Defence Against the Plague and a Criterion for the Elect of God — Page 8
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad 8 The Muslims have emphasised, as shown by the announce - ment published this month, April 1902, by Miań Shams-ud- D i n , Secretary of the Anjuman-e-Himayat-e-Islam Lahore, that all Muslim sects , whether they are Shiites, Sunnis, Muqallid or ghair-Muqallid, 1 should proceed into the open and supplicate in accordance with their respective religious customs, and on a specific date, come together to offer a prayer collectively; this is a strategy that will most assuredly eradicate the plague at once. However, no method has been suggested for bringing all of the Muslims together. It is clear that according to the doctrines of the Wahhabi sect, s al a t [formal prayer] is not valid without the recitation of s u rah al-F a - ti h ah. That being the case, how can they join the H anaf i s in s al a t? Will this not lead to mutual discord? Aside from this, the author of this article failed to mention what the Hindus might do to repel this disease. Do they or do they not have permission, at a time like this, to seek help from their idols? And what method should the Christians adopt? And what about the sects that consider Hadrat Husain, or Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, to be their Q ad iul- Ha j a t [judge of the needs of mankind], and make thousands of requests and wishes while undertaking penance in Mu h arram 2 ; 1. Muqallid refers to followers of any of the four main Sunni schools of Islamic Jurisprudence: H anaf i , Sh a fi‘ i , Hanbal i , and M a lik i. Those who do not follow any of these schools are referred to as ghair-Muqallid. [Publisher] 2. Footnote: The month of Mu h arram is a very blessed month. In Tirmidh i , in regards to its excellence, the following hadith of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is recorded: ه علٰى قوم اٰخرين ی ه علٰى قوم ٍ و يتوب ف ی ه يوم تاب هللا ف ی ف i. e. in Mu h arram there is a par - ticular day on which God had saved a people of a bygone age from a calamity, and it is destined that in the same way in this month another