Malfuzat – Volume I — Page 224
224 Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad by another of their own kind cannot be grateful to God Almighty either. For he can observe the good done by man. How then will he be able to show gratitude for the favours of that Being Who is the most hidden of all and whom he cannot even see? Therefore, as far as government is concerned, I do not consider this land to be Dar-ul-Harb. However, in my view, India is a Dar-ul-Harb as far as the pen is concerned. The Christian clergy wage a horrific war against Islam and they have stepped into this field of battle with the lances of the pen, not with spears and arrows. Therefore, the weapon with which we ought to enter this field of battle is the pen and nothing but the pen. I hold that it is the responsibility of each and every Muslim to participate in this war. Such attacks are made against Allah and His chosen Messenger that I am overwhelmed with grief and my heart trembles. Can we sit at rest after seeing such offensive books as Mothers of the Believers-The Mysteries of the Court of Mustafa,' which is a book whose very title resembles those of obscene novels. It is astonishing, however, that even in the estimation of the government, books such as The Mysteries of the Court of London are deemed worthy of being banned from publication, but a book which hurts the sentiments of 80 million Muslims is not banned. I do not desire in the least to make such a request of the government; in fact, I deem such a request to be most inappropriate as I have made evident in my memorial. However, I raise this issue because it is the duty of the government themselves, nonetheless, to monitor such writings. In any case, the government has granted complete freedom that if a Christian writes a book for the purpose of raising allegations against Islam, a Muslim is free to pen a rebuttal and write books in refutation of the Christian faith. What Does Indignation for Islam Demand? I say on oath that whenever I happen to come across a book of this nature, the world and all its possessions seem as insignificant to me as a fly. I ask, can such a person who is not impassioned on such an occasion be considered a Muslim? What face will they show God when they die? If you wish to see the example of Muslims, then look towards the community of the noble companions, who were not bothered by any kind of loss to their lives and wealth. They gave precedence In 1897, Ahmad Shah Shaiq, a Muslim turned Christian, wrote an extremely offensive and hurtful book attacking the wives of the Holy Prophet and named it Ummahat-ul-Mu'minin-Darbar-e- Mustafa'i Kay Asrar, i. e. Mothers of the Believers-The Mysteries of the Court of Mustafa. One thou- sand copies of this book were sent free to Muslims in India. [Publisher]