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Review of Aeenah Haq Numa in The Light, 8 February 1946
“Aeena-i-Haq Numa”, i.e., The Mirror
of Truth, the publication in Urdu which
the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam
Lahore has just brought out, is an exhaustive, effective and conclusive reply to the
criticism of Islam and its Holy Founder
contained in that notorious book,
Satyarath Parkash by Swami Dayanand,
Founder of the Arya Samaj, which has
been a perennial source of bad blood and
bitterness between Arya Samajist Hindus
and Muslims.
Satyarath Parkash is no serious criticism
of other faiths nor prompted by a spirit
of quest after Truth. As such, whether
right or wrong, it would have merited
some consideration at the hands of serious
students of comparative religion. But it
is a heap of cheap bizarre gibes betraying
both ignorance and bad taste. It gives
one the idea of a street urchin making
mouths and throwing brickbats at any
and every respectable passer-by. Jesus,
Krishna, Muhammad, Guru Nanak — everyone of these Divine Light-houses
comes in for his share of vituperation.
So far the only way adopted by the
Muslims has been to pass resolutions calling
upon the Government to proscribe the
book. The Sindh Government placed a
ban on the publication of Chapter XIV.
This however led to undesirable reactions
and “lionized” the book in Arya Samajist
circles. The method adopted in the
publication of Aeena-i-Haq Numa is the
only method to give a quietus once for all
to the unfair and indecent criticism of
Islam contained in this so-called “scripture”
of the Arya Samaj.
The book takes every one of the points
raised by the writer of Satyarath Parkash,
discusses it threadbare, exposing the
ignorance or malice behind it and bringing
out the wealth of beauty underlying that
very point. Maulana Abdul Haq, the
author, is a Sanscrit scholar, translator of
the Vedas into Urdu and he makes good
use of this additional equipment of his
by giving a comparative view of the
Quran and the Vedas on that particular
point, thereby paying the critic of Islam in
his own coin.
In bringing out this book, the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam and Maulana
Abdul Haq have rendered a signal service
towards a better understanding of the
Quranic teachings and incidentally
removing a source of constant communal
friction. A perusal of it should convince
a fair-minded reader, even an Arya
Samajist, how distorted and undignified
has been the approach adopted by the
Founder of the Samaj towards a serious
and sacred subject like religion.
The Anjuman is anxious that the book
should receive the widest possible publicity
and has therefore offered to supply a copy
free to libraries and reading rooms. Those
interested in the vindication of the good
name of Islam and the Holy Prophet against the filthy and foul attacks of the
Satyarath Parkash would also do well to
send for as many copies as they can afford
to and distribute the same free among their
non-Muslim friends. The price for 440
pages which the book covers has been
fixed at just Rs. 3 to enable faith-spirited
friends to circulate copies of it at their
expense. Those who cannot undertake
the free circulation themselves can entrust
this also to the Anjuman which will be
pleased to send copies on their behalf to the right places on receipt of orders.
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