English PDF - Ahmadiyya Gazette Canada

Islām has so balanced the differentattributes that no more perfectcombination could be imaginedwhich could attract and controlman of widely different natures.The attributes both of love andanger have been emphasized,subject to the assurance: ‘My mercyencompasses all things,’ that is, thatmercy overcomes anger, for theobject of the latter is to reform andnot to inflict pain.This is a supreme and perfectconception of God, and completelyanswers the real object of religion.Yet it is not distinctive of Islām.Most religions ascribe similarattributes to God, with slightdifferences. This causes superficialobservers to wonder why differentreligions should be opposed toeach other. The fallacy, however,that all religions present a similarconception of God, arises fromthe fact that most people, whenconsidering this question losesight of the workings of humannature. It is a characteristic ofhuman nature that it accepts orrejects certain things as a matter ofcourse, without any external aid orinterference. These things are saidto be self-evident, and althoughsome thinkers may not accept themas such, the mass of the peopleaccept them without question asthey become a second nature withthem, and nobody can hope toobtain any support for an assertionto the contrary. One of these thingswhich is almost unanimouslyaccepted by mankind is that Godis a Perfect Being Who is free fromall defects, and no religion whichasserts that God lacks perfection oris subject to shortcomings can everhope to obtain a hearing. Therefore,there cannot be much differencebetween the names or attributeswhich various religions ascribe toGod. Differences, however, arise inthe manner in which the followersof different religions explain thesenames and attributes. The apparentagreement as to these names is notdue to the fact that all religionsare agreed as to the attributes ofGod, but to the unwillingness ofthe mass of the people to acceptany other names in place ofthem. In comparing the merits ofdifferent religions, therefore, onemust consider the explanationswhich each religion puts forwardin interpreting these names orattributes.For instance, all religionsare agreed that Godis the Creator of theuniverse and that Heُenables each createdthing to progresswithin its own circle,but vast differences arerevealed between theteachings of differentُreligions with respect َto this attribute of God.As I am explaining theteachings of Ahmadiyyat,I proceed to state what Islāmteaches concerning this attribute. Itis obvious that this attribute meansthat God is not the Creator andSustainer of any particular class ornation, but that He is the Creatorand Sustainer of the whole universe,and that, so far as the attribute ofcreation is concerned, all men areequal and no nation can claim anyparticular relationship with God.He provides for the people of Asiain the same manner as He providesfor the people of Europe, and Helooks after the people of Africa,just as He looks after the people ofؤُ‏‏کَ‏ ‏ّرُ‏ ا ‏ل ذَل رَیذَ‏ یَ‏ ا ‏لْھُ‏ذَّل رذَ‏ا َ لْمُص ‏وَّرُ‏ ا ‏لْ‏ْ ‏ذَل ‏لَ‏ یُ‏ ا ‏لْ‏ذُ‏یُ‏ ا ‏لْ‏ ُ ا ‏لَْ‏ ‏ل یْما ‏لرَّر حا ‏لْ‏ یََّل رُ‏ ا ‏لْوََّل ذَ‏ یَّل America; and as He provides for ourphysical needs, so does He providefor our spiritual needs. On the basisof this principle, the Holy Qur’ān,at a time when the spirit of nationalexclusiveness was rife, and politicalprejudices were at their height andthe people of one country werenot even aware whether people ofother countries had any conceptionof prophethood, proclaimed:‘There has been no people inthe world but that God raisedamong them a Prophet for theirguidance.’(Al-Fātir, 35:25)At another place, it says:‘Verily, We have sentProphets to everynation with themessage, “worshipGod and do notlisten to the wickedand the rebellious,”and some of thembelieved by the graceof God, and othersremained in theirerror. So travelذَّا round the world andyou will find that Godhas sent His Prophetsto all nations and you willlearn the end of those who hadrejected the Prophets.’(Al-Nahl,16:37)It is related in one of the traditionsthat the Holy Prophet sa was onceasked whether God had revealedanything in the Persian tongue andhe replied, ‘Yes, God spoke to aProphet in Persian.’Consider, therefore, how Islāmhas, by offering this explanationof the expression Rabbul ‘Ālamīn,which is common to the followersof all religions, discovered tothe world a new truth, and laid10 The Islāmic Conception of God