كتاب منهج دراسة الأديان بين الشيخ رحمت الله الهندي والقس فندر
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attained to a true knowledge (macrifat) of God through the lives of the former prophets and never remained Muslims. But Muhammad had already taken care of that eventuality: He forbade his people from reading the Tawrat and the Injil. When the Khalifa Umar was reading pages from the Tawrat in the presence of Muhammad, Muhammad was very angry and said: "Is not the Qur'an enough for you? "1 Muslims today follow the same practice: They do not read the Injil andTawrat. In fact they revile any Muslim they see with this Holy Book in his hand. It is simply because Muhammad knew very well that whoever reads this Holy Book of God will never appreciate the Qur'an. Hence he forbade others reading it.2
In short, I also was entrapped in this esoteric science. I chose to speak little, eat little, remain aloof from people, afflict my body and stay awake during the nights. I began to recite the Qur'an throughout the night. I continuously repeated the qasida about Ghawth (Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani). I recited Chahal Qaf and Hizb ul-Bahr. I meditated and practised abstinence. I performed dhikr loudly and silently. I sat in seclusion with closed eyes and mentally began to write the word "Allah" on my heart. While at the graves of the saints I meditated, hoping for illumination from their graves. I attended the Sufi assemblies, confidently gazing upon the faces of the Sufis, anticipating a flow of light from their direction. Through their intercession I constantly besought union with God. In addition to the five regular prayers, I performed the night, the early morning and mid-morning prayers. I went on repeating the confession of faith and invoking blessings upon Muhammad. In short, whatever troubles and pain are within the power of man to bear, I have borne them and suffered them in their fullest intensity. But apart from deception nothing came out of it and I never found peace.
While I was engaged in all this, Dr. Wazir Khan and Mawlawi Muhammad Mazhar and other elders selected me to preach on the Qur'an and Hadith against Padre Pfander at the Royal Jamic Masjid, Akbarabad. I continued to preach for three years, discoursing on the Commentaries, Traditions, etc. But one verse of the Qur'an kept on pricking me throughout:
Not one of you there is, but he shall go down to it; that for thy Lord is a thing decreed, determined. (19: 17)3
That is, every man must enter hell on one occasion. It is incumbent upon God that He cause everyone to enter hell on one occasion and afterwards He forgives whomever He wishes. The significance of this verse sorely perplexes Muslim scholars. They interpret it in various ways. Moreover, there is no Quranic verse to provide the hearts of Muslims with some kind of hope by way intercession. Whenever I thought over this matter, I was thoroughly perplexed. Some indeed say that Muhammad will intercede. But Muslims have no real proof for this fundamental claim, since nowhere in the Qur'an is it written that Muhammad is their intercessor. True, Jalal ud-Din as-Suyuti has written a treatise on this subject, in which he offers proof for his claim from the Traditions. I did derive some comfort from this work. Yet, I did not realise that these particular traditions were weakly supported and unreliable.
