Malfuzat – Volume X — Page 283
11 April 1908 283 It is absurd to reject something simply because you fail to com- prehend it. One leg of this prophecy of mine was broken in accord- ance with the prophecy, right away. This caused fear to descend upon them. They repented by giving alms and charity, by show- ing their submission and humility in so many other ways, and by shedding tears and crying. Thereupon, God Almighty also turned to them in accordance with His practice. Look, there was no precondition in the promise of destruc- tion that was given by Prophet Jonah to his people and the wording was clear and explicit that (after forty days), destruc- tion would descend upon them. Thus, when the suspension of an unconditional and definitive prophecy with repentance, anguish, shedding of tears, and wailing is in conformity with the practice of God, then why is a conditional prophecy criti- cized? It had the following clear words: 1 ِ عَقِبِك ی ٰ ْ فَإِن َّ الْبَلَٓٓء َ عَل ی ِ ْ تُوْب ی ِ تُوْب [‘Repent, repent, for mischief is pursuing you!’] Hazrat Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani, may Allah be pleased with him, writes in his book, Futuhul-Ghaib , ٰ ی ُوْف ی َ ُوْعَد ُ و َ ل ی ْ قَد —mean- ing that there are some promises of God Almighty that are not fulfilled. The Holy Quran also mentions of mutashabihat [verses susceptible to differing interpretations]. Such mutash- abihat help distinguish a believer from a disbeliever. They are an instrument to set apart the concealed apostates and 1. From Badr: From which it is clear that all things will be averted by repent- ance and by the death of Ahmad Baig, the fear that has overwhelmed them became the means of averting one part of the prophecy. The fact of the matter is that after showing a thousand Signs, God also shows Signs with such cir- cumstances as become a means of distinguishing the hypocrites ( Badr, vol. 7, no. 12, p. 4, dated 23 April 1908).