The Essence of Islam – Volume III — Page 202
202 Essence of Islam-III incapable of discharging his obligations towards his fel- low beings and from carrying out the duty of enjoining virtue and forbidding vice? Had he continued to live on earth during these 1891 years, how beneficial his person would have been for God's creatures! The only result of his bodily ascent to heaven was that his people went astray and he himself was totally deprived of the oppor- tunity to carry out the functions of Prophethood. [Izāla-e-Auhām, Rūķānī Khazā'in, vol. 3, pp. 330-332] We have established fully that the belief that Jesus had as- cended bodily to heaven is not supported by the Holy Qur'an and true Aḥādīth. It seems to be based upon sense- less and contradictory speculation. In this philosophical age, which is accompanied by cultured reason and sharp- ness of intellect, it would be a great mistake to hope for re- ligious success on the basis of such doctrines. If these meaningless speculations were to be presented to the illit- erate Bedouins of Arabia, or the inhabitants of the deserts of Africa, or the wild dwellers of the far off islands in the oceans, they might gain some acceptance; but we cannot hope to propagate among educated people such doctrines as are utterly opposed to reason, experience, laws of na- ture and philosophy. Moreover, they cannot be attributed to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him); indeed they contradict the Ahādīth. Nor can we pre- sent such doctrines as a gift to the scholars of Europe and America who are discarding the absurdities of their own respective faiths. How can those, whose hearts and minds have been developed by the light of new kinds of knowl- edge, accept such concepts which are disrespectful to God Almighty, denigrate His Unity, falsify His Law and abro- gate the teachings of His Books? The notion that Jesus will descend bodily from heaven is