Mahzarnama (The Memorandum) — Page 22
22 Mahzarnama Islam, can be accomplished in two ways: Firstly, to accept God to be the only one Who is worthy of one's worship, one's sole objective and beloved, and none else should remain associated with Him in His worship, love for Him and fear of, and hope from, Him. And all decorum, commandments, injunctions and penalties which pertain to His glorification, His praise, His worship, as well as matters pertaining to the heavenly decrees, be accepted wholeheartedly. And all such injunctions, penalties, rules and divine decrees must be held in high esteem, in a spirit of complete self-abnegation and humility. Furthermore, all the eternal verities and pure depths of wisdom must be thoroughly explored which are a means to comprehending His limitless powers and a medium for understanding the lofty station of His dominion and kingdom, and which are a potent guide towards the recognition of His favours and His bounties. Secondly, the other way of devoting one's life in the way of Allah is that one must devote one's life in the service of His creatures in sympathy towards them, exploring ways to alleviate their burdens and genuinely redressing their griefs. So that one may undergo hardships in order to provide comfort to others, and accept pain for oneself to ensure pleasure for others. This discourse reveals that the essence of Islam is really magnificent, and no one can genuinely be given this noble title of being a Muslim until he hands over all his being: with all its faculties, desires, and intentions, to God, and unless he withdraws his hands from his egoism with all its antecedents, and takes exclusively to His path. So, therefore, one shall be called a Muslim in the real sense only when his life of careless abandon is transformed by a drastic revolution such that the entity of his ego that incites to evil ( nafs- e-ammaara ), along with all the emotions attendant upon it die readily, and after espousing this "death," on account of being "righteous, purely for the sake of Allah," a new life will kindle within him. It would be such a blessed life which would be shorn of everything except complete obedience to the Creator and