A Present to Kings — Page 11
7 11 1 weak that a materialist is forced to exclaim that the end of. Islam is now at hand, and that within a few days there will be. for Islam, not a place to hide its head. The sight of such a predicament is sure to pain every sympathetic heart, and I know not if there is any Muslim who can view the plight without experiencing a pang. But worse than this, there is some thing more which goes, as it were, to completely break one's spine. . The loss of material power is certainly a dire calamity, because worldly possessions, to a degree, lend power to a religion. But even if they be absent and man be granted a life of peace, then the peace may also prove a great help and boon to his progress. Accordingly we see that there have been sent by God many prophets who never exercised any ruling power thoughout their lives and passed their days under the rule of some foreign power, e. g. , Zechariah, John, and Jesus (peace be on them). If governing power had been the sole instrument of success of a religion, then these prophets would certainly have received it at some period or other of their lives. . The fact that these prophets remained throughout their lives strangers to power proves that besides governing power,. God has other instruments, which serve as means of the progress and success of a religion. The material weakness of the Mussalmans could not have been such a source of pain to them as is their weakness in matters of religion. At the present time the Mussalmans, at least in the countries under. British rule, enjoy every freedom and suffer from no inconvenience in the observance of the practices of their religion. . The call to prayer is claimed loudly in every mosque and the. Namaz is performed five times a day. People keep the fasts, perform the Haj, pay the Zakat and the government never interfere in matters of faith. They have granted full religious liberty. Leaving aside other countries, the condition of India is no secret to us. It is not yet very long, that the Mussaimans were suffering serious hardships under the rule of the Sikhs and Maharattas, and the performance of religious duties was put under a ban. Gurdawaras and