Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen – Khalifatul Masih I – The Way of the Righteous — Page 58
Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen The Way of the Righteous 58 Thereupon, Hakeem Sahib said that we believe in a God Who has no partner, thereby Hakeem Sahib fearlessly silenced the Rajah. Hakeem Sahib's religious discussions were not confined only to the Maharajah. He would not hesitate to enter into discussions with courtiers, pandits, Christian priests, and sometimes these discussions led to intellectual forays. The Governor of the State, Radha Krishan, one day raised the point that the world famous library in Alexandria, Egypt, was burnt down by Muslims on the orders of Hadhrat Umar ra (the Second Caliph to the Founder of Islam). Hakeem Sahib posed a simple question, "Which of the historians in your opinion has faithfully recorded the events of those days?" Pandit Radha Krishan responded, "Edward Gibbon, the author of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. " Hakeem Sahib asked for that book immediately from the library, and said, "This book will alone settle the matter between you and me. " The relevant observation from the book was produced in which Edward Gibbon held the view that ( Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire , vol. III, p. 177) he did not believe that the library burning was ordered by Hadhrat Umar ra , which ended the discussion there and then. Hakeem Sahib was not only involved with scholars of other faiths, but often scholars of his own faith would challenge him, and among them, the scholars of Shia sect were in the forefront. The teacher of the Prime Minister of the State was Maulavi Abdullah, and he was a Shia scholar. He often got entangled with Hakeem Sahib, who in turn, used to tackle his questioning with logic and reason. One day, the Shia scholar of the crown prince of the State used some unbecoming remarks about the Companions of the Holy Prophet sa , whereupon Hakeem Sahib responded that he himself was one of the descendants of Hadhrat Umar ra. This very disclosure silenced him forever. This Shia scholar never entered into any further discussion till the tenure of his employment.