The True Path Quotes

These quotes are from the book, The True Path, and are quotes from two Muslims who came to understand that they should submit to Jesus and follow Him.  These quotes are taken from their journeys.

The quotes are from Sultan Muhammad P. Khan and J. A. Sabhan

“The unexamined life is not worth living.” Socrates

“I considered that all men agree that man, as his name indicates, is a bundle of forgetfulness, disobedience, and transgressions. His life never remains so pure as to be absolutely free from the stain of sin. Sin has become man’s second nature. It is a true saying that `to err is human.’ The question is how can one escape accountability and punishment? How is one to be saved? What does Islam have to say about it? And what is the message of Christianity? It is my duty to investigate this important matter honestly and without prejudice.”

Sultan Muhammad P. Khan

“. . . I found a copy of the English Bible with references . . . The first few days I spent in picking out of it . . . the Gospel of Matthew. In the reading of this gospel what impressed me most was the fulfillment of the prophecies of Christ . . . The search for the fulfilled prophecies gave me an exciting time. As a Muslim I was taught to believe that all the previous scriptures pointed to the coming of Muhammad, the last of the line of the Prophets beginning with Adam, but my study of the Bible proved to me conclusively that Christ was the last of all to come as God’s final Messenger, and being His Son He could not be superseded by another . . . The passages in the book of Isaiah, chapter 53, helped me a great deal to understand the nature of the death of Christ: “He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement for our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed . . .”

J. A. Subhan

I Discovered That God Answers Prayer

When a man desires earnestly to know God, it only indicates that he is responding to God’s search for him, and such a desire, if sincere, must culminate in God’s finding him . . . A copy of the gospel was given to me by a Muslim friend who himself had received it from a preacher or a colporteur. On a previous occasion I had torn it into pieces, for when attracted by its title “Injil,” a term with which I was familiarized by the study of the Quran, I had taken it to my teacher. I was warned in all seriousess not to read it because it was not a true Injil of which the Quran testifies, but a corrupted form of it, and consequently containing blasphemous teachings, the very acts of pronouncing its words pollute the mind and the soul of a believer. My inner longing, however, to read the book revealed to Jesus was very great . . .

J. A. Subhan

The . . . thing that became clear to me from the Traditions (Hadith) was that even the Prophet of Islam cannot save anyone, not even his daughter Fatimah or his relations. Hence, the idea that the Prophet would intercede for the faithful, which I thought would surely prove correct, was proved wrong. One tradition runs thus:

“Abu Huraira related that when the verse, `Cause thy near relatives to fear,’ was revealed to the Prophet of Islam, the Prophet arose and began to proclaim: `Oh people of the Quraysh, and you sons of Abdul Manaf, and you Abbas, son of Abdul Muttalib, and you, Safiyyah my aunt, I cannot save you from the punishment of the Day of Resurrection. Take care of yourself, O my daughter Fatimah; you may use my property, but I cannot save you from God. Take care of yourself.’” (Bukhari)

From the traditions I gathered that no one can obtain salvation unless God’s mercy rests on him. This comforted me a little, but at the same time I began to think: “If God is merciful, He is likewise just. If God should forgive by the exercise of His mercy alone, He would be evading the demands of His justice and righteousness. Such an evasion of His justice would indicate a defect in the being of God. Certainly such an act would be unworthy of the glory of God.”

Sultan Muhammad P. Khan

“Why should I read the Bible?” said I. “Who would read such an altered book which you people change every year?” At my reply . . . he said . . . Do you consider that all we Christians are dishonest? Do you think we fear God so little that we should keep deceiving the world by making changes in the Holy Scriptures? When Muslims say that Christians keep altering the text of the Tawrat and the Injil . . . they suggest that all Christians are dishonest and that they are deceivers of the people. Now this is a serious and unwarranted indictment. Christians believe in the Bible as the Word of God as Muslims do in the Quran. Thus, if no Muslim can change the text of the Quran, how is it that a Christian can change the text of the Book of the all-wise God, the Holy Bible? . . . if some mischievous Christian were to change the text of any verse of Scripture, would not all other true Christians consider him outside the pale of their religion and make public the facts about him? Of course they would! . . . the contention . . . that the text of God’s Word has been altered is absolutely without foundation and futile . . .”

Sultan Muhammad P. Khan

. . . it (the Injil) must contain at least parts of the original revelation, as for its blasphemous contents surely they can be easily detected and consequently discarded as lies and interpolations introduced into it by wicked Christians. The result of my first reading was startling. In the first place I did not find a single sentence or a clause which in any sense could be interpreted as blasphemous or Satanic, and I had read it with a mind vigilant to detect any expression which implied any such notion directly or indirectly. Secondly, my common sense told me that if certain followers of a religion were to corrupt their sacred books or introduce interpolations into it, they must have an adequate reason or sufficient motive behind it. An enterprise as such, which is not only highly impious but also extremely presumptuous, would not and could not be undertaken by any class of people unless they were to derive some great advantage or benefit from it.

In the light of this principle I closely examined every passage of the gospel, and found none which would supply an adequate ground for such an act on the part of the Christians.

J. A. Subhan

I raised my hands to God in prayer: “O God, Thou knowest that I am and was born a Muslim, and that generation after generation of my ancestors were born into this religion and have died in it. In it I, too, have received my education, and in it I have been brought up. Therefore, now, remove every obstacle that would prevent me from discovering Thy true way, and show me the way to Thy salvation that, when I leave this transitory world, I may not be displeasing to Thee. Amen.”

Sultan Muhammad P. Khan

If the gospel was not true, the sun was not shining, the moon was not bright and the stars did not illuminate the path of heaven. I find it difficult to describe the experience that I had at the reading of the gospel on that memorable day; words are inadequate to express it. It was something like an object finding its missing complement. My spiritual life was incomplete without it, but as it had never known that which was intended to complete it, it never missed it till it came to it. It can be illustrated by a piece from a jig-saw puzzle which will not fit in any other part of it but in the particular corner for which it is intended. The gospel dove-tailed my soul, and in the person of Christ that it presented I found the object of my deeper and inner urge, and of the unsatisfied longing of my heart. It was liko a stream of fresh water in a desert to a man dying of thirst. The words of the gospel were the words of God, for they conveyed to me the message of Him who was my Maker.

J. A. Subhan

When I became a Christian, a wonderful change took place in my life. My speech, actions, and whole manner of life were so transformed that a year later, when I visited Bombay for a short time, my Muslim friends wondered at it. They marvelled at my mildness, for they knew how easily I used to lose my temper.

Before I became a Christian, I recognized sin to be sin. But I did not realize, as I do now, what a dangerous and destructive force sin is.  Although I am still merely a weak man and a handful of dust, yet when I have sinned, I cannot describe the shame and sorrow with which I am filled. Immediately I fall on my face and with tears I repent and beg for forgiveness. This attitude can be acquired only by the recognition of the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sin cannot be removed by repentance alone. It must be cleansed by the sacred blood of our Savior. For this very reason the world, which makes light of sin, is daily approaching nearer and nearer to destruction.

Sultan Muhammad P. Khan