Malfuzat – Volume I — Page 73
Quran as follows: Malfuzat-Volume I لَنْ تَنَالُوا الْبِرَّ حَتَّى تُنْفِقُوا مِمَّا تُحِبُّونَ 73 Meaning, until you spend those things which are most beloved to you and most dear, you cannot attain the rank of being loved and held dear by God. If you do not wish to bear hardship and do not seek to adopt true piety how can you succeed and triumph? Did the noble companions reach the ranks they achieved for nothing? A person must shoulder many expenses and pains to attain worldly titles and only after this, does a person manage to secure a minor title, which does not even bring about inner satisfaction and comfort. Now reflect, was the title 'Allah was pleased with them, being a sign of inner comfort, tranquillity of heart and the Lord's pleasure, attained easily without effort? The fact is that the pleasure of God Almighty, which is the cause of true happiness, cannot be attained until one bears temporary hardships. God cannot be deceived. Blessed are those who do not care for suffering sustained in order to acquire the pleasure of Allah. For the light of eternal bliss and everlasting comfort is granted to a believer after this temporary hardship. Who is a True Muslim? I openly proclaim that a person who does not give precedence to God over every- thing and until God can look into that person's heart and confirm that it belongs to Him alone, they cannot become a true believer. Such a person is a believer or Muslim only by name, inasmuch that they are from the community of the Holy Prophet", just as a person belonging to the scheduled caste is commonly referred to in society as a musalli or mu'min. ² A true Muslim is one who becomes an em- bodiment of the following: اسلم وَجْهَهُ يلو He submits himself completely to Allah. The word wajhun refers to the face, but the word also applies to one's person and 3 1 Aal-e-Imran, 3:93 Historically, in the subcontinent, Hindus belonging to the lowest, socially disadvantaged class were officially referred to as the scheduled caste and considered 'untouchable' according to Hindu scripture. A Hindu of the scheduled caste who converted to Islam was referred to as a musalli (literally, one who prays) or a mu'min (a believer), even if they were not practising Muslims. [Publisher] al-Baqarab, 2:113