The Essence of Islam – Volume III — Page 405
Repeated Challenges 405 and, on the other hand, whose faith is mere satanic illusion and whose claim of righteous life is a blind fantasy. . I believe that only that faith is true and acceptable to God which is supported by heavenly testimony and which shows signs of its acceptability to God; and only a life that is marked by heavenly signs can be accepted as righteous. If a mere claim were to be accepted, all people claim that many righteous ones have lived among them in the past and are present among them even today, and they cite examples of their works and miracles, the reality of which is difficult to ascertain. So if the Christians imagine that belief in the atonement of Jesus bestows holy faith and a righteous life, they should come forward and compete with me in the matter of acceptance of prayer and the manifestation of heavenly signs. If their lives are proven to be righteous by the testimony of heavenly signs, I then deserve every punishment and every type of disgrace. . I declare emphatically that, according to spiritual standards, the life of the Christians is utterly vile, and the. God of Holiness, Who is the Lord of heaven and earth, is as disgusted with their beliefs as we are disgusted with decomposed carrion. If I am false in this assertion, and do not have the support of God in making it, then let them settle with me in a gentle and courteous manner. I affirm again that the Christians certainly do not enjoy that righteous life which descends from heaven and illumines the hearts. It is true, as I have already stated, that some of them are good by nature, as indeed are some people from other faiths, but such natural decency is not what I am talking about now; because such people are to be found among every people, including the low castes. . What I am speaking of here is the heavenly and righteous