Religion and Technology: A statement of Islamic positions and opinions…

Note: (This is an attempt to compare Christian and Muslim views of Technology. The flavor of Christianity that is mentioned in this paper is one that comes from David Noble’s Religion of Technology Penguin 1998. This is not meant as vilification of Christian dogma nor is it an endorsement of any dual-truth theory or argument.

God is a creator not an Engineer. Christianity view God as Engineer of this world. Muslims believe that God created humanity to be placed in the earth. The reason for this is for the worship of God. This world is a temporary abode to see if humanity is worthy of eternal life in Paradise or eternal life in Hell. God created this world and made subservient to humanity. Further humanity is the steward for God’s creation.

In Christianity Adam was created in the Image of God, blasphemy to Muslims, with a perfect body and placed in Paradise. Muslims believe that Adam the first created being with his mate were placed in the Garden of Eden to give them some idea of how life on earth would be. Further they were warned of the danger that Satan posed for humanity. Adam knew when he was created that he was destined for earth. Adam’s existence in the Garden was temporary one. He knew that would end up on earth. Live an earthly life, die, be resurrected, be judged and sent to heaven or hell as the final abode.

Christianity states that something went wrong in Paradise and Adam fell from grace. Jesus would later return to redeem Adam and the rest of humanity that would believe in this redemption. Muslims believe that Adam disobeyed God’s command by eating from the forbidden tree. Adam was tempted by Satan that eating from the tree would make him immortal and be provided with unlimited riches.

Further Muslims believe that every one is only responsible for his very own actions. Humanity will not be punished for Adam’s sin or any one else for that matter. Nor will we need to be redeemed from his sin through Jesus or any other savior.

Naturally Adam and Eve eat from the forbidden tree. They were thrown out, they repented and their repentance was accepted in their lifetime. They were to spend the rest of their days on the earth to begin the process of populating the earth. Adam was promised that his progeny would receive divine instruction on how to live in this world and other worldly knowledge that can only be had through divine knowledge, such as knowledge of the unseen, and things to come, eschatology.

In Muslim thought Adam had no fall that effected humanity negatively. Since humanity was originally created to be placed on earth to be tested. Muslims believe that the term "earth" to mean the entire knowable universe. If one were to travel beyond earth he would still be required to worship God and following the tenants of Islam.

Christ in Muslim thought was just another Messenger sent by God to the Children of Israel. Christ –similar to other Biblical Messengers such as Moses, Joseph, Jacob, Job, etc.- aided with Miracles as proof of his messengership. Muslims do believe in his virgin birth. He was sent to restore the religion of the children of Israel, which had become corrupt overtime since the time of Moses.

Revelation before Muhammad was sent to specific group of people. Moses, Jesus and David were sent to the children of Israel. Noah was sent to his people when the world was young. All these messengers foretold their people of the coming of unifying messenger that would be sent to all the people of the world. The uniqueness of the Muhammadan message was that he was sent to all of humanity before the end of time. Muhammad is the final Messenger. The end of humanity is eminent. We now live near the end of time. The world will come to an end. Everything in this life points to the temporality of this life. There are many things wrong with this world, many injustices, many natural disasters. Injustices will be corrected on the day of judgement. The oppressed will get their due then. Everyone will get his due.

In Christian thought our task is to return to Paradise that was lost by Adam due to his fall from grace. The Muslim’s task is to get to Paradise and avoid hellfire. Pleasing God through righteous action. Muslim believe humans are superior to Angels. Angels are the perfect servants of God. They have no choice but to obey God. Humans are superior because they are endowed with the ability to choose between obeying and following God’s guidance and not to. Humanity based upon their choice and actions will be judged by God. Muslims are rewarded for alleviating the misery of fellow humans. Any kindness shown will be rewarded. That is the impetus for improving life on earth. Muslims are interested in survival for as long as they possibly can, to live a fruitful life full of good action and contributions to the advancement of humanity will advance one’s rank in paradise.

The danger in this life is to make the wrong choice and follow the temptations of Satan who is the enemy of humanity. It is the goal of Satan to get as many of the children of Adam to hellfire with him. The devil is damned to eternal hellfire. Having failed the test he took it upon himself to lead as many astray as he could. Muslims do not believe that Satan will rule in Hell, nor be its king. He will be punished along with the rest of Hell’s residents. Hell has its set of Angels which will not disobey God’s command, they will not allow anyone to exit nor any respite in punishment.

Humanity will Go to Paradise "for the first time" through the mercy of God and their actions in this life. Their actions on this Earth determine the final status. The body that they have on this earth is a temporary one. They will get an eternal body that will house their soul. The body that they will get on the day of the resurrection is the one they will keep forever. The denizens of hellfire will have a body that will be continually regenerating after getting damaged during their punishment.

The residents of Paradise will have a perfect body free from defects that will never wear out. All earthly physical laws will cease to apply on the final day and any subsequent existence, including Heaven and Hell. They will be able to fly and have all their wishes granted. Paradise will resemble the paradise of Eden. The residents of paradise will have endless riches gardens of fruits, rivers of milk, honey, and wine. The fruits of paradise will not be like anything on earth. The only thing that they share with the earthly counterpart is the name. The residents of paradise will not have to worry about sickness or disease or any hangovers or weight gain or having to answer any of the calls of nature, etc. The residents of Paradise will feel every pleasure greatly amplified. The residents of hellfire will feel every pain greatly amplified. Their bodies will fall apart before their eyes with the requisite pain and will be regenerated only to fall apart, scorched again and again in an eternal cycle of endless Pain and suffering.

Muslims believe that God sent guidance to Adam and his children. This guidance is in the form of revelation through chosen messengers. The way that the divine message was sent to humanity is in the following medium. God gives message to a chosen Angel –namely Gabriel who delivers it to a human messenger. This human messenger is given miracles to support his claim. Moses was an exception in which God told the message to Moses directly. God spoke to Moses directly without any intermediary –namely Gabriel.

Humanity throughout successive generations has corrupted the divine message. New messages were sent to successive generations in many different nations. Remnants of the divine message survive in many world religions –namely Christianity and Judaism. Muslims believe that many messengers were sent to all nations of the world. As humanity advanced toward a unified human family a final messenger was sent to all of humanity. This marks the end of an era in the history of divine revelation and a signal that the end of time is eminent.