Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part V — Page 55
S IGN S OF T HE T RU E FAIT H 55 view there is no other way to be cleansed from sin during this life except through undergoing diverse cycles of rebirth. Repentance—meaning, to turn oneself to God with total sincerity and inflicting upon oneself a state of death, and, having inflicted this death-like state, to willingly offer one’s own sacrifice—is, in their eyes, an absurd idea. Thus, both these groups are deprived of the true path. The A ryas face additional difficulties, for they have no way open for acquiring certainty about God Almighty—neither through rational means, nor through heavenly means. The rational means are unavail- able to them because they believe that souls, with all their powers, are self-subsisting, and all the particles of the universe, with all their prop- erties, are self-existing. Then which rational argument remains to sup- port the existence of Parmeshwar? For, if everything exists on its own, then what is there to prevent them from combining and dividing them- selves on their own as well? So this religion is very close to atheism, and if God does not destine these people to repent of their erroneous path, some day they will all end up becoming atheists. Likewise, they are incapable of recognizing God through heavenly means, since the heav- enly means consist of heavenly Signs that serve as fresh proof for the existence of God. These Signs are continuously witnessed by one who believes in the Living God and is fully convinced of His control over all things, but these people [the A ryas] are in complete denial of any such Signs. Therefore, both doors that lead to divine cognition are closed to them. Although they do show a lot of bigoted zeal in religious debates and are even a few steps ahead of the missionaries in verbal abuse, vilification, and sharpness of tongue, they are totally bereft of divine cognition. For, Almighty God is first recognized rationally through His power of creation, but according to them, Almighty God is not the Creator and, hence, they have no proof of His existence insofar as created things are concerned. The other means of recognizing Him is through heavenly Signs, but they deny even these and are utterly igno- rant of this path. They cling to the word Parmeshwar without being aware of His existence. Alas, these people do not realize that although