Lecture Ludhiana — Page 27
27 among the Companions of the Holy Prophet sa after his death. If there was at all a consensus after that, let all the sects assemble to demonstrate it now. The truth is that it is an absolutely false assertion. No consensus was ever reached about Jesus as being alive. Those who subscribe to such an idea have not read the relevant literature, other- wise they would have come to know that the sufis themselves believed in the death of Jesus as and in his second coming in the figuratively sense. Just as I have praised Allah the Exalted, I also invoke His blessings upon the Holy Prophet sa , for whose sake alone God has established this Jama'at. The successes I am achieving are the result of the Holy Prophet’s grace. I unreservedly declare, and this indeed is my belief and faith, that without implicit submission to the Holy Proph- et sa and without following in his footsteps, no one can attain spiritual grace and bounty. Another point worth mentioning, which it would be ungrateful of me not to mention, is that we live, by the Grace of God, under the government of a kingdom which ensures peace all around and allows complete freedom to propagate and publicize our faith. We are also privileged to enjoy all kinds of facilities in these blessed days. Can there be greater freedom than that we openly criticize Christianity and no one stops us from doing so. But there was a time, and many who witnessed it are still alive, when no Muslim dared even to proclaim the Adhan — call for prayer— from the mosques. Not to speak of other