The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 386
LETTER TO NAWWAB MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN in God Almighty though he has not seen Him; he believes in the angels though he has not seen them either; he believes in Heaven and Hell though they, too, are hidden from his view. He believes in them as a matter of goodly thinking and there- fore becomes truthful in the eyes of God Almighty. This sincer- ity becomes a means for his salvation. Otherwise, Heaven, Hell, and angels are obviously the creations of God Almighty-what connection can there be between faith in them and salvation? If we believe in the existence of something which, in fact, does exist, and the fact of its existence is manifestly obvious, why would we deserve any reward? For example, if we say that we believe in the existence of the sun, and in the existence of the earth, and the moon, and that donkeys and horses and mules and bullocks and birds of many kinds exist in the world, should we expect to be rewarded for this faith? Thus, why, for instance, when we believe in the existence of angels, are we held to be believers in the sight of God Almighty and become deserving of a reward for this? But if we believe in the existence of all the animals we see on this earth, we do not deserve the slight- est reward for it, whereas the angels and all other objects are equally God Almighty's creations. The reason for this is indeed that the angels are behind a veil, but the other objects are defi- nitely known to us. This is also the reason why declaring one's faith on the Day of Judgment will not be accepted. In other words, if someone says on that Day, after seeing God Almighty's manifestations and witnessing the angels, and Heaven and Hell, that he now believes in them, his belief would not be accepted. Why would it not be accepted? For the very same reason that, on that Day, there would be no intervening veil which might vouch for the sincerity of a believer's faith. 385