Arba'in — Page 134
134 their private parts and ears from unworthy acts. This is required and essential for their attainment of purification. ] In this, there is a command and a prohibition, and twenty-three years have passed since this revelation was received. Similarly, there are commandments as well as prohibitions in my wa hi even now. If you say that shariah means new commandments, then this is incorrect. Allah the Exalted says: 1 َّنِا اَذٰه يِفَل ِفُحُّصلا ىٰلْوُاْلا ۰۰ِفُحُص َمْيِهٰرْبِا َو ىٰسْوُم۰۰ That is, the Quranic teachings are also present in the Torah. If it is said that shariah contains the fully detailed accounts of the com- mandments and prohibitions, then this is not correct, because if the Torah and the Quran had included the full detail of the com- mandments and prohibitions, then no room would have been left for ijtih a d [interpretation, exegesis of Divine Law]. Hence, all these thoughts are vain and short-sighted. Our faith is that the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is Kh a tamul-Anbiy a ’ [the Seal of the Prophets], and the Holy Quran is the Kh a tam [Seal] of all Divine Scriptures. Nevertheless, God Almighty has not made it h ar a m [forbidden] upon Himself to issue through some other Appointee—for the cause of [spiritual] revival—commandments such as: do not lie, do not give false testi- mony, do not commit adultery, and do not kill. 1. This indeed is what is taught in the former Scriptures—The Scriptures of Abraham and Moses ( S u rah al-A‘l a , 87:19–20). [Publisher]