The Essence of Islam – Volume III — Page 159
Prophethood in Islam 159 the commandment 127 كُونُوا مَعَ الصَّدِقِينَ necessitates the pres- ence of the truthful at all times. Besides, observation confirms that the learning and knowledge of those who do not seek the company of the righteous does not help to rid them of their physical pas- sions, and that they do not achieve even that minimum status in Islām which generates the certainty of belief that God does indeed exist. They do not believe in the exis- tence of God with the same certainty as they feel with re- gard to their wealth, which is locked in their boxes, or about the houses which they own. They dread swallow- ing arsenic, as they are certain that it is a fatal poison, but they do not dread the poison of sin, though they read in the Holy Qur'an: إِنَّهُ مَن يَأْتِ رَبَّهُ مُجْرِمًا فَإِنَّ لَهُ جَهَنَّمَ ، لَا يَمُوتُ فِيهَا وَلَا يَحْيَى 128 The truth is that he who does not recognize God Al- mighty cannot recognize the Holy Qur'an. It is true that the Holy Qur'an has been revealed for guidance, but the guidance of the Qur'an is bound up with the personality of the one to whom it was revealed or of one who is ap- pointed his substitute by God. Had the Qur'an alone been enough, God Almighty had the power to have the Qur'an inscribed on the leaves of trees or could have made it de- scend from heaven in the form of a book, but this was not what He did. He did not send the Qur'an into the world till the teacher of the Qur'an had been sent. You will find that at several places the Holy Qur'ān affirms: يُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتٰبَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ 129 127 Ibid. 128 Verily, he who comes to his Lord a sinner for him is hell; he shall neither die therein nor live. ' Tā Hā, 20:75 [Publisher]