Questions and Answers
The Light (Pakistan), 16th February 1922 Issue (Vol. 1, No. 5, p. 4)
Question:
Can I attain salvation without being a Muhammadan [Muslim]? — Shadi Lal, Allahabad [India].
Answer:
Salvation is really attained in this very life, and it means freedom from sins. The man who is blind here shall be blind in the Hereafter, and he who achieves the light here carries that light to the next life. Such is the plain teaching of the Holy Quran, and this simple teaching appeals to human reason.
Now every prophet of God, whether he appeared in Palestine, India or elsewhere, taught certain doctrines; in other words, gave certain rules and regulations, by which men could get out of darkness and come into light, but these pure teachings were in the course of time mixed up with untruth. Islam not only restored the light in all its purity but also brought it to perfection. Hence the truth which is now only partially met with in other religions is taught by Islam in its perfection.
Becoming a Muslim only means accepting the whole truth and coming out of the dim light into perfect light.
Question:
Who created sin? If God, why? — Shadi Lal, Allahabad.
Answer:
This question is based on a misconception of the word sin. In order to attain perfection man has been endowed with certain powers and faculties. It is the neglecting of these faculties and the misuse of these powers that is sin. For instance, one man is placed in authority over others; he can either use that authority for the benefit of those others or abuse it and do evil to them. In the latter case it becomes a sin.
Question:
Should we, the Muhammadans, not obey Jesus Christ as one of the prophets sent by God? — Md. [Muhammad] Asgar Ali, Netrokona [India].
Answer:
We believe in Jesus Christ [AS] as a prophet sent by God but [that] his teachings have lost their purity. We therefore only obey the Holy Prophet Muhammad [pbuh] who gave us the truth in all its purity.
Question:
Did Jesus say himself that he was the son of God? — Md. Asgar Ali, Netrokona.
Answer:
From the Gospels it appears that he used the words son of God about himself exactly in the sense in which all men are sons of God:
“Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9).
He also said that he called himself the son of God in a metaphorical sense, exactly in the same sense in which the great Israelite prophets were called gods.
Question:
Is Christianity a true religion? — Md. Asgar Ali, Netrokona.
Answer:
As preached by Christ, it was true.
In its present form, its fundamental principles are false and opposed to the truth preached by all prophets of God.
Question:
What is the meaning of Ruhulla? — Md. Asgar Ali, Netrakaona
Answer:
The word ruh means spirit, and Jesus Christ is called a spirit from God to show that Jewish calumnies against him and his mother were false. The Jews said that he came from the Devil; the Quran says that he came from God as do all righteous men.