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THE REAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A MUSLIM AND A 'KAFIR'
Brethren-in-Islam!
Every Muslim personally believes
and you too must be surely believing alike, ha a Muslim's rank is higher than of a Kafir.
God likes a Muslim and dislikes a Kafir. A Muslim will get salvation from God while a
Kafir will not. A Muslim will go to Paradise and a Kafir will go to Hell.
Today I want you to ponder over this matter as to why should there be so much difference
between a Muslim and a Kafir? A Kafir is as much an offspring of Adam as you
are. He too possesses hands, feet, eyes and ears as you possess. He too, like you,
breathes the same air, drinks the same water, inhabits the same land as you do. That very
God Who created you, created him also. Then why is his rank low and yours high? Why will
you get Paradise and why will he be thrown into Hell?
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This is a point to be thought over deeply. Such a big
difference between man and man cannot be simply due to the fact that you are called by
names like 'Abdullah' and 'Abdur-Rehman' and he is called by names like Deen
Dayal, Kartar
Singh and Robertson, or that you get circumcised and he does not, or that you eat meat and
he shuns it. The Almighty Allah Who has created all human beings and is the Sustainer of
all of them cannot be so cruel as to discriminate between his creatures on such petty
grounds and send one slave of His to Heaven and another to Hell.
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When the position is not like this, then think out what
is the actual difference between the two? The answer to it is only one and it is this that
the real difference between the two is due to Islam and Kufr. The meaning of
Islam is obedience to God while he meaning of Kufr is disobedience to God. Muslim
and Kafir are both human beings; both are slaves of God. But one human being
becomes superior for the reason that he recognizes his Master, obeys His orders and fears
the consequences of disobeying Him, while the other human being falls from the high rank
because he does not recognize his Master and does not carry out His orders. This is why
God is pleased with Muslims and displeased with unbelievers. He promises award of Heaven
to Muslims and warns unbelievers that they will be consigned to Hell.
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From this it is clear that there are two things which
separate Muslims and Kafirs. One is knowledge and the other, deeds. That is, in the
first place, one should know who is his Master, what are His orders, what is the method to
follow His wishes, which deeds please Him and which displease Him? Then when these things
become known, the second step is that man should make himself a slave of his Master, carry
out what He desires, and give up own wishes. If his heart desires to do a certain act and
the Master's order is against it, he should pay no heed to his heart's desire and carry
out his Master's order. If a work appears as noble to him and the Master says that it is
ignoble, he must also consider it ignoble. And if another work appears ignoble to him but
the Master says it is noble he too must consider it good. If he sees harm in a certain
work but since the Master says that it must be done, he must in any case do it though it
my entail him any amount of loss in life and property. As against this, if he expects
profit in some other work but the Master forbids him from undertaking it, he must never,
touch it though it may bring him even the wealth of the whole world.
This is the knowledge and conduct by which a Muslim
becomes a true servant of God, on whom He sends His blessing and to whom He awards honour
and dignity. Contrarily, since a Kafir does not possess this knowledge, he is
listed as God's disobedient slave and is deprived by God of His blessings.
Now you should yourself consider with justice that if a
man who calls himself Muslim is as ignorant and disobedient as a Kafir, how can he be
superior to the latter merely on the basis of bearing a different name, wearing a
different dress and eating a different food? Also on what basis is he entitled to the
blessing of God in this world and in the Hereafter? Islam is not akin to a race or family
or brotherhood which is automatically bequeathed from father to son and from son to
grandson. It is not the case here that a Brahmin's son, however, ignorant and of bad
conduct he may be, will command a lofty status just because he is born in a Brahmin's
home
and belongs to the high caste, while the son of a scheduled caste, however will remain in
the low strata because he is born in a scheduled caste home and is a menial. On this point
God has explicitly stated in His book:
" In reality the most honoured among you, in the
sight of Allah, is he who is most pious."
(Al-Qur'an 49:13)
That is, the more one knows God and the more one obeys
His commandments, the more honourable is he in the sight of God. Hazrat Ibrahim (Abraham)
was born in the home of an idolater, but he came to know God and obeyed Him. That is why
God made him Imam of the whole world.The son of Noah was born in a prophet's home
but he did not understand God and disobeyed Him. That is why God did not care at all for
his family and gave such a punishment to him that it became an object-lesson for the
world. Therefore, please understand thoroughly that whatever difference is there in the
sight of Allah between man and man, it is in relation to knowledge and deeds. Both in this
world and the Hereafter God's blessing is served for those who understand Him, know the
right path shown by Him and carry out His commandments. Those who do not have this
quality, though their names may be 'Abdullah and 'Abdur Rahman' or Deen Dayal or Kartar
Singh, there is no difference between these two sets in the sight of God and they are not
entitled to His blessing.
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Brethren! You call yourselves Muslims
and it is your conviction that God showers His blessing on Muslims. But open your eyes and
see if God's blessing is descending on you? Whatever will happen in the Hereafter will be
seen by you afterwards, but have a look at your condition in this world. You are nine
crore in this land of Hindustan. You are in such great number that if each of you were to
throw a pebble it will become a mountain. But where there are so many Muslims, the
government is in the hands of unbelievers. Your necks are in their grip to turn you
whichever side they like; your head which did not bowed before anybody except Allah is
now bowed before human beings. Your honour which no one dared to touch is now being
besmeared with dust. Your hand which was always above is now lowered and is stretched
before a Kafir. Ignorance, poverty and indebtedness have subjected you to disgrace
everywhere.
Is this the blessing of God? If this is not blessing but obvious
wrath, then how strange it is that these are Muslims and yet on them descends the
wrath of God! These are Muslims and are yet wallowing in disgrace. These are Muslims and
are yet in slavery! This situation appears to be an impossibility just as it is impossible
for an object to be both white and black. Since a Muslim is the loved one of God, how can
he be disgraced in this world? Is your God (may Allah forbid) an oppressor that while you,
on your part, acknowledge His due to you and obey His orders, He makes the disobedient
ones rule over you, and gives you punishment for your obedience to Him? If it is an
article of faith with you that God is not an oppressor and if you believe that the reward
of obedience to God can never be in the shape of disgrace, then you will have to concede
that there is something wrong in your claim of being a Muslim. Though your name is surely
entered as a Muslim in government papers but God does not pass judgment on the
authenticity of the office of the British Government. God maintains His own office. You
will have to search in His list to find whether your name is entered among His obedient or
disobedient servants?
God sent you His Book so that by reading it you may know
Him and learn the way of obeying Him. Did you ever try to find out what is written in it?
God sent His Prophet to you to teach you the method of becoming Muslim. Did you ever try
to find out what His prophet has taught? God showed you the way to attain honour and
dignity in this world and the Hereafter. Do you follow that way? God very explicitly
informed you as to what are those works which debase man in this world and the Hereafter.
Do you avoid such works? Say what answer have you to these questions? If you admit that you
neither obtained knowledge from God's Book and His Prophet's life nor followed the way shown
by Him, then how did you become Muslim to merit His reward? The reward you are getting is
proportionate to the degree of your being Muslim and you will get a like reward in the
Hereafter too!
I have stated before that there is absolutely no
difference between a Muslim and a Kafir except in the matter of knowledge and
deeds. If thee knowledge and deeds of a man are similar to those of a Kafir, and yet he
calls himself a Muslim, he speaks a blatant lie. A Kafir does not read the
Qur'an and
does not know what is written therein. If similar is the condition of a Muslim, why should
he be called a Muslim? A Kafir does not know what is the teaching of the Holy
Prophet (peace be upon him) and what straight path he has shown to reach God. If a Muslim
is equally ignorant of this, how is he a Muslim? A Kafir follows his own desire
instead of following the command of God. If a Muslim too, like him, is headstrong and
unbridled, and a follower of his own ideas and opinion, indifferent to God and is a slave
of lust, then what right has he to call himself a Muslim (obedient slave of God)? A Kafir
does not discriminate between Halal and Haram and takes to anything which to him is
beneficial and full of relish, no matter whether it is Halal or Haram in the
sight God. If a Muslim's behaviour is the same as that of a non-Muslim, what difference is
there between him and a Kafir? In short, if a Muslim is as much devoid of knowledge
about Islam as a Kafir is and if a Muslim does all those things which a Kafir
does, then why should he be considered superior as compared to a Kafir? This is a
matter on which we should all ponder cool-mindedly.
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My dear brethren! Please do not think that I am out to
brand Muslims as unbelievers. No, this is not my aim at all. I myself ponder and want that
everyone of us should think for himself as to why at all are we deprived of the blessing
of God? Why are we the target of calamities from all sides? Why those whom we call Kafir,
i.e. disobedient slaves of God, are everywhere dominating over us? And why we, who claim
to be His obedient slaves, are being subjugated everywhere? The more I pondered over the
reason of this situation the more I got convinced that the only difference now left between
us and unbelievers is that of mere name, otherwise we too are in no way behind them in
neglect of God, in being unafraid of Him and in being disobedient to Him. There is of
course, a light difference between us and them but this difference does not entitle us to
any reward. Infect, it make us deserving of punishment because we know that the Qur'an
is
the Book of God and yet we treat it as a Kafir treats it. We know that Muhammad
(peace be upon him) is the Prophet of Allah and yet we are scared of following him as is a
Kafir scared. We know that God has cursed a liar, He has positively declared Hell
as an abode of bribe-takers and bribe-givers. He has pronounced interest-takers and
interest-givers as the worst criminals, He has termed backbiting as like eating a
brother's flesh, He has warned that obscenity, lewdness and debauchery will meet with dire
punishment. But even knowing all this, we freely indulge in all these vices like the
unbelievers as if we have absolutely no fear of God. This is why we are not rewarded as we
are Muslims by appearance only as compared to the unbelievers. The fact of unbelievers
ruling over us and our humiliations on every occasion at their hands, are expressive of
the punishment of the crime that a boon like Islam was bestowed on us and we did not value
it.
Dear brethren! Whatever I have said today in my lecture
is not intended to blame you. I have not come as a censurer. My aim is to make you keen to
recover what has been lost. The anxiety to regain a lost asset arises when a man realizes
what actually he has lost and how valuable it was. That is why I try to awaken you. If you
are aroused and understand that in reality a highly-precious object was in your
possession, then you will think about regaining it.
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I had told you in my previous lecture that to become a
real Muslim the foremost requisite is knowledge of Islam. Every Muslim ought to know what
is the teaching of the Qur'an, what system was followed by the Holy Prophet, what is Islam,
and what are those things which really differentiate Islam from Kufr. Nobody can be
a Muslim without this knowledge. But it is a pity that you are not keen to acquire this
very knowledge. This shows that still you do not realize what great boon you are deprived
of. My brethren! A mother does not give milk to her child until he cries and demands it.
When a man feels thirsty he himself searches for water and God produces also water for
him.
When you yourself are not thirsty for water it will be
useless even if a spring brimming with water were to come before you. You ought to first
understand yourself what a great loss you are incurring by remaining ignorant of Deen.
The Book of God is with you but you do not know what is written in it. What a greater loss
can there be than this? You do not know even the meaning of Kalima by reciting
which you enter Islam, nor do you know what responsibilities devolve on you soon after
reciting this Kalima. Can there be a greater loss than this for a Muslim? You know
the loss caused if crops are burnt; you know the suffering due to failure to obtain
livelihood; you know the harm resulting from loss of property, but you do not know the
loss of being unaware of Islam. When you will realize this loss then you will yourself
come and ask to be saved from this loss. And when you will yourself make this request then
Insha-Allah (may God will it so) arrangement will be made to protect you from this
loss.
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