40 A PILGRIMAGE FOR PEACE
On his release in 1936, he again came to Gandhiji and
stayed this time as the guest of Seth Jamnalal Bajaj at
Wardha, though he passed most of his time with Gandhiji
in his Sevagram Ashram, which continued to be his home
till the turn of the wheel enabled him to go back to his
province. It was a great and valuable opportunity for
both, for it enabled them to know each other most inti-
mately, and there grew up between them a bond which
continued to grow closer and closer.
Memory fondly lingers over the many heart to heart
talks which they had during their stay together, their un-
equalled love and regard for each other and the sharing
of their respective inner experiences. To Gandhiji, with
his passion for communal unity, Badshah Khan symbo-
lized the entire Muslim community. And where else could
you find a truer Muslim, more devout, more deeply reli-
gious, more transparently sincere or more tolerant than
Badshah Khan ? On Badshah Khan's part, it was not
name or fame or even Gandhiji's political work which
drew him to the latter. The secret of his devotion to and
unquestioning faith in Gandhiji was that he found in
Gandhiji a kindred spirit, a man of faith and prayer, dedi-
cated to a pure, ascetic life, who waited upon God and
sought to do His will even in the littlest of little acts of
his life.
"There is nothing surprising in a Mussulman or a
Pathan like me subscribing to the creed of non-violence,"
he once remarked. " It is not a new creed. It was follow-
ed 1,400 years ago by the Prophet all the time He was
in Mecca and it has since been followed by all those who
wanted to throw off an oppressor's yoke. But we had so
far forgotten it that when Mahatmaji placed it before us
we thought he was sponsoring a novel creed......To him
belongs the credit of being the first among us to revive a
forgotten creed and to place it before a nation for the re-
dress of its grievances."
"Whenever a question of great pith and moment
arises in Gandhiji's life and Gandhiji takes an important
decision/' remarked Badshah Khan on one occasion, "I