Claims and Teachings - Ahmad The Promised Messiah and Mahdi — Page 151
151 over the hearts of men is quite loosened and the fear of God has utterly vanished away. The heavenly light by which a man can distinguish between truth and falsehood is almost extinguished in most hearts and notwithstanding the outward religious fervor, atheism is gaining ground day by day. The tongue, no doubt^ utters the name of God but agnosticism has taken a deep root in the heart. The inner life of the people bears testimony to this faofc. Every profession is made with the lips but not one of these is carried out in practice- I am speaking generally and do nob mean to attack any person who may be really leading a righteous life. In general, however, it is perfectly true that the real object of religion is lost sight of altogether. Actual holiness of the heart, true love for God, real sympathy with man, meekness, mercy, justice, lowliness, and all other noble moral qualities, piety, purity and righteousness which is in fact the soul of religion, are most of all neglected, and the hearts of men are generally dead to those. What a sad picture of religion that while religious quarrels and controversies are becoming more and more frequent day by day, and great fuss is made about the name of religion, the real worth of it is not cared for and spirituality is becoming a thing of the past ! ,' The aim and end of religion is to know the true and living God who 'created the world, to attain to that stage of perfection in His love at which the love of others besides Him is completely consumed, to have full sympathy with His creatures and to lead a life of true and perfect purity. But I see that this aim is utterly neglected and the majority of religious creeds is in fact some one or other form of atheism. Almighty God is not known and re- cognised, and hence the increasing boldness upon the commission of sin. For, it is plain that unless we have knowledge of a thing, there is no love or fear of it on our part. The prevalence of sin