The Need for the Imam — Page 37
D ar u rat-ul-Imam 37 33 In worldly terms, U lul Amr means the king, and in spiritual terms it means the Imam of the age. Since anyone who is not against our objectives and is physi- cally useful to our faith, is one of us, that is why, my advice to the Jam a ‘at is that they should consider Brit- ish rule as U lul Amr and should obey them sincerely, for they do not interfere with our religious affairs. Rather we feel secure on account of their presence. And it will be dishonest on our part, not to acknowl- edge the British who have helped our faith in a way which even some Muslim rulers of Hindustan failed to provide. Some of these rulers, in their cowardliness, had abandoned the province of the Punjab. As a result, we and our religion suffered great hardship at the hands of various Sikh rulers. So much so that even of- fering congregational prayers in the mosques and proclaiming Adh a n had become difficult. Islam, as a religion, was as good as dead in Punjab. Then came the British, and with them our good fortune also re- turned. They helped Islam and granted us full freedom in the performance of our religious obligations; our mosques were redeemed to us, and, after a long time, 33 Obey Allah, and obey His Messenger and those who are in authority over you — Al-Nis a ’, 4:60 [Publishers]