Fountain of Christianity — Page 66
66 forever closed, for in S u rah Al-F a ti h ah God has declared us to be the heirs to all the excellences of past Prophets and has called us 'the Best of Ummas'. There is no doubt that we have been granted greater faith in God’s beauty and benevolence—which is the fountainhead of love— than anyone else. The most ignorant and unfortunate among the Muslims are those who do not believe in His perfect beauty and benevolence. On the one hand, they tarnish the concept of God’s Oneness by declaring His creatures to be partners in His special attributes, 42 and 42 Muslims, particularly the Ahl-i- H ad i th, profess strong faith in Tau hi d , but, unfortunately, their condition fits the proverb, 'Spitting the gnat and swallowing the camel'. Can we really call them believers in the Unity of God when they believe Jesus as to be one and without partner, just like God is, and when they believe that he went to heaven in his physical body and will return to earth some day, and that he is the one who created the birds! The unbelievers repeatedly swore that if the Holy Prophet sa could only ascend to heaven in his physical body, they would at once accept him, but the answer given to them was * i. e. , tell them, my Lord never breaks His word, and I cannot go to heaven because He has promised ** and *** Are we to believe that God forgot this promise when He took Jesus to heaven, or are we to assume that Jesus was not a mortal at all? If Jesus did go to heaven in his physical body, it would inevitably follow, in the light of the Quranic statement, that he was not a human being. What is more, these so-called advocates of Islam have attributed even to the Dajj a l qualities which necessarily make him God. What a pity that they should profess Tau hi d and yet make such claims! [Author] * Ban i Isr a’i l, 17:94 [Publishers] ** Therein shall you live, and therein shall you die. —Al-A‘r a f, 7:26 [Publishers] *** And for you there is an abode on the earth. —Al-A‘r a f, 7:25 [Publishers]