The Criterion for Religions — Page 20
20 Mi'yiirul Madhahib ( 1) The first is that the ultimate reason for the cruci- fixion of 'the son' was to encourage his followers to commit sins, and to freely spread sinfulness, impiety and every kind of evil with the help of Atonement. This position is obviously untenable for it is the way of Satan, and I do not believe that anyone in the world would opt for this sinful path or consider the founder of such a faith to be pious who has thus induced the common man to indulge in sin. Experience shows that such beliefs are only held by those who are deprived of true faith and morality, and wish, for their own selfish motives, to cast other people into a life of sin as well. They are in fact like the roadside fortune- tellers who lure and deceive passers-by, and by charg- ing a paltry sum, reassure the poor fools in comforting tones that fortune is about to smile on them. Pretending to be true scholars they closely study the lines on people's hands and their facial fea- tures, as if looking for certain signs. After turning the pages of a book, which is placed there expressly for this trickery, they assure the client that his great star of fortune is about to shine; and that he will very probably become the king of a country or at least a minister. The people who are intent on making a per- son 'the recipient of divine favours' despite his chronic impurities, are like the alchemists who, when they come across a simpleton who also happens to be