Claims and Teachings - Ahmad The Promised Messiah and Mahdi — Page 219
219 orders of the Government. Of the rest, those who cannot act upon my teachings as given below, (see page 82 of this book) should also avail themselves of the benefit of inoculation, lest the Lord should deal with them after their iniquity, and thus they become stumbling blocks in the way of others by obscuring the heavenly sign. (Vol. I. R. E. 1902). Immediate Precaution in case of outbreak of Plague, "The Government of India consider the evacuation of infected house as the best plan to minimise chances of infection *. from the plague, and the correspondence which has just been published on this subject directs that as sooa as the plague makes it appearance in a village or in any mohala, of a town the residents of the infected quarter should take the earliest opportunity to evacuate their houses and should live in sheds in the open at sufficient distance from the infected place. lam fully confident that this plan is a most efficient one as a remedy against the plague. Oar Holy Prophet, upon whom be peace and the blessings of God- also directed that when the plague made its appearance in any town the people living at the infected place should be immediately evacuate it and that otherwise they would be fighting with God. To fly from the place which is under the wrath of God is an act of wisdom. In the Islamic history an incident is related with regard to the second Caliph Omar, which also shows that a place visited with the plague should be avoided- It is stated that when Omar undertook a journey to Syria after the conquest of that country, it was brought to his knowledge on the way to it that the. plague raged there- On hearing this he at once made up his mind to go back and not to advance any further. Some people remonstrated with him on his postponing his journey saying that it was not proper to fly from the decree of God- But Omar said that he