Advice for Missionaries — Page 12
Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad 12 a widow [in need of help], they ought to look after her, bring her groceries, help her with other tasks and so on—all in accordance with the codes of conduct set out by Islam. As a result of this, both a sense of respect and love will arise in the hearts of people. Your complete trust in God will earn their respect and your desire to serve people will inspire love. It is essential for a missionary not to be mean or petty, nor to be haughty and arrogant. A person who asks for recompense will be treated like a servant, while the opposite is true for those who do not. Hence when people go to missionaries, they should do so because they see them as sympathisers and not as attendants. If they reach out to them for help, they should do so because they consider them to be their well-wishers. In such circumstances, mission- aries should not turn them away thinking that they only came to them because they thought of them as servants. Rather they came to them not because they saw them as servants but as well-wishers. In short, two characteristics should be simultaneously present in our missionaries: they should be the best of servants and the most respected of people—so much so that others are not only ready to sacrifice their wealth for them, but also their lives.