The Holy War — Page 179
Proceedings—Debate 31 May 1893 179 and it is indeed true that an action comes into being after its doer, but the justice that makes the law—whose work is the making of laws—is an eternal and permanent attribute and does not come into being temporarily nor can it disappear temporarily. And it is also not correct to say that justice has been executed when the damage remains and the sinner is freed. It should be made clear that the justice of this world is not true justice. In fact, it is the name of a mere system, and its purpose is not only that punishment should be perfectly dispensed, but that crimes should continue to decline. Can the murdered person be brought to life by executing the murderer? What does it matter to the murdered if the murderer is executed? This is not the system of justice of God. It is, instead, that till the damage of sin is not returned, freedom from the com- pensating punishment should also not be granted. Second— This, that you say is the way of attaining forgiveness according to the Holy Quran. First of all, you saying this is not per- missible because it is not possible that both being the Word of the One God could teach two such diametrically opposed ways; that doing good deeds could pay off the debt. Although it is indeed our responsibility that we do good deeds, but it is very strange to think that partial payment should be considered as full payment and, thus, the total debt declared fulfilled. For instance, a person owes 100 rupees, and after paying 25 rupees, he says that the loan is cleared. No sensible person will accept that a part is equal to the whole. Therefore, you should not mention the issue of good deeds until you can prove that through good deeds, one can clear all the debt; that is to say, one can become totally free of sin. Repentance and faith are indeed the outer gates of salvation—in other words, without these two, one cannot gain admittance into salvation—but they cannot be the door to the inner essence. If we kill a fly and then repent a hundred times, will it make that fly come back to life? And regarding faith, if we believe