Twilight of the Sultanate c7.s3.17

c7.s3.17

Ilyās Afghān, Safi, Mubārak Khan and Shaikha Khokhar were all Muslims, but since they had taken courage to oppose the blackmailer, they are called by him "infidels (*kāfirān va gabrān*)".¹³² As Pringle Kennedy has rightly pointed out: "It is noticeable in men of Tīmūr's type that their holy war does not confine itself to infidels alone. If true Musalmans oppose him, so much the worse for them. They have ceased to be Musalmans and have become of the tribe of *Kāfirs.* They too must be exterminated. In men of his stamp . . . deep in their heart is the belief . . . that opposition to them is rebellion against the Most High."¹³³