Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part IV — Page 239
Footnote Number Eleven 239 Wisdom would respond to him, ‘O ignorant one! Seek first صراط مستقیم [ s ir at -e-mustaq i m ], and then all of this will be given to you easily. ’ Hence, the primary prayer which the seeker after truth urgently needs is the prayer to seek the attainment of صراط مستقیم [ s ir at -e-mustaq i m ]. Obviously, our opponents are bereft of adopting this verity as well. As for the Christians, they only ask for their daily bread in every prayer. Even if they come to church after eating to their fill, they still ask for bread, pretending to be hungry. In other words, their prime objective is bread, and nothing else. The A ryah Sam a jists and their idolatrous brothers recite various Vedic prayers to escape the cycle of life and death through reincarnation which is inevitable according to their false notions, but they do not pray to God for the straight path. Besides, Almighty Allah has used the plural in this verse, indicating thereby that not a single person is forbidden from seeking guidance and receiving divine bounties. But according to the doctrines of the A ryah Sam a jists it is not permissible for a sinner to seek after guidance; God will defi- nitely punish him, and it is equal for him whether he be guided or not. The Brahm u Sam a jists do not have much of a belief in prayer; they constantly dwell in the pride of their intellect. They also maintain that it is not necessary to have a particular prayer for obedience and worship, and man is free to pray as he pleases. This, however, proves their sheer ignorance. It is obvious that although one is beset with a multitude of minor needs, the primary need one should be concerned with day and night, and at every moment, is only that one should seek deliverance from the various veils of darkness and reach the perfect cognizance of the Divine, so that not a trace of any kind of blindness, inner sightlessness, disinterest, or disloyalty should be left, and that one should recognize God fully and, being filled with His pure love, should attain the stage of union with the Divine, upon which depends one’s perfect bliss. This is the prayer that man needs most and upon which depends his entire good fortune. In order to achieve it, the straight path is that