The Devotion of Life — Page 26
26 PROLOGUE By Chaudhry Hameedullah Sahib, Wakil A’la, Tahrik-e-Jadid, Rabwah, Pakistan The raison d’etre of religion is to establish a loving contact of man with his Creator, Allah the Almighty. The very word ‘Islam’ means, among other things, total submission to the will of Allah. But unfortunately followers of other religions, with the sole exception of Ahmadi Muslims, appear totally oblivious of this. For them, religion has become a grist to their mill of unworthy worldly pursuits. Those who claim to be religious have turned their backs to Allah and sadly use religion as a means of worldly gain, caring not the least for God. ‘Waqf Zindagi’ (the dedication of one’s life to the cause of Allah) is thus, or should be, the sole object of one who professes to be a true Ahmadi Muslim. He or she must realise that all the Prophets of Allah and their true followers were ‘Waqfin e Zindagi’ (Life Devotees). However, the greatest and the noblest of them all was our beloved Prophet, the Holy Prophet of Islam (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him). Testifying to this the Holy Qur’an says: ö ≅ è % ¨ β Î ) ’ Î A Ÿ ξ | ¹ ’ Å 5 Ý ¡ è Σ u ρ y “ $ u ‹ ø t x Χ u ρ † Î A$ y ϑ t Β u ρ ¬ ! É b > u ‘ t ⎦⎫ Ï Η s >≈ y è ø 9 $ # ∩⊇∉⊄∪ ‘Say, ‘My prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are all for Allah, the Lord of the worlds’”. (6:163) The Promised Messiah (peace be upon him), too, following the example of his noble Master (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) totally submitted himself to the will of