Haqiqatul-Wahi (The Philosophy of Divine Revelation) — Page 131
POSTSCRIPT―RESPONSE TO SOME CRITICS' OBJECTIONS ІЗІ -even without them the no God the Prophets were sent to the world in vain¹*- task could be managed—and there was no great need for their advent? Were it true that a mere affirmation of the Oneness of God was enough, then by implication it would amount to a kind of shirk [association of partners with God] to require the addition of the words al jaúj jászó [Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allah] to [There but Allah]. The fact of the matter is that for those who think along these lines, it is a veritable shirk to pronounce [Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allah]. According to them, perfect Tauhid [Oneness of God] means that no other name should be joined with Him. Also, in their estimation, to be outside of the religion of Islam does not pre- clude salvation. For example, should all Muslims, in a single day, reject the Prophethood of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and, like misguided philosophers, consider Tauḥīd alone to be sufficient [for salvation] and imagine that they need not follow the Holy Quran and the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and reject them, even then-according to these people—all of them, despite being apostates, will attain salvation and, without a doubt, enter Paradise. It is not hidden from even a person with minimal intellect that since the days of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, up to now, all sects of Islam agree that, indeed, the essence of Islam is that just as a person deems God to be One without a partner and believes in His Being, Existence, and Oneness, so is it obligatory upon him to believe 1. Were it true that those who reject the Prophets, peace be upon them, and are their enemies would manage to get salvation on account of their imagi- nary Tauhid, then on the Day of Judgment, instead of those disbelievers, the Prophets, peace be upon them, will be suffering a kind of torment when they see their detractors and those who used to insult them seated on the thrones of Heaven and, like them, being in a state of bliss. Then, ridiculing the Prophets as, these people might well remark, 'We rejected and insulted you; but what harm did that do to us?'! Then the stay in Heaven would become bitter for the Prophets. (Author)