Blessings of Khilafat — Page 73
73 beneficial as well as those that detrimental. For this reason, it instructs us to do something only when the advantages exceed the disadvantages. It also advises us to shun those things whose negative aspects are more than the positive ones. All of the world’s enterprises move according to this doctrine. Every single person opts for that which carries greater benefit and avoids that which is likely to cause risk or damage. Therefore, you should judge politics on the same principle. Politics, in itself, is not a bad thing at all. But, our point of view is that a thing lawful at one time can become unlawful at another. For instance, through prayer one attains nearness to God, but sometimes the same person becomes Satan by offering the same prayer at sunrise or sunset. In such a situation, he becomes Satan rather than attaining nearness to God. God says that He Himself becomes the reward for a person who fasts for His sake, but the Holy Prophet sa has said that those who fast on the Eid day are Satans. So, although fasting for the sake of God is indeed a great form of worship, to fast on the Eid day has been declared a satanic act by the Holy Prophet sa. It is obvious that a thing which is good at one time can become bad at another. For instance, if someone suffering from backache requests someone else to massage his back to relieve the pain and thereby receive a reward in return, the massager will surely get a reward; but if someone is busy speaking to some gathering and his servant while sitting to his back starts massaging him, then could you anticipate the treatment the servant will get from his master? The servant will be punished, because everything is meant to be done at its appropriate time. In other words, something which is considered to be bad at one time can become good at another. The reason why the Promised Messiah as forbade his Jam a ‘at from taking part in politics was that