Invitation to Ahmadiyyat — Page 208
208 difference? The Holy Prophet s as himself said in explanation of the teachings of the Holy Quran about Heaven and Hell: 28 ك ُ اَبْوَابَھا ِّ بَا تُحَر َّ ْم ُ الص ي ِ ْھَا اَحَد ٌ و َ نَس ي ِْس َ ف ي م َ زَمَان ٌ لَ َّ یَا ْ تِی ْ عَلی ٰ جَھَن A time will come when no one will be left in Hell, and the morning breeze will blow rattling its windows and doors. In addition to the pillars of faith, there was also a lot of distortion in the practical aspects of Islam. Some had started stressing permis - siveness and believed that so long as a person recited the Kalimah, ‘There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is His Messenger’, he was free to do anything he liked. They said that if they did not sin, how then would the Holy Prophet s as intercede on their behalf ? Others preached that the Shariah is not the objective, it is rather like a boat that leads to God, and that once a person has found God he had no further use for religious ordinances. Others thought that religious duties had been ordained as external symbols of internal states. They claimed that the external aspects of the law were stressed in the time of the Holy Prophet s as because people at the time were uncultured and primitive, but since mankind has now evolved into a state of knowledge and understanding, it is no longer necessary to stick to those external formalities. If a person observes cleanliness, remembers God in his heart, cares for the community, helps the poor, is moderate in eating and drinking, participates in patriotic activities, etc. , he has no need to observe the five-daily prayers or fasting, or give Zakat, or perform the Hajj. Others go to the other extreme and say that Muslims are obli - gated to follow the example of the Holy Prophet s as down to the