Our God — Page 42
42 fi t rah is not obscured or veiled by external influences will from time to time hear this voice rising from within, that he has a Creator. Even the fi t rah of those who have buried it under the veils of darkness and oblivion, under certain circumstances, sud- denly comes alive, and whispers this message into their ears. It has been observed many a time that even an atheist during periods of severe and sudden calamity starts calling out, O Allah or O R a m! One may say that it is because of habit; however, habits develop under the effect of circumstances. But it cannot be said that one who denies God and has insisted on denial for years and who regularly spits venom on believers in his utterances and writings might call on God out of habit. His habit is to revile God and abuse Him—not to call on His help. Thus, the words ‘O Allah’ or ‘O R a m’ suddenly coming out of the mouth of a confirmed athe- ist during a calamity cannot be anything but the voice of fi t rah. In fact, a calamity has the likeness of an earthquake: just as the latter sometimes unearths buried things, a sudden earthquake of calam- ities sometimes brings out the buried fi t rah of a man and exposes it. The same voice of fi t rah, which could not be heard earlier due to it being buried under thousands of veils, comes to light. Similarly, we see that when a person becomes older, his ears begin to hear the voices of his fi t rah more clearly. This happens for the same reason that during youth, man is beset by a multitude of diverse neglects and there is an abundance of worldly occupa- tion, and the passions, being astir, usually exceed the bounds of moderation. As one matures, however, passions wane, negligence evaporates, and one has more time at his disposal as worldly com- mitments decrease. At such a time, one’s fi t rah once again makes itself heard. You may go and observe that among the atheists the