Real Revolution — Page 41
41. Divine protection, so that it is continually capable of rejecting and throwing out interpolations through the agency of servants of God raised for this special purpose. But after the period a dispensation is intended to serve has ended, the Divine scheme no longer takes notice of errors creeping into it. For instance when we have an old garment in the house which is no longer servicable, we do not mind if the children get hold of it and tear it to pieces or make a bonefire of it to amuse themselves. Similarly. God allows people to interfete with a set of Divine teaching only when it is no longer needed, and when a new set of teaching is called for. . Thus, a Divine teaching goes through these two phases: (i) when no longer capable of serving the needs of the time, it is replaced with a better teaching - better becuse it meets the requirements of the new situation. The expression: نَأْتِ بِخَيْرٍ منها i. e. , (We bring a teaching better then it) referes to this aspect. (ii) Or the teaching is still suited to the needs of the time, but the people ignore it and set up an order opposed to the spirit of the. Divine teaching. In these latter cases, no new teaching is called for; all that needs to be done is to revive the old teaching in all its purity. This is . أَوْ مِثْلِهَا implied in the expression