The British Government and Jihad — Page 24
24 faith. However, I speak nothing but the truth when I say that they ignore the benevolence of this government and are its clandestine enemies in the same way that they are culprits and offenders in front of God. I have explained in detail that the Word of God in no way commands us to spill the blood of innocent people. Those who are of this opinion have turned their backs on Islam. 2) In my opinion, the second cause of this criminal blood- shed, which is carried out in the hopes of becoming a gh a z i , is the preaching of Christian priests who have widely publicised the claim that jihad is compulsory in Islam. They claim that killing people of other faiths is a matter of great Islamic virtue. I believe that the people of the Frontier Region were not even aware of this doctrine until the Christian priests embedded it in their minds. My view is supported by the fact that there were no inci- dents of this type before Christian priests began the distri- bution of journals, newspapers and books in the Frontier Region. In fact, ordinary Muslims and the people of the Frontier Region were very pleased when the British replaced the previous Sikh Government. In 1849, Rever- end Pfander published his book Mizan ul Haqq 14 in India, the Punjab and the Frontier Region. In it, he used offensive language to attack Islam and its Prophet (may 14. Mizan ul Haqq was written by the Reverend Karl Gottlieb Pfander. This was his first book on Islam and Christianity. The book is a defense of the integrity of the Bible, as well as an at- tack on the Holy Qur’ a n and the truthfulness of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa. [Translator]