A Curious Theory

Recently on my morning walks, I have been listening to a podcast from a public radio outlet of Edward R. Murrow's "This I Believe" series from 1950s CBS radio.  A non-profit group has revived the program, and, in fact, asked people in the last few years to submit their own essays on what they believe.  The podcast uses both the contemporary essayist's works as well as the original radio broadcasts.

Today, one of the essays I listened to was especially interesting.  It was written and read by Muhammad Zafrulla Khan, the so-called Thomas Jefferson of Pakistan, a former foreign minister of Pakistan, and one time leader of the Pakistani delegation to the UN.  He fought first for Indian Independence from Britain, and later for the division of Hindi Indian and Muslim Pakistan.  He was a devout Muslim from the Ahmadiyya Muslim sect.  Here is a section of what he wrote. I thought his ideas were curious, especially the section I have bolded below:

Islam means peace through submission to the will of God. I am a Muslim, that is, one who believes in Islam and hence submits himself to the will of God. I believe that all things proceed from God and depend upon him for support and sustenance. I believe He needs no support; He neither begets nor is begotten. He has no partner and no equal. I believe in God’s angels as the agency through which He communicates with His creatures, and I believe that from time to time that revelations from God have been delivered for the guidance of mankind. I believe in all of God’s prophets—Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Buddha, Krishna—and that the Holy Prophet Muhammad on whom be peace was the last law-bearing prophet.



I believe Jesus did not die upon the cross but was taken down from the cross and revived. Thereafter, he journeyed eastward, reaching to the scattered tribes of Israel and died in Kashmir, where his tomb is still preserved in Srinagar.


In all my studying I have never heard of this belief by anyone, much less a Muslin group.  Other than that, there are many similarities to what I believe and have read about world religions.  I sure wish people today would seek out those similarities and cooperate together with those as the foundations for friendships, alliances, and humanitarian works.  How much better off we'd all be, if that were the case.