Malfuzat – Volume X — Page 413
3 May 1908 413 to it. Thus, a man with a pure nature considers a sin to be a sin and loathes it instinctively even though a heavenly teaching may not have reached him. Secondly, some things that are prohibited are so treated because they contravene the law and profound wisdom and their commission is harmful to the person committing them or to mankind in general. For example, adultery results in seri- ous diseases like syphilis, gonorrhoea etc. for the adulterer and causes great suffering. Therefore, it should be remembered that God has not pro- hibited sins because they could possibly harm Him, nor has He ordained piety because He thereby derives some benefit from it. Rather, it is His mercy that He has prohibited those things that are harmful to the very person committing them or are harmful for the society at large. And this is His great mercy, and because He is Pure and Holy, His purity and holiness demands that virtue should spread throughout the world. Otherwise, if man becomes unrestrained and commits evil and sin and things that are forbidden by the Shariah, he himself would be the one to suffer the afflictions that result. It would not cause any harm to God whatsoever. 1 1. Al- H akam, vol. 12, no. 46, p. 2–4, dated 6 August 1908