Claims and Teachings - Ahmad The Promised Messiah and Mahdi — Page 261
261 The Promised Messiah's Exhortation to his followers concerning the British Government. " It is only through His grace and goodness that Almighty God has placed us under a Government which has granted reli- gious liberty to all its subjects. It is due to the liberty granted by this Government and to its justice that our opponents cannot give a practical turn to their hostility against us (the Ahmadiyya Propaganda). If it had been in their power, they would have annihilated us, but on account of their inability to do so, they only grind their teeth in wrath and despair, for they are unable to execute their designs. When I remember the hardships and persecutions suffered by the early Muslims, and then see what a kind-hearted Government God has sent to protect us from such persecution, my heart overflows with thanks to the Almighty for His unbounded grace and kindness towards us. How merciful and gracious is our Lord, for when He wished to establish a heavenly dispensation in the days of the decline of Islam, He placed it under a peaceful Government. I do not say this to please any body: it is hypocritical to do so, and I hate hypocrisy and have come to deal a death-blow to it. Facts compel us to praise this Government and to be grateful to God for His blessings. Consider only one fact, viz*, the peace and freedom with which we are doing our own work under the Government. We have been propagating the doctrines of the \ \\ Movement for more than twenty-five years, and the Government I has not in the least degree interfered with our work. We have I ! published thousands of pamphlets in America, England and i| other European countries among respectable persons inviting ,[ V them to accept our holy faith. A book was even sent to Her late Majesty the Queen-Empress, and though this book contained