The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 108
PREFACE ESSENCE OF ISLAM 107 of man and it leaves only Satan as the constant companion of man. For, these people believe that if the Holy Spirit at all descends like a traveller upon any man, it stays with him for only an instant or for a very short period and returns to its native abode in heaven, leaving the man, however virtuous he may be, in the company of Satan. Is this not such a creed that leaves a serious blot on Islam? Is it permissible to suggest about the Benevolent and Merciful Lord that He desires the destruction of man more than his guidance? No, never, God forbid. AUTHOR'S MARGIN NOTE Batalawi and Dehlawi first erred in believing that angels descend and ascend physi- cally and as a consquene of this error, they were led to the further error that the Holy Spirit does not always accompany the recipients of revelation The blind man does not understand the teachings of the Noble Quran and lays the blame of his own ignorance upon it. All these difficulties, from which it is impossi- ble for these ulema to extricate themselves, arose because they believe that angels descend upon earth with their actual bodies. Then, there is also the requisite and accom- panying belief that they ascend to the heavens immediately. Owing to these two erroneous beliefs, these people were caught in this terrible predicament of having to fabricate a third belief, that, as against the 'evil companion', man has not been provided with a good companion' to always stay with him. By fabricating this belief, they egregiously slandered the Quranic teaching and furnished malicious opponents with an opportunity to attack. If these individuals were to accept the fact that no angel ever descends in his own body, but descends through his reflective body whose resemblance he is empowered to assume―) ―just as Hadrat Jibra'il [Gabriel] would appear in the guise of Diḥyah Kalbi [a Companion of the Holy Prophet] and as the angel appeared [in the form of a man] for Haḍrat Maryam [Mary]—then no objection would arise and no one could find fault with the constancy of a good companion. What is truly surprising is that, in holding these beliefs, these people are abso- lutely opposed to the Noble Quran and authentic aḥādīth. On the