by Daud Shawni
*****
Shahadah
Aurangzeb said, "You argue well, but take Ravana's example to heart. Give up the Sita of your error and live."
The boy said, "Have I come to wreck your temple? Or offend your religion? I wonder who is in error. Though our worship may be wrong, your persecution confirms us in error. Speak to them as I speak to you, acknowledge their traditions, and honor the prophets of God who have come to them, and they will convert to your religion and these temples will be cleansed of idols. If you persist in this persecution, however, you place enmity between them and your people and the mission of Muhammad fails among them just as the mission of Rama and Krishna fail with you, though I have spoken only truth to you. How will they acknowledge Muhammad as the face of God on Earth if you will not acknowledge Rama or Krishna likewise? Perhaps they could be convinced even if you remain silent about Rama and Krishna. Perhaps they would put on the robe of Islam, but not while you dishonor Rama or Krishna and accuse Rama of ignorant cruelty and Krishna of perversity and deceit. Those who would make infidels and apostates out of Muslims have leveled similar charges against Muhammad. Did such charges turn righteous believers against Islam? Yet you expect your slanders will convert those devoted to Rama or Krishna. O hypocrite, see what your hypocrisy has made of you.
"You believe Islam is sufficient knowledge of God in this age. I don't dispute this. But imagine how much better you might understand Muhammad if you had some knowledge of Rama. Imagine how much clearer Islam becomes when you understand the wisdom of Krishna, the manly virtues of Rama.
"More than encumbrance by earthly desires and worldly possessions, a man is also weighed down by his own mind, if that mind is in the service of desire, pride, and ignorance. If he takes as his master his own expectations and prejudices, considers his own feeble and faulty judgement as the standard by which to judge what is true and what is false, his own fanaticism slanders and enfeebles him. He does not see that he has rejected God. He has taken his own opinions as his god, setting up as idols the many tokens of his ignorance, and has turned to himself to worship none other than himself. Such was Ravana's state that, having been granted such blessings by God, he elevated himself in his own opinion and thus denied the atman, the sign of God, that sign that is not mind or body within himself. Into the jaws of many lives Ravana fell; he falls even today. Do not allow yourself to be the reincarnation of Ravana. Reject that wasted life; die to yourself and be born into Him."
Aurangzeb said, "None of this is an excuse to let this temple to a monkey remain standing!"
The boy answered, "This temple is not for a monkey. This temple was built to remember a lowly believer, Hanuman, who served Lord Rama and Sita as best he could. This temple is like the body of a believer. Do not destroy it; you cannot convert one that you kill. Consider how Hanuman's obedience is of value, even as Fatimah was obedient to Ahmad, even as Magdalene was obedient to Jesus. Would you wreck Fatimah's home and call yourself a friend to Muhammad? Would you turn Magdalene out and call yourself a disciple of Jesus? Leave Hanuman's temple alone lest you wreck your own heart, which is the temple of true worship. No one with true insight worships Hanuman; he is merely a remembrance of Rama. Men turn to Rama or Krishna as a remembrance of Vishnu. If men come to this temple, it is because they aspire to Hanuman's station as a friend of God. Be God's friend and you will find a brother, a sure companion and trusted servant in Hanuman."
Aurangzeb said, "Little Brahmin, you cannot win this argument. I have been lenient with you and granted you leave to speak openly with me. But you are putting yourself in terrible danger, for whatever oath I give, His law supersedes it."
The boy said, "I cannot renounce what I have said, even when faced with the likelihood of defeat, for Rama awaits, concealed, and will do what is right. As Sugriva and Vali battled, Rama was invisible, but his arrow was poised. If my cause is true, even against terrible odds, He may yet smile upon us and grant me victory. But even if defeated, the cause is not less true, nor ever lost."
Aurangzeb said, "You have tested me beyond my limits. But you are a child and I am fair. Recite the shahadah and live. If you refuse, I will put you to death. Recite it; it is best for you."
The boy laughed, and his laughter angered Aurangzeb. The emperor said, "Recite it and live. Recite it and Paradise will be your reward." And as the Temple of Hanuman behind them smoldered and the soldiers pulled the rocks apart and slew those worshippers who had sought refuge there, the boy smiled a peculiar smile.
The boy said, "Rewards may come from scriptures, from sacrifice, from austerity and charity. But the reward that is most perfect is attained only through renunciation of worldly rewards, through wisdom and faith, and these are open to those who know Him and who obey Him and follow the path He has revealed in the age for which He revealed it. This reward is peace, quietude; it is an end to disturbance and distress. It transcends pain and pleasure; it is beyond good and evil.
"Heaven awaits those who worship Heaven; and Hell awaits those who worship Hell. Yet Heaven and Hell will pass away. Those who delight in the higher nature, who desire the higher nature, are requited. Those who delight in the lower nature, who lust after the lower nature, are requited. They are granted entry through the doors of Heaven or Hell. But these rewards have their ending in time. Worship Him; the reward is eternal and you will find liberation. He is the Word and the source of the Word. He is the Voice and the One Who sees all. You may find Him within you, for He is everywhere always present. He is the throne, and the One Who sits in the throne. He is the scepter, and the One Who holds out the scepter. He is a river of clear pure water, and the source of all waters. He is the kiss and the One Who kisses, the embrace, and the One Who embraces. He is at one moment Rama, at another He is Krishna, at another the Buddha. Today He is Muhammad. Yesterday He is Jesus and He is Moses. Tomorrow He is the King of Glory, Ancient of Days; He is the return of Himself. The One you worship is not another than the One I worship. Soma brings illusion, but the Soma of His grace brings liberation from illusion. If He offers, drink deeply and give no thought to the opinions of men."
Aurangzeb's patience ran out and he motioned to his guards, but before his eyes, the boy transformed before them, contracting his body, becoming much smaller. His saffron robes slipped from his body and the hemp and bark binding him fell uselessly into the dust. Astonished, Aurangzeb's soldiers hesitated. As they stood slack-jawed, the boy transformed again, becoming many times his original size, taller even than the temple the soldiers had destroyed. And the boy's face became a monkey's face and his smile filled the sky. He said, "You are not satisfied, not yet devoted and not yet separated from the things and appearances of this world. I have spoken words only according to your capacity to understand them and you have understood these words only according to your willingness to accept them. You are yourself the analogy. You will find only in yourself the limitations of your faith and your intellect."
Leaping above them, out of reach even of their arrows, Hanuman spoke from the heavens, his voice booming. "Like Ravana, you were granted a boon by God but you have squandered it in your ignorance. You could have been noble; in moments you have been great and strong, but your pride has blinded you. You call me Iblis, but you are the one with a single eye, unable to perceive, in your own faith, the depth it possesses and the power it has to embrace me."
As these words resounded and shook the earth at their feet, Hanuman said, "There is no God but God. I declare that Moses is the Messenger of God, and Jesus is the Messenger of God, and Rama is the Messenger of God, and Krishna is the Messenger of God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God. This is the declaration I have recited for over a hundred generations; I was a believer before you were born."
