Lecture Ludhiana — Page 15
15 labelled me a disbeliever. I am amazed at this temerity on their part, for the life or death of Jesus as is in the first place not a prerequisite to being a Muslim. Do we demand any such pledge from the Hindus or Christians who convert to Islam? What is required of them is no more than to proclaim: 11 Despite the fact that this issue ( of the life or death of Jesus as ) does not form part of the Islamic dogma, why, consequent upon my declaration that Jesus as was dead, was I subjected to such violent persecution? Why were my followers branded apostates, and Antichrists, to the extent that they were denied burials in Muslim grave- yards, and their possessions were lawfully snatched; and it was considered legal to forcefully keep their women as mistresses outside wedlock , and to murder them was considered a good deed deserving reward in the hereafter and so on and so forth. There was a time when these very clerics used to shout that if there were ninety nine reasons to call someone a disbeliever and only one reason to call him a Muslim, he would still be a Muslim and not a disbeliever. What has gone wrong now? Am I worse off than even this? Do my 11 ‘I believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, divine providence regarding good and evil and the resurrection. ’ [Translator]