Jesus In India — Page 7
J e s u s i n I n d i a 7 punishes only after His message has been fully communicated. Just imagine, would it be reasonable to simply kill a man if he does not accept the true faith, even though he is as yet ignorant and unaware of its truth and its noble and excellent message? Instead of answering his denial with the sword or the gun, such a man deserves compassion, and needs to be instructed gently and politely in the truth, beauty and the spiritual excellence of the faith. Hence, the view of Jihad held by these sects of Islam, and their belief that the time is near when there will arise a bloodthirsty Mahdi named Imam Muhammad, that the Messiah will come down from the skies to lend him a helping hand, and that the two of them together will kill all non-Muslims if they deny Islam, is utterly opposed to moral sense. Doesn’t this belief put all good human qualities and morals out of action, and excite beastly passions. Those who hold such beliefs have to lead a life of hypocrisy with others, so much so that they cannot even give true loyalty to their rulers. The allegiance they profess is a lie. That is why some of the Ahl- e-Hadith sects mentioned above are living a double life under the British Government in India. In secret, they hold out hopes to the common people of the coming of the bloody days of a bloodthirsty Mahdi and Messiah, and preach accordingly, but to the rulers they go as sycophants, assuring them that they do not approve of such ideas. But if they are really sincere, why do they not express their disapproval in their writings, and why do they await the coming of the bloodthirsty Mahdi and Messiah so impatiently as if they were standing at the doorstep, eager to join him?