Minorities in an Islamic State — Page 74
74 remain silent. Because any religion, which has reasonable and irrefutable arguments behind it and which can satisfy the questions of the human mind, has nothing to fear from allowing other religions to preach. Similarly any community whose people are educated in the fundamentals of their faith and are satisfied with what they believe in, has nothing to be afraid of. A man changes his faith only when he feels dissatisfied with his own faith. And when he thinks he can find satisfaction in a new faith he joins it. If there is any faith which satisfies the questioning mind of a man and removes all his doubts and answers all the cravings of his nature, its adherents will never think of changing their faith, even if all the preachers in the world were to preach to them. On the other hand, if any people are dissatisfied with their beliefs, no measure of force could make them stick to their own beliefs. Because although, by the use of force, the people can be compelled to conform to the outward observance of their faith but in their hearts they would no longer belong to that religion. Further, any restriction on free exchange of views will cause a mental inertia in a people. The confrontation of different civilizations and the free exchange of views among the followers of different ideologies is the main source of development of knowledge.