Malfuzat - Volume IX — Page 21
26 December 1906 21 The Essence of Kalimah T ayyibah I have made it known many times that you should not be con- tent merely upon being called Muslims and reciting هّٰللُّٰ ا هّٰللُّٰ ا اَلَّ ِ ا اَلَّ ِ ا َ اِلٰه َ اِلٰه اَلَۤ اَلَۤ [ L a il a ha illall a hu —‘There is no one worthy of worship except Allah’]. Those who read the Quran are well aware that Allah the Exalted is never pleased with verbal claims alone, nor can verbal uttering create any excellence in a person. Until one’s practical condition is not in order, nothing can materialise. A time had also come upon the Jews 1 that only insolent talk was left among them, and they depended only on verbal statements. They would say much with their tongues, but their hearts were filled with a variety of filthy thoughts and poisonous pus. This was the very reason that Almighty Allah unleashed different kinds of punishments upon that nation and subjected them to various afflictions, debasing them to the extent they became swine and apes. This is an occasion for reflection! Did they not believe in the Torah? Surely they did, and they were believers of Prophets as well. However, Allah the Exalted was not pleased by so triv- ial a fact that they professed belief solely through their words, while their hearts were at odds with their tongues. Keep this very well in mind! If someone verbally asserts that I believe God to be One without partner, and I believe in the Message of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and I acknowledge other matters of belief, yet should this declaration be limited to the tongue while the 1. From Badr: ‘The stories of the Jews are mentioned in the Holy Quran. Many great blessings of God Almighty were bestowed on them initially but when such a time came that their utterances were limited to mere words, and their hearts became filled with deception, treachery, and evil thoughts, then Almighty Allah sent various punishments on them. ’ ( Badr, vol. 6, nos. 1, 2, p. 11 , dated 10 January 1907)