Haqiqatul-Wahi (The Philosophy of Divine Revelation) — Page 195
POSTSCRIPT QUESTION (3) 195 were monotheists; why did they become deserving of punishment in the sight of God merely for rejecting and fighting the Holy Prophet? Question (3) Your Honour, the letter you wrote to ‘Abdul-Ḥakim says that faith based only upon natural instinct is something accursed. I am unable to understand what this means also. THE ANSWER: The sum and substance of what I have written is that faith, which is not acquired through the Messenger of Allah, and only exists in the case where human nature feels the need for the existence of God Almighty as is the faith of philosophers—generally ends up as accursed. Since such a faith is not free from darkness, those people soon slip from their faith into atheism. At first, they emphasize the book of nature and the laws of nature. But, unaccompanied as they are by the light of the lamp of Prophethood, they soon lose their way in darkness and are misguided. Blessed and secure is the faith which is acquired through the Messenger of God, for such faith is not confined to the extent that there is a need for the existence of God. Rather, hundreds of heavenly Signs carry it to the point that God does, indeed, exist. Therefore, the fact of the matter is that faith in the Prophets, peace be upon them, serves to fortify faith in God like pegs. Belief in God can only be sustained so long as one believes in the Messenger. When faith in the Messenger is lost, faith in God also suffers a blow, and mere belief in the Oneness of God readily leads one astray. For this very reason, I said that faith based only upon natural instinct is accursed. In other words, someone whose faith is based only on the laws of nature and who relies exclusively upon nature and does not par- take of the light of the Messenger deteriorates into accursed thinking. In short, whoever believes on the basis of nature alone and is estranged