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32

THE MOHAMMEDAN CONTROVERSY

Governor of Casbin had received two copies, the contents of which had excited great attention. It was suspected by them to be the work of some renegade Mohammedan. That the countries about Kabul and Herat are prepared to peruse and receive benefit from it, is clear from the evidence of an Officer who had ample opportunities of forming a correct judgment. Of the Mîzân he writes, that, during the period of four years' residence in that country;

he had several opportunities of proving the value of the work in question, having found in it many arguments for the truth of Christianity, which the Mussulmans, with whom he conversed, were unable to refute in a truly Christian spirit, and whenever shewn to the followers of Islam, always excited much attention, so much so that I could, —had such a course not been at variance with the known wishes of the Government, —have distributed, with every prospect of a happy result, many copies among those who would use them.

Unable to give, I yet considered myself at liberty to show the work to those Afghans who came to my house from time to time. The conversation, which generally turned on the subject of religion, afforded me opportunities for showing the Persian N. Testament, and Mîzân-ul-Haqq, and often I have been entreated to lend this book for a more careful perusal. Next to the New Testament itself, it is the book most likely to be of use amongst Mohammedans. The contrast between Christianity and the religion of Islam is made so strong and in such moderate language, that it seemed to create an anxiety for future inquiry and investigation.

The Jews, too, of Kabul, were generally anxious to obtain copies, and as I considered the prohibition did not extend to them with such force, I on one occasion lent a copy of the work to the bead of their tribe, but had considerable difficulty in recovering it, which I soon became anxious to do, on finding the deep interest it excited. To use their own expression, "the Mîzân-ul-Haqq put words into their mouth, and enabled them to speak out to Mohammedans, which before they had not been able to do. In my humble opinion, the work is so valuable, that it should be translated into Urdoo, Arabic, and every language in use with Mohammedans."

But it will be asked what effect these productions have had upon the native mind in India! Pfander distributed copies very extensively, with a request that the arguments should be attentively considered, and if possible replied to. The gauntlet, thus thrown down before Mohammedan society in the North-Western Provinces, has been taken up by one or two distinguished

           

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