The Need for Islam

It is foolish to imagine that religion means a few things that are mentioned in the Gospel. All matters that are essential for the perfection of man are comprehended within the scope of religion. Religion comprises all those matters which lead man from his wild condition to the condition of true humanity and then lead him from the condition of humanity to a life of wisdom and thereafter lead him from a life of wisdom to a life that is devoted to God.
[Kitab-ul-Bariyyah, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 13, p. 89]
 

There is no doubt that the Gospel does not provide for the full nurture of the tree of humanity. We are sent into the world with many faculties and every faculty demands that it should be used on its proper occasion. The Gospel emphasizes only the faculty of meekness and gentleness. Meekness and forgiveness are good qualities when exercised on the proper occasion but their use on every occasion would be greatly harmful. Our cultural life, which comprises the interplay of different kinds of tempers, demands that we should exercise all our faculties with discretion on the proper occasion. It is true that, on some occasions, forgiveness and forbearance would benefit materially and spiritually a person who has done us harm. On other occasions, the exercise of those faculties would encourage the offender to commit greater mischief and to do more harm.
 

Our spiritual life resembles our physical life to a large degree. It is our experience that the use of only one type of food and medicines would upset our health. If we were to confine ourselves over a period to the use of cooling articles of diet and refrain altogether from the use of warming articles, we would become a prey to some diseases like paralysis, Parkinson's disease or epilepsy. On the contrary, if we confine ourselves to warming articles of diet, so much so that even the water that we drink must be warm, then equally we would be liable to some other kind of disease. Consequently, in order to maintain our physical health we must keep a balance between hot and cold, hard and soft, and movement and rest. We should follow the same rule in respect of our spiritual health. God has bestowed no evil faculty upon us. Indeed no faculty is evil in itself; it is the misuse of a faculty that is evil. For instance, envy is evil but if we use it for a good purpose, that is to say, as a competition in goodness, it becomes a high moral quality. The same is the case with all moral qualities. Their misuse renders them harmful and their use on proper occasion in a moderate manner makes them beneficial.

It is, therefore, a mistake to cut off all other branches of the tree of humanity and to put the entire emphasis on forgiveness and forbearance. That is why this teaching has failed in its purpose and Christian sovereigns had to enact codes of law for the punishment of offenders. The current Gospels cannot bring about the perfection of the human self. As the stars are dimmed when the sun rises and then disappear from sight altogether, the same is the case of the Gospel in comparison with the Holy Qur’an.
[Kitab-ul-Bariyyah, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 13, pp. 66-67]
 

A study of the religions of the world reveals that every religion, except Islam, contains some mistake or the other. This is not because they were all false in their origin, but because after the advent of Islam, God gave up the support of other religions. They became like neglected gardens, which had no gardener to look after them, and for the irrigation and upkeep of which no arrangement had been made, so that gradually they began to decay. Their fruit-bearing trees became dry and barren, and thorns and weeds spread all over. Those religions lost all spirituality, which is at the root of all religions, and nothing was left but bare words.

God did not allow this to happen in the case of Islam, as He desired that this garden should flourish throughout. He made provision in each century for its irrigation and thus rescued it from decay. Although at the beginning of each century, when a man of God was appointed for its reform, the ignorant people opposed him and were averse to the reform of anything which had become part of their habits and customs, yet God Almighty adhered throughout to His way. In these latter days also, which is the time of the last battle between guidance and error, finding the Muslims heedless and neglectful in the beginning of the fourteenth century, God recalled His promise and made provision for the revival of Islam. But other faiths were never revived after the advent of the Holy Prophet [peace and blessings of Allah be on him] and they all died. There was no spiritual life in them and errors took root in them, as dirt accumulates in a garment which is much in use but which is never washed. People who had no concern with spirituality and who were not free from the stains of earthly existence corrupted these faiths to a degree that they no longer resemble the originals.

Consider the case of Christianity, how pure was its origin. The teaching set forth by Jesus was not perfect as compared with the teachings of the Qur’an, because the time had not yet come for the revelation of the perfect teaching and people were not yet strong enough to bear it, yet that teaching was an excellent one and was appropriate for its own time. It guided to the same God to Whom the Torah guided; but after Jesus, the god of the Christians became another god who found no mention in
the Torah and was not at all known to the children of Israel. Belief in this new god upset the whole system of the Torah and all the guidance contained in the Torah for deliverance from sin and attaining true salvation and a pure life was frustrated. Salvation and deliverance from sin now depended upon the confession that Jesus had accepted crucifixion for the sake of the salvation of mankind, and that he was the very God Himself. Many permanent laws of the Torah were abrogated and the Christian faith was so changed that if Jesus were to come back to the earth he would not be able to recognize it.

It is a matter of surprise that the people who were admonished to adhere to the Torah set aside its commandments at one stroke. For instance, it is nowhere stated in the Gospel that though the Torah forbids the eating of the flesh of swine yet it is now permitted, nor does the Gospel say that though circumcision is prescribed in the Torah yet that commandment is now abrogated. But all this was done and that which had never been said by Jesus became part of religion. However, as it was God's design to establish a universal religion, namely Islam, the decay of Christianity was an indication of the appearance of Islam.

It is also well established that Hinduism had been corrupted before the advent of Islam and that throughout India idol worship had become common. Part of this corruption resulted in the doctrine that God Who is not dependent upon matter for the exercise of His attributes is, according to the Aryas, essentially dependent on the availability of matter for the creation of the universe. This led to another false doctrine that all particles of mat ter and all souls are eternal and uncreated. Had they considered deeply the attributes of God, they would never have said so; for if in the exercise of His eternal attribute of creation, God is dependent on matter like a human being, then how is it that in the exercise of the attribute of hearing and seeing He is not so dependent as man is. Man cannot hear without the agency of air and he cannot see without the aid of light. Then is God also dependent upon light and air for seeing and hearing? If He is not so dependent, be sure that He is not dependent upon matter for the exercise of His attribute of creation. It is entirely false that He is dependent upon matter for the exercise of any of His attributes. It is a great mistake to attribute human weaknesses to God; for instance, that He cannot create something from nothing. Man's being is limited and God's Being is unlimited. By the power of His Being, He can create another being. This is the essence of Godhead. He is not dependent upon matter for the exercise of any of His attributes, for had that been so, He would not be God. Nothing can obstruct Him. If He were to desire to create a heaven and earth instantly, He would be able to do so. Of the Hindus those who, in addition to knowledge, partook of spirituality also and were not committed to bare logic, never believed that concerning God which the Aryas set forth today. This is the result of the lack of spirituality altogether.
 

All this corruption, some of which is unmentionable and is opposed to human purity, was an indication of the need of Islam. Every reasonable person is bound to confess that a short while before Islam, all other faiths had become corrupt and had lost all spirituality. The Holy Prophet [peace and blessings of Allah be on him] was a great reformer in the cause of truth who restored the lost verities to the world. No Prophet shares with him the pride that he found the whole world in darkness and by his advent that darkness gave place to light.
[Lecture Sialkot, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 20, pp. 203-206]