The Essence of Islam – Volume III — Page 161
Prophethood in Islam 131 161 posed to qāl. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who was the first teacher of the. Holy Qur'an and the true heir of its teaching, demonstrated its teachings to his companions by his own practice and example. For instance, the Divine affirmation that He knows the unseen, accepts prayer, has power to do all that He wills, leads His seekers to the true light, sends His revelation to His sincere servants, and causes. His spirit to descend upon whomsoever He wills out of. His creatures, are all matters that can be understood only through the example of the teacher himself. . It is obvious that the superficial clerics, who are themselves blind, cannot illustrate these teachings. On the contrary, they teach that all these matters have been left behind and can no longer be experienced. Thus they create doubts in the minds of their disciples concerning the greatness of Islām. They teach that Islām is no longer a living faith and there is no way now to discover its true meaning. It is obvious, however, that if God Almighty designs that His creatures should always drink from the spring of the Holy Qur'an, He would have made provisions for it as He always done. Had the teachings of the. Holy Qur'ān been limited, as the teaching of an experienced and right thinking philosopher is limited, and did it not comprise the heavenly teaching which can only be demonstrated by practice, then, God forbid, the revelation of the Qur'ān was needless. But I know that if one were to reflect upon the distinction between the teaching of the Prophets and the teaching of the philosophers, assuming both to be true, the only distinction that would be 131. Häl here means the practical demonstration of faith, as opposed to qāl, which connotes only verbal acceptance. [Publisher]