Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part III — Page 11
An Important Entreaty to Islamic Organizations 11 In the end, I also consider it incumbent upon myself to express that even though the whole of India ought to regard the British government as a blessing of God Almighty in view of the favours upon its subjects through its governance and peace-fostering wisdom—and they should be grateful to Allah for it as they are grateful for His other blessings— the people of the Punjab, in particular, would be very ungrateful if they did not regard this Government, which is a great sign of Allah’s mercy upon them, as a great blessing. They must not forget their pitiful state before the arrival of this Government, and the peace and security that they now enjoy. This Government is indeed a heavenly blessing for them, for, with its coming, all their woes were removed and all aggression and injus- tice were brought to an end. It removed all barriers from their path, and granted them freedom, so that today there is nothing to prevent us from performing righteous deeds, or to interfere with our peaceful existence. In fact, God the Benevolent and the Merciful has sent this Government for Muslims as a rain of mercy, due to which the tree of Islam has once again begun to flourish in the Province of the Punjab. In reality, proclaiming the benefits of this Government amounts to pro- fessing the favours of God. So evident and well-proven is the freedom enjoyed by the people of this Empire that persecuted Muslims from some other countries gladly migrate to its dominion. In my view, there is no other country today where, under its benign protection, an admonition can be made openly for the reformation of the Muslims and for the eradication of various innovations that have taken root in their religion, or where it is possible for Muslim ulema to find opportunities to zealously promote their faith, to undertake thor- ough research using the best of their reason and insight, and to publish literature in favour of the firm religion of Islam in order to conclusively establish its superiority over its opponents. It is this Empire whose equi- table support has provided the ulema, after a long time—indeed, as it were, after centuries—the opportunity to fearlessly inform the igno- rant people about the pollution of innovations, evils of idolatry and