Malfuzat – Volume X — Page 412
Malfuzat - English translation of Urdu Volume 10 412 The Reality of Sin The Promised Messiah, peace be upon him, had delivered his address to this point when a question was asked that, ‘Some people consider something to be a sin while others from a different country or some people from the same country do not consider it to be a sin or consider it to be a virtue. What would be the basis to decide between them?’ The Promised Messiah as said: It is clear from your statement that at least a controversy does exist. In this controversy lies victory for us. It does not behove a righteous and prudent person to follow controversial matters. For example, if a meal is placed before you, but then someone informs you that it may have some poison in it. Now you tell me, would you eat it? I do not believe that anyone who values his life would take even a single bite from it. It is undoubtedly true that an atheist adopts an audacious attitude. However, he should not assume that this matter will cause him no harm, and that he has been spared. The fact is that, just as there is a set time for a tree to produce its fruit, similarly every poison has a set time for its effects to become manifest. Some poisons show their effects instantaneously; others take minutes or hours, and some have a delay of many days. A wise person should look and see that so many hundreds of thousands of famous, renowned, exemplary, saintly Prophets and Messengers came into the world; what path did they estab- lish in the world? Well! Let me ask you yourself: what do the members of civilized society think of theft, lying, adultery, etc. ? You should realize that this difference of opinion itself indicates that those acts regarding which there is a difference of opinion are sins. The underlying disease is what needs to be cured. I contend that sin is such a thing that even a person who does not believe in the existence of God has a natural aversion