A city clock-tower informs people of the correct
time. People set their watches according to it.
Nobody bothers about who the engineers and
mechanics who constructed the clock-tower were,
or where the parts that they used were produced.
The fact that it keeps good time is enough to attract
everybody. God’s religion is much the same sort of
clock-tower, constructed for man’s guidance; yet
people fail to look at it and find their way by it.
There can only be one reason for this; people are
serious in wanting to know the time, but not the
word of God. God’s religion is connected with the
next life, while a clock-tower is a thing of this
world. The clock has an important part to play in
the realization of their worldly ambitions. They
recognize its importance. But they have no
ambitions for the future life, and no regard for the
importance of something which guides man to
eternal success.
True submission to God does not mean just
acknowledging His existence. It involves total
attachment to Him. It is an inward state with an
outward form. Discovery of God is an event of
incomparable impact which can never remain
hidden. If God’s truth has been revealed to
someone, it will always be apparent. One so
favoured will desire those around him to bear
witness to the fact that he has answered the call of
God, set aside the idols of worldly gain and
expediency, and devoted himself entirely to God. If
one claims inner faith, but does not express it, one
can only be looking at faith as a convenience.
Anyone who puts worldly interests before God
cannot ever discover Him. Preoccupation with
worldly priorities and prejudices are the very
opposite of true submission to God, and two such
conflicting states can never merge in one soul.
Ref - The Way to Find God
- by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
