Three in One — Page 71
vocabulary and such terminology has also been found perfectly acceptable and permissible in Islam. Hadeeth reports that. Hadhrat Muhammad sa stated: 'The creatures of God Almighty are His children and whosoever shows kindness unto His family is indeed His most beloved servant. 139. This statement does not propose to suggest that the creatures of God are His children in the literal sense. It merely demonstrates the regard in which Allah holds His creation and no one dare suggest that with this statement, Hadhrat. Muhammad sa committed blasphemy of attributing children to. God Almighty. Hence, the question which one needs to consider in the light of this statement is that if God holds His ordinary creatures in such high regard that Hadhrat Muhammadsa considered them to be the children of Allah, then how high a regard does He have for His commissioned apostles. This question has often been answered by some of Islam's most venerable personages. The renowned mystic sage, Hadhrat. Maulana Jalal ud Din Rumith declared: 140 'The apostles of God are symbolically His sons. 14. The revered Muhaddith of Delhi, Hadhrat Shah Wali Ullah. Dehlvi discussed the use of this appellation in religious vocabulary and stated: 'if God employs the word son for His beloved then one should not be surprised since it is not meant in the literal sense. " 141. Hadhrat Maulana Muhammad Qasim Nanautvith, the founder of the Nidawatul Ulama, the famous seminary at Deoband defended the permissibility of such vocabulary and explained: 39. 'Abd Allah, Hadhrat Sheikh Wali al Din Muhammad. Miskat al Masabih 40. Rumi, Hadhrat Jalal al Din, Mathnavi, vol iii, p. 13 41. Shah, Hadhrat Wali Ullah, vide. Al Fauz al Kabeer, p. 8 71