Which part of the truth does Islam hold, as in the story of the blind men and the elephant?

Islam does not claim just one part. It obliges Muslims to believe in all the prophets of every people and every age, and so it takes in the whole picture.

The old story from India tells of six blind men who feel an elephant. One touches the trunk, another a leg, a third the ear. Each takes his part for the whole animal. The question applies this to religions. Each, it suggests, has touched only part of the truth.

For Islam this assumption does not hold. It explicitly claims to be a religion for all people. With such a claim it cannot pass over particular peoples or regions. It goes even further. According to the Holy Qur’an, God sent prophets not only to every part of the world but also in every age.

From this follows a duty found in this form only in Islam. A Muslim must believe in all the prophets of God, no matter when or where they lived. He may make no distinction between them and may belittle none of them. Belief in one's own prophet is not enough if one rejects the Messengers sent to other peoples.

Other religions also see themselves as universal. But such a claim only becomes credible when the religion's own teaching supports it. Whoever wishes to speak to all people must recognise that God has spoken to other peoples too. Islam makes exactly this a principle of its faith.

So in the picture no part of the elephant is left untouched. Islam sees the truth God gave to each people as parts of one whole that comes from the one God.