The Outset of Dissension in Islam — Page 18
18 H A D RAT MIRZA BASHIR-UD-DIN MAHMUD AHMAD The latent fire of such thoughts flared up a second time in the era of Hadrat ‘ Umar ra. Once, a person stood up in the midst of a gathering and levelled an allegation against Hadrat ‘Umar ra , who was a selfless person and the guardian Khalifah of the finances of the community of Prophet Muhammad sa saying, “From where have you acquired this cloak?” 15 Nevertheless, on both these occasions disorder did not take on a frightening shape because until then, neither was there any prepared ground for its growth and development, nor did a favourable climate exist. However, in the time of Hadrat ‘ Uthm a n, may Allah be pleased with him, both these factors came to exist and this plant, which I shall call the ‘plant of disorder,’ strengthened on very firm foundations. In the time of Hadrat ‘ Al i ra it grew and developed to such extent that its branches well nigh extended to cover all the corners of the Muslim world under their shade. However, Hadrat ‘Al i ra recognised the harms of this plant in good time and cut it to the ground with a fatal blow. Though he could not manage to completely wipe it out, but at least he was able to restrict its area of influence to a great extent. In my opinion, the third cause was that although a large number of people had brought about a grand transformation in their lives due to the effect of the luminous rays of Islam, but this could in no way fulfil the shortcoming which always makes an individual require a teacher for the acquisition of religious and worldly knowledge. Even in the era of the Holy Prophet sa , when people accepted Islam in troops, the very same danger 15. Al-Fakhr i fil- A d a bis-Sul ta niyyati Wad-Duwalil-Isl a miyyah, By Muhammad bin ‘ Al i bin T a bat ab a , p. 29, Ad-Daulatul-Isl a miyyah, D a ru Sa dir, Beirut [Publishers]