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►►A Video Transcripted Interview of a "SERVANT OF GOD" Click Here to Find More.....


Since Islam is so poorly understood in the west, it may be helpful to give some explanation of how Ghaffar khan can speak nonviolence as the "weapon of prophet." Sabar translated as "patience" or Endurance is counseled repeatedly in the Mecca suras of the Koran. The prophet teaching in Mecca, when he and his few followers had to endure torment ranging from ridicule to the harshest persecution. Their stance was consistently to hold on to truth, without either retaliation or retreating, in perfect submission to God's truth and consequences of their faith.

Sabar is all this and more; it means tenacity in a righteous cause, cheerful resignation in misfortune forgiveness, self-control, and renunciation, refraining from revenge, "bowing before the blow with out a sound or complaint."

Like Gandhi in Hinduism, Martin Luther king, jr., in Christianity, Ghaffar khan and his servant of God demonstrated conclusively that non violence-love in action-is deeply consonant with a vigorous, resurgent Islam. Khan's simplicity, deep faith, and selfless service represent the Islamic traditions at its purest and most enduring.

To gain independence Khan once explained, two types of movements were launched in our province ..The violent movement (the uprising before1919) created hatred in the heart of the people against violence. But the nonviolent movement won love, affection and sympathy of the people.if the Britisher were killed during the violent uprising, not only the culprit was punished, but the whole village and entire region suffered for it. The people held the violence and its doer responsible for repression. In the nonviolent movement we courted self-suffering.. Thus, it won love and sympathy of the people.

Few famous quotations of Ghaffar Khan are;

 

  1. ; There is nothing surprising in a Muslim or a Pathan like me subscribing to the creed of nonviolence. It is not a new creed. The prophet all the time he was in Mecca followed it fourteen hundred years ago, and it has since followed by all those who wanted to throw off an oppressor's yoke. But we had so far forgotten it that when Ghandiji placed it before us, we thought he was sponsoring a novel creed.

  2. ; The holy prophet Muhammad (pbuh) came into this world and taught us; "the man is Muslim who never hurt anyone by word or deed, but who works for the benefit and happiness of God creatures. Belief in God is to love one's fellow men".

  3. ; I am going to give you such a weapon that police and the army will not be able to stand against it .It is the weapon of the prophet, but you are not aware of it. That weapon is patience and righteousness. No power on earth can stand against it. When you go back to your villages, tell your brethren that there is an army of God and its weapon is patience. Ask your brethren to join the army of God. Endure all hardships. If you exercise patience, victory will be yours.

  4. ; As a young boy, I had violent tendencies; the hot blood of the pathans was in my veins. But in jail I had nothing to do except read the Koran. I read about the Prophet Muhammad in Mecca, about his patience, his suffering, his dedication. I had read it all before, as a child, but now I read it in the light of what I was hearing all around me about Gandhiji, struggle against the British raj.. when I finally met ghandiji,I learned all about his ideas of nonviolence and his constructive program. They changed my life forever.

5.      I consider it a crime to be a slave. Therefore, until we establish in this country a true people's government under which every community secures equal opportunities for expansions, you will find me struggling for freedom, no matter who dominate the scene.

 

Ghaffar khan organized one hundred thousand non-violent solider, they called themselves the Khudai khadmathgar, "the servants of God."Their motto was freedom, their aim, and service since God himself needed no service, they would serve his people. The khudai khadmathgar, under the leadership of Abdul Ghaffar khan, became history's first professional nonviolent army-and it's most improbable. Any Pathan could join, provided he took the army's oath:

  • I am Khudai khadmathgar, and as God needs no service, but serving his creation is serving him, I promise to serve humanity in the name of God.

  • I promise to refrain from violence and from taking revenge. I promise to forgive those who oppress me or treat me with cruelty.

  • I promise to refrain from taking part in feuds and quarrels and from creating enmity.

  • I promise to treat each Pathan as my brother and friend.

  • I promise to refrain from antisocial customs and practices.

  • I promise to live a simple life, to practice virtue and to refrain from evil.

  • I promise to practice good manners and good behavior and not to lead a life of idleness promise to devote at least two hours a day to social work

                    For a Pathan, an oath is not a small matter. He does not enter into a vow easily because once given, a Pathan word cannot be broken.

1.      Eknath Easwaran, A Man to Match His Mountains. Badshah Khan Non violent solder of Islam. Niligiri press box 477Califorinia.1985.

 


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