An Introduction to the Hidden Treasures of Islam — Page 350
350 as the touchstone for a living religion. These are found only in Islam, and all the rest of the religions, whether A ryah Sam a j, Christianity or any other religion, are bereft of it. This book was written in one week and was ready for distribution before the annual gathering of the A ryah Sam a j scheduled for February 28, 1903, in Qadian. Specimen of Writing The true purpose of adopting a faith is that one should acquire such certainty concerning God, Who is the fountainhead of salvation, as if one can see Him with one's eyes. The wicked spirit of sin seeks to destroy a man and a person cannot escape the fatal poison of sin till he believes with full certainty in the Perfect and Living God and till he knows for certain that God exists, Who punishes the offender and Bestows upon a righteous one every lasting joy. It is a common experience that when one believes in the fatal effects of anything one does not have recourse to it. For instance, no one swallows poison consciously. No one deliberately stands in front of a wild tiger. No one deliberately thrusts his hand into the hole where theres is a serpent. Then why does a person commit sin deliberately? The reason is that he has not that certainty in this matter as he has in other matters of the kind that we have mentioned. The first duty of a person, therefore, is to acquire certainty with regard to the existence of God, and to adopt a religion through which this certainty can be acquired so that he should fear God and shun sin. How can such certainty be acquired? It cannot be acquired through mere stories. It cannot be acquired through mere arguments. The only way of acquiring certainty is to experience God repeatedly through converse with Him or through witnessing his extraordinary signs, or by keeping company with someone who has that experience. ( Nas i m-e-Da‘wat, p. 81, R uha n i Khaz a’ in , vol. 19, p. 447)