Malfuzat - Volume IX — Page 33
26 December 1906 33 of L ut as [Lot], the time of M u s a as [Moses]? Were the nations and settlements that perished at that time not human? They were also humans, and you, too, are humans, but when He saw that they did not desist and they denied the truth, His wrath ultimately descended and they were wiped out in a split second. But remember this and remember it well!! Simply a trifling statement that we have believed is not enough. God Almighty does not desire affirmation alone. He wants you to act upon what you have affirmed. Some people object why a certain per- son died from the plague whereas he had entered Bai‘at [the Pledge of Allegiance]. I say, ‘Am I answerable for why he died?’ He died because of the plague inside of him. Almighty Allah is not cruel at all. He protects His true servants, and distinguishes them from others. I am extremely surprised by those who, when faced with some affliction, say that they had taken the Bai‘at , and question why this affliction befell them. The ignorant do not realise that God Almighty was not cruel to them. What good can come about from a mere bai‘at and verbal declaration so long as the heart is not cleansed and a true bond is not estab- lished with Almighty Allah? Do they not realize that Almighty Allah had promised N uh [Noah], peace be on him, that He would save his fam- ily? But when his son was about to perish, Noah, peace be on him, supplicated and presented this point. What reply did God Almighty give? It was verily this that ‘Do not be ignorant; he is not of your family insofar as his conduct is not righteous’—as if to say he was a hidden apostate. If this was the response given to Noah as upon praying for his own son, then who else can there be who fails to foster a true bond with God Almighty and fails to reform his deeds and condition, yet desires the same treatment that is conferred upon those who are His sincere and faithful servants? This is utter ignorance and error.