True Objective of Religion

The Promised Messiah(as) writes in Paigham-e-Sulh:

“The spirit of piety requires that you abstain from whatever God has forbidden. To actually pursue the path of gaining His favour and to have the welfare of His creation at heart and to treat others with goodness and sympathy and to respect all the holy Prophets and Messengers from God, and to accept them as reformers and to not discriminate between them and to serve all mankind irrespective of denominations. This is the essential requirement of our faith. How can we ever be at peace with such people who—without justification and without regard for the fear of Allah—speak of our Holy Prophet, Hazrat Muhammad (may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) with disrespect, and abuse him and refrain not from the use of foul language? In truth, I declare that it is possible for us to make peace with the serpents fed on brackish soil and the wolves of the wilderness, but not with those who make wanton attacks on our Holy Prophet (may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) who is dearer to us than our lives, our mothers and our fathers. May Allah cause us to die as Muslims. We are not willing to do anything at the cost of our faith…

“With a deep sense of mortification, I observe that Islam, being a religion of peace, never attacked the founder of any religion. The Quran is that revered book which laid the foundation of peace between nations and acknowledged the truth of all Prophets belonging to all the different nations. It is the Holy Quran which enjoys the unique distinction of teaching us with regards to the Prophets of the entire world that:

1

“Therefore, O Muslims, you should declare: We believe in all the Prophets of God belonging to this world and we do not discriminate between them as to reject one and accept the others.

“Name one book like the Holy Quran which is so dedicated for the cause of peace. The universal beneficence of God has not been confined by the Quran to any specific House. It acknowledges the Prophets of the House of Israel, one and all, be they Jacob [Ya‘qub(as)], Isaac [Ishaq(as)], Moses [Musa(as)], David [Dawud(as)] or Jesus [‘Isa(as)]. And it acknowledges the Prophets of other nations regardless of whether they dwelt in India or Persia. None of them have been labelled as deceitful or imposters. On the contrary, it clearly proclaims that Prophets appeared in every nation and in every township and laid the foundation of peace between all the peoples. Alas, this Messenger of Peace is abused and treated with contempt by all peoples alike.

“Countrymen, I have not expressed this view to offend you or to hurt your sensibilities in any way. But I do desire to submit, in all sincerity, that those who have made it their second nature to vilify the Prophets of other faiths and consider this unjustified behaviour to be a part of their faith commit an act of unwarranted interference in others’ affairs. They not only sin against God, but they are also guilty of sowing the seed of discord and enmity among mankind. Now answer me with hand on heart: if someone abuses another’s father or accuses another’s mother of unchaste conduct, will this not be tantamount to assailing the honour of his father himself? If anyone retaliates with similar abuses, will it not be appropriate to say that in reality the blame lies with the person who initiated it? In that case he himself would be the offender of his parents’ honour.”2