The Message or A Cry of Anguish — Page 69
THE MESSAGE OR A CRY OF ANGUISH 69 and to live a life of decency, humility and obedience under it. In fact, when it comes to matters of belief that are related to the here- after, we should adopt those sound and accurate ways which our mind, our conscience and our wisdom can give a ruling over. I myself repeatedly testify that those people are extremely wretched who-witnessing continuous favours by the Government and finding their property, life and honour safe under its shade-still have hidden views of treachery in their hearts. This is the faith that God Almighty has taught us. However, responding to the fabrications of the priests is a different matter. This is the right owed to God, the discharging of which is obligatory. The old pol- icy of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan is a testimony to this as he always would pen a rebuttal to the priests, to such an extent that he even wrote a response to the book of Muir, the Lieutenant Governor of Allahabad. Yet, he never sent a memorial to the Government requesting the sanctioning of priests or banning books. Therefore, we ought to forge such a path that will be beneficial for our future generations, and will command true respect for the religion of Islam. This path is that we pay heed to repelling these allegations and protecting the youth from stumbling. Another criticism levelled against me in complicity with the said Anjuman published in the Punjab edition of The Observer May 1889 is that the editor of the paper believes as if our Community, being provoked by the abuses of a person named Zatalli, has sent a memorial to the Government in order to have him punished. This act on their part clearly shows that the memo- rial written against the Anjuman-e-Himāyat-e-Islām is contrary to the zeal and indignation shown here for the punishment of this person. If the editor had only read my Community's memorial