Born Child

I understand the child, at the time of birth, is in consensus with the creator and his creation, he is obliged due to his innocence (which in materialistic form would mean ignorance) and is spiritually in covenant with God as witnessed by Quran. So literally he starts from ground zero to build his perfection and to attain proximity to God and hence is in submission (Islam) which leads to God.

For all the births that took place before the revelation of the Quran were on the same covenant with God, perhaps their obligations as adults were a bit different than the Ummah of Prophet Mohammad (P), which has an intellectual aspect to it.

There are various paths a person can adhere to, but 1 has the blessing of God, which is wholistically comprehensive and includes Sharia (The Law) and Tariqa (The explanation - which could emphasize of the necessity of an infallible vicegerent of God in all times), Quran ascertains that only Islam is accepted as a comprehensive way (term deen is used and not religion) to achieve the proximity of the almighty (In the era of Prophet Mohammad (P) Islam means the deen that reached its zenith).

It is later when the human becomes conscious of his surroundings, he is influenced by it in his decisions and beliefs and would establish his inclination towards a particular religion due to social impact or the availability of resources.

All the contemporary religions certainly do have a portion of truth but aren't comprehensive in nature (while Islam has the blessing of God) and people adhering to such religions can still know god (Knowing God and attaining proximity of God is philosophically different) through spirituality, although it lacks action and belief. Christianity and Judaism had its era and has been completed by current age path; deen-e-haq.

In terms of Sunni or Shia Islam, the question lies in the sources and explanation of these sources, if attained without human error would lead to God and truth which is absolute.

Not even being worthy of a student, I may be wrong and stand to be corrected.

Danish Ali Kazmi