5. I, for one, would not hesitate to call all Monotheists (Jews, Christians, and other Unitarians موحدين) Muslims, because they believe in one God: but I would not call them Momins مومن, because they do not believe in one God in accordance with the teaching of our Prophet. You know that our Creed كلمة consists of two parts:—
(i) There is no god but God,
(ii) And Muhammad is His Messenger.
Those who believe in the first part are Muslims (مسلم = the peaceful)[33] and those who believe in the first as well as the second part of the Creed are Momins (مومن = the faithful). Both Muslims and Momins are believers in one God; the only difference between them is that Muslims may not (like Momins) accept Muhammad as their guide in the belief. The Qur'an (iii. 83) defines Islam thus:—
Say ye; We believe in God, and that which hath been sent down (revealed) to us, and that which hath been sent down to Abraham and Ismail and Issac and Jacob and the tribes; and that which hath been given to Moses and to Jesus and that which was given to the Prophets from their Lord. No difference do we make between them—and to God we are resigned (Muslims).
[6.] "There is no deity but God." Since God is One, His Revelation to Man cannot be other than one and the same for all time. There has therefore been and will ever be but one true religion. That religion is Islam. إن الدين عند الله الاسلام "Verily the (only) religion with God is Islam" (Q. iii 17). All the prophets from Adam to Muhammad received but one and the same Revelation and therefore preached Islam and Islam only. ذالك الدين اقيم "It was (and is) the standard religion"—Q. xii. 41.[34]
Whenever any people went astray and deserted Islam for idolatry a prophet arose among them to preach Islam and bring them back to righteousness.[35] Each prophet or messenger of God did nothing but try to restore the universal religion to its pristine simplicity and purity.
It was only in interpreting the Revelation and applying it to the practical needs of their age, that successive prophets and their followers differed; and the differences gave rise to the so-called religions and religious systems of the world.
Note 6.