Through Force or Faith? — Page 90
?— A Reply to Pope Benedict XVI 90 powerful ones, instead they are poor. He asked: Are they expand- ing or shrinking? I said: They are not shrinking, instead they are expanding. He asked: Does anyone, after entering his faith, get disillusioned and apostate? I said: No. He asked: Did you accuse him of fabrication before his claim? I said: No. He asked: Does he renege on his promises? I said: No. Now we are in a temporary truce with him. We do not know what he is going to do in this period. Abū Sufy a n used to say that, except for this, he did not get a chance to introduce any comments in his conversation. Heraclius asked: Have you fought any wars with him? I said: Yes. He asked: How did the fighting turn out? I said: The fight- ing between us has had ups and downs. Sometimes he has hurt us and sometimes we have hurt him. He asked: What does he enjoin you? I said: He enjoins worship of only One, ‘Allah,’ and not set- ting up any partner with Him and repudiate what your ancestors say. And, he enjoins us Prayer, truthfulness, chastity, and kinship. On this, he told his interpreter to tell him, I had asked you about the lineage of this man and you said he is of a noble descent among you. This is how all prophets are raised from among the noble families of their nations. And I had asked you if anyone else among you had made such a claim. You said, No. From this, I understand that if someone else had made such a claim before him, I would have said that he is a man who is just reiterating a thing that was said before him. And I had asked you whether there was any king in his ancestors and you said, No. I thought that if there had been a king in his ancestors, I could say that he is man who wants the kingdom of his forefathers. And I had asked you if you had accused him of fabrication before his claim and you said, No. I know that it is just not possible that he would abstain from