Page:Speeches And Writings MKGandhi.djvu/870

 '780 MISCELLANEOUS

meaning. Truth-force is soul-force, and is the opposite of the foroo of arms, The former ia a purely religious instrument ; its conscious use is, therefore, possible only in man religiously inolinad, Prahlad, Mirabat and others ware Passive Basisters (in the sense in which the expres- sion is here used). At the time of the Moroccan War, the French guua were playing upon the Arabs of Morocco, The latter believed that they were fighting for their religion, They defied death and with 'Allah' on their lips rushed into the cannon's mouth, There was no room lef<) here for them to deal death. The French gunners declined to work their guns against these Arabs, They threw up their hats in the air, rushed forward and with shouts of cheer embraced these brave Arabs, This is an illustration of " Passive Basistanoe" and Hs victory, The Arabs were not consciously "Pas- sive Besisters," They prepared to face death in a fita of frenzy. The spirit of love was absent in them, A "Passive Basiater" has no spirit of envy in him, It is not Auger that bids him court Ddath. But it is by reason of his ability to suffer that he refuses to surren- der to the so-called enemy or the tyrant. Thus a " Pas- sive R3 slater " has need to have courage, forgiveness and love. Imam Hussain and his little band refused to yield to what to them appeared to be an unjust order. They knew at the time that Death alone would be their lot). If they yielded to it, they felt that their manhood and their religion would be in jeopardy. They, therefore! welcomed the embrace of Daafcb, Imam Hussain pre- ferred the slaughter in his arms of his son and nephew, for him and them to suffer from thirst, rather than sub- mit to what to him appeared to be an unjust order. Id is my belief that the rise of Islam has been due not to

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