Malfuzat - Volume IX — Page 321
25 July 1907 321 25 July 1907 The Faq i rs and Ascetics of Today The Promised Messiah as said: I am astonished that these days many people become ascetics, but they do not harbour any desire other than worship of their own ego. They are completely divorced from the essence of faith. They are also being corrupted by their desire for the same material world that the public is running after. They include practices in their worship that do not have anything to do with worship and are matters of materialism such as meditation, holding their breath, and incantations. A Hindu k a fir [disbe- liever] and a Christian idolater can also join them in these dis- ciplines and exercises, rather can advance further than them. The true ascetic is the one who completely separates himself from the corrupt objectives of the world and adopts a harsh life for himself; only then does he attain a state of divine cog- nizance and achieve the strengthening of his faith. Today, the children of p i rs and the successors of the saints either do not care about Prayer or observe it so quickly as if it is forced labour without stipend that has to be suffered and spend their time in self-made rituals that have not been prescribed by God and His Messenger. They have devised a chant called Arrah 1 that severely damages human lungs. Some people lose their minds in such laborious exercises and some simply die. The ones who lose their minds are taken by the ignorant as saints. The ways established by God Almighty to attain His pleas- ure are not insufficient. God Almighty is pleased with such actions in which man adopts modesty, virtue, and inclines 1. See footnote for Dhikr Arrah on page 11. [Publisher]