Malfuzat – Volume II — Page 140
140 Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad 1 َ الْمُطَهَّرُوْن يَمَسُّهٗۤ اِلَّا لَا None shall touch it except those who are purified. The word ‘mutahharun’ refers to the very same ‘muttaqin’ referred to in the verse: 2 َ هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِيْن (it is a guidance for the righteous). And this makes it clearly evident that righteousness is necessary for the discovery of knowledge contained with- in the Quran. There is a stark difference between secular knowledge and the knowledge of the Quran. Righteousness is not a prerequisite for the acquisition of worldly and traditional knowledge. It is not incumbent that one who learns Arabic morphology, grammatical syntax, natural science, philosophy, astronomy, or medicine must regularly observe the Prayer or fasting, and be forever mindful of the commandments and prohibitions of God, and keep their every action or statement in line with the injunctions of Allah the Exalted. In fact, it is often ob- served and generally the case that experts and students in secular knowledge have an atheistic bent of mind, and are indulged in every form of sin and transgression. In this day and age, we have a clear example before us in the people of Europe and America. Despite these people attaining outstanding and considerable pro- gress in the field of worldly knowledge, and despite the new inventions they pro- duce every other day, their spiritual and moral state is shameful to say the least. The stories that are published about what goes on in London’s parks and hotels in Paris, I cannot even mention. However, righteousness is the first condition for the acquisition of heavenly knowledge and insight into the secrets of the Quran. This requires sincere repentance. Until a person adheres to the injunctions of Allah Almighty with complete humility and modesty, and meekly turns towards Him, trembling in awe of His glory and might, the gate of Quranic knowledge cannot be opened. Moreover, such a person cannot derive from the Holy Quran those means by which the inherent properties and faculties of the soul are nur- tured, and the acquisition of which grants the soul pleasure and comfort. The Holy Quran is the Book of Allah Almighty and the knowledge contained within it is in the hand of God, and righteousness serves as a staircase leading to this knowledge. How then can the faithless, evil and corrupt, and those who are slaves of earthly desire be fortunate enough to receive this knowledge? For this reason, a Muslim, who is a Muslim by name, could well be the greatest scholar of Arabic morphology, syntax, etymology, literary critique, and other such sci- 1 al-Waqi’ah, 56:80 2 al-Baqarah, 2:3