Malfuzat - Volume IV — Page 54
54 Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad also a form of ostentation. Similarly, at a time of pain or grief, it is necessary for one to keep in view the wisdom of God. The excellence of a believer is in the fact that they do not want others to know about the relationship that they hold with God Almighty. In fact, some sufis have written that when a believer, moved by their extreme relationship and love, is making their entreaties to God Almighty in seclusion, if someone sees them in this state, they feel even more embarrassed than the fornicator who is caught in the act. And so, one ought to save themselves from ostentation and safeguard their every word and action from this evil. ” 1 The Philosophy of Salvation The Promised Messiah as said: “There is a crucial question that deserves our reflec - tion, which all the people and religions of the world have perceived in their own way. That question is about how one can be saved. This question, in reality, springs forth in every human being, when they observe how the inner self rages out of control, and how corrupt thoughts of wrongdoing, in their multitude, surround a person. Every nation has proposed some way or other to save themselves from these sins; they have thought of some strategy. In view of this universal need and question, an artifice employed by the Christians is that they say salvation can be attained through the blood of the Messiah. The first thing that ought to be understood is: what is salvation? The deeper essence of salvation is that one is saved from vice and that the sinful thoughts which blacken one’s heart are ceased, giving way to the development of true puri - ty. Now we can see that the Christians have felt the need to be saved from sin, and so they have said to those who seek salvation that it is only the blood of the Messiah that can save a person from sin. However, I should like to point out that if the blood of the Messiah or atone - ment can save a person from sins, the first thing I would like to see is whether atonement and deliverance from sin even have any relationship with one another or not. When we reflect, it becomes evident that these two things have no mutual relationship or relevance to one another. For example, if a person who suffers from thirst visits a physician and if, instead of treating that patient, the physi - cian tells the patient to write a chapter for his book, this is their cure, would any sensible person accept this as a form of treatment? So, the blood of the Messiah and sin are just as irrelevant as what we observe in this example; they have no 1 Al-Hakam , vol. 5, no. 41, dated 10 November 1901, pp. 1-2 p. 326 p. 327