| His sign is in allthings, |  | * ففى كلشى له آية |
| Indicating that He isOne. | * تدلعلىا انه واحد |
Note 7.
III.—Why is Islam the best religion?
Y real task begins with this Note. I have to explain to you why I consider Islam[48] the best of the religions that are now professed by men all over the world. Mark, I do not say that other religions are not good, but I only say that Islam is the best religion of all those I know. Why do I say so? Because no other religion accords so well as Islam with the modern ideas of Science.
By applying the adjectives "good," "better" and "best" to religions, I indicate the degree to which each religion, by its tenets and teaching, induces men to seek their welfare فلاح: and by the word "Science" علم I mean simply the systematised knowledge of things known and knowable.
Science discovers things that are necessary or desirable for human welfare. Arts generally show the way in which those things can be obtained or manufactured. Governments provide, or ought to provide, facilities for scientific investigation and for improvement in arts. And it is Religion that should move men to take the fullest advantage of the science and arts of the time. You may take a horse to a river but you cannot make him drink unless he is thirsty. If he is thirsty he will drink of his own accord; but if he is not, neither the appearance of clear water, nor the easy way to get at it, nor indeed your whip or coaxing can ever induce him to drink. In the same way Science may show you water or anything that is useful, Arts may show you different ways of getting it, the Government of your State may offer rewards or even threaten punishment; but you will not drink, that is to say, you will not take advantage of the good things shown you and placed at your disposal, unless you are thirsty, unless there is something in you which impels you to it. This thirst, this something that is the moving force or motive, is created or furnished by Religion.
The chief use of religion lies in the desire that it fosters in men to live well, and virtuously.[49] It is true that for most men the fear of punishment and the hope of reward, either here or hereafter, are motives for right conduct: and some religions (and even Islam as taught by some Moulvies) give glowing pictures of Heaven and Hell awaiting good and bad people after death.[50] But these motives are unworthy of the higher nature قوا ئى ملكو تى of man. They are like the crack of a whip or the show of green grass to a horse that will not run. They are not so effective and lasting as the high spiritual motive for a virtuous life furnished by true religion. I cannot dwell further on this point without entering upon a philosophical or metaphysical discussion which is foreign to the purpose of these Notes. Suffice it to say that the spiritual or religious motive for virtuous conduct is the best of all motives, as it conforms to the higher or angelic ماكو تى nature of man and assists him in subduing his lower or animal بها ئمى nature.[51]