Question – 4

Jesus spoke of himself thus: ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.’¹ ‘I am light.’² ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.’³ Did the Founder of Islam ever speak of himself in these terms?

Answer:

The Holy Quran clearly states:

⁴

i.e., Say, ‘If you love Allah, follow me: then will Allah love you and forgive you your faults.’ The promise, that by following the Holy Prophet^(sa) one is loved by God, surpasses all the sayings of the Messiah, for there can be no station higher than attaining the love of God. Who is more worthy of proclaiming himself the light than he who leads to God’s love? It is for this reason that the Lord of Honour and Glory has named the Holy Prophet^(sa) ‘the light’. He says:

⁵

i.e., There has come to you from Allah a Light.

In comparison to this, the promise, ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest’, appears meaningless, unless comfort here is taken to mean material comfort and permissiveness. When a Muslim truly becomes a Muslim, he has to offer prayers five times a day, wake up before daybreak for morning prayer, perform his ablutions with water even in the extreme cold of winter, go to the mosque five times a day for congregational prayers, leave the comfort of sleep in the small hours to offer Tahajjud⁶, restrain himself from looking at women, abstain from alcohol and other intoxicants, respect the rights of others for fear of Divine reckoning, observe fasts for up to twenty-nine or thirty consecutive days every year in fulfilment of God’s commandment, and discharge all other kinds of financial, physical and spiritual obligations. On the other hand, the moment a Muslim becomes a Christian, he is relieved of these burdens. Sleeping, eating, drinking and seeking physical pleasure become his sole objective. Like animals, he is immediately relieved of all prohibitions, and does nothing but eat, drink and indulge in base pleasures. If this is really what is meant by Jesus’ promise, ‘I will give ye comfort’, then we concede that the Christians, on account of the license they have given themselves, find great comfort in this physical and transitory existence, and in this they have no equal in the world. Like flies they sit on anything, and like swine they gorge themselves on whatever comes their way. Hindus do not eat beef and Muslims keep away from pork, but they happily devour both. The saying ⁷ is indeed true. In its prohibition of swine the Torah has gone so far as to forbid even touching it, and it clearly says that the prohibition is for all times, but these people do not desist from it even though it was so abominable in the eyes of all the Prophets. We can concede that Jesus used to drink, but did he ever eat pork? Rather, he says in a parable, ‘Cast not your pearls before swine’.⁸ If pearls mean the holy word [of God], then swine would necessarily mean unclean people. Jesus clearly states in this parable that swine is unclean, for there has to be a close resemblance between a thing and its similitude.

In short, the ‘comfort’ which the Christians enjoy is one of license and permissiveness. As for spiritual peace, which is the result of communion with God, I declare — and God is my witness — that the Christians have no share of it whatsoever. There are veils over their eyes and their hearts are dead and steeped in darkness. They are completely unaware of the true God and unjustly declare a humble man — who is nothing compared to the Eternal Being — to be the Almighty. They are devoid of spiritual blessings, inner light and the love and knowledge of the true God. There is not one among them who possesses the signs of true faith. If faith is indeed a blessing, it must have some signs, so where is the Christian who can show the signs of faith which Jesus spoke of? Either the Gospel is false or the Christians are liars. On the contrary, the signs of true believers laid down by the Holy Quran, have been manifested in all ages. The Holy Quran says that a true believer receives Divine revelation, hears God’s voice, his prayers are accepted more than those of other people, matters of the unseen are disclosed to him and he is sustained by Divine help at every step. In fact, these signs are as much in evidence today as they were in the past. All this shows that the Quran is the Holy Word of God and that its promises are His promises. Come, O Christians! Compete with me if you have anything in you. Slaughter me if I am a liar. Otherwise, you are guilty in the sight of God and are standing on the edge of hellfire.