Way of The Seekers — Page 62
62 THE insignificance. It was exactly like this when the Promised Messiah (on him be peace) declared that he had been commissioned as a prophet. Had he been immediately accepted by chiefs and kings we would have been hard put to it to prove that the success which he eventually attained was an act of God. It would rather have appeared to be the act of Chiefs and Kings. All his kith and kin turned against him when he made his claim. Maulvi Muhammad Hussain of Batala, his greatest erstwhile friend and admirer, declared that his brain had become unhinged. He announced that it was he who had projected and promoted him and that now he alone would degrade him. The religious doctors of the entire Muslim world rose in opposition to him. Muslim divines of the Arab and non-Arab countries issued edicts against him. He faced this global opposition, alone. He conceded that he was single-handed, that he had no supporter and the world at large was opposed to him. But he posed this simple question: What shall I do with this word of God which I distinctly hear: A warner was sent unto this world; the world accepted him not; but Allah will accept him and establish his truth with mighty signs. How can I disregard this divine voice, he asked? At the time, the Government too was hostile to him. So were the people. But what was the end result? He was alone on one side and the rest of the world was on the other. You do not have to go far. Look at this large gathering! Those present here are his devoted followers; and there are millions more who are not present here. Last year during my visit to Syria, a renowned writer of Damascus who is an acknowledged master and stylist of Arabic literature, derisively said to me: Do not try to publish in these parts the books written by Mirza Sahib, the Promised Messiah, for they contain a number of errors. When they come across these errors, people here will form not a very