Al Fazl, 20 October 1921
8 October 1921
National affairs
On the mention of national affairs, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih said:
“Those who are in favour of the government can be successful if they have the courage and are not afraid of abuse, stoning, etc. However, supporters of the government are generally those people who are well-wishers of the government for personal gain and not as a matter of principle.”
Huzoor[ra] said:
“Some of the moderate leaders showed courage. For example, Mr Shastri, despite facing abuse by non-cooperators in Bombay [now Mumbai], continued to voice his ideas.
“I consider Mr Shastri to be more honest and principled. Look, in spite of hailing abuse, where he got the opportunity, he openly expressed his views. He did not give up the idea of the betterment of the country for the sake of his own honour”.
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih said:
“If the supporters of government work honestly and without any fear of reproach of a fault-finder, then they will eventually succeed. They should not care about what people say. They should work with courage. They will surely succeed.”
Huzoor[ra] said:
“It is only the greatness of prophets that they are alone and no matter what people do, they do not abandon their principles. Eventually, the world obeys them.”
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih[ra] said:
“People are against us, but often our words are effective because we speak the truth.”
Huzoor[ra] said:
“The method adopted by non-cooperators is not right. If they even achieve Swaraj in this way, these people will not be satisfied. The actual need of the hour is to eliminate crimes from the country. First of all, whether the crime is committed by a Hindu or a Muslim, both nations should look at it with spite. It should not be that if Muslims commit a crime, Hindus request to let them go, or if Hindus commit a crime, Muslims request to forgive them. In this way, the fear of punishment for crime is diminishing and people are beginning to consider crime as a trivial matter.
“Secondly, satisfaction and wisdom should be imparted in people, which is less in this age. The methods used to restore peace [these days] are wrong. Materialism is so high that even we are lacking in self-sacrifice. There was a time when people came here to work for free and they were happy and proud of it. Nowadays, when they are being paid, it is considered minimum wage. The current method of impatience is a source of anxiety. It cannot be resolved with the help of any kind of government, unless spirituality is produced.”
Bai‘at
The following three persons performed bai‘at:
1. Abdur Rahim Khan Sahib of Kanithan, District Hoshiarpur
2. Akbar Ali Sahib of Subhanpur, District Gurdaspur
3. Sheikh Ahmad Sahib
Huzoor[ra] said, “Practical Islam cannot enter the European nations until they get out of the current situation.”
Ahmadis in Africa
Khan Sahib Munshi Farzand Ali Sahib, who had come to meet Hazrat Khalifatul Masih, said that there was an objection from the ghair mubai‘een [those who refused the Second Khalifa, the Paighami group] that nobody had converted to Ahmadiyyat in Africa.
Huzoor[ra] said:
“There are pictures of them [Ahmadis of Africa] attending dars [religious sermons], offering Salat and especially Eid prayer. In the picture of Eid, the size of their gathering is equal to our Jalsa. Master Abdur Rahim Sahib [can be seen in the picture] offering Salat behind [the imam]. If he had been the imam, it could have been objected that he became an imam on his own and pretended that those people had joined the Jamaat at his hand and converted to Ahmadiyyat. However, the imam [in the picture] is the alpha from their people and Master Sahib is offering Salat [behind him].”
Huzoor[ra] said:
“If those photographs received [from Africa] are shown in the cinema, they can be a good source of tabligh.”
Mr Fazal Karim BA, Law College, Aligarh, said, “Last year, I saw in a cinema in Bombay that a clip of Salat being offered in Woking [mosque] was shown, in which people were in prostration, but Lord Headley was looking here and there with bottles in his pockets.”
Malik Maula Bakhsh Sahib (court inspector) of Gurdaspur met Hazrat Khalifatul Masih. Huzoor[ra] said:
“Your letter about Surah al-Kahf was received. My last year’s dars’ notes were published in The Review [of Religions]. Didn’t you read that issue?”
Malik Sahib said, “No, I did not read it. Have you completed that research?”
Research about Kahf [catacombs]
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih said:
“Yes, I think the research is complete. These kahf [catacombs] are located deep underground in the city of Rome and are spread on an area of 300 miles. They are called catacombs. They are like a city, but if they are stretched out [in a straight line], they are estimated to be at least 300 miles and at most, 900 miles. Many books have been published about them. The matter published by the researchers and the pictures, etc., given by them show that the religion of the early Christians was the exact opposite of modern-day Christianity. They had faith in tawhid [unity of Allah] and did not believe in the trinity.”
Huzoor[ra] said:
“Wherever Christians have gone, they have built such caves. Apart from Rome, the same pattern was followed in Alexandria, Sicily, etc. Perhaps the said cave-making practice was carried out in memory of Prophet Jesusas being placed in a tomb.”
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih[ra] said:
“They [the Christians of catacombs] used to make many secret passages and there were special signs on the [entrance] of each passage that would not be understood by everyone and only the people living there would understand it. The police would get surprised because if they would manage to locate a passageway after a struggle, they would see many different other signs ahead and it would be difficult for them to decide which of those signs pointed correctly.”
Huzoor[ra] said:
“Many of the stories that were famous in our country are mostly historically proven facts. We are told here that the incident of the ‘Ashab al-Kahf’ [the people of the catacombs] happened in the time of King Decius. History also testifies with regard to the said king.”
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih[ra] said:
“The pictorial literature on this subject is not available in India. Therefore, I intend for it to be delivered from abroad.”
(Translated by Al Hakam from the original in the 20 October 1921 issue of Al Fazl)