The Essence of Islam – Volume II — Page 331
Jihad with the Sword 331 upon the fact that thirteen hundred years ago the Holy. Prophet (peace and blessings of Allāh be on him) had said concerning the Promised Messiah: He will put an end to war. . O Ye Muslim divines and Maulavis, listen to me. I tell you truly this is not the time of fighting for the faith. Do not disobey the Holy Prophet, (peace and blessings of Allāh be on him). The Promised Messiah, who was to come, has appeared and has directed: Henceforth desist from religious wars with the sword which caused bloodshed. . To persist in bloodshed and not to desist from such sermons is not the way of Islām. He who accepts me will not only desist from such sermons but will hold this way as most vicious and likely to invite divine wrath. . . . . Now that the Promised Messiah has come, it is the duty of every Muslim that he should refrain from having recourse to fighting for the propagation of the faith. Had. I not come there might have been some excuse for this misunderstanding. But now that I have arrived and you have witnessed the day of promise, those who take up the sword on behalf of the faith have no excuse left which they can put forth before God Almighty. He who possesses eyes and can read the Holy Qur'an and the Aḥādīth can realize that this kind of Jihād, which the ignorant ones insist upon in this age, is not authorized by Islām. It is an error which has spread among the Muslims in consequence of the upsurge of unlawful passions or the vain hope of winning paradise through such misguided action. . . . . Ignorant Maulavis, may God guide them, have grievously misled the common people and have told them that such action which is sheer wrong and cruelty and is opposed