Wishful Thinking

Wishful Thinking

1986 4 April 13-14 Wishful Thinking (483) Abdullah Ibn Salam was a Jewish scholar of the Bani Qaynuqa tribe. When he heard of the coming of Mohammad, may peace be upon him, he recognized him as the messenger of God who had been prophesied in the Judaic scriptures, and whom the Jewish people had been awaiting. Abdullah Ibn Salam said nothing while the Prophet remained in Mecca, but came to Medina to meet him after the Muslim emigration to that town. The Prophet sat Abdullah Ibn Salam down in a separate room and called some Jews. When they came the Prophet asked them what sort of a person Abdullah Ibn Salam was, without their knowing that the same Abdullah Ibn Salam was sitting next door. They replied that he was their leader and the son of their leader, the most saintly and knowledgeable person among them. Abdullah Ibn Salam then came before them and urged them to accept the message of Mohammad. “Surely you know he is God’s prophet. You have seen mention of him in the Torah. I bear witness that he is God’s messenger and proclaim my belief in him. I have recognized him for what he is, and reaffirm the truth of his teachings.”

Once Abdullah ibn Salam had proclaimed his acceptance of Islam, the Jews’ attitude to him underwent a drastic change. Whereas before they had been lavish in their praise of him, now they called him a liar; they even made to set upon him. Nevertheless a number of Jews became Muslim, following the example set by Abdullah ibn Salam. According to the Prophet’s biographer, Ibn Ishaq, other Jews used to call them the dregs of their community. If these people had any worth in them, the Jews used to say, they would never have forsaken their forefather’s religion; they would never have accepted another faith.

There are many who profess to be religious. To all appearances, their claim appears to be well-founded. But at the moment of truth, it turns out that they were following convention, not God’s commandments; they were worshipping their own system rather than the Lord on High. Some people are only ready to accept as true that which comes from their own familiar group. Whatever emanates from another source they condemn as false, regardless of its true worth. Such people are not religious in the true sense of the word. The religion that they practice is communal religion. In the sight of God, they are not people of truth, for they do not follow truth for the sake of truth. Truth and falsehood are immaterial to them; what they follow are the dictates of their own community. True worshippers of God are those who raise themselves above all else besides Him; they do not put anything before God; they focus their devotion and attachment upon Him alone. To fail to fulfill these conditions, and yet to expect to be counted