The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 385
384 Α'ΙΝΑ-Ε-ΚΑMĀLĀT-E-ISLAM-DAFI UL-WASĀWIS Meaning: In the earlier nations people did not believe in their Prophets even when they showed Signs, because they had rejected them before seeing the Sign. In this way, God places a seal on the hearts of such disbelievers who do not believe before seeing a Sign. All these, and many other similar verses of the Noble Quran, to quote which would prolong this statement, indicate that those who demand a Sign become deserving of Divine punishment, and the faith of someone who comes to believe after seeing a Sign is not acceptable to God. Here, there may arise two objections: Firstly, why should someone asking for a Sign become deserving of Divine punishment? Someone who, for his own satisfaction, wishes to test whether a claimant is commissioned by Allah or not, apparently has a right to ask for a Sign lest he be deceived and take one rejected by Allah as an accepted servant of Allah. The reply to this misconception is that all reward becomes established due to faith. And faith means acknowledging some- thing that is yet behind the veil of the unseen based on the pre- ponderant indicators. In other words, things should only be looked at to the degree of examining whether the reasons in favour of someone's truthfulness prevail over the reasons point- ing to his falsehood and seeing to it that the existing indicators of his being truthful are amply greater than the evidence of his being a liar. This then is the limit of faith, but if someone goes beyond this limit and asks for a Sign, then he is a transgressor in the eyes of Allah. It is about such people that Allah, glorified be His eminence, says in the Noble Quran: After he has seen a Sign, his faith would not be of any benefit to him. It can be readily understood with some reflection why one gains the pleasure of God Almighty as the result of faith. The reason is, that the things we accept with faith are not yet appar- ent to us in every way. For instance, a man comes to believe