An Important Entreaty to Islamic Organizations
A letter from the Secretary of Anjuman-i-Islamia, Lahore, and a similar writing of Maulavi Abu Saeed Muhammad Hussain, Secretary of Anjuman-i-Hamdardi Islamia, Lahore, were received and read by this humble one. Their intent was to solicit the signatures of respectable Muslims and fair-minded Hindus for a petition drawing the Government’s attention towards taking measures to improve the standard of education among Muslims, to create jobs for them, and to let the teaching of Urdu remain part of school syllabi. But I regret that I was unable to carry out this service, initially due to my illness and then due to an unavoidable stay in Amritsar.
Nonetheless, complying with the injunction [in the hadith] 
[Faith is goodwill], I would like to give my brothers the following counsel, which will be useful to them in spiritual and worldly matters. There is no doubt that the Government will view the precarious state of Muslims with compassion and kind concern. For, how can a government that has shown sympathy in their laws for even cattle and animals be negligent regarding sympathy towards the vast number of its subjects who are dependant on it and live in poverty and misfortune. However, the only duty of my respected brothers is not that when they see the poverty, decadence and lack of moral training of Muslims, to always insist that a memorial should be drafted, signed by many people and be presented to the Government. Because in any endeavour, religious or worldly, it is important to first utilize our own God-given strengths and abilities, and only then seek help from others for its completion. This is the teaching God has given us as part of our daily worship, directing us to pray: 1
[‘You alone do we worship and You alone do we implore for help’] and not 
[You alone do we implore for help and You alone do we worship’].
The matters which are required of the Muslims for their own betterment—through their own effort and resolve—will become clear upon reflection and deliberation without need of further statements or explanations. However, of these there is one matter which needs to be mentioned, on which the favour and consideration of the British government depends, and that is to clearly impress upon the mind of the Government that the Muslims of India are its loyal subjects. This is because of some ignorant Englishmen, in particular Dr. Hunter,2 who is currently the President of the Education Commission, and has strongly advocated in one of his well-known writings that Muslims, at heart, are not well-wishers of the Government, for they consider it an obligation to wage jihad against the British. Anyone who studies Islamic Shariah impartially will be convinced, on the basis of proofs, that this view of the doctor is absolutely baseless and contrary to the facts. Sadly, however, the deplorable actions of some uncivilized people,3 and those who are uncouth and foolish [from among the Muslims] support this view. Perhaps the illusion of the doctor has been reinforced by his incidental observations of such occurrences, as some ignorant people do occasionally perpetrate such actions. However, it cannot remain hidden from the view of a research scholar that such people are far and away from being steadfast in the religion of Islam and they are no more Muslims than McLain was a Christian. Obviously, these are their personal actions that are in no way sanctioned by the Shariah. On the other hand, there are thousands of Muslims who have always been well-wishers of, and devoted to, the British government and continue to be so.
In the disturbances of 1857, with the exception of illiterate and wicked people, no decent and well-behaved Muslim, who was educated and well-mannered, took part in these disturbances at all. Rather, in the Punjab even less-privileged Muslims aided the British government beyond their means. As a gesture of goodwill and sincerity, my late father too, in spite of his limited resources, bought fifty horses and presented them, along with fifty strong and well-trained sepoys, to the Government as assistance and thus demonstrated himself to be a well-wisher beyond his straitened circumstances. As for those Muslims who were more privileged they rendered even greater and more remarkable services.
After this digression, I return to my original subject. Though good examples of sincerity and loyalty of Muslims have been observed, yet, unfortunately for the Muslims, the doctor chose to ignore all these demonstrations of loyalty on the part of the Muslims, and did not give the slightest consideration to these faithful services in drawing his conclusions. Hence, it has become incumbent upon our fellow Muslims to take the initiative to express their loyalty to the Government before it can be misled by erroneous views.
The fact is that a clear injunction of the Islamic Shariah, on which all Muslims agree, strictly forbids the raising of the sword against a government under whose protection Muslims lead free and peaceful lives, and to which they are indebted for many favours and whose blessed rule actually facilitates the spread of piety and guidance. It would therefore be a great pity if the Muslim ulema failed to widely publicize this issue with unanimous agreement, thereby allowing uninformed people to make verbal and written attacks which portray their religion as weak and cause undue damage in their worldly affairs.
In the opinion of this humble one, the best course of action would be for the Islamic societies of Lahore, Calcutta, Bombay, etc., to choose some renowned maulavis, with a well-established reputation for their nobility, knowledge, piety, and righteousness, who will in turn invite learned men from far and wide with somewhat of a standing in their local region, to prepare scholarly dissertations clearly prohibiting jihad against the beneficent British government, which is the protector and benefactor of Indian Muslims, citing the dictates of Islamic Law in support of their edicts; then send them, duly bearing their seal, to the aforementioned team of ulema selected for this task. When all such declarations have been received, the collection, which may be named Maktubat-e-‘Ulama’-e-Hind [Letters from the Ulema of India], could be printed, with due regard for accuracy, at a quality press. Ten to twenty copies may then be forwarded to the Government, and the rest distributed in different areas of the Punjab and India, especially in the areas of the Frontier.4
It is true that some sympathetic Muslims have written in refutation of Dr. Hunter’s thoughts, but the refutation by a handful of Muslims cannot be a substitute for a refutation by the whole community, which will be so strong and powerful that all the doctor’s writings will cease to have any effect and, at the same time, ignorant Muslims will be educated about the true and pure teachings of their religion. The British government will also be well-informed that the Muslims are pure-hearted and well-wishing citizens. Moreover, this book will also serve to admonish and reform the ignorant people of the mountainous region.
In the end, I also consider it incumbent upon myself to express that even though the whole of India ought to regard the British government as a blessing of God Almighty in view of the favours upon its subjects through its governance and peace-fostering wisdom—and they should be grateful to Allah for it as they are grateful for His other blessings—the people of the Punjab, in particular, would be very ungrateful if they did not regard this Government, which is a great sign of Allah’s mercy upon them, as a great blessing. They must not forget their pitiful state before the arrival of this Government, and the peace and security that they now enjoy.
This Government is indeed a heavenly blessing for them, for, with its coming, all their woes were removed and all aggression and injustice were brought to an end. It removed all barriers from their path, and granted them freedom, so that today there is nothing to prevent us from performing righteous deeds, or to interfere with our peaceful existence. In fact, God the Benevolent and the Merciful has sent this Government for Muslims as a rain of mercy, due to which the tree of Islam has once again begun to flourish in the Province of the Punjab. In reality, proclaiming the benefits of this Government amounts to professing the favours of God. So evident and well-proven is the freedom enjoyed by the people of this Empire that persecuted Muslims from some other countries gladly migrate to its dominion.
In my view, there is no other country today where, under its benign protection, an admonition can be made openly for the reformation of the Muslims and for the eradication of various innovations that have taken root in their religion, or where it is possible for Muslim ulema to find opportunities to zealously promote their faith, to undertake thorough research using the best of their reason and insight, and to publish literature in favour of the firm religion of Islam in order to conclusively establish its superiority over its opponents. It is this Empire whose equitable support has provided the ulema, after a long time—indeed, as it were, after centuries—the opportunity to fearlessly inform the ignorant people about the pollution of innovations, evils of idolatry and mischief of creature-worship, and to clearly guide them to the right path of their beloved Prophet. Can it be lawful to bear ill-will towards a government under whose shelter all Muslims live in peace and freedom and are able to practice their faith to the full extent and are engaged in its propagation more freely than in any other country. Not at all, it is never ever justified. Nor can a pious and religious person entertain such evil thoughts.
I declare truly that this is the only government in the world under whose protection many services to Islam are done that are entirely impossible in other lands. Visit a Shia country and you will find that they become furious when they hear the preaching of Sunnis; and in countries ruled by Sunnis, Shias fear to express their views. Likewise, the muqallidin are unable to protest in the territories of the muwahhidin and the muwahhidin are unable to protest in the territories of the muqallidin, so much so that even if they see an innovation in religion with their own eyes, they are unable to speak out against it. After all, this is the only government under whose protection each and every sect is free to express its beliefs with peace and comfort. This is something which is of great benefit to the righteous; for how can truth spread in a land where there is no freedom of expression and no tolerance for admonition. Only such a country is suitable for spreading the truth where the righteous can preach freely.
It should also be borne in mind that the objective behind religious jihad was to establish freedom and to eliminate oppression. Religious jihad was waged against only those countries wherein the lives of preachers were threatened when they preached, where it was absolutely impossible to convey the message peaceably, and where anyone who adopted the true path could not escape the oppression of his people. But the British government is not only free of these faults, it is also most helpful and supportive in the progress of Islam. It is incumbent upon Muslims to appreciate this favour of God and utilize it to strive for their religious progress.
They should also keep in mind that gratitude for this benign Government necessitates that we not only help it in its worldly endeavours, but that we should also try, through preaching, rational discourse, and excellent books, that somehow this nation may partake of the blessings of Islam too. But this objective cannot be achieved without kindness, courtesy, love, and forbearance. To be merciful to all servants of God, to consider that the Creator of Arabia, England, etc., is one and the same, and to be full of kindness and sympathy for all His humble creatures, is the essence of religion and faith.
The starting point, therefore, is to remove the misconception from the minds of some uninformed Englishmen, who, because of their lack of knowledge, think that Muslims are a people who do evil to those who do them good, torment their benefactors, and harbour ill-will against their kind Government. As a matter of fact, there is no other book that lays so much stress on repaying kindness with kindness as does the Holy Quran. God Almighty says:
And the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, says:
Submitted humbly by,
[Mirza] Ghulam Ahmad
may Allah forgive him
