Lecture Sialkot — Page 66
66 L ECTURE S IALKOT Mi‘r a j he saw him among the dead. Alas! people still believe that he is alive and attribute such uniqueness to him as has not been attributed to any Prophet. These are the things that lend strength to the Christian conceit about Jesus’ so-called divinity. Many raw and half- baked minds stumble over such beliefs. I bear witness that God has informed me of Jesus’ death. Bringing him back to life now would be the doom of Islam. Holding on to this belief now is a sheer waste of time and effort. The first ever consensus ( Ijm a ‘ ) in Islam was to the effect that not a single Prophet from the past was alive. This is also evident from the verse: 37 May God reward Ab u Bakr ra manifold, who initiated this consensus and recited this verse from the pulpit. In conclusion, I would like to sincerely thank the Brit- ish Government which has so generously granted us religious freedom. It is due to this freedom that we are able to communicate the indispensable teachings of our faith. This is not a trivial benefit over which we should thank the Government only casually, rather our gratitude should be sincere and genuine, for had this great Government granted us an estate worth mil- lions and denied us this freedom, the value of the 37 Muhammad is only a Messenger. Verily, all Messengers have passed away before him. — A l-‘Imr a n, 3:145 [Publishers]