Life of the Promised Messiah — Page 12
12 for a pure and holy reformer, then when? Fourthly, the greatest and most serious disorder is that of the Sufis and custodians of shrines. The public gives them hundreds and thousands of rupees and even they too, in overwhelming majority, like the rich, are immersed in vice and immorality, in physical comfort, and in slumber and gluttony. They have absolutely no idea of the instructions of Allah and His Messenger sa ; they know not what is the practice of the Holy Prophet sa and what constitutes an innovation in the Faith. They are inclined to their own self-concocted notions and inauthentic views. They have formed religious denomi- nations so harmful and as a result are put to shame so horribly that the religion of Islam observes them from afar, and laughs and cries. In reality, thousands and thousands of new religions have sprung forth in the guise of Islam, and so the enemies of Islam find ample opportunity to raise allegations against the Religion of Truth and subject it to mockery. These people do not possess even the slightest feeling or sense of the state in which Islam and the Muslims are engulfed, or of the perilous onslaughts that the external enemies of Islam are waging against the Faith—how they are bent upon destroying the very pillar upon which it stands. In short, our nation crumbles on account of their neg- ligence. By the tongue of its present state, our nation calls for a reformer.