Malfuzat - Volume IV — Page 121
121 Malfuzat – Volume IV its powers, once set in motion, continuously go on performing their function and Allah the Exalted cannot intervene in any way, nor can they be changed or controlled. They believe that God is completely idle. Therefore, when the other religions are observed and their doctrines are analysed, it becomes clearly evident that they do not believe that Allah the Exalted is the Lord of all the worlds. This quality, which is a remarkable quality indeed that is observed at every moment, is presented by Islam alone. In this way, with one word alone, Islam uproots all the false and absurd doctrines, which the adherents of all other Faiths have invented in contradiction to the attribute under discussion. Then, the next attribute of Allah the Exalted that is mentioned here is ar-Rahman (the Gracious). By virtue of this attribute, God grants human beings what they inherently desire without their praying or supplicating, and without any action on their part. For example, when a person is born, the things that they require for their life and subsistence are already present. A mother’s breast is filled with milk even before her child is born. The sky and earth, the sun and moon, the stars, water, air, and so on and so forth, all of these things that have been created for humankind, exist by virtue of God’s attribute of Graciousness. However, the adherents of other Faiths do not believe that God can shower His grace unconditionally. The Arya Samaj do not believe in this concept at all, which has just been presented whilst elaborating upon the deeper meaning of ‘Lord of all the worlds’. Even the Christians have adopted the belief that God cannot show unconditional mercy in order to justify their own concept of atonement. As far as the Arya Samaj are concerned, one ought to ask them: what previous actions resulted in the birth of the earth, sky, moon, sun, air and water? 1 The Attribute of Divine Mercy Then, the attribute of Allah Almighty known as Rahim (the Merciful) is men - tioned. This attribute of Allah the Exalted demands that He should not allow labour and effort to be wasted; in fact, He blesses them with fruits and results. If a person had no certainty as to whether their labour and effort would ever yield fruit, they would become indolent and useless. This attribute of God widens the scope of one’s hopes and drives one with passion to perform acts of virtue. It should also be remembered that in the terminology of the Holy Quran, Allah the Exalted is referred to as the Merciful when He accepts the prayer, emotion and 1 Al-Hakam , vol. 7, no. 17, 10 May 1903 p. 393