Invitation to Ahmadiyyat — Page 346
346 doing. Their prayers are devoid of fervour and longing. The same is true of fasting. The reward of fasting, says the Quran, is God Himself; yet, those who profess the love of God do not seek His nearness through obligatory and voluntary fasting. Many profess the love of God but continue to usurp the rights of others, tell lies, make false accusations, and do not desist from back-biting. They say they love God but do not care to read the Holy Quran or try to ponder over its meaning. The way most people treat the Holy Quran is not the way they treat messages from friends. Who would leave unopened a letter received from a friend and not try to comprehend its meaning? The mere claim of love is not the same as true love. True love is always accompanied by action and sacrifice. In this age, such love can only be witnessed in the person of Promised Messiah as and in his followers. Ever since the Promised Messiah as attained the age of con - sciousness, he was filled with love for God and the Holy Prophet s as. From his earliest years, he was observant of the laws of the Shariah and was inclined to solitude. After his early education, his father wanted him to get employment, but the Promised Messiah as was averse to worldly pursuits and wanted to focus on the remem - brance of God. He belonged to a noble family and could have been offered a respectable official position, as his elder brother had been, but the Promised Messiah as was not inclined to it. It cannot be said that this was because of laziness or laxity because his subsequent life shows that few people could be as hard-work - ing and diligent as he was. An old Sikh resident of Qadian, despite his religious differ - ences, used to relate the following incident with tearful his eyes: ‘One day Mirza Sahib’s father sent me to persuade him to see some