Malfuzat – Volume III — Page 259
259 and promises, there can only be two scenarios for a denial of the one who has appeared: either another Reformer should be presented or the promises of God must be rejected. The Need for Safeguarding the Faith There are some who have been observed to say that the Faith needs no safeguard- ing. Such people are gravely mistaken. Does a person who plants an orchard or constructs a building not have the responsibility or desire that every effort be made to protect and safeguard it from being ravaged by enemies? Elaborate enclosures are constructed around orchards in order to protect them, and novel forms of construction material are developed to protect homes from fires. Then, lightning protection systems are installed with cables. All of these things demonstrate that humans, by nature, seek to protect themselves. Then, does it not seem appropriate that Allah the Exalted would also safeguard His chosen religion? Undoubtedly, He does protect and guard His religion at every time of peril. Even now, when the need arose, He sent me for this very purpose. Of course, this matter of preserv- ing the Faith could have been doubtful or one could have rejected it altogether if the present circumstances or needs did not support this course of action. But today, many tens of millions of books have been published against Islam, and the brochures and two-page leaflets that are published by priests on a daily, weekly and monthly basis are beyond one’s ability to enumerate. If one gathers the abuse that those Christians who are renegades from Islam have published against the Chief of the Holy, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and his holy wives, numerous stores could be filled with such books, and if they were arranged in a line, they would span for many miles. The sorts of writings that Imad-ud-Din, Safdar Ali, Shaiq and others have published is no hidden matter. Even certain just Christians admit to the dangerous nature of the writings published by Imad-ud- Din. As such, a newspaper that was once circulated from Lucknow, the Shams-ul- Akhbar, published their view on some of his books and said that if a mutiny ever occurs in India again, it will be on account of these sorts of writings. Even after this state of affairs, these people say that Islam has suffered nothing. Only those people can make such statements who either have no concern or pain for Islam, or those who have grown old in dark chambers and they have no idea of what is happening in the outside world. Hence, such people do not matter. Indeed, those who are blessed with enlightenment of the heart, and who possess love and regard p. 237