Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part IV — Page 9
The Perilous Condition of the Muslims & the British Government 9 thirteenth chapter of Mah a bh a rata, it is clearly exhorted that beef is not only lawful and pure but is also the best meat to be served to the Brahmans on behalf of one’s ancestors; and as a result, the ancestors would remain satiated for ten months. Thus, all the rishis of the Vedas, as well as Man u J i and Bi a s J i , count the consumption of beef among their religious obligations and a source of heavenly reward. This discourse of mine would have remained incomplete here—in the opinion of some—had I left out of this consensus the viewpoint of Pundit Dayanand, who passed away on 30 October 1883. It is worth noting that in none of his books has the Pundit written that beef is for- bidden and impure, nor has he proven that eating beef and slaughter- ing cows are forbidden according to the Vedas. Rather, he says that the slaughter of the cow was forbidden in order to lower the price of milk and ghee. He also believes that there may be times when slaughtering of cows may be permissible, as is evident from his books Saty a rth Prak a sh and Ved Bh a sh. By what has been said here, my objective is certainly not to ques- tion why the A ryas disobey and repudiate the worthy sayings of their Holy Vedas and those of their saintly rishis, or the words of Bi a s J i , Man u J i , and those of their research scholars and learned pundits; rather, the purpose here is only to highlight how resolute, courageous, and unified the people of the A ryas are, who can agree on even a minor aspect of their faith which has nothing to do with its essence, and are able to collect thousands of rupees in no time. Considering their unity and zeal on such an insignificant matter, imagine the commitment and resolve such a people would show for greater endeavours. The spiritless Muslims ought to die of shame. If they do not love God and the Messenger, then why do they claim to be Muslims? Is it Islam that they should squander enormous wealth in committing evil, following their nafs-e-amm a rah [the self that incites to evil], and sat- isfying their self-conceit, while refusing to give up even a grain for the love of God and the Messenger; nay, this certainly is not Islam. It is an internal [i. e. spiritual] leprosy. Such is the decadent state of the Muslims