Malfuzat – Volume I — Page 262
262 Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad There are some who say that if a child afflicted by plague is taken into quaran- tine in view of these guidelines, they would die on account of being separated from mother and father. People who raise such objections ought to know that the mother and father are permitted to accompany such a child, but they will be sub- ject to the same restrictions imposed upon those who are infected by the plague. The Holy Prophets states: (Deeds are judged by intentions). The intention of the government is completely pure and they do not wish to sepa- rate and divide the people. The administration has not thought of employing these measures out of any evil intent or conspiracy. Obedience to Those in Authority I am at a complete loss to understand what benefit the government would derive from such a conspiracy? The Quran commands: 1 أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُوْلَ وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْ Obey Allah, and obey His Messenger and those who are in authority among you. Now here, there is a clear instruction to obey those in authority. If someone were to assert that the government is not implied in the words minkum (i. e. from among you), this is a blatant error on their part. Any instruction of the govern- ment which accords with the religious law of Islam is implied in the words min- kum. Anyone who does not oppose us is a part of us. It is derived from the Holy Quran that the government ought to be obeyed and its instructions ought to be followed. In fact, what the Muslims should have done is send memorials express- ing gratitude to the government for their efforts to thwart the plague. But instead of showing thankfulness, the people have shown ungratefulness. There appears to be no reason for their displeasure except for their objection that male doctors touch Muslim women to check their pulses. Firstly and foremost, the govern- ment has heard this complaint with full attention and has even dealt with it by appointing female nurses. However, I would like to make clear that even if this was not the case, there would still be no room for objection. In such cases and cir- cumstances, in the face of God's wrath when thousands of people are dying, such extreme measures regarding the veil are not permissible. It so happened that the 1 an-Nisa, 4:60