Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din

“ War, famine, plague and pestilence ending in death, more than anything else, force the question of the Great Unknown, and of the Region Beyond, even on the most reckless, the most selfish and the most callous of human souls. ”

“ The religion they look for must be free from ceremonials, formalities, with no sacraments and intermediaries; something which with its simplicity of teaching may bring them face to face with God. New Churches are cropping up in every nook and corner of the country. They at present receive the inspiration mostly from America, but if a person studies their doctrines thoroughly they only preach different aspects of Islam in different accents and stress. ”

“ HUMAN mind is so constituted that, in spite of materialism, scepticism, cynicism and selfishness that we find rampant in the world, it is willing to listen to those who speak and preach the eternal verities of life. ”

“ My grounds were not only that the great Prophets, the founders of the great religions of the world, were born in the East, but that time and changed conditions of life and circumstances have not taken away from Asia its spiritual supremacy over the temporal domination of Europe. Whoever carries that spiritual message of the East to the West is a great benefactor of the human race, for there can be no real progress for mankind if it is not laid on a spiritual basis. ”

“ To one who, like me, belongs to the school of Protestant Hinduism, his presentation of Islam on a Broad-Church basis—although I know he will repudiate in his eloquent language that Islam has neither several Churches nor several sects, as there is only one Church according to the Quran—is very appealing. ”

“ Nevertheless, there is the look of the tired man in him, tired not of course of his mission, for death alone can sever it from him, but tired owing to over-work and nervous exhaustion. When I remarked that Nature exacts her penalty even on God’s workers like him, he had a hearty laugh. ”

“ A. In 1917 and 1918 I studied the conditions obtaining in England from quite different points of view, and what I saw is this: that on one side, if Western mind has become disgusted with the dogmatised religion in the Western Church, it, on the other hand, finds no consolation in tenets of dry materialism. Belief in God has become revived, minds are hankering for a religion and faith which, on one side, must be consistent with the demands of rationality, and on the other, may give them some spiritual food. ”

“ I may say I find no sects in Islam.
Q. Is the future for Islam very bright so far as its Mission to the world is concerned?
A. I think I have said enough in the replies to other questions as to the brilliant prospects of Islam in the West. I may say that if only a few co-workers are added to my Mission and the area for free circulation of Islamic literature in English among non-Muslim quarters is extended, the results will be ten times more. My means, though independent, don’t cope with the demand. ”