Invitation to Ahmadiyyat — Page 176
176 (iii) That Islam has been changed and is it no longer beneficial for anyone to follow it. The third possibility is the correct one. The fact is that Islam’s effect on people’s lives is not limited to accounts told by people of the past; rather, the signs of the progress made by Muslims because of following the teachings of Islam are found in all corners of the world. Nor is it true to say that no one practices Islam today, for people still do follow the teachings of Islam as they understand them. Some people perform strenuous meditations and lose their lives in the process without gaining anything. The only possibility that now remains is that the concept of Islam has changed in people’s minds and, accord - ing to the following saying of the Holy Prophet s as , only the name of Islam has survived: 2 ٗ اسْمُہ َّ َم ِ اِل ال ْ لَم ْ یَبْق َ مِن َ الِْس A time will come when nothing will be left of Islam except its name. Due to the ages that separate us from the Holy Prophet s as , peo - ple have completely distorted the essential teachings of Islam. In its present form it cannot bring about in its followers the kind of transformation as it did in the past. Nor can it impress the minds of non-Muslims in the same way, except for some devout souls who might be drawn its obliterated ruins. In general, Islam no longer has the appeal that it once did. This is testified by this say - ing of the Holy Prophet s as : ۃ ً وَاحِدَۃ ً قَالُوْا مَن ْ ھِی َ یَا َّ مِل َّ ل ار ِ اِ َّ ۃ ً کُلُّھُم ْ فِی الن َّ ْن َ مِل ي ِ سَبْع َّ َث ٍ و ال تِی ْ عَلٰی ثَ َّ تَفْتَرِق ُ اُم 3 ْ ْہ ِ وَاَصْحَابِی ي رَسُوْل َ ہللا ِ قَال َ مَا اَنَا عَلَ