this is how it has always been
al-Hillaj Mansoor... he had done no harm to anybody. All that he was saying was that God is not there above in the heavens; it is within you, within me. But the Mohammedans could not tolerate it. If God is not in the heavens then the whole structure of their religion falls. Then to whom to pray? Then for whom to make mosques? Then the priesthood... then even Mohammed's being a messenger of God becomes a lie, because Mansoor was saying God is in everybody's being, he is not something separate. A simple truth, not harmful to anybody -- but he was killed.
One of the Sufi mystics, Sarmad, was killed in India. Mohammedans have a simple prayer: "There is only one God, and Mohammed is his only messenger." Sufis don't use the whole sentence, they simply use half of the sentence: "There is only one God." Then comes the full stop.
Asked why they don't use the full sentence that Mohammed is the only messenger, they say, "Because the second part is not true. There have been many messengers, there are many messengers, there will be many messengers. Whoever realizes the truth becomes a messenger. It is nobody's prerogative, it is everybody's birthright. So we cannot use the other part."
The story is very beautiful. Sarmad was brought to the Jama Masjid in Delhi and asked, finally, "Are you going to use the full sentence in your prayer or not?"
He said, "How can I? -- because I myself am a messenger." They cut off his head.
Before cutting off his head they told him, "We give you a chance to think again."
He said, "Don't bother -- just cut off my head. But I say to you that even my head cut from my body will continue to say the same thing -- that there is only one God." And the story is that his head was cut off and it rolled down the many steps of Jama Masjid shouting loudly, "There is only one God!"
Sarmad was such a simple and such a beautiful man. There was no crime that he had committed, but this is how it has always been.
Christians had been taking all through the centuries millions of people from other religions and converting them to Christianity. And it has been thought to be a great service to God.
Christians have been able only to convert orphans, beggars, the poorest of the poor. And these people that they have converted to Christianity have nothing to do with religion.