Malfuzat - Volume VII — Page 272
Malfuzat - English translation of Urdu Volume 7 272 He has been clearly told to do istighf a r [seeking forgiveness] here. What does this mean? This means that if any deficiency remains in carrying out the grandiose work of preaching that was entrusted to you, the full knowledge of the finest subtleties of which is possessed only by Allah the Exalted, may Allah the Exalted forgive it. This istighf a r is a life-giving and dear thing to the Prophets and the righteous. Now, ignorant and short- sighted Christians object to it. Wherever they hear the word istighf a r , they immediately object. However, if they were to look at their own house, [ Jesus] the Messiah says, ‘Do not call me good. ’ 1 The Christians inter- pret this to mean that Christ intended to say, ‘Call me God. ’ What a strange conclusion! Was Jesus Christ called God by his mother Mary or his brothers so that he should impose this very demand upon this individual to call him God as well? He had not even heard this word from his loved ones and disciples. In addition, they would only address him as Teacher, teacher! So how did this expectation arise for this poor man to call him so? Would he be pleased when someone called him God? This is absolutely false. No one called him God, nor did he ask to be called so. Then they make another argument that that individual was actually a hypocrite. That is why Christ became upset, as it were: ‘Why do you call me good while you do not consider me to be good?’ This is also completely false. From where is it learned that that person was a hypocrite? In short, the essential point is verily that God’s chosen servants continue to confess their servitude to God and con- tinue to supplicate. Foolish people consider these things to be defects. If we look at the prayers of the Holy Prophet, 1. See Matt. 19:17, Mark 10:18, and Luke 18:19 [Publisher]