Lesson for us to learn

In the report that Fr Aquaviva and Fr Monserrate submitted to the Pope, they wrote that Akbar was, on an intellectual level, readying himself for conversion to Christianity; what prevented him from taking this step, they said, was the fact that Christianity would not have provided him with the power-base that he was really looking for. Even after despairing of converting Akbar, at least one of the priests remained in Fathepur Sikri preaching Christianity amongst his subjects. There are extensive carvings of David’s fish—a famous Christian emblem—in the ruins of Fathepur Sikri which prove this. There are two main lessons for us to learn from this episode. One is that kings, and people in power generally, tend to hold their power dearer to them than anything else. They will not accept a faith or creed which—however sensible it may seem to them—is detrimental to their power. This is something that Christians experienced in preaching to Muslims, but it is something that Muslims must remember when preaching their faith as well. Islam must never be made to appear a threat to the power of those to whom it is addressed, for if it is they will put their power first and Islam second, however true and reasonable the latter may appear to them. We can also learn from the way the Pope, as soon as he was asked, was in a position to send two fully-equipped instructors to Akbar’s court. The same demand has been made of Muslims time and time again in modern times, but they have not been able to fulfill it. There is one reason alone for this failure, and that is a lack of missionary spirit. Christians, despite the fact that their religion is culturally and historically based in the west, have for centuries been in a position to send missionaries to work in both east and west. This is because they are moved by a universal missionary spirit which enables them to do this. Muslims, on the other hand, despite the fact that their religion is a universal one, are bereft of missionary spirit, so they have not been able to fulfill the demands of either east or west in the field of missionary work. The sorry state that Muslims find themselves in nowadays is due entirely to this failure. As bearers of the final divine scripture, the status of the Muslims is that of witnesses to the truth on earth. What this means is that their purpose in life should be to proclaim the word of God. This should be the target at which all their efforts are aimed; if they concentrate on it then their efforts will find fulfillment. But if they lose sight of it and vainly pursue other ends, then they will lose all unity of purpose; no action that they perform will reap results. □