The Reason for writing the Book Sanatan Dharam:
Pundit Ram Bhujdut was the president of the Arya Parthi Nadhi Arya Samaj, Punjab. On March 1, 1903, during the convention of the Arya Samaj in Qadian, Pundit Bhujdut received a copy of Hazrat Mirza’s book Nasim-e-Dawat. Perusing the book, he came across Hazrat Mirza’s objections to the custom of niyog.1
Pundit Bhujdut commented that there were some benefits of niyog and he could have explained them to Hazrat Mirza if he had been given the opportunity to converse with him. This remark by Pundit Bhujdut motivated Hazrat Mirza to write a pamphlet titled Sanatan Dharam, in which Hazrat Mirza exposed the sordidness of the niyog institution. This pamphlet was published on March 8,1903. Below is an excerpt from that pamphlet:
“With the exception of a few aspects, the adherents of (the Hindu sect of) Sanatan Dharam are many times better than the adherents of the Arya Samaj sect. They do not disgrace their Parmeshwar (Supreme Being) by claiming equality with Him in the matter of not being created. They do not subscribe to the shameful institution of niyog, and they do not raise absurd objections against Islam.”
Hazrat Mirza showed the superiority of Sanatan Dharam over the Arya Samaj sect in this pamphlet. Expressing his sorrow, Hazrat Mirza also added:
“In their Qadian convention, the fiery-tempered members of the Arya Samaj, who had no interest in religion, vilified Islam like mimics. If they had honest intentions, they would have written to me and identified their objections to Islam. Although I do not attend such public gatherings, nevertheless I would have removed their doubts politely, through an enlightened speech.”
But now they have returned from Qadian in the same state that they came in and have taken back with them just their arrogance and obscenities.
Appendix:
Niyog was a practice sanctioned by the Hindu Arya faith in which a widow, not being allowed to remarry, could go to bed with any man of her choice, get impregnated and produce children, as well as satisfy her passions. This practice was not confined to widows. Even a married woman who was childless or who did not have male offspring, could sleep with a series of men until she got pregnant, with the permission of her husband. She could sleep with up to ten men and the children born by this arrangement were considered as the husband’s, who was responsible for their upbringing. Not only this, if the husband was on a journey or was sick, the wife could enter into niyog liaison with any man. (From The Great Reformer, Volume 3)
Footnotes:
- See appendix at the end of the chapter.
The Great Reformer 