The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 618
SIGN OF THE DAY OF JUDGMENT 617 thiest of my intercession on the Day of Judgment will be the one who says, "There is no one worthy of worship except Allah” with purity of heart or minď]. The reason given in your fatwa for declaring me as condemned is that an announcement has been issued, and people have been invited to attend the Jalsa. O ye deprived of any fear of God! Just open your eyes and read what the subject is from the announcement dated 7 December 1892. Have I invited the members of my Jama'at for seeking knowledge, for resolving difficulties faced by the Faith, for showing goodwill for Islam, and promoting brotherly meetings, or does it mention some different kind of festival with singing and music? O maulawis of this age who bring disgrace upon Islam! Why do you not fear Allah, glorified be His eminence? Are you not going to die one day, or are you totally exempt from being called to account? You hear the word of truth and commandments of Allah and His Messenger, but do not think of reverting from your stubbornness. Instead, like chronic litigants, you try to find some way of making up a response and publicizing it so that the people do not think that their maulawi had no answer. How long will you persist in such audacity, dishonesty, jealousy, and malice? When writing your fatwa, you failed to recall the aḥādīth in which travelling for seeking knowledge of the Faith, remov- ing misunderstandings, and meeting brethren in Faith and dear ones has been declared to be a source of great blessings and immense reward. As a matter of fact, it has been a well-established tradition among the pious predecessors to travel to meet the righteous. It is narrated in a hadith that when a person will be liable for great punishment for his evil deeds on the Day of Judgment, Allah, glorified be His eminence, will ask him if he had ever gone to visit a certain righteous person. He will respond that he never did so intentionally, but by chance, he came across him during a journey. God Almighty will then say: 'Go and enter Paradise. I forgive you solely for that meeting. Now, O short-sighted maulawi! Reflect a little: What does this hadith encourage?