Malfuzat – Volume III — Page 298
298 Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad not differentiate between the two, and blurs the line between the Sunnah and innovations in the Faith, cannot have a good end. Whatever Allah the Exalted has stated in the Holy Quran is perfectly clear and evident, and the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has demonstrated this in practice. The life of the Holy Prophet sa is a perfect exam- ple. However, despite this, there are times when independent reasoning (ijtihad) is required as well. Where a person—due to their own weakness—is unable to find a precedent in the Holy Quran or the practice of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, they ought to employ independent reasoning. For example, if the food that is distributed to the guests at weddings is purely to boast and flaunt one’s status, this would be an act of ostentation and arrogance, and would therefore be unlawful. However, it is not unlawful for a person to offer people food out of kindness if the intention is solely to give practi- cal expression to the verse: 1 ْ ِ رَبِّكَ فَحَدِّث ۃ بِنِعْمَ اَمَّا And the bounty of thy Lord, proclaim. One may seek to act upon the following instruction as well: 2 َ ُنْفِقُوْن ی ْ رَزَقْنٰهُم مِمَّا And they spend out of what We have provided for them. Therefore, if a person arranges a function with this intention seeking nothing in return except for the pleasure of Allah Almighty, they could serve a feast to 100 people or 100,000 people, and this would not be forbidden. The actual basis rests on one’s intention; if the intention is ill and corrupt, this turns a perfectly permissible and lawful action into an unlawful one. There is a well-known story that a holy man held a feast for which he lighted forty lanterns. Certain people commented that such extravagance ought to be avoided, so the man said: ‘Put out the lanterns that I have lit by way of ostentation. ’ The people tried to put out the lanterns but not a single one of them could be put out. This demonstrates that sometimes when the same action is performed by two separate individuals, one of them can be guilty of sin while the other earns a spiritual reward. This differ- ence results from a difference of intention. It is written that in the Battle of Badr, 1 ad-Duha , 93:12 2 al-Baqarah, 2:4