Islam, the truth and living faith

Islam means losing oneself for the sake of God and surrendering one's own pleasure for the pleasure of God.

Religion does not mean disputes, abuse and harsh words which are indulged in, in the name of religion. In this context, no one pays attention to the suppression of inner vices or the establishment of true relationship with the Beloved. One party attacks another party like dogs and every kind of ill conduct is exhibited in support of religion. Such people do not realize why they came into this world and what is the main purpose of their lives. They continue blind and ill-natured and give their bigoted sentiments the name of religion. They exhibit their bad manners and employ their loose tongues in support of a fictitious god of whose existence they have no proof. Of what use is a religion which does not teach the worship of a Living God? The God that they present is no better than a corpse. He walks with the support of others. When that support is withdrawn, he falls to the ground. The only thing they gain from such a religion is bigotry. They lack altogether true fear of God and true sympathy with mankind which is the best of characteristics (Braheen Ahmadiyyah, Part IV, p. 19). Two conditions are necessary for a religion which claims to be from God. In the first place, a religion should be so comprehensive and perfect and complete and free from every defect in its doctrine, teachings and commandments, that reason should not be capable of proposing anything better; and there should be nothing lacking in it. It should be ahead of all other religions in this respect. The Holy Quran puts forward this claim by proclaiming: This day have I perfected your religion for your benefit, and have completed My favour unto you, and have chosen for you Islam as your faith (5:4). That is to say, God requires us to conform to the reality inherent in the word Islam. Here there is a clear claim that the Holy Quran comprehends the perfect teaching and that the time of the revelation of the Holy Quran was the time when such perfect teaching could be revealed. The Quran alone is entitled to make this claim. No other heavenly book has put forward such a claim. Both the Torah and the Gospel refrain from making this claim. On the contrary, the Torah sets out God's commandment that He would raise a Prophet from among the brethren of Israel and would put His word into his mouth and that whosoever does not lend ear to that word of God would be accountable for his default. It is obvious, therefore, that if the Torah had been adequate for meeting the needs of subsequent ages, there would have been no necessity for the coming of another Prophet, listening to whom was made obligatory. In the same way the Gospel has nowhere claimed that its teaching is perfect and comprehensive. But there is a clear confession that there were many things which had still to be said but that the disciples had not yet the strength to bear them but that when the Paraclete would come he would lead them to the whole truth. Thus Moses confessed the incompleteness of the Torah and drew attention to the teaching of the Prophet who was to come. In the same way Jesus admitted the incompleteness of his teaching and said that the time had not yet come for the perfect teaching to be disclosed but that when the Paraclete arrives he would set forth the perfect teaching. In contrast the Holy Quran does not, like the Torah and the Gospel, leave the matter for another book to complete but announces the perfection of its teaching in the words: This day have I perfected your religion for your benefit, and have completed My favour unto you, and have chosen for you Islam as your faith (5:4). . . . Here is thus a great argument in support of Islam that by virtue of its teaching it prevails over every religion and no religion can compete with it in respect of the perfection of its teaching.



The second characteristic of Islam, which is not shared by any other religion and which attests its truth, is that it manifests its living blessings and miracles of which other religions are wholly deprived. The signs that Islam exhibits not only establish its superiority over other religions but enable it to draw the hearts of the people by exhibiting its perfect light. The first characteristic of Islam which we have stated above, that is to say, the perfection of its teaching, is not quite conclusive in establishing that Islam is a true religion revealed by God. A bigoted opponent who is not far- sighted may assert that it is possible that a teaching might be perfect and yet it may not proceed from God Almighty. This first characteristic relieves a wise seeker after truth of many doubts and brings him close to certainty, but does not establish the matter conclusively and beyond doubt till it is combined with the second characteristic. By their combination the light of the true faith reaches its perfection. A true faith comprises thousands of proofs and lights but these two characteristics are enough to carry conviction to the heart of a seeker after truth and expound the matter to the satisfaction of all deniers of truth. Nothing more is needed in addition. I had originally intended that in support of the truth of Islam I would set down three hundred arguments in Braheen Ahmadiyyah. But on further reflection I perceived that these two characteristics are a substitute for thousands of proofs and thus God made me alter my plan (Preface to Braheen Ahmadiyyah, Part V, pp. 2-5).