Perseverance — Page 26
26 – the story of al-haj Rashid ahmad american among humankind. These are inventions to satisfy the ego’s need for status and praise. The whisperings of Satan, the accursed, seek to undo the knots of relationships that Islam seeks to strengthen. This is a simple nature vs. nurture conflict. European colonialism was a materially driven endeavor that sought much of its justification in the spread of Christianity. The deceptive slanders against Islam employed by the Christian missionaries and scientists earned them the infamous title of the Antichrist in the Bible and the Dajj a l in the A ha d i th. One of their effective byproducts was the development of an inferiority complex among their new subjects, which proved successful for the spread of Christianity. As a result, embracing Christianity produced the illusion that one was socially advancing by taking another step towards integration with their more advanced European rulers. It was during this age that God raised the Promised Messiah as , whose efforts were spiritually driven, to combat the deception imposed upon the general populace and to restore the dignity of God’s people – the righteous – regardless of their material social standing. The Indian Subcontinent, under British rule, was very class conscious. There were clear lines of distinction that determined one’s social standing. These social boundaries consisted of racial skin tone, wealth, family and education. As the British rulers were wealthy and white, this was considered to be of the highest class; and their characteristics were endeavored by society and valued as beautiful. Beauty is nothing more than a physical manifestation of socially endeavored pursuits such as wealth, and as wealth is always concentrated in the minority, so, too, does beauty maintain its rarity. The rich could traditionally remain indoors, away from the sun, while the poor were laboring in the fields out in the sun. Under