Reformation – Part II

This is the situation whether he is of 4000 years or of 6000 years ago. He has the same haughty attitude and thinks that he is at the summit of things — the first in the procession of mature manhood. He thinks he belongs to people who have attained maturity in terms of human thought and so he is free. According to the Holy Qur’an, the same question was raised by Pharaoh some 3000 years ago. Why do we need a God or Moses? Are we not adult enough? We know what is wrong and what is right. We alone are our gods and we don’t need any other god. Exactly the same question was raised by people before the Pharaohs, by the people of Noah, and yet others before them. So, this is a question that has been asked again and again. However, if we accept that man needs an outside agency, that is, a Messenger of God to guide him, he needs it today as much as he needed it in the past. The second aspect from which we should look at this very important philosophical question is this that however advanced man is, in relation to his Creator, he stands at the same place of ignorance. As Einstein once beautifully put it, in a way, one cannot be closer to God because He is unlimited in His powers and His attributes. So the ratio which, according to Einstein, a knowledgeable or a wise person has with his Creator, is mathematically the same ratio as an ignorant person will have with his Creator because man is zero as compared to the infinity of God. So the relationship will remain always unchanged. H o w e v e r, much progress one may make in this age with respect to your Creator and His wisdom, one remains ignorant and an ignorant person always stands in need of guidance from a wiser being. That relationship cannot be changed. So much evil is going on and is allowed to continue against the forces of good, justice and humanity. Will there be a time in the future that the forces of e vil will be stopped or e radicated forever? H a d h rat Mirza Tahir Ahmad: That is, in fact, impossible. The fight between the forces of evil and the forces of goodness will QUESTIONER 34 Spiritual Guidance Review of Religions – December 2002 continue forever. At times you will find goodness more dominant against evil and at times you will, unfortunately, find evil becoming more domi- nant. Sadly, the time we are presently passing through is when evil seems to be dominant all over the world. However, I am quite sure that in the longer run, as God’s will be done, evil will be totally defeated, at least once. When this purpose is achieved, should mankind then gradually return to evil ways, then Allah will not care for them and, according to the Holy Qur’an, a time will come when evil will ultimately dominate once again. At that time mankind will be wiped out from the face of the earth and a new form of existence will come into being that will displace mankind. This view is based on many verses of the Holy Qur’an. There is not enough time now to give all the references from the Holy Qur’an. H o w e v e r, in principle, one can understand this point with reference to Noah. What happened in the time of Noah was that evil had dominated and very few true divine people were left on earth. For the sake of Truth, Allah destroyed a number that was overwhelming — the number did not even matter. The people were destroyed almost as a whole and Allah did not care for them as He did not create mankind for the sake of evil. If God has done this before, He will surely do it again should evil prevail. If mankind as a whole is rejected ultimately, having fallen back to its evil ways then Allah will wipe out the whole of mankind from the face of the earth and a new creation will come into being that will behave better than the previous creation — that is mankind. 35 Spiritual Guidance Review of Religions – December 2002