Repentance, Istighfar, and Intercession as Means of Salvation — Essence of Islam Vol. 2

14 Sep, 2026 Essence of Islam 0

Essence of Islam Book Cover by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS)

Introduction

In this discourse from Essence of Islam (Volume 2), Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS), the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, expounds upon Repentance, Istighfar, and Intercession as Means of Salvation, presenting profound spiritual insights and scriptural verities.

Book Series: Essence of Islam (Volume 2)
Author: Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (AS)
Section: Part 7: Salvation
Navigation: Book Table of Contents | « Previous: Salvation Is Only Possible Through Grace | Next: The Curse of Sin Cannot Be Transferred »

man’s heaven. As a tree sucks the water of the earth and draws it into itself and thereby expels its poisonous vapours, so is the condition of a person’s heart. It sucks in the water of God’s love and is thereby enabled to easily expel its poisonous matter and, being based in God, is purely nurtured and spreads and exhibits pleasant greenness and brings forth good fruits. But he who is not firmly related to God, cannot suck in nourishing water and therefore dries up progressively and in the end loses its leaves and only dry and ugly branches are left.
[Siraj-ud-Din ‘Isa’i ke Char Sawalon ka Jawab, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 12, pp. 328-329]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 2, p. 279]

after his suicide Jesus had come back to life and had ascended to heaven in the presence of the Jews, they would have believed in him. As it is, the Jews and all wise people consider the ascension of Jesus to heaven a fiction.
[Chashma-e-Masihi, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 20, pp. 347-348]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 2, p. 279]

I had apprehended that some false charge would be laid against me. For when an enemy is completely refuted he delivers an attack against life and honour. So it happened in my case and this charge of conspiracy to murder was laid against me…. The Christian missionaries were greatly offended with me. My activities had occasioned them great loss. In addition to heavenly signs, my criticism of their doctrine had ripped apart the warp and woof of their religion. Their doctrine of atonement was totally refuted by my pointing out that if the curse of the sins of all the sinners had settled on Jesus, it meant that his heart had been emptied of all understanding of God Almighty and His love and that he had become an enemy of God. As a curse in its true meaning is not permissible in the case of a righteous one like Jesus, then how can the doctrine of atonement be supported which is based entirely upon his becoming accursed? I had also pointed out that no act of the Divine is contrary to His eternal way and that means that there should be a large number of illustrations. If sending a son is the way of God then there should be many more sons of God so that a way might be established and some sons should be crucified for the jinns and some for men and some for those creatures which dwell in other spheres. This objection was also such that a moment’s reflection on it would rescue a person from the darkness of Christianity…. I pointed out that the doctrine of atonement is also untenable, for its purpose would be either that in consequence of it sin should be abolished altogether, or that every type of sin, whether relating to the rights of God or the rights of people, should be continuously forgiven. The first supposition is entirely false. We observe that the men and women of Europe have not been able to abstain from sin after the atonement and that the people of Europe are guilty of all manner of sins. Alright, leave that aside, and consider the case of ‘prophets’98 whose faith was stronger than that of others, even they could not escape sin, and the disciples of Jesus too were involved in sin. Thus there is no doubt that the atonement is not a dam that can bank up the flood of sin. As regards the second supposition, that those who believe in the atonement would be exempted from all punishment for sin, and that whether they commit theft or robbery or murder or misconduct of every description God will not call them to account; this also is untrue as it would cancel God’s eternal commandments and destroy the purity of the law.
[Kitab-ul-Bariyyah, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 13, pp. 59-60]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 2, p. 280]

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Introduction