Leaving God to deal with any harm done to one

Leaving God to deal with any harm done to one

1990 12 December 5 Leaving God to deal with any harm done to one (94) Imam Zain’ul-‘Abidin (38-4AH) was the son of Imam Husain Ibn ‘Ali. He was the only member of Husain’s family to escape the slaughter of Karbala. Someone once told him of a person who spoke ill of him, and wanted to do him down. Imam Zain’ul-‘Abidin asked to be taken to see this person. Meeting him, he first greeted him with “may peace be upon you”. Then he said: “If what you say is true, then I pray that God should forgive me. And if it is false, I pray that he should forgive you.”

Which Religion

1990 12 December 5 Which Religion (268) One of the books by Dr. Radha Krishnan (1888-1975), one of the most famous writers and philosophers of India, is entitled Religion and Culture. This book demonstrates how extremely necessary religion is to mankind. Man cannot live without religion. Dr. Radha Krishnan writes, “There is no question of religion or no religion, but what kind of religion.”

The kind of religion advocated by him is one which expounds the oneness of religions. That is, the concept that there is only one universal reality which is found in every religion, the only difference being that of form.

This concept is formed by guessing the whole from a part. It is true that there can be differences of a relative nature, without this detracting from the essential truth of any given religion. But when the differences concern fundamentals, e.g. the existence or nonexistence of God as a permanent central feature, out and out atheism can not be given any credence.

There is one kind of religion which bases its tenets on personal experiences. Such a religion is wholly unacceptable, the real question being one of authenticity. A religion formed on the basis of personal experience cannot be regarded as authentic and, as such, it will remain unacceptable.

Which is the religion to be adopted then? From the purely academic point of view, the answer is a religion which is an established one. That is, a religion firmly established on the basis of historical criteria. A religion whose Prophet is a historical figure, whose holy book is preserved in its original form is one, in short, which meets every such requirement.