Who will tell the truth

Who will tell the truth

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1993 11-12 November-December 30 Who will tell the truth (306)

Mr. Natwar Singh, former Indian Ambassador to China and Pakistan, mentions the celebrated Chinese author, Han Suyin in his book, Curtain Raiser which was published in 1983. It seems that she had become a friend of his, and one chapter of his book is devoted to certain letters she had written to him. In one letter, dated June 14, 1980, she expressed a great desire to learn about Islam: “I do intend to have a very long talk with you on Islam.”

No further details of her quest for truth are given either in the letter or elsewhere, and we can perhaps assume that Han Suyin had not up to that point found a Muslim from whom she could have the kind of information that she needed. Possibly she felt that because Mr. Natwar Singh came from India, where the Muslim population is second only to that of Indonesia, and also perhaps because he had been India’s ambassador to Pakistan, he might be in a position to enlighten her.

How many people there are in this world who are in quest of the Truth, but who are fated to be disappointed because they can find no one to give them the information they desire.

Should anyone in this day and age set himself up as a prophet, all Muslims would unite to put him down. But the irony of it is that in their daily existence they are so oblivious of the Final Prophet’s mission that they appear to be waiting for the arrival of a new ‘Prophet’ who will discharge this duty on their behalf? This is the state of affairs today when there are no less than 100 crores of Muslims spread all over the world. What has happened to the old quest for truth? And who will tell the truth to its seekers.?