But everywhere, any attempt by the Muhammadans to
return to the first principles of their Faith involves a
revolt against the ruling power ; for even the most ortho-
dox Musalmdn State has had to mould those principles
to the necessities of Civil Government. Mecca itself, the
stronghold of Isldm, is the place throughout all the world
where the sect is most feared and detested. In the last
few pages I have sketched the Wahdbi emissary under his
milder aspects ; but many of them are simply men who
live by pandering to the fanatical sedition of the lowest
classes of their countrymen. The following is a specimen
of the harangues by which they perpetuate the old
Muhammadan hatred against British Rule. The first
duty of a Musalmdn is Religious Rebellion ; and to those
who reply that such Rebellion is impracticable under the
British Power, they answer that the only alternative is
flight. The land, and everything that grows on it, are
accursed so long as an Infidel Government rules. I have
already given examples of the Wahdbi exhortations to
Holy War, in prose and verse. Here are the arguments
by which they persuade the ignorant peasantry of Eastern
Bengal, that as they cannot rise en masse, the only way to
escape eternal torment is to quit their homesteads, and
emigrate wholesale from the country of the Infidel : —
^ In the name of God. The merciful and kind God
is all goodness. He is the Lord of the Universe. May
divine kindness and safety attend Muhammad — His
Messenger — and all his descendants and companions.
Know ye that all Muhammadans are bound to leave a
country which is governed by the Infidel, in which acting
according to the Muhammadan law is forbidden by the
ruling power. If they do not abandon it, then in the
hour of death, when their souls will be separated from
Page:The Indian Musalmans.djvu/80
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76
A MISSIONARY TREASON SERMON