Haqiqatul-Wahi (The Philosophy of Divine Revelation) — Page 814
814 AL-ISTIFTA' SUPPLEMENT TO HAQIQATUL-WAḤI witness the Signs of Allah and yet you reject them; and you see the sun of truth in front of your very eyes, yet you are not convinced? O people! Allah's argument has been clinched against you; so, whereto do you flee? And certainly His Signs have appeared from all sides. Islam has descended into the cave of banishment and its com- mandments are not being practised. Every calamity has descended upon it, every affliction has exposed its canine teeth for it, and every misfortune has opened its door to it. The sixth millennium, during which the Messiah was promised to appear, has already passed. So what do you think? Did Allah go against His promise or did He fulfil it? Do you not see how all nations have united against this Religion? They have attacked it together like a pack of wild beasts that emerges suddenly from behind a single cluster of trees. Islam has become like a lonely outcast and the target of every transgressor. It is Ïd [Eid] for the opponents, but ours is the moon of Dhul-Qa'dah. ¹ We sit in utmost fear and terror, as if vanquished by the disbelievers. They malign our religion and their taunts are worse than the attacks of spears. In the face of all that, my Lord appointed me at the turn of the cen- tury. Do you think that He sent me without necessity? By Allah, I see that the need [for my advent] is greater than in previous times. Good for- tune has disappeared like a slave who has fled. Islam was like a man with a wonderful physique and handsome face but now you will see the ugliness of religious innovations and the wounds of fabricated rituals on its face. And its robustness has turned into frailty, the clear water of its spring into murky water, its light into darkness, and its mansions into wastelands. It has become like a home with no inhabitants, or like a honey- comb with nothing left in it except the bees. How can you imagine that 1. Meaning, our opponents are rejoicing in launching assaults against us and re- joicing in what they do, but we have been prohibited from responding in kind. Therefore, our position is as if we are passing through Dhul-Qa'dah—one of the four Islamic months in which fighting is forbidden by God Almighty. [Publisher]