The city of Ahmedabad was slowly limping back to normalcy. However, there were reports of rioting, murder, looting, and arson slowly filtering in from the surrounding villages. Sporadic clashes between Hindus and Muslims would shatter the peace of the city from time to time. Curfews were imposed daily and the people of the city remained indoors. Only a few dared to venture out to seek food and medical help. At other places, the mobs ruled the streets.
The mosque in the heart of the city had somehow escaped the fury of the mob. It stood all alone by itself with nobody to guard it, except for a caretaker. The old solitary figure of a muezzin would walk up dutifully near the minaret of the mosque and would call out the Adhaan as he had been doing from the past several years. The electricity to the area had been cut off and his voice was barely heard beyond the four walls of the mosque. Nobody responded to his call to prayer. The muezzin would wait for sometime for somebody to turn up for the congregational prayers. Nobody did. He prayed all alone by himself as he had been doing from the past several days. The rest of his day would be spent reading the Holy Qur’an and he would retire occasionally to his room in the mosque for a meager meal.
One day, as he sat inside the mosque reciting passages from the Holy Qur’an, a Muslim, with whom he was on friendly terms, burst inside the mosque and came to him in a great rage. The mob had set fire to his house and all his belongings. They had chased him all over the street brandishing knives and swords with the intention of killing him. The mob had been led by no other than his long time business rival. He had sought refuge in the house of a Hindu for the night. His host had graciously allowed him access to the terrace, where he has spent the night disturbed by sounds of gunfire and shouting mobs. He had taken leave of his host as soon as the curfew had been lifted for he did not want to endanger his life for sheltering him. Passing through the by lanes, he had made his way to the mosque to seek refuge there until things calmed down a little. He declared to the muezzin, that he would seek out this man and kill him. He would also set fire to his house.
The muezzin had listened calmly to the man’s outburst against the leader of the mob. "Oh no," he said to his friend, "I am afraid that would not be the right thing to do. Besides what good would it do to kill him?"
"I would have my revenge," said the Muslim.
"That," said the muezzin "would fetch you nothing. By doing so, you will be killing one man. Retaliation would be the most natural thing to do by somebody in our circumstances. However, the evil of hatred has spread its roots in this city. It is the hatred that the people have against one another, which has to be rooted out. Our top priority is to restore peace among the people of the city and not to add to the statistics of death by killing one more person. Nevertheless, there is another way of taking revenge against the person who has wronged you. Its effect will be much sweeter and long lasting than the one which you are thinking about."
The Muslim looked very thoughtful at the words of the muezzin, and presently asked, "Well, what shall I do?"
"The answer is simple. Do the man, who has wronged you good at the first available opportunity," came the reply of the muezzin; "you will find it sweeter than revenge; it may bring you less danger. It may also bring you many blessings from the God, most High."
The words of the muezzin had left the Muslim confused. "If I do as you say," he said to the muezzin, "then how is it going to earn me blessings from God, most High?"
The muezzin opened the Holy Qur’an that lay before him and said, "A verse from the Holy Qur’an reads as follows:
"Nor can Goodness and Evil be equal. Repel (Evil) with what is better: then will he between whom and thee was hatred become, as it were thy friend and intimate!"
The Muslim looked at the face of the muezzin and said earnestly, "I have known you for a long time now, you never advise people save of what is good. I will try my best to follow your advice."
****
Several weeks passed. The riots continued and the concerned did their best to bring it under control. But, as soon as they brought a rioting area into control, the violence would flare up with renewed vigor in another part of the city. The people of the city did their best to lead normal lives in abnormal times.
One day, the muezzin was resting in the mosque as usual after his noon prayers, when his friend the Muslim turned up again to meet him. As soon as he saw the muezzin, he rushed forward, grasped him by his hand in greeting, and said, "I followed your advice and it exactly happened as it has been said in the Holy Qur’an. A few days before, I was passing through one of the localities, when I found a group of Muslims had surrounded the house of a Hindu. They were carrying with them daggers and petrol bombs. They were in the process of setting fire to it. It was the house of the same person, who had driven me away from my house and had set fire to my belongings and shop. I could easily have had my revenge and could have killed him immediately there itself. However, I suddenly remembered the verse that you had read out to me from the Holy Qur’an. Immediately, I intervened and persuaded the mob to leave the ma
"Yes," said I, "but you did not think me very good, when you led a mob to my house to loot and burn it a few weeks ago."
"To burn down your house!" said the man, turning pale, at the thought of the problem that he would face with me.
"I told him about the time, and how I had to run for my life."
"But, you still saved my life!" the man now appeared dazed, "I don’t understand." After some time he recovered his composure and said, "I am very sorry for what was done to your house and business. However, you have rendered me a great service by repaying good with evil. I will try to undo the wrong that has been done to you. Hereafter, you will work with me in my business."
He forced me to go with him to another camp where Hindus had sought refuge and told them his story. They all made me feel comfortable and treated me as their friend, and shared with me some of the provisions that they had with them. They told me that religion was meant to show compassion and goodwill to our fellow beings. It was sad that people should pick up quarrels with each other using religion as a pretext.
The Muslim now looked at the muezzin with a delighted smile, "You did not tell me a lie. I have had the best revenge that I could ever think of. I had thought of them earlier as my enemies, but they are no longer my enemies. I have made friends of all of them".
