Perseverance — Page 106
106 – the story of al-haj Rashid ahmad american He simply looked at me and said something in passing. I do not recall what exactly he said but I think he mentioned that the weather was hot. What he said was not important to me at that point, but the real message was that I was back in his good graces. I still remember this as the happiest day of my life. I know it’s hard for someone to understand how difficult this period of my life was, but one would simply need to experience it for one’s self. DECEMBER 19, 1952 In reference to the Holy Qur’ ā n in Surah al-F ā ti h ah about magh dū bi ‘alayhim wala d-da ll ī n [Arabic: those who have incurred displeasure, and those who have gone astray ]. The first group refers to the Jews and the second to the Christians. These words have been used to denote two kinds of dangers. One is that one should outwardly stick to the right path, but lose the inner spirit, or retaining the shell without the kernel. The second is that one should lose the path itself and wander into the wilderness. This is a warning to the Muslims that if they are not watchful they may fall a prey to these two dangers. They may either lose the spirit of faith just as the Jews did, who strictly adhered to the external letter of their Law [i. e. , the Torah], but lost the inner spirit of faith; or they may lose the path itself just as the Christians did, who strayed away from the true teachings of Jesus as and began to tread a different path altogether invented by themselves. By using the words magh dū bi ‘alayhim [ those who have incurred displeasure ] which the Holy Prophet saw said refers to the Jews, the Qur’ ā n warns the Muslims against meeting the fate of the Jews by rejecting the Promised