The Essence of Islam – Volume I — Page 12
is a living faith. A person who can distinguish between the living and the dead, how can he set aside Islām and accept a dead religion? [Ḥaqiqat-ul-Waḥī, Rūḥānī Khazā'in, Vol. 22, pp. 180-181]. Progressive Development by Following Islam. When I reflect upon the Holy Word of God, I find that in its teachings it seeks to reform the natural conditions of man and to raise him step by step to higher spiritual levels. In the first place God desires to teach man the elementary rules of behaviour and culture and thus to change him from the wild condition of animals, and then to bestow upon him elementary moral conditions which can be described as culture or civilization. Then He trains him and raises him from the elementary moral conditions to a high moral stage. All this is in truth one stage, which is the reform of natural conditions, and the only difference is one of degree. The All-Wise One has presented the moral system in such a way whereby man should be able to move from a lower moral level to a higher moral level. The third stage is that man should be devoted to winning the true love and pleasure of his Creator and the whole of his being should be devoted to God. It is at this stage that the faith of Muslims has been named Islām, which means to be wholly devoted to God and to keep nothing back. [Islāmī Uşūl ki Philosophy, Rūḥānī Khazā'in, Vol. 10, p. 324]. The Need for Islām. It is foolish to imagine that religion means a few things that are mentioned in the Gospel. All matters that are essential for the perfection of man are comprehended