One time, as a artifice, a pitiless enemy of Islam, a cunning politician, a suspicious parson who wanted to swagger and show off, asked us four things, –in the form of denial, at a terrible time he had his claws at our throat, in his glee at our misfortune; he wanted six hundred words. A reply was needed like a slap in the face of his glee, and his wiles, and his denial, like spitting in his face, to silence him. I won’t address him. I have the following answer for a lover of truth.
He asked first: “What is the religion of Muhammad (PBUH)?”
I replied: It is the Qur’an. The basic aims of the Qur’an are the six pillars of belief and the five pillars of Islam.
In the second he asked: “What has it given to life and thought?”
I replied: To thought, the affirmation of Divine unity; to life, moderation and the middle way. My witnesses for this are
Say: He is God, the One. (Quran 112:1)
Therefore stand firm in the Straight Way as you are commanded. (Quran 11:112)
In the third, he said: “What remedies has it for the present discord and turmoil?”
I replied: The prohibition of usury and interest and the payment of Zakat. My witnesses for this are these:
God will deprive usury of all blessing. (Quran 2:276)
God has permitted trade and forbidden usury. (Quran 2:275)
And be steadfast in prayer, and practice regular charity Zakat. (Quran 2:43)
In the fourth, he asked: “How does it look on man’s revolutions?”
I replied: Labour, striving, are fundamental. Wealth should not be accumulated in the hands of tyrants, and held on to. My witnesses for this:
Man has nothing save that which he strives. (Quran 53:39)
Those who store up gold and silver and do not spend it in God’s way, announce to them a most grievous penalty. (Quran 9:34)
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