Let me first correct your statement about what the Qur'an mentions about the followers of Jesus Christ, peace be upon him. In the early Christian era, there was no question among Christians as to the humanity of Jesus Christ. He ensured that none of his followers was in doubt about his birth and his nature as a human being and a Prophet. To believers, the birth of Jesus without a father is a sign of Allah's greatness and grace. Moreover, it is very easy to accept. Allah created Adam without parents. It was just as easy for Him to create anyone of us with or without a meeting of the two sexes.

It was late in Christian history, round the third century, when the erroneous beliefs which claimed a divine nature for Christ were imposed. Moreover, they could not be imposed on the majority of Christians without determined opposition by many a noble and faithful Christian priests and laymen. Thousands of them were executed by Emperor Constantine whose conversion to Christianity spelled fundamental distortion of its beliefs.

As for Ezra or Uzair, the claim that he was the son of God is not widely known among the Jews of today. The fact that it is mentioned in the Qur'an is irrefutable evidence that some of them at least, especially the Jews of Madinah at the time of the Prophet, made this false claim. At the time of its revelation, the Qur'an was in direct confrontation with the Jews and Christians. Had the Qur'an claimed that they said something which was not widely known among them, they would have found such a claim easy justification for refusing to accept the message of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and they would have made use of it on the widest possible scale. The position of Uzair among the Jews is not inferior to the position of Moses or Elias. They claim that it was he who compiled the books of the Old Testament, introduced the use of Chaldean in place of the old Hebrew script, because most of the Jews were able to read Chaldean rather than Hebrew after they were released from bondage.

It is also well known among historian that the Torah which was revealed to Moses and which he wrote down and put in the ark of the covenant was lost long before Suleman's time. When the ark was opened at the time of Suleman, only two tablets were found there which contained the ten commandments. It was left to Uzair to write down the Torah in the Chaldean alphabet and language, mixed with traces of Hebrew. Some Jews suggest that Uzair wrote the Torah down as it was in its original version, by special inspiration from Allah.

No one dies before his appointed time, no matter how he meets his death. To suggest otherwise, is to say that some causes can overrule Allah's will or negate His knowledge. If a person dies as a result of a crime of murder, or dies in battle, or commits suicide, he dies at the time and place Allah has appointed for him long before his mother was born or the human race came into existence. It is totally unacceptable to imagine that Allah has determined that a person will die, say in the year 1415 but he kills himself tomorrow, when we are still in 1410. If he is to meet his death by suicide, then Allah would have had the fact recorded against his name long before he was born. Therefore, the whole question of his spirit doing one thing or another in between his actual and original times of death is absurd. There is only one time for his death and that is the actual time when he dies.

Moreover, Allah has chosen not to enlighten us about the spirit, its nature or destiny. The polytheists in Makkah asked the Prophet about the spirit, and he appealed to Allah to give him knowledge of it, but Allah instructed him to say :

"(Knowledge of] the Spirit belongs only to my Lord. You have been given only scanty knowledge." (17;85)

It is a classic argument by those who reject the divine faith to say that religion should only be concerned with personal and spiritual matters. Even at the time of the Prophet, the pagan Arabs were surprised that Islam wanted slaves to be treated kindly and not to be exploited. They said that would have adverse effects on productivity. To them, it was an economic matter which religion should not be concerned with. They were amazed that Islam tackled financial matters, laying down the system of Zakah and considering it a part of worship. To them, the detailed system of inheritance that Islam lays down was yet another example of religion going beyond its spiritual and personal concerns to enter a world which should be the exclusive reserve of human beings. That attitude is echoed today by those who say that the affairs of human life on earth are the concerns of man alone. Human beings can take care of their life through their institutions and the systems they choose to operate. If they have a democratic government, then parliament would issue their legislation, unrestricted by any religious value or consideration. If they have a dictatorial regime, then the dictator will impose his will, whether the people are happy with it or not.

This line of thinking was not peculiar to the Arabs at the time of the Prophet just as it is not peculiar to our own time. It has been echoed in all generations by those who opposed the call of Islam. They felt that Islam would take away from them the authority to conduct their affairs the way they want. Islam certainly does not approve that human affairs should be conducted in isolation from divine guidance. It wants human beings to defer to the principles God has revealed and the Prophet has expounded, and to establish their systems within that framework. They would have a wide room of choice, but the guiding principles would always be Islamic.

We need only to look at the history and learn about the situations that prevailed in different parts of the world to find out what different human systems have achieved. We note that every major social change that took place in Europe was achieved at a very high cost in human misery and human lives. This was the case when capitalism took over from feudalism, and it was also the case at the time of the Industrial Revolution. The privileges that workers enjoy in western countries today were not achieved through discussions between equals, meeting in a conference hall or a tea room. Every European country had to go through much strife before the welfare measures were put in place. You need only speak to any left-of-center politician in Europe to realize that these were the fruits of a very hard struggle fought over a long period of time.

The same was the case when communism and socialism took over in certain countries, such as in the former Soviet Union. Indeed, there was a great deal of trouble in the last few years, when the edifice of communism crumbled down.

All these changes were episodes in man's pursuit of a social system which ensures justice for all. That remains an elusive goal, which is always opposed by tyranny and dictatorship. That tyranny may take the form of the power of capital in the West or the dictatorship of the party of the individual in other countries, regardless of their level of development. There is simply no man-made system which has been able to eradicate social injustice. Even the welfare state that the Labor Party of Britain put in place after World War II experienced much abuse of privileges, giving rise to complaints on a wide scale and creating the need for change. When people prefer to live on social security benefits rather than work, then there is something basically wrong with the system. It is an aspect of injustice that a person is able to draw benefits though the system when he knows that he is not entitled to receive them.

All this injustice is the result of people turning their backs on God's guidance. True justice can only be achieved through the system God has revealed, because He has tailored it for the benefit of man, and there is no one to know what suits man better than God, man's creator.

We should ask ourselves: Why has God revealed a complete system, addressing all areas of human life, if it is true that man can manage his affairs well without any need for such guidance. Human history tells us that man has managed very poorly when he turned his back on God's guidance. He continues to achieve endless misery while resisting acknowledgment of the basic truth that he is in need of such guidance.

The aim of divine guidance is to serve human interest, to help man build a happy life in a community characterized by justice. That justice must be achieved at all levels, within the family, the local community, the social hierarchy and the political system. God says in a sacred Hadith: "My servants, I have forbidden Myself injustice and made injustice forbidden to you. Therefore, do not act unjustly to one another." Moreover, history proves that whenever human beings established their system on the basis of divine guidance and applied God's law, their achievements were great indeed. Take the example of the Islamic law of inheritance. Whenever it is applied, a family lives happily and everyone receives his or her share without trouble. When people try to evade the system, there is no end to family divisions and long-lasting quarrels. God has made the law of inheritance a detailed one because there is a need for financial matters to be precise. If your argument is that in certain areas there may be a need for some modification in order to suit different communities, God's law is so flexible as to be able to suit every community at every level of civilization. Islam lays down certain principles which provide a framework within which human society can operate. Within that framework we can choose to produce a social system to suit us. That is a great characteristic of Islamic law which enables it to be applicable in all communities. There is, however, a main requirement for Islamic law to be properly applied. The society which chooses it must be one which believes in God and the message of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. Islamic law can only be properly applied in a Muslim community.

Those who claim that Islamic law is outmoded simply do not know what they are talking about. They take a very superficial view, saying that since these Islamic laws were revealed fourteen hundred years ago, then they could not be implemented now. They totally disregard the fact that this law was made by the creator of man, and it is specific only in those areas which are shared by all human beings in all communities and at all times. In every area where human life changes, Islamic law provides only guiding principles, allowing the community to choose its system.