Page 221 - New English Book L
P. 221
220
Almighty in His quality of Creator is the Father of all
beings, things, and intelligences, but not the Father
of one particular son. The Orientalists know that the
Semitic word “abb” or “abba,” which is translated as
“father,” means “one who brings forth, or bears fruit”
(“ibba” = fruit). This sense of the word is quite intelligible
and its use legitimate enough. The Bible frequently makes
use of the appellation “Father.” God, somewhere in the
Bible, says, “Israel is my first-born son”; and elsewhere
in the book of Job He is called “the father of the rain.”
It is because of the abuse of this divine appellation of
the Creator by Christendom that the Quran refrains from
using it. From a purely Unitarian and Muslim point of
belief the Christian dogma concerning the eternal birth or
generation of the Son is a blasphemy.
Whether the Christian baptismal formula is authentic
or spurious I believe there is a hidden truth in it. For it
must be admitted that the Evangelists never authorize
the use of it in any other ritual, prayer, or creed other
than that of Baptism. This point is extremely important.
St. John (pbuh) had foretold the Baptism with the Holy
Spirit and fire by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) , as we
saw in the preceding articles. The immediate Baptizer
being God Himself, and the mediate the Son of Man or
the Barnasha of the vision of Daniel, it was perfectly
just and legitimate to mention those two names as
the first and second efficient causes; and the name
of the Holy Spirit, too, as the causa materialis of the
Sibghatu’llahh! Now the divine appellation “Father,”
before its abuse by the Church, was rightly invoked.
In fact, the Sibghatullah is a new birth, a nativity into
the kingdom of God, which is Islam. The Baptizer who
causes this regeneration is directly Allah. To be born
in the religion if Islam, to be endowed with the faith
in the true God, is the greatest favour and gift of the