Thursday, May 24, 2012

Islam on Writing & Rhetoric

The Holy Qur'an

Surah Al-Qalam, 2-3

"By the inkstand and by the pen and by that which they write, Thou art not, by the grace of thy Lord, a madman."

Surah Al-Alaq, 4-6

"Convey! And thy Lord is Most Generous, Who taught man by the pen, Taught man what he knew not."

Prophet Muhammad (saw)

Sahih al-Bukhari

"Some eloquent speech is as effective as magic."
"I have been given the keys of eloquent speech."
"The best speech is Allah's Book."
"I have been sent with Jawami al-Kalim (the most expressive and efficient language)."

Jami-ul-Bayan

Sunan Abu Daud

“Allah, the Exalted, hates the eloquent one among men who moves his tongue round (among his teeth), as cattle do.”
“On the Day of resurrection Allah will not accept repentance or ransom from him who learns excellence of speech to captivate thereby the hearts of men, or of people.”
“I think (or, I have been commanded) that I should be brief in what I say, for brevity is better.”

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad - The Promised Messiah (as)

Al-Hakam (Vol. V, p.2, 6/17/1901)

"This country is Dar ul Harb as against Christian missionaries. We should therefore not sit idle. But remember that our war is of the same kind as theirs. We should go forth with the kind of weapons with which they have come forth. That weapon is the pen."

Malfoozat (Vol. I, pp. 44, 219)

"In the present age, the pen has been raised against Islam and it was through it that Muslims had been caused so much pain and suffering. Therefore, the pen should be the weapon of the Muslims. It is the duty of every Muslim to join this battle ... The jihad of this age is to propagate Islam and refute the allegation of the critics; to spread the beauty of the true religion, Islam, in the world, and to manifest the truth of Prophet Muhammad to the world. But this did not mean that jihad by the sword now is abrogated, only that today, jihad by the pen is the real jihad, until God produces different circumstances in the world."

Malfoozat (Vol. I, pp. 59-60)

"God has willed that in this age the pen should replace the sword and the enemy should be vanquished by the written word . . . (you should) certainly realise that the need of the time is not of the sword but of the pen."

Malfoozat (Vol. I, p. 223)

"In this Age, it is the sword of the pen with which we are attacked and the spears of objections are being shot at us. We also should not let our forces go waste. We should use our pen to prove the truth of the religion of God and the Prophethood of His chosen Prophet, may God’s Blessings be on him. Especially it is our duty to do this work, for, we are living under a Government that has granted religious freedom to everyone. Those who do not comprehend the principle of gratitude for the one who does good to others, accuse me, because of this kind my statements, of eulogizing the government. “My God knows that I cannot flatter anyone in the whole world. I am not made of that stuff. Of course, it is ingrained in my nature that I should express my gratitude for the one who does good. It is through His sheer grace that He has not made me, ungrateful and rebellious. I appreciate the good that the British Government does and I take it as a Grace of God that He rescued us from the tyrannical rule of the Sikhs and sent some other people from a distance of thousands of miles, to administer our State affairs. Had that not been the case we would have never been able to answer the objections (of the non-Muslims) against the Being of God and the Prophethood of the Prophet Mohammad (saw)."

Malfoozat (Vol. VIII, p. 20)

"Now the jihad by the pen (instead of the sword) has to be waged. That is why this now is the time that the people should pick up courage and spend their time and wealth. You should know it well that this is not the time to go the battlefield for religious purposes. The battles that were fought during the life time of Prophet Muhammad (saw) were not meant to convert the non-believers to Islam by force; these battles were fought by the Muslims to defend themselves. When the Muslims were inhumanly tortured and turned out of Mecca and many Muslims had become martyrs, it was then that God commanded them to fight back; this definitely was a defensive measure. Now the times have changed. There is peace every where; it is with the pen that Islam is being attacked. That is why it is necessary that the pen should be used to rebut the attacks. God the Almighty says in the Holy Qur’an that you should make preparation to defend yourselves with the same kind of weapons as the opponents happen to use. Think of the preparations that the opponents of Islam are now making. They are not lining up the armies. They are publishing magazines and books. We also should, therefore, pick up our pen and answer their attacks with magazines and books. It is not expedient that the treatment and the sickness should be at variance. If the treatment does not conform with the sickness, the consequence is bound to be unprofitable and harmful."

Nishan-e-Asmani (Roohani Khazain, Vol. IV, p. 15, 48)

"And in his hand, I see the Zulfiqar of Hadhrat Ali (ra). In respect of incontrovertible arguments, his adroit hand flashes like a sword. Then I see him with the Zulfiqar. There was a time when Hadhrat Ali ra held the Zulfiqar in his hand; but Allah, the Exalted, will bestow Zulfiqar upon that Imam in such a manner that his luminous hand will accomplish that which in the past had been accomplished by Zulfiqar. Thus, his hand will be as if it was the Zulfiqar of Ali that has reappeared. It is an indication that the said Imam will be Sultan-ul-Qalam, the king of pens, and his pen will serve as Zulfiqar. This prediction is an exact translation of a revelation vouchsafed to me, which was published ten years ago in Braheen-e-Ahmadiyya: Kitabul Wali Zulfiqar-e-Ali, i.e., the book of this saint is the Zulfiqar of Ali. Here, the reference is to myself, and, on account of this, in many a visions I have been called Ghazi, and there are allusions to this in Braheen-e-Ahmadiyya and in other places."
"Now that I have picked up the pen, I have resolve not to suspend using it until such time that Allah the Exalted, having had exhausted argument and reasoning on the internal and external opponents, annihilates the reality of Dajjal."

Tiryaqul Qulub (Roohani Khazain, Vol. XV, pp. 159-160)

"The battles of our Prophet and those of his esteemed companions were either in defence of the attack by the non-Muslims or to maintain peace and to push back those by the sword who wanted to stop faith by the sword. However, who among the opponents now picks up the sword to defend the faith? Who prevents one from becoming a Muslim, and who forbids calling the Adhan in mosques?"

Victory of Islam (Roohani Khazain, Vol. III, p. 16)

"The fourth branch (for establishing the victory of Islam) relates to correspondence with an increasing number of inquirers, truth seekers and opponents. During the years (up to 1890) that have just gone by more than 90,000 letters must have been received, all of which had replies written to them. Excepting of course a few which were thought to be of no consequence or meaning. This work continues. Every month a large number of letters, from 300 to 700 or 1000 have to be exchanged."

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