The Essence of Islam – Volume I — Page 15
Islam the True and Living Faith 15 and thorns and weeds spread all over. Those religions lost all spirituality, which is at the root of all religions, and nothing was left but bare words. . God did not allow this to happen in the case of Islām, as. He desired that this garden should flourish throughout. . He made provision in each century for its irrigation and thus rescued it from decay. Although at the beginning of each century, when a man of God was appointed for its reform, the ignorant people opposed him and were averse to the reform of anything which had become part of their habits and customs, yet God Almighty adhered throughout to His way. In these latter days also, which is the time of the last battle between guidance and error, finding the Muslims heedless and neglectful in the beginning of the fourteenth century, God recalled His promise and made provision for the revival of Islām. But other faiths were never revived after the advent of the Holy Prophet [peace and blessings of Allāh be on him] and they all died. There was no spiritual life in them and errors took root in them, as dirt accumulates in a garment which is much in use but which is never washed. People who had no concern with spirituality and who were not free from the stains of earthly existence corrupted these faiths to a degree that they no longer resemble the originals. . Consider the case of Christianity, how pure was its origin. The teaching set forth by Jesus was not perfect as compared with the teachings of the Qur'an, because the time had not yet come for the revelation of the perfect teaching and people were not yet strong enough to bear it, yet that teaching was an excellent one and was appropriate for its own time. It guided to the same God to. Whom the Torah guided; but after Jesus, the god of the