The Truth About Salvation — Page 8
Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad 8 of one’s deeds, since it is impossible for an individual to follow God’s commandments in their entirety. For this reason, God took the life of His son to redeem humankind for their sins. Islam too accepts that the attainment of salvation is dependent on divine grace. However, it also avers that everything has a cause from which it is derived and brought into existence. It is not possible for something to exist without a point of origin. Though in many instances people are not always aware of all of these causes, but their presence is irrefutable. It is also the case that sometimes the cause of something is another cause. By way of illustration, let us consider the case of an employer who contracts a labourer on a fixed daily wage. The harder the labourer works, the better he will be able to fulfil the obligations of his work. By being inactive, he might be acting dishonestly, but alternatively, no matter how hard his exertions, he would not have the right to ask for a greater wage, unless he worked overtime in which case he could ask for an appropriate amount of more pay. However, if the employer happily acknowledges the performance of his worker through a discretionary bonus, the supplementary payment would not be considered as part of his original wages, but would