9)

Adapted from: "A Call for Unity" by: "Harun Yahya"