如果人类最根本的存在需求是认识独一的真主并与祂建立有意义的关系,那么只有关于真主及其独一性的最纯粹信仰,才能吸引他们。皮尤研究中心(Pew Research Center)的人口统计分析师在探究伊斯兰教为何被预测为世界上增长最快的宗教时发现,“更认同伊斯兰教的信仰/在伊斯兰教中找到更多意义”和“学习伊斯兰教/阅读其宗教经典”,实际上是人们皈依伊斯兰教的两大主要动因。这并不令人意外。当人类将自己视为有目的的造物时,自然应当认为,没有谁比创造并设计他们的那一位更能告知他们的目的。对这些人来说,也可以推出,一位至智、至慈的存在必定已将这一目的传达给他们,因此“神圣启示”式的宗教模式,或前文讨论过的“受天启的使者”模式,才拥有持久的吸引力。在人类探求认识真主的古老历程中,我们面前只剩两条路:一是有局限的哲学,它们无法回答人们最迫切的问题,即什么使生命有意义;二是将探索范围缩小到“亚伯拉罕诸宗教”,这些宗教在理论上都承认真主的独一,但此后便各自分道扬镳。归根结底,伊斯兰教独特强调真主的独一及其荣耀,使它区别于一方面将真主视为偏袒单一血统的部族神的传统犹太教,另一方面将真主视为接受信仰宣称以代替正义善功的简化论者的主流基督教。正如查尔斯·勒盖·伊顿(Charles Le Gai Eaton,逝世于……)所言 2010年），这位英国外交官和伊斯兰学者就这一点写道：在穆斯林看来，犹太教将一神信仰“民族化”了，把它据为一个民族独有；而在基督教中，耶稣的位格仿佛遮蔽了神性，正如月亮遮蔽太阳；又或者说：犹太教使这一神信仰稳固下来，为它提供了家园和军队，但同时也将它据为己有；基督教使真理普世化，却也将其稀释了。伊斯兰则完成了这一循环，恢复了易卜拉欣信仰的纯净，在它的宇宙中赋予穆萨和尔撒以尊崇的地位，并抓住了一神信仰的精髓——专一地崇拜独一之主，以及神圣的独一在个人与社会的平衡中的映照——即一切相反力量之间、人类经验不同层面之间的平衡。
If humanity’s greatest existential need is to identify the one true God and develop a meaningful relationship with Him, then only the purest belief about God and His uniqueness will attract them. When demographics analysts at Pew Research Center investigated why Islam is projected to be the fastest growing religion in the world,170 they found that “preferring the beliefs/ finding more meaning in Islam” and “studying Islam/reading its religious texts” are in fact the two primary motivators for converting to Islam.171 This should not be surprising. When humans see themselves as purposeful creatures, it should follow for them that there is none better than the One who fashioned and designed them to inform them of their purpose. It also follows for these people that a supremely wise, supremely merciful being would have communicated that purpose to them, and hence the undying appeal of the “divine revelation” model of religion, or that of “heavenly inspired messengers” as discussed earlier. From this juncture in the ancient quest to know God, we are left with either limited philosophies that fall short of answering people’s most pressing questions on what makes life meaningful, or the search is narrowed to the “Abrahamic faiths” which agree on the oneness of God in theory but diverge thereafter. Ultimately, it is the unique emphasis of Islam on the Oneness of God and His glory that separates it from traditional Judaism which posits God as tribalist with partiality for a single bloodline, and mainstream Christianity which posits God as reductionist who accepts claims to faith in place of righteous works. As Charles Le Gai Eaton (d. 2010), the British diplomat and Islamic scholar, wrote on this point, In the Muslim view, Judaism ‘nationalized’ monotheism, claiming it for one people alone, while in Christianity the person of Jesus as it were eclipsed the Godhead, just as the sun is eclipsed by the moon; or again: Judaism stabilized this monotheism, giving it a home and an army, but at the same time confiscated it; Christianity universalized the truth, but diluted it. Islam closed the circle and restored the purity of the faith of Abraham, giving to Moses and Jesus positions of pre-eminence in its universe and seizing upon the quintessential nature of monotheism, single-minded worship of the One, and upon the reflection of the Divine Unity in personal and social equilibrium--a balance between all contrary forces and between the different levels of human experience.