Lecture Ludhiana — Page 36
36 joined forces to conspire against Islam and persecute the Muslims. Confronted with such pain and anguish, what other recourse was left to the Muslims but to save their lives? Referring to this the Holy Qur’an says: 22 This shows that when the cruelties perpetrated against the Muslims crossed all limits, then and only then, were they permitted to fight back in self-defence. This permission was granted specifically to meet the situation which prevailed at the time, and was not for every other situa- tion. Indeed, the hallmark of the arrival of the Promised Messiah was 23. The proof of the authenticity of the Promised Messiah is that he would not wage religious wars. The reason is because today the opponents too have stopped waging religious wars. The confrontation has, of course, assumed another shape and complexion. Now they use the pen as a weapon to attack Islam. Take the Christians for example: the circulation of each one of their publications exceeds fifty thousand and they make every effort to alienate people from Islam. In these circumstances, should we have recourse to the pen or the arrow? Who will be a greater enemy of Islam and a bigger idiot than the one who opts for the latter? What else would it mean except to defame Islam? Our opponents are not in the right and yet 22 ‘Permission to fight is given to those against whom war is made, because they have been wronged. ’ (22:40) [Translator] 23 ‘He would abolish religious war. ’ [Translator]