Ahmadiyyat or The True Islam — Page 354
354 straint, without doing anything contrary to the teachings of their religion. They are much more deeply tolerant than the members of other communities. They look upon the disputes, which constantly recur between different communities of India in connection with the observance of certain religious ceremonies, as childish. They con- stantly try to inculcate a spirit of tolerance among other people. They permit even the opponents of Islam to address them in their mosques and calmly listen to their arguments and endeavour to explain their own points of view to them. A very important revolution which the Promised Messiah as has brought about in his followers is that they give to religion priority over all things of the world. Every Ahmadi looks upon his property as a sacred trust from God. Those who have been properly instructed in the teachings of the Movement contribute one-sixteenth of their income monthly towards the funds of the Movement for religious and charitable purposes. Be- sides this—the normal monthly subscription—they contribute towards many other funds. Thus every mem- ber of the organized portion of the community contrib- utes from one-tenth to one-third of his income to the funds of the community according to the degree of his zeal and spirit of sacrifice. This appears so strange in the eyes of some people that they imagine the commu- nity to be very rich while others suspect that they re- ceive aid from government. The truth is that the gov- ernment neither does, nor can, aid them, and the Ahmadis are so poor that there is perhaps no other