Malfuzat - Volume IV — Page 119
119 Malfuzat – Volume IV Quran alone; where it refutes false religions and exposes their false teachings, it also presents the true and correct teaching as well. An example of this is displayed in Surah Fatihah, that in each and every word, false religions have been refuted. The Pinnacle of Beauty and Beneficence in Surah Fatihah For example, Allah the Exalted states alhamdulillah which means that all praise, irrespective of the nature of that praise, belongs to Allah Almighty alone. These words demonstrate that the Holy Quran wishes to instil belief in a God Who is pure from all defect and full of all perfect attributes. For the name Allah is used to refer to a being Who is pure from every imperfection. Perfection is of two kinds: either in terms of beauty or in terms of beneficence. Both these forms of perfection are implied in this name. The names that other nations have proposed for God Almighty are not as encompassing. And so this very word by itself—the name Allah—proves false the nature of those deities worshipped by false reli - gions and the attributes of those false gods. For example, if we were to take the Christians, they believe in a god who is a humble, helpless man, born of a woman, named Christ. In the likeness of ordinary children, with pain and suffering, he came from the womb of his mother. He was strained by human afflictions, left restless by the pangs of hunger and thirst, and he bore the gravest pain and grief. He was a victim to all the tribulations of helplessness and weakness. Ultimately, he was beaten at the hands of the Jews, apprehended and put on the cross. Now, if this state of Christ (whom the Christians portray as God), as is illus - trated by the Gospels, was presented before any intelligent individual, would they say that he possesses all perfect attributes and is free from all defects? Of course not. In fact, one would have to declare that he is a prime and perfect example of human weakness and deficiency. So how can the one who proclaims alhamdulillah believe in such a weak, crucified, accursed god? This demonstrates that in contrast to the Christians, the Quran invites people towards a God who simply cannot have any defect, whatsoever. Then look at the Arya Samaj who say that their Parmeshwar is one who has created neither matter nor souls in this world. They say that just as God is eternal and everlasting, so too the physical elements of our bodies and the like exist inde - pendently as God does, and they do not depend on Him for their subsistence and existence. Conversely, in a way, they suggest that God depends on those elements in order to run the affairs of His Godhead, for He is not the creator of anything. p. 391