the light (english) august 2014
DESCRIPTION
Organ of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam based in Lahore. Representing Islam as a peaceful, tolerant, inclusive and liberal religion. A religion which teaches Muslims to respect the founders and followers of all religions.TRANSCRIPT
August 2014
Editors:
Shahid Aziz
Mustaq Ali
Contents: Page
The Call of the Messiah 1
Gratitude by Nazra Ali 3
Judiasm, Islam and Pacifism 6
Concept of God in Islam 7
م می
حالر
ن
م
ح اہلل الر
م س
ب
The Call of the Messiah
by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah and Mahdi
Christians Hollow Claim
A sane person can understand that this like-
ness and similarity is the very essence of this
prophecy hence, if this resemblance be not in
matters seen and perceived, and not of the char-
acter of an established fact, or a wonderful sign,
or a professed principle in the sight of an oppo-
nent, how can such an absurd claim lead to the
guidance of a seeker-after-truth? That Jesus
was a deliverer, is merely a hallow claim of the
Christians which
they have not been
able to prove by
rational argument,
nor show in the
colour and charac-
ter of an extraordi-
nary wonder. You
may just ask them
to ascertain and
know that they are
unable to point out
any distinctive fea-
ture between
Christianity and other nations, leading to the
conclusion that it is only the Christians who
have been delivered and saved, whereas all the
other nations are deprived of and without sal-
vation. The truth however is just the other way.
The Christian nation is itself wholly denuded
and bereft of spirituality, and heavenly favour
and grace, as well as the spiritual signs and
blessings of salvation. How then, and in what
manner, can resemblance and similarity be es-
tablished? It is absolutely necessary that re-
semblance should be in (matters) visible and
seen so that with this sure knowledge people
may be enabled to proceed to the recognition of
the right man. If a man should come forward
today and claim that he is the like of Moses,
and adduce this similarity that spiritually he is
the deliverer of the nation, but display not any
palpable sign of giving salvation, will the Chris-
tians accept him, believing that he is really the
like of Moses? The correct and true decision,
therefore, is that Jesus is certainly not the like
of Moses, nor has he set forth any example of
external events by means of which resem-
blance between him and Moses be established
in the matter of giving deliverance to the be-
lievers and chastisement to the unbelievers.
The believers, on the contrary, suffered the sev-
erest trouble and torment during his time,1 and
of whose sting even
Jesus could not re-
main unaffected and
immune. We shall,
therefore, be losing
our faith, and be-
come dishonest in
the sight of God, if
we admit and affirm
not that the like of
Moses spoken of in
Deuteronomy
(Torah), is the same
Prophet of God who,
having suffered eve-
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Masih has also been given to the foretold dajjal
whose foul and filthy breath will give rise to
calamity, atheism and unbelief, and whose infer-
nal attention, word or association will, even
without employing any aggressive means for
the destruction of truth, cause goodness and
love of god to melt away and disappear, and
push forward and promote licentiousness and
wine-bibbing, fraud and falsehood, worldliness
and vice, tyranny and oppression, famine , and
disease. And this is apparently the significance
which we arrive at by casting a collective look
upon the meanings given in Lisan al-Arab and
other lexicons of high degree; and this, again, is
the significance which the Most High God has
revealed unto me. And although other prophets
also possessed the quality of Messiah-ship, but
the prophet who appeared in such an age, yet
resorted not to Jihad, nor made use of other vio-
lent means, but took to prayer and spiritual
force, has this name specially. Such a Messiah of
exalted degree there had been only one among
the Children of Israel, and he was Jesus the
Christ (peace be on him) who came 1400 years
after Moses, and became the last caliph of the
Mosaic dispensation.
1: If the Christians should think that Jesus from the
spiritual point of view, has created disgust and aversion
for sin in the minds of people, even then he enjoys no
distinction. All the prophets have been raised for this
purpose that they may, as far as possible, rectify, re-
form and improve the moral, doctrinal and everyday
life of the people; and their efforts, too, undoubtedly
bore good fruit. And if the Christians should put forth
the claim that the punishment of sins has been averted
through the intervention of Jesus, they have not been
able to produce any argument in support of it.
2: If the Christians should think that Jesus from the
spiritual point of view, has created disgust and aversion
for sin in the minds of people, even then he enjoys no
distinction. All the prophets have been raised for this
purpose that they may, as far as possible, rectify, re-
form and improve the moral, doctrinal and everyday
life of the people; and their efforts, too, undoubtedly
bore good fruit. And if the Christians should put forth
the claim that the punishment of sins has been averted
through the intervention of Jesus, they have not been
able to produce any argument in support of it.
ry kind of pain and persecution for 13 years,
had at last to take to flight together with his fol-
lowers, and was given a hot chase by the enemy,
but within a few hours, on the field of Badr, Abu
Jehal and all his army were done to death by the
sharp edge of sword in the same way as were
destroyed Pharaoh and all his hordes by the
annihilating current of the Nile. How beautifully
and perceptibly the two historical events of
Egypt and Makkah, of the river Nile and the field
of Badr, bear a close resemblance to each other?
Likeness of Khalifahs
In short, when it is established and proved
that our Holy Prophet is, of a truth, the like of
Moses, perfect likeness demanded that there
should be likeness also among their followers
and Khalifahs; and it was essentially necessary
that just as there existed a perfect and complete
resemblance between Moses and the Holy
Prophet (peace be upon them) in the matter of
giving salvation to the believers and chastise-
ment to the unbelievers, there should also be
found some sort of likeness between the last
caliphs of these two Great Prophets. So when we
give thought to this point, we find, as I have al-
ready stated above, that there is not only one
but many similarities between me and Jesus.2
The Term Messiah
A question naturally arises at this stage, why
one and the same name, Messiah, has been giv-
en to both the persons, the one of whom a
promise had been held out to the Jews in the
Torah that he would make his appearance at the
time of their kingdom's decline, and would be
the last caliph of the Mosaic order, and the other,
promised in the Holy Quran and hadith that he
would come in the last age when the Religion of
Cross would be at its height? The answer to this
question is that the term masih (Messiah) in
reality is applied to a particular man of right-
eousness and piety whose anointment has the
blessing and grace of God, so that his preaching
and precept stirs up and stimulates new life.
This term has been applied, in particular, to the
prophet who waged no war, but worked out and
accomplished the reformation of his people only
by spiritual blessing. As against it, the name
August 2014
3
very ungrateful), Allah mentions this weakness in
man and the same sadness is expressed in chapter
27:73 (And thy Lord is full of grace to men, but most
of them do not give thanks), and in 44:6 1 (Surely
Allah is Full of grace to men, but most men give not
thanks).
It is God who has made the night for you, that
you may rest therein, and the day, as that which
helps you to see. Verily God is full of grace and
bounty to men, yet most men give no thanks. It is
God who has made for you
the earth as a resting place,
and the sky as a canopy, and
has given you shape--and
made your shapes beautiful
--and has provided for you
sustenance of things pure
and good; such is God, your
Lord. So glory to God, the
Lord of the Worlds! (Qur'an
40.61, 64)
A sense of gratitude and
indebtedness to others is an
important wellspring of a generous and virtuous
life. All people can recognize that they are indebt-
ed to their parents, who gave them birth and
raised them at considerable sacrifice. But our in-
debtedness extends much further than that. Fun-
damentally, we are indebted to God our Creator
and the powers of nature that nourish and sustain
our life. Then, since the food we eat travels from
the soil to our dining table by passing through
many hands--that cultivate, harvest, clean, pack-
age, transport, sell, and prepare it--we should rec-
ognize that we rely on the labours of many people
in order to survive. A sense of gratitude to others
is thus acknowledging our interdependent exist-
ence; it is an antidote to the illusion of egoism.
Such gratitude is recalled and expressed in the
prayer of grace or thanks offered before meals.
Another dimension of gratitude is directed to-
wards those who are responsible for our education
and enlightenment in the way of truth andsalva-
tion. Gratitude towards one's teachers, and espe-
cially towards the sages and founders of religions
who offered their lives to find the truth, is a proper
attitude of faith. Most of all, we should be grateful
to God, who quietly has been guiding and nurtur-
Gratitude
Nazra Ali
(Text of a speech delivered at Dar us Salaam, Lon-
don on 1st June 2014)
Definition of gratitude
Gratitude means thanks and appreciation,
which rhymes with
“attitude, “comes from the
Latin word gratus, which
means “thankful, pleasing
(Vocabulary.com).
Gratitude to a Muslim
is to acknowledge being
treated well by Allah, it is
also to praise the One who
has done many favours. A
true believer, either poor
or rich, should always be
thankful to God whatever
his state is; he should express his certainty that
God is loving and kind, and cares for all his crea-
tures; he should be thankful for the great bounties
that God has provided him because:
“It is he who brought you forth from the wombs
of your mothers when you knew nothing, and he
gave you hearing and sight and intelligence and
affection so that you may give thanks (to God)” (An-
Nahl Ch 16:74)
Why do we need to show gratitude to Al-
lah?
The word(s) "grateful" appears 11 time(s) in
47 verse(s) in Quran. SO there is obviously a mes-
sage in this for Muslims that they should show
gratitude to their maker.
Let us look at some verses of the Quran.
CH 2 v 112 al baqara - So remember Me, and I
will remember you; and be thankful to Me; and be
you not ungrateful towards Me.
In 14:34 (And He gives you all that you ask of
Him. And if you count Allah’s favours, you will not
be able to number them. Surely man is very unjust,
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August 2014
ing each person toward salvation, and without
whose grace the world would be plunged in
darkness.
Gratefulness for rewards:-
And no person can ever die except by Allah's
Leave and at an appointed term. And whoever
desires a reward in (this) world, We shall give
him of it; and whoever desires a reward in the
Hereafter, We shall give him thereof. And We
shall reward the grateful. Ch 3 vs 144
Prophets admonished to be Grateful-(Allah)
said: "O Musa (Moses) I have chosen you above
men by My Messages, and by My speaking (to
you). So hold that which I have given you and be
of the grateful." Ch 7 v 144
Gratefullness for good children-
He it is who created you from a single soul,
and of the same did he make his mate, that he
might find comfort in her. So when he covers
her she bears a light burden, then moves about
with it. Then when it grows heavy, they both
call upon Allah there Lord; saying if thou give us
a good one, we shall certainly be of the grateful.
Ch 7 V 149
Gratefulness in times of need
He it is who makes you travel by land and
sea; until, when you are in the ships, and they
sail on with them in a pleasant breeze, and they
rejoice at it, a violent wind overtakes them and
the billows surge in on them from all sides, and
they deemed that they are encompassed about.
Then they pray to Allah, being sincere to Him in
obedience. If thou deliver from this we will cer-
tainly be of the grateful ones. Ch 10 v 22
Gratitude in world scriptures and reli-
gions
Judaism
In Judaism, gratitude is a vital component of
worship and permeates every aspect of the wor-
shiper's daily life. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the
poetry of the Psalms is saturated with thanks-
giving to God: "O LORD my God, I will give
thanks to you forever "(30:12) and "I will give
thanks to the LORD with my whole heart "(9:1).
Christianity
Gratitude has always been central among
Christian virtues and appears in classical and
modern devotional writings as well as in the Old
and New Testaments. In Christian gratitude, God
is the giver of all gifts and the ultimate founda-
tion for thankfulness.
Buddhism. Anguttara Nikaya i.61
The unworthy man is ungrateful, forgetful of
benefits [done to him]. This ingratitude, this
forgetfulness is congenial to mean people... But
the worthy person is grateful and mindful of
benefits done to him. This gratitude, this mind-
fulness, is congenial to the best people.
African Traditional Religions. Yoruba
Proverb (Nigeria)
One upon whom
We bestow kindness
But will not express gratitude,
Is worse than a robber
Who carries away our belongings.
The 17-century revivalist preacher and the-
ologian, Jonathan Edwards, described two types
of gratitude in his classic work, “A Treatise Con-
cerning Religious Affections." He described
these two types as natural gratitude and as a
gracious or spiritual gratitude. Natural gratitude
is thanks expressed to God for the benefits a
person has received, whereas gracious gratitude
has its source in the knowledge of the goodness
of God independent of favours received.
The Psychology of being grateful.
An Attitude of Gratitude
This list of benefits was compiled by aggre-
gating the results of more than 40 research stud-
August 2014
1
ies on gratitude.
1. Gratitude makes us happier.
A five-minute a day gratitude journal can
increase your long-term well-being by more
than 10 percent.a1,a2,a3 That’s the same impact
as doubling your income!a4
How can a free five minute activity com-
pare? Gratitude improves our health, relation-
ships, emotions, personality, and career.
Sure, having more money can be pretty awe-
some, but because of hedonic adaptation we
quickly get used to it and stop having as much
fun and happiness as we did at first.
2. Gratitude makes people like us.
Gratitude generates social capital – in two
studies with 243 total participants, those who
were 10% more grateful than average had
17.1% more social capital.b1
Gratitude makes us nicer, more trusting,
more social, and more appreciative. As a result,
it helps us make more friends, deepen our exist-
ing relationships, and improve our marriage.b2
3. Gratitude makes us healthier.
Several studies have looked at the benefits
of gratefulness. These are found here.
There is even reason to believe gratitude can
extend your lifespan by a few months or even
years.
4. Gratitude develops our personality.
It really does, and in potentially life-
changing ways.a2,b2,d2,e1,e2
Gratitude impacts on our Health
6) Gratitude improves your sleep.
Gratitude increases sleep quality, reduces
the time required to fall asleep, and increases
sleep duration. Said differently, gratitude can
help with insomnia.a2,j1
The key is what’s on our minds as we’re try-
ing to fall asleep. If it’s worries about the kids, or
anxiety about work, the level of stress in our
body will increase, reducing sleep quality, keep-
ing us awake, and cutting our sleep short.
If it’s thinking about a few things we have to
be grateful for today, it will induce the relaxation
response, knock us out, and keep us that way.
Yes – gratitude is a (safe and free) sleep aid.
7) Gratitude keeps you away from the doctor.
Gratitude can’t cure cancer (neither can pos-
itive thinking) but it can strengthen your physio-
logical functioning.
Positive emotion improves health. The de-
tails are complicated, but the overall picture is
not – if you want to improve your health, im-
prove your mind. This confidence comes from
137 research studies.
Gratitude is a positive emotion. It’s no
far stretch that some of the benefits (e.g. better
coping & management of terminal conditions
like cancer and HIV,k1,k2 faster recovery from
certain medical procedures, positive changes in
immune system functioning,k3 more positive
health behavior,k4,k1 etc…) apply to gratitude
as well.
In fact, some recent science shows just that –
those who engage in gratitude practices have
been shown to feel less pain, go to the doctor
less often, have lower blood pressure, and be
less likely to develop a mental disorder.a1,a2,k6
Scientific background to Gratitude
It is, according to Emmons, a “chosen atti-
tude.” We must be willing to recognize and
acknowledge that we are the recipients of an
unearned benefit.
Emmons’ research indicates that gratitude is
not merely a positive emotion; it also improves
your health if cultivated. People must give up a
“victim mentality” and overcome a sense of enti-
tlement and deservedness.
As a result, he says, they will experience sig-
nificant improvements in several areas of life
including relationships, academics, energy level
and even dealing with tragedy and crisis.
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August 2014
Research has also suggested that feelings of
gratitude may be beneficial to subjective emo-
tional well-being (Emmons & McCullough,
2003). For example, Watkins and colleagues
(Watkins et al., 2003) had participants test a
number of different gratitude exercises, such as
thinking about a living person for whom they
were grateful, writing about someone for whom
they were grateful, and writing a letter to deliv-
er to someone for whom they were grateful. Par-
ticipants in the control condition were asked to
describe their living room. Participant who en-
gaged in a gratitude exercise
showed increases in their experi-
ences of positive emotion imme-
diately after the exercise, and this
effect was strongest for partici-
pants who were asked to think
about a person for whom they
were grateful. Participants who
had grateful personalities to
begin with showed the greatest
benefit from these gratitude ex-
ercises. In people who are grate-
ful in general, life events have
little influence on experienced
gratitude (McCullough, Tsang &
Emmons, 2004).
Conclusion
By the time! Surely man is in loss, except
those who believe and do good, and exhort one
another to truth and exhort one another to pa-
tience (103:1-3). Finally, in order to preserve,
reinforce and develop this quality of gratitude to
the highest degree, we are advised to keep the
company of the grateful ones, as the Holy Quran
bids us: Nay, worship Allah alone and keep the
company of those who are grateful(39:66).
Is there room for pacifism in
Judaism and Islam?
A Quaker can be a pacifist on the basis of his
religion. Maybe a Christian can too “Turn the
other cheek.” Jews and Muslims can not be. It is
quite clear that our scriptural and legal tradi-
tions view violence as a reasonable and often
unavoidable means of resolving human conflict.
Both traditions set limits on who you may hurt,
when you may hurt and the conditions under which
you can hurt them. Both traditions are very realis-
tic about recognizing the ugliness that violence
raises in its participants, the possible abuses that
place in time of war. Both traditions strive to man-
age that. They create limited room for dividing the
spoils (which in ancient times certainly included
humans as property) and for the harm of non-
combatants who happen to be in the way. Judaism
and Islam both decry the intentional attack on in-
nocents and the wanton destruction of proper-
ty. We are not pacifist religions in
principle. In practice though, I won-
der however whether the nature of
violence in the modern age, may not
call us to be pacifists, in practice.
The scriptures, narratives, examples
and legal precedents upon which
both Jewish and Islamic legal tradi-
tions base their rulings on war and
violence are largely ancient and me-
dieval and nature. They speak of a
time of relatively small scale war-
fare. Armies lined up against other
armies or perhaps small groups of
insurgents fought guerilla wars with
larger armies. Combatants were
clear and well-defined. Weapons
were smaller. There were stones, knives, hatch-
ets, swords, bows, long-bows, cross bows and even-
tually cannon and muskets. These short range
weapons required a virtual face to face engagement
with the enemy. Even in the heat of battle, it would
be hard to forget the humanity of your opponent.
Though tragic, such wars were necessarily limited
in scope and damage. They were wars that could be
won. Territory could be conquered and successfully
held. In one to one engagement with the enemy,
the killing of non-combatants was certainly possi-
bly but not likely. Commanders fought at the head
of their troops. When those in power face the same
imminent danger as their troops, it can create pow-
erful incentives to make peace (or accept submis-
sion).
In modern warfare, we move further and fur-
ther from face to face engagement. The incentives
for peace are largely gone. The war makers are in
boardrooms far removed from their battlefields.
August 2014
7
Aerial bombings and the use of unmanned
drones alienate even the soldier from the heat of
battle, reducing the enemy to pixels on a screen.
The drone soldier who prowls the plains of Af-
ghanistan for his targets from the air-
conditioned comfort of Las Vegas knows nothing
of the ancient “nobility” of war or has any rea-
son to avoid its savagery . Big powerful weap-
ons from assault rifles to cluster bombs make
“collateral damage” the killing of innocents and
absolute certainty. As human beings crowd
themselves into denser and denser population
centers, war begins to look more and more like
shooting rats in a barrel. Collective punishment
also becomes a certainty. Nuclear and biological
weapons make the wanton destruction of envi-
ronment an inevitable consequence of pulling
those triggers. There is little face-too-face en-
gagement to humanize the enemy. The horrors
of war make less impression on minds and
hearts awash in endless dramatized violence.
The limitations that our religious traditions put
on the practice of violence have effectively be-
come meaningless today. If war was ever noble,
it can’t be now. Jews carry the image of the God-
commanded struggle to conquer The Land in
the time of Joshua. Muslims see the glory days of
Islamic expansion, the violent struggles of the
early Muslim community. Americans fantasize
about the conquering of the West, the brave
cowboy. I have come to believe that F-16s,
drones, assault rifles, bunker-busters, cluster
bombs, phosphorous weapons, and biological
weapons have rendered all of that a quaint fan-
tasy. The goals and values that our religions
teach us can no longer be furthered by modern
war.
If the facts on the ground make the limita-
tion on violence an impossibility, we have two
possibilities; to obliterate those limitations or
to embrace some kind of collective practical pac-
ifism. The movement has clearly been to do the
former. The definition of non-combatant be-
comes more and more narrow. Scholars will find
reasons to consider children and women as
“legitimate targets.” They dig deep into our
complex traditions to find texts to defend the
indefensible We invent euphemisms like
“collateral damage” to cover up our wanton de-
struction of human life and human environ-
ment.
I am not really a pacifist. I recognize that
people sometimes have to defend themselves. I
would use violence to defend myself, my family,
or others from harm. I am not prepared to ar-
gue that somehow it would have been better not
to fight the Nazis. (The inevitable challenge.) I
humbly recognize that my faith acknowledges
the legitimate use of violence and I take that
very seriously. At the same time, I can’t ignore
the growing disconnect between the kind of
warfare we see in the real world and any possi-
bility of building the world that both Judaism
and Islam envision, a world devoted to the ser-
vice of God in peace.
I am struggling and now sharing the strug-
gle with you. I look forward to your reasoned,
polite, heart-felt thoughts and comments. (From
http://jihadiyehudi.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/is-
there-room-for-pacifism-in-judaism.html?
showCom-
ment=1404464041114#c44497996117344141
79)
Concept of God in Islam
(From : ARAB NEWS
Published — Friday 4 November 2013
http://www.arabnews.com/news/474046)
EVERY language has one or more terms that
are used in reference to God and sometimes to
lesser deities. This is not the case with the term
‘Allah,’ which is the specific name of the one true
God. Nothing else can be called Allah. The term
has no plural or gender. This shows its unique-
ness when compared with the word ‘god,’ which
can be made plural, as in ‘gods,’ or made femi-
nine, as in ‘goddess.’ It is interesting to notice
that the name ‘Allah’ is referred to in Aramaic,
the language of Prophet Jesus (peace be upon
him) and a sister language of Arabic.
The one true God is a reflection of the
unique concept that Islam associates with God.
To a Muslim, Allah is the Almighty Creator and
Sustainer of the universe, Who is similar to
nothing, and nothing is comparable to Him. The
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was
asked by his contemporaries about Allah, the
answer came directly from God Himself in the
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August 2014
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form of a short chapter of the Qur’an, which is
considered to be the essence of the unity or the
motto of monotheism: "Say: He is God, the One!
God, the eternally Besought of all! He begets not
nor was begotten. And there is none comparable
to Him." (Qur’an, 112:1-4)
Allah’s concept in Islam is that of merciful.
Hence, except Surah Taubah, each of the 114
chapters of the Qur’an begins with the verse, "In
the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassion-
ate."
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
said: "God is more loving and kind than a moth-
er to her dear child."
And, God in Islam is Just. Hence, evildoers
and sinners must have their share of punish-
ment, and the virtuous must have His bounties
and favors. Actually, God’s attribute of mercy has
full manifestation in His attribute of justice. Peo-
ple suffering throughout their lives for His sake
should not receive similar
treatment from their Lord as
people who oppress and ex-
ploit others. Expecting simi-
lar treatment for them would
amount to negating the very
belief in the accountability of
man in the Hereafter and
thereby negate all the incen-
tives for a moral and virtuous
life in this world.
The following Qur’anic verses are very clear
and straightforward in this respect: "Verily, for
the Righteous are gardens of Delight, in the
Presence of their Lord. Shall We then treat the
people of Faith like the people of Sin? What is
the matter with you? How judge you?"
Islam rejects characterizing God in any hu-
man form or depicting Him as favoring certain
individuals or nations on the basis of wealth,
power or race. He created the human-beings as
equals. They may distinguish themselves and
get His favor through virtue and piety only.
The concepts that God rested on the seventh
day of creation, that God wrestled with one of
His soldiers, that God is an envious plotter
against mankind, and that God is incarnate in
any human being are considered blasphemy in
Islam.
The term ‘Allah’ is a reflection of Islam’s em-
phasis on the purity of the belief in God that is
the essence of the message of all God’s messen-
gers. Because of this, Islam considers associat-
ing any deity or personality with God as a sin
that God never forgives, despite the fact that He
may forgive all other sins.
The Creator must be of a different nature
from the things created because if He is of the
same nature as they are, He will be temporal
and will therefore need a maker. It follows that
nothing is like Him. If the
maker is not temporal, then
he must be eternal. But if he is
eternal, he cannot be caused,
and if nothing caused Him to
come into existence, nothing
outside Him causes Him to
continue to exist, which
means that he must be self-
sufficient. And if He does not
depend on anything for the continuance of His
own existence, then this existence can have no
end. The Creator is therefore eternal and ever-
lasting: "He is the First and the Last."
He is Self-sufficient or Self-subsistent, or, to
use a Qur’anic term, Al-Qayyum. The Creator
does not create only in the sense of bringing
things into being, He also preserves them and
takes them out of existence and is the ultimate
cause of whatever happens to them.
Rainbow Mountain, China