There are courageous persons who follow the urge of their hearts and minds and ultimately convince society that they are in the right; there are dominating personalities which compel society to accept and follow them. There are persons, seen but very rarely, who return society's frown with a cheerful, disarming smile and who radiate sincerity, goodwill and confidence. They have the gift of making friends into an inspiring and creative force. They do not desire power; they are loath to exercise authority even if they possess it. Their aim and ideal are to make men more humane, more just, more co-operative, to rouse and activate sentiments of natural piety innate in most human beings, to reform society by inducing the most sensitive individuals to assert the best in them so as to achieve happiness and peace for all.

It is difficult and sometimes unfair to put men into fixed categories... I would have been happy and content to describe Yusuf Meherally as an Indian, but I am afraid, very few, if any, would understand what I meant. I cannot say that he was a Hindu, because he was born in a Muslim family. I cannot call him a Muslim, because he himself refused to recognise religious distinctions, and it would be unfair to impose them on him. But tradition and culture have drawn the picture of the good Muslims which comes to life as soon as one sees a good Muslim.

According to an old definition, a good Muslim possesses a generosity like the generosity of the river, a benevolence like the benevolence of the sun, a hospitality like the hospitality of the earth. He answers the calls of those in distress, he fulfills the needs of the helpless, his sorrows and endeavours are derived from the sorrows and endeavours of the people.

The good Muslim cultivates friendship that the true relationship between man and God is revealed, and to be a good friend he cultivates those social qualities which are most pleasing to his fellow men, charm of manner, ability to converse, argue, convince, participation in the enjoyment of literature and art, and in those observances which reveal deep interest in his fellow men, reverence for the divine. The practice of equality is for him not an injunction to be obeyed but an instinct, as second nature that cannot bear to be repressed. The good Muslim loves God only but in such a way that those among whom he lives are made to feel that he loves them only...

(Source: The Illustrated Weekly of India, Bombay, February 2-3, 1991)