The Essence of Islam – Volume V — Page 122
122. Essence of Islam-V them with His converse and spur the growth of their spiritual knowledge and inform them directly of His existence. Now, in their blind belief, they merely beat the drum that hangs from their necks. And they do not possess an iota of spiritual knowledge based on personal experience. True, some of them hold the absurd belief that, though revelation may be received by the pious, there is no way telling if it is from God or from. Satan. Now it is obvious that a 'revelation' that can also be attributed to Satan, cannot be counted among the Divine favours that are beneficial to one's faith. . Instead, the dubious nature of such revelations, and their resemblance to the words of Satan, is a curse that can land someone in Hell. If God has accepted from any one of His صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمُ 3 the prayer servants and has admitted him into the fold of the blessed, then, in keeping with His promise, He must also have granted him a portion of the spiritual reward, which necessarily includes Divine converse. . This was something which would have provided people in this blind world an occasion to express their fury and wrath. So, for a helpless and lonely person like me, the confluence of all these factors meant apparent failure. Rather it spelled absolute disaster, for no aspect of it was at all favourable. The first requirement was money, but at the time of this Divine revelation, all our [landed] property had been lost, and there was not a single person with me who could 35 [Guide us on the path] the path of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy blessings. -Al-Fatihah, 1:7 [Publisher]