Khan's Triumph of Will

DEEP FAITH

"Real Islam is a deep and unquestioning trust in God, the realization of the truth that "There is no deity save God" and of the threefold aspect of religious life; that of islam, complete surrender to God; iman, unquestioning faith in Him and His wisdom; and ihsan, to do the right thing and to act beautifully, because one knows that God is always watching man's actions and thoughts."

Annemarie Schimmel, Professor of Indo-Muslim Culture, Harvard University

Badshah Khan was a devout Muslim whose surrender to God was rewarded by a divine wisdom to act rightfully. Khan derived deep inspiration from the Koran and based his life on Prophet Mohammed's universal principles of love (muhabat), service to humanity (amal), and faith (yakeen). His lifelong reform work, the constructive programs, and the nonviolence of the Khudai Khidmatgars can be best understood in light of the underlying Islamic and universal ethics.

Khan's nonviolence was spiritual, based on Islam's "Sabr" (tenaciously holding on to a righteous cause without revenge or retaliation) just as Gandhi's nonviolence was based on Hindu principles of Ahimsa and Advaita. Khan's life is also an example of faith-based transformation of two kinds - his own "qutb" or divine analytic wisdom which awakened true faith in him and his reformation of 100,000 belligerent Pushtuns into nonviolent God's servants.

Righteous Reform

Badshah Khan's single-minded dedication to reform the Pushtuns is a direct result of his spiritual calling. Typically, the Khans of his time were wealthy landowners and socialites who wined and dined with the British rulers and were indifferent to the misery of the poor Pushtuns. But Badshah Khan was different; He felt an unexplainable desire to change the conditions of his Pushtun brothers. His two best friends were from the less-privileged sweeper community, a rare thing among the status-conscious Khans.

Although Khan went to a Christian missionary school, he received religious education on the Koran and prayed five times a day as any devout Muslim. The initial influence to help and serve came in the form of Reverend Wigram, a kind and caring Principal of the missionary school. But a deeper desire to serve definitely came from the Koran. As a righteous king can clearly see through fairness and cruelty, this king among the Khans could see unrighteousness in the British treatment of his Pushtun brothers. Islam had taught Khan to fight against unlawful tyranny and oppression - only peacefully.

Khan's personal experience with the British Army also changed the direction in his life. 17-Year old Khan, 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighing over 200 pounds, was easily selected to serve in the Guides (an elite corps of the infantry and cavalry division). He had dreamed of becoming a Guides officer since childhood. But when he saw his Pushtun friend, a commissioned Guides officer, being insulted by a British officer, Khan changed his mind. Khan angrily rejected his commission with the British Army. Khan's Guides episode acted as a catalyst for reform just as Mahatma Gandhi's humiliation when he was thrown out of the train in South Africa increased his fervor to fight the British.

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