The Land of Sheba
Surah 34, Saba
We sent you only universally to all people, a bearer of glad tidings [Gospel] and warner, but most people do not know. v.28
We think of the Gospel belonging to Christians, but in calling the message given to Muhammad ‘glad tidings’ he is being referred to as a bringer of the Gospel. In fact the Gospel is not limited to Jesus, Jesus picked up the Gospel message from John the Baptist — repent and believe in the good news/gospel, God is nearby (the Qur’an says, ‘as close as your jugular vein’, Surah 50.16).
Repentance is a strong message in the Qur’an, it is an ingredient of believing, believing in God is at the heart of every page. Believing is not I think or hope there is a God, it is putting oneself on the side of God and at God’s side (and of course God is on the side of everyone), or face to face with the Divine/Ultimate.
And what else could God be but good news? The good must outweigh the bad, which is not like some kinds of preaching which puts most of the effort into ‘proving’ that things are really bad for human beings before giving the good news. The good news has been compromised and diminished at this point. Of course, God has good news and it is not limited to one religion, or path, as we saw before (Surah 5: At Jesus’…
