From the Followers of Torah and Gospel to Islam: True Submission vs. Symbolic Rituals

Hi everyone, I’ve been studying theology and historical religious practices, and I started to trace the path of true submission to Allah.

In the time of the Torah (Tawrat) and the Gospel (Injil), the original followers of prophets like Musa (Moses) and Isa (Jesus) were devoted to Allah. They followed His guidance faithfully, even though the scriptures we have today were not in their current form. Their worship, obedience, and moral conduct marked them as true servants of Allah in essence, they were submitting fully to Him, what Islam calls being Muslim.

During that period, some factual practices are clear: mikvah in Judaism was widely used for ceremonial purification, and John the Baptist (Yahya) existed as a historical figure who called people to repentance and moral guidance. He may have performed a water ritual for his followers, but this is not definitively proven, and the only sources mentioning it are the Gospels written decades later.

Historical evidence shows that Jewish communities did not necessarily recognize this ritual in the way Christianity later described baptism. If it occurred, it was likely symbolic, intended for spiritual preparation rather than a mandated act of divine purification. Prophets themselves were sinless and fully submitted to Allah, so such rituals were unnecessary for them.

Even within Christianity, baptism is inconsistent and debated. Some denominations, like certain Protestant groups, do not consider baptism central to salvation. Others practice infant baptism, while some insist on adult baptism upon profession of faith. This shows that baptism evolved over time, was human-driven, and lacked the clarity and consistency of divinely mandated acts. Rituals like baptism, therefore, remain symbolic, limited, and culturally influenced rather than a complete system of spiritual purification.

Centuries later, Islam came with the Qur’an, confirming the message of all previous prophets and guiding humanity in a complete system of spiritual and physical purification through wudu and ghusl. Unlike symbolic or inconsistent rituals, Islam makes submission to Allah intentional, repeatable, and directly tied to faith, obedience, and moral conduct.

This shows a clear continuity: the followers of the Tawrat and Injil were submitting to Allah, and Islam perfects and completes this guidance. Even if historical rituals like mikvah or baptism occurred, they were symbolic and culturally limited, while Islam provides a fully purposeful, divinely guided system for purification, obedience, and submission to Allah.

Sources: https://quran.com/5%3A48?store=false&translations=84%2C19%2C22%2C131%2C167%2C20%2C85%2C206%2C203%2C149%2C95&utm

https://corpus.quran.com/translation.jsp?chapter=3&verse=3&utm

https://www.ifta.org.uk/blog/islam-and-previous-scriptures?utm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikveh?utm

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-mikveh/?utm

https://www.thetorah.com/article/on-the-origins-of-tevilah-ritual-immersion?utm

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/news/mikveh-discovery-ritual-bathing-in-second-temple-period-jerusalem/?utm

https://bible.org/article/jesus-baptism-its-historicity-and-implications?utm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptism_of_Jesus?utm

https://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/didache-roberts.html?utm

https://shepherds.edu/immersion-in-the-early-church-baptismal-practice/?utm

https://www.gotquestions.org/origin-baptism.html?utm