The Voice of History

The Voice of History

1990 4 April 11-12 The Voice of History (500) In India, anti-Muslim vengefulness cannot remain at its present level of intensity. When it reaches its culminating point, a period of regret and admission of guilt is bound to set in according to nature’s own laws. Then it will become evident that it was those very people who were the enemies of Islam who have now become its friends.

The end of revenge is the beginning of regret. When revenge reaches its final limit, it turns into regret and admission of guilt. This is an eternal law of nature: history abounds in examples which bear witness to this.

One such instance, on the individual plane, is that of Umar ibn al-Khattab, who went on to become the second Caliph of Islam, but who started out in life as one of Islam’s staunchest opponents. At that early point in his career, the conversion of his sister and brother-in-law was anathema to him, and the moment he came to know of it, he set off for their home in a towering rage. There he beat them so savagely that the blood began to flow. But then the sight of blood on his own sister’s face suddenly cooled Umar’s fury. Overwhelmed with regret, he asked his sister for a copy of Quran, which he then read from cover to cover. In this mood of regret, and thoroughly conscience-stricken, he felt touched to the heart by the Quran. Very soon after that, he hastened to the Prophet in order to accept Islam.

Another instance, on a communal level, is that of the Tartars. During the last period of the Abbasids, hordes of Tartar tribes came pouring out of the mountainous regions of Russia, bent on having their revenge on the Muslims. To settle their various grievances against them, they murdered tens of millions of Muslims all the way from Samarqand to Baghdad. They demolished the mosques and razed Muslim settlements to the ground. But when the Tartars had had their fill of revenge, their anger began to subside. Now the realization of their savagery began to prick their consciences and a feeling of regret began to set in. It was then that they felt drawn to Muslim beliefs and the Islamic way of life. This change of heart became so widespread that, ultimately, the majority of the Tartars accepted Islam.

In India, too, this piece of history is perhaps going to be repeated. Anti-Muslim vengefulness cannot remain at its present level of intensity. When it reaches its culminating point, a period of regret and admission of guilt is bound to set in according to nature’s own laws. Then it will become evident that it was those very people who were the enemies of Islam who have now become its friends. The very intensity of non-Muslims’ feelings of revenge shows that this time is almost upon them.

The denial of Islam is the denial of one’s own self. And who is there on the face of this earth today who can afford such a denial?