setting
up of powerful institutions would in reality be at variance with the good
pleasure of God and would contravene the laws of the Divine Law-Giver and
run counter to basic religious principles and to the ways of the
Prophet--let them consider how this could be the case. Would such reforms
contravene the religious law because they would be acquired from
foreigners and would therefore cause us to be as they are, since "He who
imitates a people is one of them"? In the first place these matters relate
to the temporal and material apparatus of civilization, the implements of
science, the adjuncts of progress in the professions and the arts, and the
orderly conduct of government. They have nothing whatever to do with the
problems of the spirit and the complex realities of religious doctrine. If
it be objected that even where material affairs are concerned foreign
importations are inadmissible, such an argument would only establish the
ignorance and absurdity of its proponents. Have they forgotten the
celebrated hadi_th_ (Holy Tradition): "Seek after knowledge, even unto
China"? It is certain that the people of China were, in the sight of God,
among the most rejected of men, because they worshiped idols and were
unmindful of the omniscient Lord. The Europeans are at least "Peoples of
the Book," and believers in God and specifically referred to in the sacred
verse, "Thou shalt certainly find those to be nearest in affection to the
believers, who say, 'We are Christians.'"(13) It is therefore quite
permissible and indeed more appropriate to acquire knowledge from
Christian countries. How could seeking after knowledge among the heathen
be acceptable to God, and seeking it among the People of the Book be
repugnant to Him?

Furthermore, in the Battle of the Confederates, Abu Sufyan enlisted the
aid of the Bani Kinanih, the Bani Qahtan and the Jewish Bani Qurayzih and
rose up with all the tribes of the Quray_sh_ to put out the Divine Light
that flamed in the lamp of Ya_th_rib (Medina). In those days the great
winds of trials and tribulations were blowing from every direction, as it
is written: "Do men think when they say 'We believe' they shall be let
alone and not be put to proof?"(14) The believers were few and the enemy
attacking in force, seeking to blot out the new-risen Sun of Truth with
the dust of oppression and tyranny. Then Salman (the Persian) came into
the presence of the Prophet--the Dawning-Point of revelation, th