Way of The Seekers — Page 72
72 THE 24. Regard for evil: Not to dislike evil is also an evil. 25. Use of intoxicants: Taking intoxicants of all kinds like alcohol, opium, cannabis, snuff, tea, coffee, tobacco, etc. True, some of these are articles which are used as food, for instance tea. But taking tea becomes a vice if it becomes a habit which cannot be given up without injury to health. You might have to go for propagation of the faith into the rural interior where tea is not available. Will you carry a samavar and tea things with you and make your own arrangements? Will it not be a bother, causing untold complications? Islam requires every Muslim to be a volunteer who should be able to set forth on short notice. Therefore, habits which hinder dispatch are discouraged. The story of the proud Pathan who had run short of snuff would illustrate the point. I saw him, begging a shaggy Kashmiri for a pinch. I observed the proud Pathan had humbled himself to the poor Kashmiri because of his need of snuff! Smokers who come to Qadian are deprived of a number of benefits. In the early days, one of our relatives who was a sworn enemy of the Promised Messiah, used to mislead new visitors. He would make seating arrangements in the compound and invitingly place hookas or smoking pipes, for free use. Visitors attracted by the pipes would drift towards him, whom he tried to lead astray to his heart’s content. He would emphasize that he was a close relative of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and was fully cognizant of the true position. ‘Had there been any truth to his claim, I would certainly have accepted him as the Promised Messiah’, he would say. Thus many were deceived. Once an Ahmadi visited Qadian and went to this gen- tleman to have a smoke. The gentleman availed himself of this opportunity to malign the Promised Messiah to his heart’s content. But the visitor kept silent. Provoked, the old man started abusing the Promised Messiah with renewed zeal. This too failed to elicit any rejoinder. At this, he lost his temper and challengingly said to the visitor: Why, what are you thinking?