Page 192 - New English Book L
P. 192

191

each baptism is distinctly stated and defined. The one is
performed by immersing or washing the body with water
as a sign or mark of repentance; and the other is performed
no longer by water but by the Holy Spirit and the fire, the
effect of which is a thorough change of heart, faith, and
feeling. One purifies the body; the other enlightens the
mind, confirms the faith, and regenerates the heart. One
is outward, it is Judaism; the other is inward, it is Islam.
The baptism of John and Jesus (pbuh) washes the shell, but
the baptism of the Apostle of Allah washes the kernel. In
short, the Judeo-Christian baptism is substituted by the
Islamic “Ghusl” and “Wodhu” -or the ablutions, which are
performed, not by a prophet or priest, but by the believing
individual himself. The Judeo-Christian baptism was
necessary and obligatory so long as the baptism of Allah
-the Quránic “Sibghatu’ llah”- was anticipated; and when
Muhammad (pbuh) thundered the divine revelations of the
Quran, then it was that the former baptism vanished as a
shadow.

    The extreme importance of the two baptisms
deserves a very serious consideration, and I believe
the observations made in this article must considerably
interest both the Muslims and other readers. For the point
under discussion, from a religious standpoint, is vital
to salvation. The Christians, I honestly maintain, are
not justified in perpetuating their baptism with water ad
infinitum, since their own Gospels foretell that it will be
abrogated by another one which will exclude the use of
water altogether. I submit the following observations to
the thoughtful and impartial judgment of my readers.

    What is Baptism? And what is not?

    (a) It is within our rights to agree of to disagree with
a doctrine or a theory, but nothing can justify our conduct
if we deliberately distort and misrepresent a doctrine in
order to prove our own theory about it. To distort the
   187   188   189   190   191   192   193   194   195   196   197