The Light of the Holy Qur'an — Page 76
T HE L IGHT OF T HE HOLY Q U R’AN—NUM BE R T WO T HE L IGHT OF T HE HOLY Q U R’AN—NUM BE R T WO 76 and the prevailing norms of society. They are not subject to inves- tigations in the manner of philosophers. As for your repeated mention of the British government, it is absolutely true that we are grateful to the British government and are its well-wishers and will remain so as long as we live. However, we do not consider this government immune from error, nor do we consider its laws to be based on scholarly research. On the contrary, the basis for promulgating laws is the majority opinion of [its] subjects. No revelation descends upon the government, exempting it from error in [the promulgation of ] its laws. Had these laws been so infallible, why would newer and newer laws perpetually continue to be promulgated? In England, the age for female puberty has been declared to be 18 years, but in tropical regions the girls attain puberty much earlier. Should you consider the laws of the government as revela- tion from heaven, being immune to the possibility of error, then please do inform me through reply mail so that I—by presenting a brief comparison between the Gospel and these laws—might be of some service to you. In short, the government has not yet issued any such proclamation that its laws are also free from error and oversight like the Torah and the Gospel. Should you be in receipt of any such declaration, then kindly send me a copy of it as well. Thus, if the laws of the government are not free from error like the Books of God, then the reason behind quoting them is either stupidity or prejudice, but you are incapable [of compre- hending this]. If the government had such confidence in its laws, why didn’t it censure those physicians who recently declared after extensive research in Europe, that the age of puberty is nine years; nay, rather, seven for some women? Also, in objecting to [a girl