Murder in the Name of Allah — Page 43
Prophets and Troopers. The Quran, which for Maulana Maududi and all Muslims is the. Word of God, tells us that all God's messengers give sermons and advice and when these are rejected, they cry and pray before their. Lord. They have an unshakeable belief in their message and, instead of seizing power from their enemies, they continue to offer love and kindness. They reason gently, impart advice with humility and leave the result to God. He alone is the Lord and He bestows the earth on whoever He pleases. The wishes of all His messengers are epitomised in Moses's words: ‘O Lord, send down on us steadfastness and make us die as men who have surrendered to Thee. ' (7. 127) Mosesas advised his people, 'to seek help from Allah and wait in patience and constancy' (7. 129) and told them that the 'Earth belongs to Allah; He gives it as a heritage to whoever He pleases'. (7. 129) It is not for righteous men to seize power by force. All that we know is that 'the end is best for the God-fearing'. (7. 129). After Mosesas, Jesusas, too, spent his life exhorting and counselling and never considered seizing power. Finally, the chief of all prophets,. Muhammad was sent as an exhorter and counsellor to invite the poeple to be virtuous, not as a kind of a policeman or a soldier. God named him 'admonisher' and said: 'Remind them, for thou art an admonisher. Thou hast no authority to compel them. ' (88. 22-3). But the Maulana insists that he and his followers ‘are not a body of religious preachers and evangelists, but an organisation of God's troopers so that they "may be a witness against mankind"". (2. 144) The task of these 'troopers' is to use force to wipe out ‘injustice, mischief, disorder, disobedience and exploitation from the world”. 14. God tells the greatest of his prophets: 'We have not appointed thee a keeper over them, nor art thou over them a guardian'. (6. 108) But. Maulana Maududi reserves for himself and his followers not only the authority of a policeman, but also the powers of a magistrate. It is surprising that God did not give the Prophetsa, His greatest reformer, temporal authority over the hearts of unbelievers, but gave it instead to. Maulana Maududi and his followers. The Holy Prophet - the embodiment of mercy and compassion - prayed hard that he should become instrumental in showing the path of righteousness to all mankind. But. God answered: 'Will thou, then, take it upon thyself to force people to become believers?' (10. 100) As far as believers are concerned, God told the Holy Prophetsa: ‘And if Allah had enforced His will, they would not have set up gods with Him. And We have not made thee as keeper over 43