Malfuzat - Volume IX — Page 79
27 December 1906 79 thirst for true Divine cognizance as before, but a seal has been set upon revelation which was the source of Divine cognizance. Alas! Food was thrown away in hunger and water was taken away in a state of thirst! Christianity and Islam This is the very condition of the Christian religion. To deify a helpless man in spite of thousands of weaknesses and woes is another thing, but this is sheer bravado. They declare it with their tongue but I ask them to also present the benefit conferred upon them and the increase in cognition that has resulted from their belief in his ‘Divinity’. What kind of a host is he who invites people to come hungry and thirsty, even making them wash their hands, but serves neither bread nor water? What is the reason for this? The reason is indeed that it [Christianity] is a dead religion. There are no signs of life among them and there is no feeling or movement indicative of life. They are dry branches incapable of bearing fruits and flowers. It is Islam alone that is a living religion. It is the only one whose spring always appears, since its trees are verdant and pro- duce sweet and delicious fruits. No religion other than Islam possesses this excellence. If this excellence is removed from it, it too would have died, but on the contrary, it is a living religion. Almighty Allah has furnished the evidence of its life in every age. Accordingly, in this age as well, He has, through His grace, established this [Ahmadiyya] Movement to bear witness that Islam is a living religion, and to increase the cognizance of God, and to bring about such yaq i n [certainty] in His existence that reduces sin and filth to ashes, and spreads righteousness and purity.