I'm a Jain: why should I consider Islam?

Jains hold non-violence (ahimsa) to be the first vow, and they teach that each soul answers for its own deeds. The Svetambara Uttaradhyayana Sutra, in Hermann Jacobi's English of 1895, says that neither kinsmen nor friends will share a man's suffering. He alone has to bear it, for "the Karman follows the doer" (karma, the deeds that cling to the soul). The Digambaras keep a different set of scriptures. Both traditions agree, though, that non-violence is the first of the lay vows.

Islam shares the weight of each soul's deeds. The Qur'an says that every soul draws the reward of its acts on none but itself. No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another (6:164). Whoever has done an atom's weight of good or of evil will see it (99:7-8). Each person's own record will be laid open to him (17:13-14). Islam shares restraint too. Fasting is prescribed so that you may learn self-restraint (2:183). It shares mercy too. The Qur'an says of the Prophet (ﷺ), "We sent thee not, but as a Mercy for all creatures" (21:107). He said that a woman entered the Fire because of a cat she kept tied up. She neither fed it nor let it go to find its own food (Bukhari 3318). Islam is not the same as ahimsa, and a block below says where the two differ.

Jainism denies a Creator. The page "Do the Jain arguments against a Creator hold?" takes those arguments one at a time. The Qur'an describes One who is Allah (﷾), the Eternal, who begets not and is not begotten, and who has no equal (112). He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth. There is nothing whatever like Him, and He hears and sees all things (42:11). He is free of all wants, and it is we who need Him (35:15). He says, "No Sustenance do I require of them" (51:57-58). Yet He is close. He listens to the prayer of every suppliant when he calls on Him (2:186). He says, "Call on Me; I will answer your (Prayer)" (40:60). The page "If the Jinas do not answer prayers, who does?" asks who it is that hears. What Islam adds is not a technique. It is Someone to turn to.

The two great Jain traditions do not share one canon. Two pages set out, with sources, what the Jain traditions themselves say about their scriptures. They are "Were the Jain scriptures preserved?" and "Which Jain canon holds Mahavira's words?". Islam makes a narrow claim that can be checked. God (﷾) says, "We have, without doubt, sent down the Message; and We will assuredly guard it (from corruption)" (15:9). The page "How was the Qur'an preserved?" shows how.

Jainism teaches that a soul frees itself by its own effort. Islam commands effort, and weighs every deed down to an atom's weight (99:7-8). Its reason for adding mercy is this. Effort can stop a wrong from being repeated, but it does not undo a wrong already done. Islam holds that every wrong is done before God (﷾), and that He is the One who forgives. So it says no one is saved by deeds alone. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that no one's deeds will save him. Asked whether that included him, he said: not even me, unless Allah (﷾) covers me with His mercy. He then told them to do good deeds properly, sincerely and in moderation (Bukhari 6463). So effort is commanded, and mercy is what carries it. The door also stays open. God (﷾) says, "Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins" (39:53). The page "How is a Muslim saved? Do Muslims earn Paradise by good works?" sets it out.

The Uttaradhyayana Sutra speaks of the soul turning round and round in the Circle of Births (Uttaradhyayana 33.1, Svetambara). Islam teaches one life before the Day of Resurrection. The Qur'an says that every soul shall have a taste of death, and that to Allah (﷾) we must return (21:35). On that Day each person's own record is laid open to him (17:13-14). In Islam the one who did the deed is the one recompensed for it. The page "Is karma just?" takes up karma and rebirth.

Jainism honours monks and nuns for their vows. Islam has no separate higher path for those who leave the household. Three men once vowed to pray all night for ever, to fast every day without a break, and never to marry. The Prophet (ﷺ) told them that he feared Allah (﷾) more than they did. Yet he fasted and broke his fast, prayed and slept, and married (Bukhari 5063). So the householder and the worker can be close to God (﷾) in daily life. The Qur'an calls believers to enter Islam whole-heartedly (2:208), and says that God (﷾) has perfected the religion for them (5:3). Belief, worship, law, family and character are one way of life. The page "Why are there no monks in Islam, and no vows to stay single?" gives more. The page called What is Islam? shows it whole.

Here Islam and Jainism differ, and this page does not hide it. Islam permits eating the meat of cattle (16:5) and of animals slaughtered with Allah's (﷾) name spoken over them (6:118). It does not require anyone to eat meat, so a Jain who becomes Muslim is not made to. But no Muslim may count meat forbidden, since God (﷾) says, "make not unlawful the good things which Allah hath made lawful for you" (5:87). Islam commands mercy at the kill. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that Allah (﷾) has prescribed excellence in everything. So when you slaughter, slaughter well: sharpen the blade and spare the animal suffering (Muslim 1955). The page "Does Islam teach kindness to animals?" gives more.

Islam holds that God's (﷾) guidance was completed with the Qur'an. It asks nobody to take this on trust. The Qur'an invites the doubter to produce a sura (chapter) like it (2:23) and to look for discrepancy in it (4:82). If the Qur'an is from God (﷾), then its word that Muhammad (ﷺ) is the Seal of the Prophets (33:40) is His word. Islam does not ask you to mock Mahavira or any Jain. The Qur'an tells believers to invite with wisdom and beautiful preaching, and to argue in the way that is best and most gracious (16:125).

Islam does ask a real change, and it is better to say so plainly. Many Jains honour the Jinas with images in their temples. Islam asks that worship and prayer go to Allah (﷾) alone, and that no one be invoked along with Him (72:18; 40:60). It asks you to take your guidance from the Qur'an and the last Prophet (ﷺ), not from the Jain scriptures. It asks you to hold that there is one life and then the Day, in place of many lives. It does not ask you to stop caring for living creatures, as the mercy above shows. It does not ask you to look down on anyone.

Jainism and Islam both ask for restraint and for a reckoning. The question is where the road goes from there. Being good is the start, not the end. The Qur'an says that man is in loss, except those who believe, do righteous deeds, and urge one another to truth and patience (103:1-3). It says that every soul returns to Allah (21:35). Islam is a whole way of life: belief, worship, law, family and character together. The page on following the religion you were born into takes up family and tradition. Islam asks you to read the Qur'an in a translation you trust and to test it. Then ask whether Muhammad (ﷺ) is the last prophet God (﷾) sent (33:40).

A Jain can say that the Jina's teaching gives a complete road. It has non-violence, an honest reckoning of one's own deeds, mastery of the self, and right knowledge, faith and conduct. A Jain may add that he was born into it and that his family live it. So why look elsewhere?