Part Two

After refuting the misstatements which Maulawi Muhammad Ali has made in his account of the split, I proceed next to give a true account of the events which led to it; so that, on the one hand Ahmadis who are not yet acquainted with the truth about the split may become acquainted with it and, on the other, those who have been thrown into a state of indecision by this spectacle of dissensions in the Community, who therefore hesitate to join the Ahmadiyya Movement even though they entertain sympathy for it may become acquainted with the true story of the split, and be in a position to judge the Movement and make up their minds about it.

It is inevitable in the case of every spiritual movement, that among its followers there should be some who enter it because they believe in its truth but who nevertheless are very superficial in their judgement and convictions. The truth does not seem to go very deep into their hearts. In the first ebullition of their zeal they seem to go further than many a sincere follower. But as their faith strikes no deep root, they are always liable to cut themselves off from the main body of the movement, and to reject the truth at any time. A number of such persons joined the Ahmadiyya Movement founded by the Promised Messiah (as), and they brought about not only their own secession but the secession of many others from the ranks of the Movement.

In my opinion the person at the root of these dissensions is Khwaja Kamaluddin who has attained great fame because of his connection with the Woking Mission. Maulawi Muhammad Ali is only a disciple who joined Khwaja Sahib a long time after.

This view—that the story of Ahmadiyya dissensions goes back to Khwaja Kamaluddin—has often been expressed by our side. It was Khwaja Sahib, we have said, who first began to have doubts about the Promised Messiah (as), which doubts he communicated to Maulawi Muhammad Ali upsetting Maulawi Sahib in consequence. In view of this it seems to me that to Maulawi Muhammad Ali’s attempt to connect Ahmadiyya dissensions with Zahiruddin—this has been fully discussed by me in Part I of this book—is only a counterblast to our view which connects the dissensions with Kamaluddin.

There is no doubt that when Khwaja Kamaluddin entered the Movement he did so as a sincere believer in its truth. But this is quite different from saying that it was a deep conviction of the truth of the Movement which made him join its fold. The cause of his joining the Movement was that he had at that time begun to feel dissatisfaction with Islam, and to feel an attraction towards Christianity. But as it is hard to part with one’s family and friends, Khwaja Sahib fell a victim to a most intense mental conflict. It was therefore a great relief to him to see how the exponents of Christianity cowered and fled before the onslaughts of the Promised Messiah (as). He discovered that even within the fold of Islam it was possible for one to plant his feet firmly, and to resist the attacks of Western learning and science. As this release from a terrible mental conflict he owed to the Promised Messiah (as), he quickly joined the ranks of his followers. Considering his mental attitude at the time, it cannot but be said that he joined the Movement with a sincere heart. It is natural for one, who has been saved from a great disaster, to hold his saviour as high as he possibly can. It was, therefore, natural that Khwaja Sahib came to believe in the claims of the Promised Messiah (as). But it appears he never entered into a close study of those claims. His faith had its roots in gratitude to the Promised Messiah (as) who had saved him from becoming a Christian and from the pangs of separation from relatives and friends. It is clear that such a faith could not have lived for a very long time. With the lapse of time and the consequent fading from his memory of the days when he stood between Christianity and Islam—when, on the one hand, the many captivating allurements of Christianity were tempting his mind, and, on the other, the fear of parting from everything dear was tearing his soul—his faith began to decay, so much so that at the time of the prophecy relating to Abdullah Atham he very nearly turned an apostate. In 1897 there was held at Lahore a Conference of Religions. The Promised Messiah (as) was invited to write a paper for this Conference. It was Khwaja Kamaluddin himself who brought the invitation. The Promised Messiah (as) in those days was suffering from an attack of diarrhoea, but, nevertheless, he undertook to write this paper. When, by the Grace of God, the paper was finished, the Promised Messiah (as) made it over to Khwaja Sahib. But Khwaja Sahib gave expression to a feeling of disappointment saying that the paper would not meet with appreciation at the Conference. In fact it would merely invite derision. But God revealed to the Promised Messiah (as) that his paper would prove the best of all the papers at the Conference. Accordingly, he wrote out a notice announcing the revelation. This notice also, the Promised Messiah (as) made over to Khwaja Sahib directing him to have it printed and posted in advance all over the city of Lahore. He also spoke many a word of comfort and encouragement to Khwaja Sahib. But as Khwaja Sahib had already decided that the paper was worthless, he gave no publicity to the notice nor did he let anybody else do this. At last when some people reminded him of the command of the Promised Messiah (as), and pressed him to publish the notice, he managed to have a few copies of the notice posted secretly on the walls of the city, and they were put so high that they could not easily come to the notice of the public. But now that they had been put, the Promised Messiah (as) could be truthfully assured that his command had been carried out? For, in the opinion of Khwaja Sahib, the paper regarding which God had been pleased to foretell that it would prove the best in the Conference, was not good enough to be read at that great gathering. At last arrived the day which had been fixed for the reading of the paper. The reading commenced, and before many minutes had passed, a complete stillness prevailed and a spell fell upon the audience. The allotted time was over but the interest of the audience was unabated. More time was given but the addition proved inadequate. Then, at the request of the audience, the Conference was extended by one clear day to enable the reading of the paper to be concluded. Friend and foe declared with one voice that the paper by the Promised Messiah (as) was undoubtedly the best that had been read at the Conference, and thus what had been foretold by God was duly fulfilled. But this great prophecy was robbed of its effect through the lukewarm faith of Khwaja Sahib. For, now all we can do is to recount the history of those days, but all the difference in the world would have been made, had the prophecy been published duly and well before the time came for its fulfilment. The importance which such a publication would have given to the prophecy can easily be imagined by everybody. This and other incidents of a similar nature go to prove that Khwaja Kamaluddin had failed to realise the true inwardness of the Ahmadiyya Movement, and his adherence to the Movement was really due to gratitude for benefits derived from the Promised Messiah (as). For example, the opponents of the Promised Messiah (as) at various time brought law suits against the Promised Messiah (as), Khwaja Sahib used to look after these suits on behalf of the Promised Messiah (as). During all these transactions he exhibited many a sign of weakness of faith, but a reiteration of those signs would not be appropriate at this place.

Suggestion to Convert The Review of Religions

In 1905, a suggestion was made by The Watan that if The Review of Religions should refrain from making any mention of the Promised Messiah (as), and devote itself solely to propagating the general principles of Islam, then it would be possible for the general body of Muslims outside the Ahmadiyya Community to support and subscribe to The Review.

Khwaja Sahib at once consented to act on the suggestion, and proposed that The Review should have an appendix attached to it and in that appendix should be published matters connected specially with the Ahmadiyya Movement, the body of the magazine to contain only topics connected with the general principles of Islam. The proposal raised such a storm of protest that at last Khwaja Sahib had to give in and the whole idea had to be abandoned. But this proposal by Khwaja Sahib and Maulawi Muhammad Ali served to encourage one Dr. Abdul Hakim, who had already for some time been labouring under the influence of certain heterodox notions, to initiate correspondence with the Promised Messiah (as). The apparent occasion of the correspondence was the understanding which Khwaja Sahib had entered into with the editor of The Watan with regard to The Review of Religions, but in the course of this correspondence were formulated for the first time certain doctrines which subsequently proved to be the basic principles of the Lahore seceders.

Dr. Abdul Hakim wrote his first letter to the Promised Messiah (as) early in 1906, the purport of which was as follows:

In another letter Dr. Adbul Hakim wrote: “What! Do you think that not one out of thirteen crores of Muslims is truly God-fearing and righteous, that the spiritual influence of Muhammad has ceased to work in the entire mass of Muslims, that Islam has become altogether a body without life, that the Holy Quran has altogether lost its influence, that God and Muhammad (sas) and the Quran and the Divinely planted instincts and human reason, have all alike become outworn and useless, so that outside your own Community there remains no righteous person either in the general body of Muslims or in the mass of mankind, and that they have all turned black-hearted, doers of black deeds and inmates of Hell?”

At this place, I do not propose to state what answers the Promised Messiah (as) gave to the questions of Dr. Abdul Hakim. I propose to discuss these questions further on and in more detail. Here I should like only to state what the Promised Messiah (as) wrote in reply: “If you are worried by the question—how can it be that the multitudes who are not members of our Community have no righteous persons among them—then, pursuing the same trend of thought you might also ask whether millions of Jews and Christians who reject the truth of Islam have no righteous persons among them. At any rate, when God has been pleased to reveal it to me that every person who has heard my call and failed to accept my claim, is not to be considered a Muslim, and is answerable before God for it—then under the circumstances, how can it be that I should overlook this Divine command at the instance of a person whose heart is enwrapped in a thousand shrouds of darkness? It is better that I should cut off such a person from the body of my Jama‘at. Accordingly, I hereby and from today excommunicate you from my Jama‘at.”

The immediate effect of this sharp and severe chastisement by the Promised Messiah (as) was that no other member of the Community at the time could gather courage to support and subscribe to the views expressed by Abdul Hakim. But, nevertheless, it would appear that the ideas had already found deep root in the hearts of some members of the Community, and chief among them was Khwaja Kamaluddin. Facts go to show that the faith of Khwaja Kamaluddin at this time had already begun to crumble. His subsequent writings make it clear that he really had fallen a victim to these views of Dr. Abdul Hakim, and today it is an open secret that it is just these views which Khwaja Kamaluddin advocates.

So far as I can judge, Maulawi Muhammad Ali did not at first subscribe to these views. But Khwaja Sahib discerned in him a very useful instrument for the attainment of his purpose. So he persisted in his endeavours to win Maulawi Sahib over to his views. In course of time, he managed to do so and encouraged Maulawi Muhammad Ali to criticize even the Promised Messiah (as). I do think, however, that during the lifetime of the Promised Messiah (as) there was not much slackening of faith in Maulawi Muhammad Ali. But as soon as the Promised Messiah (as) breathed his last, a remarkable change began to come over him. Little things contributed to this change. Maulawi Muhammad Ali had always been of an irritable temper. He never could tolerate anything adverse to his own way of thinking. He was also slow to forget when once he became offended. He would stick at nothing to injure those who differed from him. While the Promised Messiah (as) was alive, he often became annoyed with Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) in matters concerning the Anjuman. When at the death of the Promised Messiah (as) it was proposed to elect Hazrat Maulawi Noor-ud-Deen Sahib as Khalifa, it caused serious umbrage to Maulawi Muhammad Ali. He resented the election, and demanded authority for the institution of the Khilafat. But the unanimity of the Community on the occasion and the general helplessness prevailing at the time restrained him, and led him to enter the Bai‘at of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra). Nay more, he himself became one of the signatories of the notice in which it was announced that Hazrat Maulawi Noor-ud-Deen Sahib had been elected Khalifa in accordance with the terms of Al-Wasiyyat (the Will of the Promised Messiah (as)). In spite, however, of this outward allegiance, he remained unconvinced at heart, and in the circle of his friends and associates his conversation often assumed a tone which implied denial of the Khilafat. Thus, gradually he formed around him a party of men who shared his views. The most important person who joined him was of course Khwaja Kamaluddin. Khwaja Sahib had been seeking to win over Maulawi Muhammad Ali to his own views, and the best way of doing so now seemed to be to subscribe to the attitude which Maulawi Muhammad Ali had assumed with regard to the Khilafat. Accordingly not fifteen days had passed after the death of the Promised Messiah (as) when, on a certain occasion in the presence of Maulawi Muhammad Ali, Khwaja Kamaluddin addressed me saying, “Miyań Sahib, what is your opinion regarding the powers of the Khilafat?” To this I replied that the time to decide the question of powers was when the Bai‘at had not yet been sworn. When the Khalifa had declared in clear words that after entering into his Bai‘at we would be required to render him complete obedience, when we had heard these words and had still entered into his Bai‘at what right had we, who had thus chosen to be servants, to determine the powers of the master? On hearing this reply, Khwaja Sahib changed the topic of conversation.

About this time, Maulawi Muhammad Ali began to entertain certain grievances against our mother, Hazrat Ummul Mu’minin (mother of the faithful). Whether these were real or imaginary, Maulawi Muhammad Ali took them to heart. He went even so far as to refer to them in the columns of The Review of Religions (Urdu edition). As I had always been a staunch supporter of the Khilafat idea, his prejudiced mind induced Maulawi Muhammad Ali to think that my support to the Khilafat arose from the fact that I aspired to become Khalifa myself. To his opposition to the Khilafat idea, therefore, he now added opposition to members of the Promised Messiah’s (as) family, especially opposition to me. To promote this opposition he even had recourse to steps enumeration of which is neither possible nor desirable at this place.

In the meantime, the days of the Annual Gathering (Jalsa) approached near and friends of Maulawi Muhammad Ali made special preparation for addresses on the occasion. In these addresses they sought one after another to impress upon the Community that the real successor and Khalifa appointed by the Promised Messiah (as) was no other than the Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya (Central Ahmadiyya Association), of which Maulawi Muhammad Ali and others were the trustees.

Obedience to them therefore was obligatory upon the whole Community. This subject was stressed so much and by so many speakers that some of those present were able to guess at the real purpose of the speakers which they realised, was to depose Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) from his office and to inaugurate their own Khilafat. For out of the fourteen members of the Sadr Anjuman about eight were particular friends of Maulawi Muhammad Ali. Some of them had made common cause with him, and others supported him because of the general esteem in which they held him. The Khilafat of the Sadr Anjuman, therefore, virtually meant the Khilafat of Maulawi Muhammad Ali who had managed by intrigue to secure the undivided control of all its affairs. On account of an urgent business, I could not be present at all the speeches delivered on the occasion of that year’s Jalsa, and even when I was present, my attention was not drawn to this aspect of those speeches. As subsequent events showed some of those present were able to guess the underlying plan of the speakers. The question which now began to be discussed in the circles of their friends were: What were the proper functions of the Khalifa? Who held the supreme authority over the Community, the Sadr Anjuman or Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra)? No suspicion of what was going on, however, had yet entered my mind. The Community had become divided into two rival camps. One was endeavouring to convince the rank and file that the proper successor of the Promised Messiah (as) appointed by the Promised Messiah (as) himself was the Sadr Anjuman. The other opposed this view and held to the terms of their Bai‘at. All this time, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra), had no knowledge of these discussions, and I too was quite unaware of them. At last, Mir Muhammad Ishaq submitted in writing certain questions to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) and requested that light might be thrown on the subject of Khilafat. Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) sent the questions to Maulawi Muhammad Ali for reply. The reply which Maulawi Sahib wrote proved amazing to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra). For, in that reply the status of the Khalifa had been so far reduced as to leave him little else to do with the Community save to accept the Bai‘at from new entrants into the Community. Upon this Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) ordered that a large number of copies of the questions should be made, and that these should be circulated in the Community with a request for reply. He also appointed a date (31st of January, 1909) when representatives of the Community from different centres were asked to assemble at Qadian for the purpose of a conference. I continued however to have no idea of the trouble until I had the following dream.

I dreamt that there was a house divided into two parts. One part was complete, while the other was yet unfinished. The unfinished part was being-roofed over. The rafters had been laid but the planks had not yet been nailed. Upon the rafters was placed some straw and near it stood Mir Muhammad Ishaq, my younger brother Mirza Bashir Ahmad, and another boy, a relative of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra), named Nisar Ahmad, who has since left the world—(may God shower His mercy upon him). Mir Muhammad Ishaq held in his hand a match-box, and it seemed he was about to strike a match in order to set fire to the straw. I tried to stop him, saying that the straw, it was true, would ultimately be burnt, but time for it had not yet come. He therefore should not set fire to it yet, lest some of the rafters also should get burnt along with the straw. This made him desist from the attempt, and I walked away. I had not gone far when I heard a noise, and turning back I saw Mir Sahib hurriedly striking match after match and trying to set fire to the straw. He was in a hurry fearing I should return and stop him and owing to this haste the matches were extinguished as soon as lighted. Upon seeing this I ran back with a view to stopping him, but before I could reach the place, one of the matches had lit up, and with it Mir Muhammad Ishaq was able to set fire to the straw. I ran up and trampled upon the straw, and managed to extinguish the fire but even so, the ends of some of the rafters were burnt. I mentioned the dream to my esteemed friend, Maulawi Sayyid Sarwar Shah Sahib. He smiled and said, “Bless you! the dream has already been fulfilled.” He told me certain things, but either he did not know them well or he could not at that time describe them fully to me. I then wrote out the dream and submitted it to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra). He read and replied to me in a note that the dream had already been fulfilled. Mir Muhammad Ishaq had submitted certain questions in writing, which, it was feared, might create trouble and prove a trial for some. This was the first time that I came to know of the trouble that was afoot, and I came to know of it through a dream. After this, I received my copy of the questions which Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) had ordered to be circulated for reply, and I began to offer special prayers to God to solicit His guidance for a correct answer to those questions. It was true that I had already entered into Bai‘at with Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) and there was no doubt that my reason had convinced me of the need of Khilafat. Nevertheless, I began to think about the subject with a perfectly open mind, and began to pray to God that He should guide me to the truth. The day gradually came near when replies to the questions had to be submitted to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra). I wrote down whatever I could think of at the time, on the subject, and made over my reply to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra). But still my heart was not at rest. I longed that God should Himself show me the way. God is my witness how sore and trying those days proved to me. I spent days and nights in sorrow and grief, fearing lest I should commit a mistake and displease my Master. But in spite of my anguish and restlessness, no kind of light came to me from God.

The Grave Day: 31st January, 1909

At last came the night on the morrow of which the appointed meeting was to have been held. People gathered from all sides and their faces showed they were fully alive to the momentous nature of the day that was to dawn on the morrow. It appeared that every effort had been made to convince the people who came from outside that the proper representative of the Promised Messiah (as) was none other than the Anjuman and that the Khalifa was simply to accept the Bai‘at. All along their journey to Qadian, special efforts had been made to convince them that the existence of the Community was at stake, that a few wicked people had raised the question in order to serve their private ends, and that their aim was to secure control of the purse of the Community in order to enable themselves to act in accordance with their own sweet will. In Lahore, a special meeting of the Ahmadiyya Jama‘at was convened by Khwaja Kamaluddin at his own house, and it was explained to members that the entire Movement was in danger, that the proper representative of the Promised Messiah (as) was none other than the Anjuman and that if this view was not accepted it would ruin the Community and destroy the whole Movement. Signatures were also obtained from the people to a statement to the effect that according to the writing of the Promised Messiah (as) the Anjuman was his proper successor. Only two men, viz. Hakim Muhammad Husain Qureshi, Secretary Anjuman Ahmadiyya, Lahore, and Babu Ghulam Muhammad, foreman, Railway Office, Lahore refused to sign the statement. They said that they had sworn the oath of allegiance to a person who was superior to them in learning and piety and who exceeded them all in his devotion to the Promised Messiah (as). They would, therefore only follow that which he would be pleased to command. In short, the statement was drafted and signed, the people had been instructed, and Khwaja Kamaluddin came fully prepared to Qadian. Since it was a matter which concerned their faith, and the rank and file had been assured that a false step at this stage would condemn the Community to perpetual ruin, there was a great stir of feeling in the Jama‘at. Many were ready to lay down their lives for the sake of the cause and some made bold even to declare that, if the Khalifa came to an unsatisfactory decision, he would be deposed from the Khilafat forthwith. Others waited in silence for the Divine decision. Still others displayed enthusiasm in support of the Khilafat and were ready to make every sacrifice for the sake of maintaining its authority. Speaking generally, nearly all the people who had come from outside, and who had been under the instruction of Khwaja Sahib and his friends, as also a portion of the residents of Qadian, were inclined to hold the view that Anjuman was the proper successor of the Promised Messiah (as). A majority of the residents of Qadian no doubt supported the authority of the Khilafat.

Those who have subsequently joined the ranks of the Movement and have not had occasion to witness the pain and suffering which the Promised Messiah (as) had had to endure for its establishment, nor have they known of the travails through which the Movement had to pass in order to attain to its present height cannot realise the mental agony through which Ahmadis passed in those days. With the exception of a few selfish individuals, the whole of the Community, no matter what beliefs or doctrines they held was, as it were, in a state of living death. Every one of us seemed to prefer that he and his kith and kin should be put to death with the most cruel tortures rather than that they should cause a dissension in the ranks of the Community. That day the earth, in spite of its wide expanse, seemed all too cramped for us and life, in spite of all its comforts, seemed worse to us than death. As the night advanced and morning drew near, my restlessness increased and I moaned and prayed to God saying, “Lord; it is true I have preferred one opinion to another. Nevertheless, my Lord, I do not wish to be one of the faithless. Be Thou my guide, and lead me to the right course. I desire not to prefer my own opinion. I seek the Truth, and long for the Right.” In the course of my prayers I resolved that if God did not vouchsafe to me any reply I would not attend the meeting and save myself from being a party to any dissension. When my resolution reached this stage, the door of Divine mercy opened. God covered me with the mantle of His grace, and the following words involuntarily came upon my lips:

Say, “What cares my Lord for you, unless you prostrate yourselves humbly before Him.” When these words came, I experienced a new illumination. I was convinced that my view of the question was the correct one, because in the verse the word Qul meaning “Say” signified that I was to speak these words to others, from which it followed that it was not me but those who held views contrary to mine with whom God was displeased. It was then that I rose and offered thanks to God. My heart was at ease, and I waited for the morning.

It is common with Ahmadis that they get up some time during the latter part of the night to perform Tahajjud prayers. But this night was specially remarkable in this respect. Many there were who spent the whole of it in a vigil. As early as the time for Tahajjud prayers, most of them had assembled in the Masjid Mubarak to pray to God for guidance and help. On this occasion, so many and so moving were the prayers offered that I am sure they reached and must have moved the Divine Throne. Nothing was heard save the wailing and sobbing of supplicants. Every eye was turned to the Lord of the universe and to no one else. Every hope leaned on the Great God and on no one else. At last came the morning, and with it began preparation for the morning service. There was some delay in the arrival of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra). Friends of Khwaja Sahib were glad of the opportunity and availed themselves of it by addressing the people once more. I was in my house pacing the yard, waiting for the service to begin. Our house adjoins the mosque. The voice of Shaikh Rahmatullah Sahib reached my ear. He said, “God’s wrath! A few designing men want to ruin the Community by raising a stripling to the Khilafat.” My mind at the time was a total blank. I could not therefore see that myself was the stripling referred to. I continued to ponder over the words in amazement, and I could not guess their meaning. Subsequent events, however, demonstrated that his fears were not justified. Khulafa’ are not appointed by men. God however, had already resolved that one day this same stripling upon whom they looked with such contempt would become Khalifa and through him would be carried the message of the Promised Messiah (as) to the four corners of the earth. God had resolved to prove that He was All-Powerful, that He stood in no need of help from any quarter. These men who were trying to fight the Divine plan seem to have had an instinctive premonition of events, which had already been decreed by God. Thus, until the arrival of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra), the question was well talked over in the mosque, and every aspect of it was explained to the congregation. At length, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) came and began the service. The text he chose for recitation was the chapter entitled “Buruj” As he came upon the verse:

“Those who cause the believing men and the believing women to fall into trial and repent not, for them is the punishment of hell and the torment of burning.” A strange influence fell upon the whole congregation. It seemed as though the verse had been revealed just then. The heart of every worshipper was filled with the fear of God. The mosque seemed a hall of mourning. In spite of the utmost effort to control, such loud sobs and moans involuntarily escaped many worshippers that never perhaps had a mother wept more bitterly over the death of her only son. Not a man was there who did not weep. Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) himself had his voice choked by the intensity of the emotion. And such a strange feeling seemed to have passed over the whole people that Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) recited the verse for a second time. Then every member of the congregation seemed half-dead and save the few recalcitrant spirits that were there, all felt a softening of heart and a renewal of faith and a complete absolution from selfish thoughts. It was a heavenly sign that we witnessed that day, a providential succour which had been vouchsafed to us. The service over, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) retired to his house, and some men produced a writing of the Promised Messiah (as) and endeavoured again to persuade the people that after the Promised Messiah (as), the Anjuman alone was the rightful successor. The hearts of the people at the time were filled with the fear of God. They were unaware of the real intention of the writing. They were, therefore, all the more intensely moved to find that the Promised Messiah (as) had decided that after him the Anjuman was to be his successor. But nobody seemed to be aware why it was that such feeling was spreading over the people, and what was going to spring from behind the curtain. At last time came for the meeting and people were asked to assemble on the roof of Masjid Mubarak (the mosque which adjoins the house of the Promised Messiah (as), and in which he used to perform the five daily prayers). Dr. Mirza Ya‘qub Baig came to me and requested me to go to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) and tell him that there was now no apprehension of any trouble, as it had been explained to every body that the rightful successor of the Promised Messiah (as) was the Anjuman. I perceived the hollowness of what he said and thought it best to remain silent. But Dr. Ya‘qub Baig himself went to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra). I too had reached there. No sooner did he come then he submitted to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) saying, “Blessing! All the people have had it explained to them that the Anjuman is the proper successor of the Promised Messiah (as).” To this Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) replied, “Which Anjuman? The Anjuman which you think is proper successor of the Promised Messiah (as) has no status under rules.” It was then that perhaps for the first time the party of Khwaja Sahib realised that the matter was not as easy as they had supposed. Before this, although they had anticipated every possible difficulty and prepared the people, in the event of any opposition from the Khalifa, to meet and overrule him, yet they seemed to entertain the hope that Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) would lend his support to their side, and decide the question in accordance with their views. It was because of this that many members of their party who believed in the goodness of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) used to declare, “Thanks to God, the question has come up for decision during the time of a man as selfless as Khalifatul-Masih I (ra). Had it come up later, who knows what it would have led to?”

After the people had gathered, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) came to the mosque. The gathering numbered between 200 to 220 men. Most of them were delegates from different Ahmadiyya associations. To an ignorant observer this small gathering of about 200 to 250 men on the bare roof of a mosque without a carpet or mat might have seemed a trifling even a contemptuous sight. But they were men whose hearts overflowed with faith in God and an unquestioning trust in His promises. The gathering was the most momentous in the history of the Ahmadiyya Movement, and therefore in the history of the peace and progress of the world. The superficial observer today may well be dazed by the pomp and grandeur of the Peace Conference now holding its sessions in Paris, but far greater in moment was this gathering upon whose decision was to be founded the future course of the history of mankind. The question at issue at this gathering on that day was—what was to be the nature of the organization of the Ahmadiyya Movement? Was it to follow the line pursued by modern parliaments and associations or was it to follow in the footsteps of the Companions of the Holy Prophet (sas)? That day therefore was to decide the fate and future of the whole of humanity. It may be too early yet for people to realise this, but many years will not pass before they will realise that this silent wave of religious enthusiasm was to prove far purer, healthier, and more conducive to the peace of the world than the most spectacular political movements of our time. But to return to the story. The people had assembled over the roof. Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) had arrived. They had prepared for him a place somewhere in the middle. But he declined to stand there, and took his stand in the northern part of the roof, the part which had been built by the Promised Messiah (as) himself.1

Standing there he began his speech. He said that the question of Khilafat belonged to the Shariah i.e. the Law of Islam, that the Community could not possibly advance without a Khalifa, that he had been told by God that for every one who should turn apostate, He would give him a Jama‘at of new adherents, that therefore he had little regard for what they might choose to decide, and that through God’s grace it was his firm conviction that He would remain his Helper. Then, referring to the replies of Khwaja Kamaluddin and Maulawi Muhammad Ali, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih continued: “There are people who would tell me that the duties of the Khalifa consist only of leading congregation in the daily prayers and in funeral services and in accepting Bai‘at from new entrants. This is the outcome of ignorance and impertinence; such men should therefore repent and seek forgiveness, for otherwise harm is sure to come to them.” Proceeding further he observed, “You have caused me great pain by your acts and have brought the office of Khilafat into contempt; that is why this morning I did not take my stand in the part of the mosque which has been built by you; I am standing instead in the portion which was built by the Promised Messiah (as) himself.”

As he proceeded with his speech, the entire gathering with the exception of a few hardened souls had their hearts opened, and in a short time those same men who had resolved to see the great Noor-ud-Deen deposed from his office, came to perceive their folly, and turned from being opponents of Khilafat to being its warmest supporters. In the course of his speech, he also found fault with those who had busied themselves with organising meetings in support of the Khilafat, saying that when the Khalifa had himself summoned people to a meeting, they had no business to hold separate meetings of their own and had no authority from the Khalifa for such an action. After he had finished his speech some people requested for leave to address the meeting. There, however, remained little to be said, for the whole gathering excepting only a few individuals had accepted the right view. Nawab Muhammad Ali Khan, my brother-in-law, and I were asked to express our views. We said that the views expressed by Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) were the views which we had all along supported and upheld. Next Khwaja Sahib was called upon to speak. He found it expedient to express himself in vague terms.

Renewal of Bai‘at

Then Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) said that these people must renew their oath of Bai‘at, and asked Khwaja Sahib and Maulawi Muhammad Ali to retire and think over the matter, and if they really felt prepared, then alone should they come and take the oath of Bai‘at again. Then turning to Shaikh Ya‘qub Ali, the editor of Al-Hakam who had been the promoter of a meeting in which signatures were taken in support of the Khilafat, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) said that he too had made a mistake and should therefore renew his Bai‘at. Accordingly these three men renewed their Bai‘at, and the meeting was dissolved. At that time, a feeling of satisfaction came to dwell in every heart and those present felt that Providence had saved the Community from a grave crisis. But Maulawi Muhammad Ali and Khwaja Kamaluddin who had just renewed their Bai‘at felt seriously aggrieved, and subsequent events proved that their Bai‘at on the occasion was a mere show. They never sincerely recognised the authority of the Khalifa. It is reported (on the authority of Maulawi Abdur Rahim Nayyar who was in those days on very intimate terms with these gentlemen) that no sooner had they alighted from the roof of the mosque than Maulawi Muhammad Ali spoke to Khwaja Sahib saying, “Today we have been badly insulted. It is something more than I can endure. It is as if we had been beaten with shoes in an open meeting.” One wonders at the sincerity of this man who today poses as the reformer of the Community!

If what, Maulawi Muhammad Ali said on coming down from the mosque were supported only by the uncorroborated testimony of Maulawi Abdur Rahim Nayyar, I would not have incorporated it here. For, however, reliable as a reporter he would still have been the only witness of what was said, while my purpose here is to incorporate only such facts as have the most irrefutable evidence behind them. But as later events also proved that when Maulawi Muhammad Ali renewed his Bai‘at with Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra), he was actuated only by fear and expediency, we have no reason to disbelieve the statement of Maulawi Abdur Rahim Nayyar. There is also another incident which goes to corroborate M. Abdur Rahim’s story. Soon after this meeting on a certain occasion when I was present with Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) a message came to him from Maulawi Muhammad Ali to the effect that the Maulawi Sahib had resolved to leave Qadian as he had been insulted and humiliated. This also supports the statement of M. Abdur Rahim Nayyar.

There are hundreds of eye-witnesses to these events. Among the people who took part in this meeting, there are now some who have joined Maulawi Muhammad Ali’s party and others who have entered my Bai‘at. But I have every hope that if asked to make a statement on solemn oath members of both parties will alike testify to the truth of the facts as I have described them. It is hardly possible for anybody to hide facts of such importance relating to a gathering of such magnitude.

Before proceeding further with the narrative of these events. I wish to make a brief digression in order to present to my reader a picture of the moral condition of these men. This will enable them to judge for themselves how far Maulawi Muhammad Ali and his friends have been sincere in their dealings. When Khwaja Kamaluddin returned home from England for the first time he delivered a lecture on the subject of the dissensions. In this lecture he made a reference to this renewal of Bai‘at but gave it a most strange colouring. He represented the whole incident as though Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) convinced of the spiritual perfection of these men had asked them to enter into a special Bai‘at with him. Anyone who reads the description I have given of the incident will be in a position to understand that a person who can depict a Bai‘at, entered into under circumstances of the whole incident as a Bai‘at of fealty or a mark of favour, and thus tries to throw dust into the eyes of others can ill deserve our esteem. The actual words used by Khwaja Sahib were, “He (Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra)) required from me a second Bai‘at.” This is quite true. But what kind of Bai‘at was it? Bai‘at-e-Irshad. Can you say honestly that he got me to renew my Bai‘at? It was indeed Bai‘at-e-Irshad and not a renewal of Bai‘at or Bai‘at-e-Taubah. After this there is yet another kind of Bai‘at and that, is Bai‘at-e-Dam. Now go and look up the books of Sufis to find out from what class of disciples they received Bai‘at-e-Irshad. They receive Bai‘at-e-Taubah when they accept a disciple into their following, and when they observe in him the capacity for strict obedience, they receive from him the Bai‘at-e-Irshad, and when they come to possess full confidence in him, they receive from him the Bai‘at-e-Dam. (Vide Andruni Ikhtilafat-e-Silsilah Ahmadiyya kei Asbab, p. 58)

But to resume, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) was annoyed at the action of these men and most seriously so. He made them renew their Bai‘at. But while other people had their hearts chastened by the experience, the incident served merely to fan the flames of hatred in the hearts of these men. The only difference the incident made in their conduct was that whereas formerly they sometimes exhibited their feeling in overt actions, after the incident they took care to conceal them, awaiting the psychological moment when this volcano of hate might be allowed to burst and demolish the edifice of Ahmadiyyat. From this time on, Maulawi Muhammad Ali fell into the hands of the other party who held beliefs different from those of the Community and his dissatisfaction gradually drove him so close to the other party that in course of two or three years by a process of imperceptible change, he came to identify himself wholly with their beliefs.

Intrigue in Anjuman Records

On the other hand, Khwaja Kamaluddin was a man who guided himself by the signs of the hour. He adopted a policy of avoidance in public of all discussions regarding the Khilafat and wished to see the question dropped for the time being. He did so lest the Community should become alert and impervious to any future intrigue. He fully realised that if full light were thrown upon the subject at that time, there would remain no loophole for any further tampering with the question. With this idea he began to render full outward obeisance to the Khalifa, but in the affairs of the Sadr Anjuman adopted a new policy. Whenever occasion now arose for carrying out commands by Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) the records of the Anjuman began to use a new technique. It was not entered as command by the Khalifa but merely as a recommendation by the President accepted by the members. What was intended by this course of action was that the records of the Anjuman might not prove that this body ever took orders from the Khalifa. After the death of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra), there was an attempt on just these lines to mislead the Community, which, however, did not favour the attempt. It had therefore to be given up. It is in consequence of this record that these men now avoid any discussion of the question of Khilafat, fearing lest the people should have the memory of those days revived, and lest recollection of their past intrigues should make people doubt their present integrity.

In short, the policy they adopted was that while they complied with all the behests of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra), they carefully avoided using the term Khalifa and used instead the term President. But God wanted to expose them. Accordingly it happened that Hakim Fadl Din Sahib, a very sincere Ahmadi and one of the oldest members of the Community made a will giving away his properties for the purpose of the propagation of Islam. The properties included a certain house which the Anjuman resolved to dispose of. The person from whom the house had been purchased by the testator applied to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) praying that the house might be sold to him at a price less than what it might command in the open market; and this in consideration of the fact that the house formerly belonged to him and he had to give it up for a very small price under the stress of certain difficulties. Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) granted the prayer and wrote to the Anjuman directing it to sell the house to the applicant at a reduced price. This gave these men an excellent opportunity. They declined to comply with the orders of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra), and thought that when members of the Community would come to know that Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) had resolved to dispose of a property belonging to the Community at a price less than that which was being offered for it in the market they would side with the Anjuman. They discussed and argued the matter with Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) and suggested that the applicant might purchase the house at a public sale, and that there was no reason why the Anjuman should incur the loss. In vain, did Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) explain to them that the applicant had sold the house for a small price under stress of difficulties and, therefore, deserved consideration. They, however, remained obdurate. At length, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) wrote to them out of displeasure that they might do what they liked; he would have nothing more to say in the matter. When the matter came up before the Anjuman, I was present at the meeting. Dr. Muhammad Husain, Secretary Anjuman Isha‘at-e-Islam, Lahore, mentioned the matter to me saying that as trustees of the Community we were responsible to God. He inquired from me what the proper course was for us to follow. I replied that as Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) desired us to make some concession, it was our duty to do so. Upon this, the Doctor Sahib said that Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) had granted us permission to do as we liked. But when the letter was read, I was able to perceive in it signs of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih’s (ra) displeasure. I, therefore, pointed out to the members that the letter was an expression of displeasure and not a permission. Therefore, I said, I still adhered to my previous opinion. Upon this, the Doctor Sahib made a long-speech in which he sought to impress upon me the need of the fear of God and of true piety. I, however, was still of the opinion that the course suggested by me was the right one under the circumstances, and that they were free to decide as they thought best. At that time, the majority of the members present supported their view of the case—in fact I stood alone—and the resolution was passed accordingly. When the matter came to the knowledge of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra), he summoned them and asked for an explanation. They replied that the decision had been reached by common consent and mentioned me by name among those who were present at the meeting. Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) then sent for me. When I went to him the other members were already with him. Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) exclaimed, “Well Miyań, how comes it that my explicit commands are thus openly disregarded?” I said, “I have not disobeyed any commands.” He said, “In this matter I had given certain orders, then how was it that you acted against them?” I replied, “The members present here will bear witness that I gave them explicitly to understand that in this matter you did not approve of the decision proposed by them and that they ought not to persist in it, and that your letter signified not permission but displeasure.” Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra), thereupon, turned to those members and remarked, “Mark! you call him a stripling, yet a stripling understood the purport of my letter and you did not.” He added many other words of admonition to the effect that virtue lay in obedience, and that they should change their ways or else they would be cut off from the blessings of God. Upon this these men expressed regret for their conduct but, nevertheless, from that day efforts began to be made to alienate the people from Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih. Charges began to be laid at his door, and in Lahore it began to be urged publicly that he should be deposed from his office by whatever means possible. These activities came to the notice of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra). The festival of Eid was close at hand. Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) summoned them all from Lahore. (Khwaja Sahib was not present on this occasion. He had gone to Kashmir. Besides, as I have already said, he preferred to proceed by secret methods.) Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) had resolved to announce their expulsion from the Community in the course of the Eid sermon. Now, they knew full well that resistance was useless and that people would not lend ear to their words. They, therefore, for a second time sued for pardon and some of them had to renew their oath of Bai‘at. Thus was this danger averted for the time being. But still the experience did not bring about true repentance in their hearts. It served only to make them more guarded in their movements. It was at this time that Khwaja Sahib began his career of public lectures with a view to capturing the public mind. He delivered his lectures and himself wrote eulogistic reports about them for publication in the papers of the Movement. These reports were sent over the name of someone from among the audience. In this way he managed soon to build reputation for himself. Nor was his popularity to be wondered at. The teachings of the Promised Messiah (as) on which he drew were intrinsically attractive. Khwaja Sahib possessed natural capacity for eloquence, and was also a past master in the art of self-advertisement. He had a series of articles published in his own praise. Some were written by himself and some by his friends. The demand for his lectures grew and wherever he went, he took the opportunity indirectly or—where possible—directly to speak to Ahmadis regarding the relations between the Khalifa and the Anjuman. The reputation which he had acquired as a lecturer served to leave some impression behind.

Khwaja Kamaluddin Inclines Towards Non-Ahmadis

It is a well established truth that when a person takes one false step, circumstances oblige him to take another. With the scope of his lectures widened, Khwaja Sahib had more and more occasion to come into contact with non-Ahmadis. He was unfamiliar with the inwardness of the Ahmadiyya Movement, and now a new difficulty confronted him. It often happened that a lecture of his was preceded or followed one of the five daily prayers. Ahmadis and non-Ahmadis had to offer prayers in separate congregations, and people naturally asked the reason for this separation. The situation was rather awkward for Khwaja Sahib. On the one hand he was not willing to forfeit his newly acquired popularity with non-Ahmadis, and, on the other hand, he was afraid of the displeasure of Ahmadis. In this strait he took recourse to various devices. On some occasions, he would say that the prohibition to pray behind non-Ahmadis was meant only for the common class of Ahmadis, in order to protect them from the influence of outsiders, that it was not intended for advanced Ahmadis like himself, and that he was prepared to offer his prayers behind non-Ahmadi Imams. On other occasions, he would say that he had to work under the orders of an Imam (Leader) and that the question should therefore he addressed to the Imam. Sometimes, he would say that if non-Ahmadis would revoke their fatwa of Kufr against the Promised Messiah (as), he was ready to offer his prayers behind them. Such and similar were the pleas he offered to excuse his failure to say his prayers behind non-Ahmadis. In fact Khwaja Sahib’s ideas had become poisoned already at the time of Dr. Abdul Hakim’s apostasy, and the poison began now to show its effects. Khwaja Sahib was a seeker of fame and popularity, and these restrictions were impediments in his way. He, therefore, resolved to do away with the restrictions at all cost. For this purpose, the first thing he did was to induce Dr. Mirza Ya‘qub Baig to write two articles in the Paisa Akhbar and the Watan to the effect that the prohibition against praying behind non-Ahmadis was only a temporary one. He thus tried tentatively to lay the foundation of a future movement in favour of a rescinding of the prohibition. But he had made a miscalculation. The articles brought home to some Ahmadis also were encouraged by this sign of weakness on the part of Ahmadis to charge them with narrow-mindedness and intolerance.

At this time, the question was put to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) whether differences between Ahmadis and non-Ahmadis related to essential matters of faith or to non-essentials. He replied that these differences related to essential matters. The reply created a great commotion. The non-Ahmadi papers made virulent attacks on Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) saying that he had magnified minor differences and had thus caused a split among Muslims.

Side by side with this controversy which raged between Ahmadis and non-Ahmadis there now came up another question which formed the subject of a warm discussion among Ahmadis themselves. This question concerned the propagation of Ahmadiyyat. From the moment he started his public lectures—with the exception of the very first—Khwaja Sahib had abstained carefully from making any reference in his lectures to the Promised Messiah (as), forgetting that God had ordained obedience to the Promised Messiah (as) as the sole remedy for all spiritual ills. Khwaja Sahib would studiously avoid all mention of the Promised Messiah (as), even when reference to him was called for by the subject of his address. He fully realised that without following such a course he could acquire no popularity among non-Ahmadis. And, as the objection of non-Ahmadis was to the personal claims of the Holy Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement, the policy adopted by Khwaja Sahib brought him large audiences. Often these swelled into thousands, all eager listeners to what he had to say. Also, as has already been pointed out, Khwaja Sahib took special steps in order to make his lectures popular. The result was that his lectures achieved immense popularity and began to be applauded highly even by non-Ahmadis. Invitations for his lectures, began to pour in from all sides. When Ahmadis saw this eagerness and interest on the part of non-Ahmadis, many of them failed to realise its proper significance. What was only Khwaja Sahib’s personal popularity began to be mistaken by them for the popularity of the Movement. Ahmadiyya Associations at various centres—either of their own accord or at the instance of Khwaja Sahib—began to arrange for special lectures by him. They did so under the impression that by these lectures non-Ahmadis would be brought nearer to the Movement, and would ultimately enter its fold. The epidemic became so prevalent that other lecturers of the Movement also began to adopt the same policy. It seemed imminent that the trumpet which God had sounded through His Messenger was to cease to resound for ever. The time was one of extreme danger for the Movement. Some Ahmadi lecturers began to feel reluctant about making any reference to the Promised Messiah (as) in their lectures, and even when questioned on the subject, they tried to put it off by vague replies. This was not due to fear or hypocrisy, but the lecturers, following the example of Khwaja Sahib, had come to the honest conclusion that the adoption of his plan would prepare the way for the propagation of the Movement. There were of course some who used to mention the Promised Messiah (as) in their lectures, but even they made it a point never to mention him in connection with subjects which were likely to give umbrage to non-Ahmadis. This attitude was not, however, universal in the Community. There was a section of the Community which fully realised the significance of the policy adopted by Khwaja Kamaluddin. This section began to ply Khwaja Sahib with questions as to why he never made any reference to the Ahmadiyya Movement in his lectures. The reply of Khwaja Sahib was always disappointing and in this he showed his kinship with the apostate Dr. Abdul Hakim that the major subjects needed their first attention. When these had been settled, the minor subjects would settle themselves. “When people see us,” he said, “serving the cause of Islam, can they help admitting to themselves that we are in the right.” His was, he said, the work of a pioneer, clearing the forests and levelling the hillocks; when the road was prepared, the forest cleared and the land levelled, then would be the time for laying down the railways, cultivating the fields and planting the gardens. But why, he was asked, had God already put the world on trial by raising the Promised Messiah (as) if this pioneer work had still to be done? He was not expected—he was also told—to confine himself only and always to the subject of the claims of the Promised Messiah (as). Only this subject also should receive at least proportionate attention in his lectures. The only response Khwaja Sahib made to these queries and suggestions was that he did not stand in anybody’s way that while he was engaged in clearing the road others might go and lecture on other matters. At length on March 27, 1910 the situation compelled me to deliver an address and to point out to the Community the error of that policy. The result was that, with the grace of God, a section of the Community came to recognise this mistake and to realise the danger of the situation. Still, my lecture was not able completely to check this tendency which continued to grow. To this in fact was added the vexed question of the Kufr of non-Ahmadis.

It was at the time of this crisis—when, on the one hand, a section of the Community had already started upon a wrong track, and, on the other, non-Ahmadis, taking advantage of the vacillation on the part of some Ahmadis, had started attacking the Movement—that I wrote an elaborate article on the subject of the Kufr of non-Ahmadis. The article after necessary corrections by Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) was published in the Tashhidhul Adhhan in its issue of April 1911. (See also this book p. 126). Under the circumstances of the time, the article proved very effective and succeeded in completely re-orienting the Community. And God be thanked, for the whole Community, with the exception only of a few individual members, fully recognised the fact that had they continued under the influence of the charm that had been cast upon them, they were sure, sooner or later, to lose the truth which had so recently come to them. Many there were who openly expressed their thanks and gratitude. A new spirit and a new enthusiasm ran over the Community and all Ahmadis with the exception of an insignificant few prepared themselves anew to discharge their duty.

As it happened, Khwaja Sahib and his friends were the party responsible for the policy, which I had set out to guard against. The publication of my article therefore naturally gave them cause for anxiety. Khwaja Sahib accordingly wrote an article in which my article was interpreted in a manner contrary to its real purport and had it endorsed by Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) on the representation—and this Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih himself told me—that he (Khwaja Sahib) was in entire accord with what I had said but still he thought it right to present the subject in a form which should avoid giving offence to people.

So far as I can see, this was the time when Maulawi Muhammad Ali’s attitude underwent a transformation. All his writings previous to this plainly show that he believed the Promised Messiah (as) to be a Nabi. But now the situation had been altered. Now, if Khwaja Sahib had been discomfited in the controversy over the question of the Kufr of non-Ahmadis, it would have proved too severe a blow to the hopes of Maulawi Muhammad Ali. For, by reason of the popularity which his lectures had brought to Khwaja Sahib, Maulawi Muhammad Ali had by this time been relegated to a second place in the estimation of the Community. The first place was now occupied by Khwaja Sahib. He had come to wield a more than ordinary influence in the Community, and people of the Jama‘at were ready to listen to him and to accept his lead. Maulawi Muhammad Ali and his friends now hoped to take advantage of this popularity in order to compass their own ends. This important factor, it would appear, effected a revolution in the attitude of Maulawi Muhammad Ali, and induced him openly to identify himself with the views of Khwaja Sahib. Thus the party became united both in its beliefs and its policy. Before this, Maulawi Muhammad Ali was himself opposed to the policy followed by Khwaja Sahib in his public lectures. This also appears from the fact that on the occasion of the Annual Conference of the Community held in March or December 1910, and in the course of a discussion on the need or otherwise of Ahmadiyya public meetings he opposed and attacked Khwaja Sahib. Thus, it was during the year 1910 or 1911, and under the circumstances which I have described above, that a change came over the outlook of Maulawi Muhammad Ali.

Maulawi Muhammad Ali Bolstered Up

While efforts were being made by Khwaja Sahib to undermine the distinctive aims of the Movement—and if he could have had his way, he would not have hesitated to alienate the Jama‘at from its central purpose and to have it absorbed back into the general body of non-Ahmadis—the question of altering the organisation of the Jama‘at had not been forgotten by his party. Two lines of action were adopted to this end. The first was that, as already stated all the directions of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) to the Anjuman were treated and represented as though they were recommendations of the President, and the second was that Maulawi Muhammad Ali began to be bolstered up and treated as a virtual Khalifa. The object was that Maulawi Muhammad Ali should acquire influence with the Jama‘at as well as prominence among the people outside. Thus at the meetings of the Anjuman it began to be declared openly that whatever Maulawi Muhammad Ali should command would be carried out. On one occasion Shaikh Rahmatullah referring to Maulawi Muhammad Ali said in so many words, “He is our Amir.” It is also said that on the occasion of a Conference of Religions held in 1911, where Khwaja Kamaluddin and Maulawi Muhammad Ali went to read their papers, Khwaja Sahib in answer to inquiries made by people, described Maulawi Muhammad Ali as his pir, a spiritual chief or leader. This report of the incident has been current since the lifetime of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra). and has never been contradicted by Khwaja Sahib—so that it may be presumed to be true. Similarly on every possible occasion attempts were made to push Maulawi Muhammad Ali to the forefront so that the public eye should be diverted from Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) and directed towards Maulawi Muhammad Ali. Both plans, however proved futile. The failure of the first was brought about in this way. In 1910, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) wrote to the Sadr Anjuman, saying that as he held the office of Khalifa, he could neither be member nor president of the Anjuman, and that in his place Mirza Mahmood Ahmad (the present writer) should be elected president. Thus ended the first of the two plans. Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) separated himself from the Anjuman and in his place I was appointed president. It could no longer be said that orders of the Khalifa were carried out not because he was Khalifa but because he was President of the Anjuman.

The other plan was defeated by Khwaja Sahib himself. As soon as he began to be popular he began to push his own personality to the front, and he was able to capture the attention of the people. Maulawi Muhammad Ali thus receded into the background, and his opinion no more carried the weight it formerly did.

Towards the end of 1910, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) fell from his horse, and for some days he remained in a very precarious condition. He told Mirza Ya‘qub Baig, his medical attendant at the time, that he was not afraid of death and that he wanted to know if his condition was really dangerous. For, in that case he would like to dictate some instructions. But these people feared it might be against their interest for Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) to leave any instructions. They, therefore, assured Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) that his condition was not so dangerous, and that if his condition became critical they would give him timely intimation of it. But as soon as they departed from the presence of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) they held a consultation. At noon, Dr. Mirza Ya‘qub Baig came to me and asked me to proceed to Maulawi Muhammad Ali’s house, as a consultation was to be held there. My maternal grand-father, Mir Nasir Nawab Sahib, had also been invited. When I reached there I found Maulawi Muhammad Ali, Khwaja Kamaluddin, Maulawi Sadruddin, and one or two others. Khwaja Sahib opened the conversation. He said, “We have called you because Maulawi Sahib (i.e. Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra)) is very ill and weak. As we cannot stay on here—it being necessary for us to return to Lahore—we have been obliged to trouble you at this time, so that we may come to some understanding to avert trouble. We can assure you that none of us aspires to be Khalifa. At least I can assure you that I entertain no such aspiration and a similar assurance will be given to you by Maulawi Muhammad Ali!” Here, Maulawi Muhammad Ali interposed and gave a similar assurance on his part. Khwaja Sahib then continued: “Nor do we find any body better fitted for the Khilafat than you, and this is our considered opinion. But we would request you to do one thing. You should not let the question of Khilafat be decided so long as we do not arrive from Lahore. We are afraid lest some hasty person should precipitate trouble. It is essential that our arrival from Lahore should be awaited.” To this Mir Sahib replied, “Yes, it is necessary that some understanding should be reached to prevent trouble.” I, however, realised the gravity of the situation, and remembered at once the practice of the Companions of the Holy Prophet (sas) who regarded it utterly improper in the lifetime of one Khalifa to discuss the selection of another, even if the selection were contingent upon the death of the living Khalifa. Accordingly, I replied that it was a sin to discuss the selection of a successor to Khilafat while a Khalifa yet lived, and to decide that on the death of a living Khalifa a specific person should be appointed to succeed him and that therefore I considered it a sin to speak on the subject.

Readers will note in this speech by Khwaja Sahib certain points, which are specially worthy of attention. Firstly, that only a few hours before, these people had assured Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) that his condition gave no cause for anxiety and that there was no necessity for making a will and yet no sooner had they left his presence than they began to think of his successor. Secondly, that the speech assumed that while they had no desire for the office of Khilafat, I did have such a desire. I did not, however, think it necessary to enter into any discussion, because an important question of principle was involved, and the safeguarding of that principle was more important than anything else.

As regards the disclaimer by Maulawi Muhammad Ali and Khwaja Kamaluddin of any desire on their part for the Khilafat, subsequent events prove that by such disclaimer they only meant that they had no desire for the title of Khalifa. For, it appears that in place of the old title of Khalifa, they have created the new title of President or Amir which in practice is the same thing as Khalifa. This title is now held by Maulawi Muhammad Ali, while Khwaja Kamaluddin subscribes himself as Khalifatul-Masih (ra), even though he does not fulfil a single requirement of that office. One might think that his friends in conferring upon him this title and he in accepting it, have been working out the secret design of God to expose to the world Khwaja Sahib’s deep desire for the office of Khalifa, for in the absence of the actual office he was content to accept the bare title of Khalifa.

Nor must it be forgotten that subsequent events have amply proved that the proposal made by Khwaja Sahib and his friends was intended merely as a blind. For, although it could not be clearly seen at that time it is quite plain now that all the time they looked upon me as a bidder for the Khilafat, and wanted by their assurances to allay any suspicions—so that when time came and they should be present on the spot, they could adopt a line of action best suited to their purpose. For, if they were really in favour of my becoming Khalifa, there was certainly no reason for apprehending any trouble in case the election of Khalifa took place before their arrival on the spot. If in their opinion I was really the fittest person for the Khilafat, how could my election to that office become an occasion for trouble?

The Anjuman Ansarullah

It appears from the Holy Quran that circumstances often arise which serve to accelerate the course of spiritual maladies. The same happened in the case of these men. In February 1911, I had a dream. I saw a large palace one portion of which was being demolished. Near the edifice, there was a field in which thousands of men were engaged shaping bricks. I inquired what that palace was and who the men were and why they were demolishing it. One of the men replied that the palace was the Ahmadiyya Jama‘at and that they were dismantling a portion of it in order to discard some of the old bricks (God protect us) and to replace some of the sun-baked bricks by kiln-made bricks, and that the place was to be enlarged. One particular fact I noted was that all these men faced towards the east. The thought passed through my mind that all the brick-layers were angels, and that as we had failed to put forth the necessary amount of labour towards the progress of the Jama‘at, angels had taken up the work with the permission of God (The Badr, 23rd February 1911). Moved by this dream, I secured the permission of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) to found a new Society among whose objects were the spread of Ahmadiyyat, implicit obedience to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra), frequent recitations of Tasbih and Tahmid (singing Glory and Praises of God) and Durud (Praying Blessings on the Holy Prophet (sas)), the study and teaching of the Holy Quran and the Hadith, the promotion of mutual love and trust, and the offering of the daily prayers in congregation. Anybody who desired to become a member of this Society was to offer Istikhara (prayer for guidance) on seven consecutive days before he enrolled as a member. No sooner was the foundation of the Society announced than there arose a storm of opposition, and it began to be asserted openly that it was a move to secure the Khilafat. God be praised that a considerable number of the members of the Society are now associated with the party of Maulawi Muhammad Ali and they are in a position to testify that the Society had nothing to do with the question of succession to the Khilafat. The Society was engaged solely in the work of propagation. This fact has already been formally admitted by some former members of the Society, who are now members of Maulawi Muhammad Ali’s party, namely, their lecturers Maulawi Muhammad Husain, alias Marham-e-‘Isa and Maulawi Faqirullah, Superintendent of the office of the Secretary, Anjuman Isha‘at Islam, Lahore. This Society came to secure nearly one hundred and seventy five members and, by the grace of God, it succeeded in removing the prevailing slackness and, in infusing new enthusiasm for the cause of propagation not only among its own members but also among the general body of the Community. Members who had slackened down were roused to activity, while those who were already active increased in their zeal. Curious about the Society Khwaja Sahib also wanted to become a member but the condition of seven day’s special prayers seem to have proved too much for him or perhaps something else stood in his way which at present I cannot recall.

As the object of this Society—the Ansarullah—was the propagation of the Ahmadiyya Movement, I think it relevant at this place to state that just as on the question of Khilafat I had not ventured to take any step until I received a suggestion on the subject from a vision, even so on the question of the best method of public preaching, I deferred coming to any decision until I had offered Istikhara on the subject and had been granted a sign from God. It happened in this way. When objections began to be raised by members of the Community to the method of propagation adopted by Khwaja Kamaluddin, I offered prayers of Istikhara. After those prayers, I had a vision, in which I was shown that Khwaja Sahib had mistaken dry bread for cake and was offering the same to the public. It was after this vision that I undertook to criticise the method of Khwaja Sahib, a subject on which I had previously maintained perfect silence.

As I have already stated, the Community at large had by this time come to realise fully the gravity of the situation, and was alive to the dangers of the road on which Khwaja Sahib was seeking to lead them.

The major portion of the Community was now prepared to resist every external or internal endeavour to divert them from the central purpose of the Movement. Nevertheless as Khwaja Sahib and his friends had adopted the policy of outwardly supporting the supremacy of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) and as they came frequently to pay their respect to him and to declare their loyalty, the Community at large failed to gauge the real state of their minds. A certain amount of regard, therefore, continued to be paid to them which, otherwise, they would surely have lost. The policy adopted by these gentlemen was to assure Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) that they recognised the supremacy of Khilafat. So on other questions also they took their cue from the known opinion of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih and studiedly echoed his words. This induced Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih to believe that they were loyal and sincere in their profession of faith, and let the veil of oblivion cover their past conduct. When anyone made any reference to their antecedents, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) was at times even displeased, and said that errors were common to men and it was wrong to recall their past, seeing that they were now what they ought to be. When, however, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) breathed his last, the fact became evident that they had all along been acting with duplicity. For, now they made public their denial in a matter, in which Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) used to testify to their affirmation and defend them against the critics who charged them with denial. Under the circumstances anything commendatory said about them by Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) cannot be put to their account, except as proof of their hypocrisy during the lifetime of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra). Or else, what they affirmed during his life-time they need not have denied after his death.

It should be remembered that mask is after all a mask. Sometimes some movement of theirs would show even to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) that they were only simulating. He often expressed such views in public. But then they came and sued for pardon. He would therefore, attribute their dissembling to some mistake and believe them to be honest at heart. Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) was trustful by nature and forgiving in his dealings with men. Their situation was indeed queer. On the one hand, by giving publicity to their erroneous views they were fast losing influence with the Community. On the other, a fear of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) and an apprehension of excommunication from the Community—for they were anxious that so long as he lived they should continue to be members of the Jama‘at—led them in his presence to make protestations of the most profound devotion to his person. So that when on occasions their true self asserted itself and exposed their inner nature to him, they made haste to seek his pardon and thus save themselves from the consequences of their conduct.

Apathy to Propagation of Ahmadiyyat

Meanwhile the extent of apathy that had come over the Community in the matter of the propagation of Ahmadiyyat may be measured from the fact that whereas in the days of the Promised Messiah (as) it was a matter of complaint on the part of Dr. Abdul Hakim that members of the Jama‘at loved nothing better than to hear about the Promised Messiah (as) and to make him the one theme of all their discourses, in April 1912, when I had occasion to accompany a deputation to visit the various Arabic Madrassas with a view to devising a suitable scheme for the Madrassa Ahmadiyya, and had occasion to deliver lectures at Lucknow, Benares and Cawnpore, I observed that everywhere members of the Jama‘at were anxious that the lectures should contain no reference to Ahmadiyyat. For, they were afraid that in that case people would either not attend the lectures or else would receive them in a hostile spirit. My reply to this was that it was not my object to win popular applause. What I wished was to deliver the message of truth. If people would choose not to hear it or choose to receive it in a hostile spirit, it was their own concern. As for myself, I should only discharge my duty in the sight of God. One man from Lucknow who has since entered into my Bai‘at actually wrote to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra). “Would that you had sent along with the deputation a man of ripe experience, for these men adopt a method of preaching from which troubles may well be apprehended. Miyań Sahib (i.e. the present writer) is still in his early youth and is apt in his enthusiasm to overlook the suitability of the hour. God forbid that there should occur some violence and our name be brought to odium. There is still time for you to send a person of experience well aware of the need of the times.” When I returned from the tour, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih informed me of the purport of the letter and expressed his strong disapproval of it. At Lucknow it was originally proposed to deliver two lectures. But after one had been delivered, the other had to be abandoned; and this was mainly due to objections raised by Ahmadis themselves, though, of course, difficulties were raised by opponents of the Jama‘at also. In private interviews, however, we made it a point to convey our message with the greatest possible clearness. The same was our experience in Benares. Ahmadis of this place professed at the time conformity to my views. But they also made the request that the lecture should be general in its purport. The reason they gave was that Khwaja Sahib had made great success with his lectures there and it was not desirable that my lecture should fail to achieve similar success and thus make me compare unfavourably with Khwaja Sahib. I, however, did not accept their advice and delivered lectures on the subject of Ahmadiyyat. The audience was always small but I had the satisfaction of discharging my duty. It is surprising that when at the death of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra), the Jama‘at at Lucknow, who at the time were opposed to my views entered into my Bai‘at, the Jama‘at at Benares who at the time professed agreement with my views held back. May be it was a punishment for the worldliness which they betrayed on the occasion.

In short, people of the Jama‘at in those days were undergoing a peculiar probation. On the one hand, in their heart of hearts they were aware that if they persisted in this policy of avoiding an open mention of the Promised Messiah (as), then the Movement would soon come to an end. On the other hand, after their experience of the practical success which attended the methods of Khwaja Kamaluddin, they felt afraid that the people would refuse to attend any lectures bearing on the distinctive claims of the Movement or if they attended, the numbers attending would be small and would afford the rival party ground for claiming that theirs was the right method—it attracted people in larger numbers to hear their discourses, and helped to increase their acquaintance with Ahmadiyyat, and this acquaintance could lead them ultimately to join the Movement. People of the Jama‘at were thus in a state of complete indecision, even while they disapproved of the methods of Khwaja Sahib, they thought that imitation of those methods was necessary for the success of their aim. They thought that if people in general could be brought to see that in the ranks of the Ahmadiyya Community there were persons better informed than Khwaja Sahib, then automatically their attention would be diverted from Khwaja Sahib, and it would then be time to acquaint them with the facts about Ahmadiyyat. They argued that for an exposure of Khwaja Sahib’s methods it was necessary to employ Khwaja Sahib’s own methods. Such a view however, was a mistake. For, if members of the Jama‘at had followed such a course, they would have come after a time to assume the same character as Khwaja Sahib and would ultimately have gone astray from the aims of the Ahmadiyya Movement. Their safety and success lay as before in using every suitable opportunity to proclaim the truth of the Promised Messiah (as) without any thought of the size of their audiences or the measure of their popularity. Besides, it was a mere fancy to apprehend that the public would refuse to hear our lectures. People are attracted to lectures by the reputation of those who speak rather than by the subjects on which they speak. A well-known lecturer undertaking to speak even on a commonplace subject would attract a large number of people to hear him. It is another matter that after hearing him they would fall to criticising him. I had occasion, for instance, to deliver a lecture at Cawnpore. As it was stated in the announcement that the lecture would be on the distinctive features of the Ahmadiyya Movement, it was apprehended that only a few people would come and hear. But people came in such large numbers that all of them could not be accommodated in the place where the meeting had been arranged. There were altogether some 1500 people or more, and they were mostly enlightened people, officials and merchants. For two hours and a half they listened calmly to the lecture and even after I had sat down the audience did not stir. Perhaps they thought that I had sat down for a pause. At last it was announced that the lecture was over and that people might depart. Then there was a clamour for the lecturer to stand up, as there were many who wished to shake hands with him. I marked also that many who had during the day called me a kafir to my face, now pushed forward and not only shook hands with me but also kissed my hands. The reason why so few attended my lectures at Lucknow and Benares and so many attended them at Cawnpore seemed to lie in the fact that at the first two places I was unknown to the people whereas at Cawnpore, on account of the presence of many Punjabi traders, a section of the people knew and respected our family. This induced them to come and attend the lecture, and then truth was able to enter their hearts and their former regard was further enhanced.

In short, the Community at this time suffered from a conflict between two opposite attitudes. This state of affairs continued for about two years. It was now 1912—a memorable year in the annals of Ahmadiyya Movement. This year certain events took place which have since exercised a lasting influence upon its history, and it was in this year, as I think, that foundation was laid of dissensions in the Movement, and it happened in this wise. During this year Khwaja Kamaluddin lost his wife. To forget the loss, he proposed to go out on a tour throughout India. It was, however, publicly announced that the tour was intended to collect subscriptions for the furtherance of the objects of the Ahmadiyya Movement. The deputation visited various provinces and cities and at last reached Bombay. There they put up in the house of a certain rich Ahmadi. This Ahmadi had at the time some business pending in England, for which he was looking for a reliable agent. He offered to pay Khwaja Sahib a considerable sum in addition to his passage and other expenses if Khwaja Sahib would go and look after his affairs. The attraction, which a visit to England possesses for an Indian, persuaded Khwaja Sahib not to let this opportunity go, and he, therefore, accepted the offer.

A reference to this was made by the Badr in its issue of 5th September 1912 in the following words: “In the course of this tour, God has brought to Khwaja Sahib a certain opportunity which will enable him presently to start on a visit to England.” The same fact seems to underlie the instructions given by Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) to Khwaja Sahib at the time of his departure for England. For, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) said: “While you are there, you must also serve the faith to the best of your power” (The Paigham-e-Sulh Vol. 1, No. 1, p. 3). Khwaja Sahib had all along aspired after fame. He wished to make the best use of the opportunity which now presented itself to him.

Therefore, without letting the public know the real arrangements, he announced that in the course of the tour he had come to realise the importance of the need of preaching Islam in England, and that for this purpose he was going to give up his large legal practice and was starting for England to proclaim the word of Allah. The truth of the matter was known only to a few. No sooner, however, was the announcement made than from all sides arose a chorus of praise and admiration for the great sacrifice Khwaja Sahib was going to make and even in his lifetime Khwaja Sahib began to be regarded as a kind of religious martyr.

Nor was Khwaja Sahib content with spreading only oral reports. He caused an announcement to be published in the Zamińdar saying: “It has been said that some rich Seth (merchant) or Anjuman or some non-Ahmadi nobleman is sending me to England. The report is entirely unfounded. I am going after relinquishing my practice for the sake of proclaiming the word of God.” In phrasing this announcement, care was taken to qualify the word “nobleman” by the word “non-Ahmadi” and technically the announcement had been made secure against all attack. It was not a Seth nor an Anjuman nor a non-Ahmadi nobleman who was sending him to England. It was an Ahmadi nobleman. Khwaja Sahib did not wish people to connect his visit to England with the instrumentality of any Ahmadi nobleman. He wished to create the impression that he was going out not on business nor in consideration of any fees received from a wealthy client but at his own expense and at the sacrifice of his professional work and only in order to proclaim the name of God and overthrow all ungodliness from the world. “I fear, O wayfarer thou shalt not reach the Kaaba. For the path thou art treading leads to Turkistan!”

It has been said in defence of Khwaja Sahib that the gentleman who provided Khwaja Sahib’s expenses wished to remain anonymous. But did this gentleman also wish to broadcast the wholly false impression that Khwaja Sahib was going to England at his own expense, at the loss of his profession and for the sake of the propagation of Islam? Supposing that Khwaja Sahib had started for England without having made any such announcement, was there any likelihood of the public coming to know that it was any particular gentleman who had sent him to England? The affair was a secret and no non-Ahmadis and only a few Ahmadis knew anything about it, and the few who knew could not at all be misled by any false reports. What purpose, then, could there possibly be in making the announcement except pure vanity? For, as the Holy Quran puts it: “They love to be praised for that which they have not done.” In short, Khwaja Sahib left for England, and after his departure, his friends most actively began to advertise that he had thrown up a flourishing practice for the sake of preaching Islam in England, and that it was the duty therefore of every Muslim to render him assistance. Khwaja Sahib already had with him money enough to pay for a two years stay in England. But now efforts began to be made to raise funds in case Khwaja Sahib wanted to stay longer.

This was the beginning of Khwaja Sahib’s mission to England. His departure served to allay the growing discontent in the Community at his apathy towards the propagation of Ahmadiyyat, and at his adoption of a policy which, it was felt, threatened the obliteration of the distinctive features of the Movement. The apparent sacrifice made by Khwaja Sahib led the Community to rally round him again. Only a few knew what the true state of affairs was. It was at this time that an opportunity arose for me to proceed on pilgrimage to Mecca by way of Egypt. I had it in mind to spend a year or two in Egypt, but after the completion of the Hajj difficulties arose in the way of a visit to Egypt, and I decided to return to India. During this journey, I found such opportunities of praying to God that I am inclined to think they played their part in saving the Ahmadiyya Community from the dissolution which the dissensions threatened.

Khwaja Sahib had not been many days in England before he met a European lady, the wife of an Indian Muslim, who had, through the influence of her husband, already made a certain approach towards Islam. Khwaja Sahib preached to her and induced her to make a public declaration of her conversion to Islam. The event was widely advertised by Khwaja Sahib and a general impression was created that he was doing very useful work. In order to attract the notice of Ahmadis, Khwaja Sahib gave out that the lady’s adoption of Islam was the fulfilment of a vision of the Promised Messiah (as). That vision was to the effect that the Promised Messiah (as) had gone to England and caught some white birds. Thus wrote the Promised Messiah (as):

“I saw that I stood in the city of London engaged in explaining the truth of Islam in a well reasoned address in the English language. After that I caught many birds perched on small trees. They were white and their size was that of the partridge. I interpreted this as signifying that although I might not visit the country personally, my writings would find circulation among its people, and many a right minded Englishman would accept the truth of Islam.” (Izala’-e-Auham, Vol. 2)

It is obvious from this account that the vision was not fulfilled at the hands of Khwaja Sahib, for while the vision indicated that it was the Promised Messiah (as) who caught those birds, the converts won through the activities of Khwaja Sahib had no connection whatsoever with the Promised Messiah (as). The view of Islam presented by Khwaja Sahib to these new converts was the same as was owned by the bitterest opponents of the Promised Messiah (as) like Maulawi Muhammad Husain of Batala and Maulawi Sanaullah of Amritsar. Though the vision had nothing to do with the work that Khwaja Sahib was doing, a fact made more and more evident by subsequent events—yet to win the support of Ahmadis Khwaja Sahib persisted in giving wide publicity to the vision and its fulfilment at his hands. This publicity, however, was strictly confined to the Ahmadiyya Community. Among non-Ahmadis it was announced that this propaganda was being carried on behalf of the broad principles of Islam, and the enterprise therefore deserved the financial support of the entire body of Muslims and all should contribute to this good work. (It may be noted that during the earlier days of his stay in England, Khwaja Sahib took care to keep everybody in the dark regarding the nature of the work he was doing).

At the time Khwaja Sahib reached England the Balkan War was in progress. He published a tract in connection with that war in which after quoting a revelation of the Promised Messiah (as) regarding Turkey:

i.e., “Turkey has been defeated in a land hard by, but soon they will be victorious after their defeat,” he drew the attention of the Turks to the advent of the Promised Messiah (as). The news of the publication of this tract by Khwaja Sahib pleased Ahmadis, who thought that at last Khwaja Sahib had returned to the right path. But in the meantime, the conversion of a few Englishmen to Islam brought to Khwaja Sahib the support of the general body of non-Ahmadi Muslims, but they gave him to understand that the support would be withdrawn in case he made any mention of the Ahmadiyya Movement in the course of his proselytising activities. Thus it was that Khwaja Sahib, who had shown such courage in publishing in Turkish lands, this prophecy of the Promised Messiah (as) relating to Turkey assumed such a deep silence when the prophecy was actually fulfilled that he never again even mentioned the subject.

The year 1913 was marked by two important events. On my return from the Hajj I was much impressed by the need for strengthening the press at Qadian. This need was suggested to me by Maulawi Abul Kalam Azad’s paper Al-Hilal, which was largely subscribed to by Ahmadis, so that there was reason to apprehend that some Ahmadis might be influenced by the poisonous writings of that paper. Accordingly, I bestirred myself for the purpose, and secured the permission of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) for the publication of a new paper from Qadian, which in addition to religious matters, should contain matters also of general interest, and thus enable Ahmadis to satisfy their need for religious as well as general reading from the organs of the Movement. After I had obtained the permission of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra), I heard that our friends Dr. Mirza Ya‘qub Baig, Dr. Sayyid Muhammad Husain Shah and Shaikh Rahmatullah also proposed publishing a paper from Lahore. As soon as I received the news, I sent a note to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) saying that as the friends named above were preparing to publish a paper from Lahore, and that as this paper would serve the purpose I had in view the publication of my paper, if Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) should permit, might be dropped for the present. To this Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) replied that there was a difference between the objects of the two papers, and that I should therefore continue the preparations I had started for my own paper. So, I went on with my preparations. In the early part of June the Paigham-e-Sulh was issued from Lahore, and towards the middle of the same month the Al-Fadl made its appearance from Qadian. The publication of these two papers meant to outsiders only the addition of two papers to hundreds already existing in the journalistic world of India, but for the Ahmadiyya Movement their appearance proved to be an event of the greatest moment in its history.

The publication of the Paigham-e-Sulh brought to the surface the poison that had so long been accumulating in the body of the Community, and attempts to obliterate the distinctive features of the Ahmadiyya Movement began to be made openly. The Jama‘at of Qadian was made the object of special attention in the articles published in the paper, and overtures for peace began to be made to the enemies of the Movement. The main purpose of the paper probably was to promote public support for the mission of Khwaja Kamaluddin to England, but as was natural, space had also to be found for the discussion of matters which were in dispute among Ahmadis. In order to obtain circulation for it among non-Ahmadis the Promised Messiah (as) began to be addressed simply as Mirza Sahib ‘alaihir Rahmah, this form of address being less objectionable to non-Ahmadis. Praises were lavished up on the enemies of the Movement. The Sultan of Turkey began to be called Khalifatul Muslimin. In short, every effort was made to obliterate the distinctiveness of Ahmadiyyat and to make Ahmadis and non-Ahmadis merge into one common mass.

Not long after the appearance of the two papers, the Muslims of India became highly excited over the demolition of a bath attached to a mosque in Cawnpore. The men who lost their lives in the riot in connection with this affair were acclaimed as Shahids (religious martyrs), and virulent articles were published in the public organs criticising the action of the Government. On this occasion the Paigham-e-Sulh made common cause with the other public organs in their attack upon the Government. The managers of the Paigham-e-Sulh sent a special agent to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) to consult him about the question. Articles by Maulawi Muhammad Ali were also published. These were openly in support of the agitators. The views of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) were, however, so far distorted in the process of publication that they came to have a meaning quite different from the one intended and the conclusion was drawn from them that on this occasion, Government had been guilty of excess, and that they were not justified in demolishing any part of the mosque. Such, however, were not the views of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) who had directed me to write that a bath formed no part of the mosque, and that consequently people were not justified in disturbing the peace over it. When the articles published in the Paigham-e-Sulh were brought to the notice of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra), he strongly disapproved of them and made me write two articles under his personal direction, the notes of which are still in my possession. In these articles special emphasis was laid upon the point that baths attached to mosques formed no part of mosque and that those who were engaged in agitating over the affair were wrong and were in fact acting hypocritically. He desired me, however, not to publish the articles over his name but to publish them on my own account. When these articles were published, a report was circulated that in these articles I had abused Maulawi Muhammad Ali who was the author of the articles published in the Paigham-e-Sulh. Accordingly, Dr. Muhammad Sharif of Batala, at present Civil Surgeon Hoshiarpur (who has subsequently moved to other places) who was at that time probably at Sargodha, in the course of a visit to Qadian, mentioned the matter to me. I told him that the articles were not really mine, but had been written almost at the dictation of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra). To this, he answered: “How could Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra), who holds Maulawi Muhammad Ali in such regard, use such language in reference to him?” Upon this, I sent for a copy of the paper in which the article to which he objected, had been published, and wrote the following in the margin: “This article was dictated to me by Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) and the strong language which it contains was used by him and was not put in by me.” I then made over the paper to the Doctor Sahib asking him to go and lay it before Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra), and find out for himself whether the articles were written at his dictation or at my instance. He took the paper to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra). As he was then in a hurry to leave Qadian he could not see me before his departure. However, he returned the paper to me through a relative of his saying that what I had said was quite true. This gentleman holds a respectable office, and is one of those who share the views of Maulawi Muhammad Ali, and is not a follower of mine. Maulawi Muhammad Ali, therefore, can inquire from him on oath whether what I say is true or not.

In short, the Cawnpore mosque controversy served further to divide the Jama‘at into two sections. It led one section to drift more and more towards the extremist wing of Indian politics, and induced the other to adhere more closely to the teachings of the Promised Messiah (as). And God be praised that the latter party formed by far the larger section of the Ahmadiyya Community.

While these events were taking place in India, Khwaja Sahib in England came across a certain Lord Headley who had for a long time acknowledged the truth of Islam. He had been a follower of the faith for nearly 40 years, but as he never happened to find a regular congregation of Muslims, he knew not how to make a public announcement of the fact of his conversion. After he met Khwaja Sahib, he made a public declaration of his change of faith stating that he had actually been a Muslim for forty years.2

The news was trumpeted to the world by Khwaja Sahib that through his efforts a British peer had accepted the faith of Islam. Immediately Khwaja Sahib became a popular idol, and from all sides a chorus of praise was raised for the service he had rendered to Islam. But to the people who knew that Lord Headley had been a Muslim for forty years, the whole affair caused considerable surprise, and they were astonished to find that Khwaja Sahib had been distorting the truth. But Khwaja Sahib was set on the one object of winning success and popularity for his mission. It did not matter whether the means employed by him were fair or foul. His announcement of the conversion of Lord Headley appears to me to have misled many of those Ahmadis who are now the followers of the Lahore party. The conversion seemed to them to be a sign of Divine assistance, indicating that therefore Khwaja Sahib must be right. In actual fact, of course, there was no Divine assistance but rather moral suicide on the part of Khwaja Sahib, and as long as the Ahmadiyya Movement lives and by the grace of God it will continue to live till the end of days, the misrepresentations and craft employed by Khwaja Sahib will ever be remembered with surprise and amazement.

The apparent success which attended Khwaja Sahib’s activities proved too strong a temptation for a section of the Community, and as I have already said, they began to look upon it as a sign of Divine assistance. They now thought that on the question of the proper method of propagation their own judgment had been at fault. They thought that success was to be attained only by adopting the policy of Khwaja Sahib. These views were supported and encouraged by articles published in the Paigham-e-Sulh. The controversies, however, led to one good result. They exposed to view the machinations, which had previously been carried on in secret and thus served to put the Community upon its guard. No doubt, a section of the Community was carried away by the tide but the loss proved a source of safety for the rest.

When the internal dissensions of the Community had once been made public, there remained no longer any reason for further secrecy. In the Paigham-e-Sulh attacks began to be made openly on the Ahmadis who lived at Qadian, and refutation of those attacks were published in the columns of the Al-Fadl under the direction of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra). It is true that members of the Paigham party, whenever they became aware of having incurred the open displeasure of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) used to run up to him and sue for his pardon, but no sooner did they return from his presence than they reverted to their own ways. This period was fraught with the gravest danger for the Movement, because even its enemies had now become aware of the disputes which for some years had been dividing Ahmadis into opposite ranks. Nor were they slow to take advantage of this state of affairs. They began openly to encourage the Lahore party, and to induce them by various means to persist in the dispute till at last Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) was compelled once to call the Paigham-e-Sulh (lit. message of peace) Paigham-e-Jang (lit. message of war).

The truculence of the new party was, however, confined to the columns of their newspaper. They still continued to entertain a fear of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih and as they dared not write anything openly against him their fettered activities naturally led some followers of Maulawi Muhammad Ali to take a leaf out of the book of the anarchists of Bengal, so that they began publishing a series of tracts which bore the name neither of its publisher nor of its author. Two tracts in this connection, were published by them under the titles of Izharul Haq No. 1 and Izharul Haq No. 2.

Both of these tracts were published about the middle of November 1913. They followed one another with an interval of one or two days. The first tract had four pages and the second eight pages. Both of them instead of bearing the name of the writer were subscribed

i.e. one who invited Ahmadis to the last Will of the Promised Messiah (as).

Izharul Haq No. 1

The purport of Izharul Haq No. 1 was to the effect that the modern age was one of democracy and that this universal fact afforded an indication that the Divine teacher of the age was also to be an exponent of democracy. According to the anonymous author of this tract, this was what had happened. The Promised Messiah (as) used to consult his friends in all matters except those in which he acted under the special direction of Divine revelation. He also declared that one of the purposes for which he had been sent by God was to reduce to due proportion the excessive dignity which had been attributed to mere men. And when he was informed by God of his approaching death he wrote out a will, and therein solved the question of his succession by laying down that after him there would be democracy, and the management of affairs of the Community would be vested in an Anjuman. It was a pity, however, that the Community turned a deaf ear to his words and fell into saint-worship, and forgot altogether his injunctions about democratising the management of the Community. There were in the Community many who had entered into the Bai‘at under constraint; and as a matter of fact the person to whom Bai‘at had been sworn (viz. Hazrat Maulana Noor-ud-Deen Khalifatul-Masih I (ra)) was not the person most fitted in the Community to receive such Bai‘at. The people who were ultimately responsible for this state of affairs were the officers of Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya, who had after the death of the Promised Messiah (as) thrown the Community into the mire of saint-worship. The result had been that various means were being devised to secure possession of the Khilafat, and a special society of Ansarullah had been formed with the object of frustrating the efforts of all the leading members of the Community. The ostensible duty of the Ansarullah was to propagate the faith, but their real purpose was to advertise the leading members of the Community as a set of hypocrites. Men like Maulawi Ghulam Husain Sahib of Peshawar, Mir Hamid Shah Sahib of Sialkot, Maulawi Muhammad Ali Sahib, Khwaja Kamaluddin Sahib, Shaikh Rahmatullah Sahib, Doctor Sayyid Muhammad Husain Shah Sahib and Doctor Mirza Ya‘qub Baig Sahib were being held up to opprobrium. The Promised Messiah (as) had declared in clear words that after him the Anjuman would be his successor not an individual person. He had written distinctly that after him the Sadr Anjuman would have the last word in all matters. But now every one could see the present attitude of the Community—how they received with implicit obedience every word of a Ghair Ma’mur (one not Divinely commissioned—a term which this anonymous writer applied to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra)). The Khalifa had refused to receive the Paigham-e-Sulh, and had thus alienated from it the sympathy of the Community. (Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) tired of the continued duplicity of the Paigham-e-Sulh had directed that it should no longer be sent to him, and when the managers of the paper persisted in sending the paper to his address, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) declined to receive it from the Post Office.) When, therefore, this man regarded by the Community as the most learned in the knowledge of the Quran, (i.e. Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra)) treats leading members of the Community with such indignity, and only in order to display his pontifical authority, what can the leading members expect from young men lacking in experience and immature of understanding? How long will the leading members of the Community see these things and hold their peace? Ahmadis! turn away your eyes from the other Pirzadas and attend instead to Pirzadas in your own home.

Izharul Haq No. 2

The substance of the tract Izharul Haq No. 2 was as follows: There were no intrigues in the Ahmadiyya Community. Servility to a Ghair Ma’mur (i.e. oath of Bai‘at at the hand of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra)) has reduced us to this condition. In the time of the Holy Prophet (sas) and in that of the Promised Messiah (as), the Muslim Community were free to express their opinion. Now there was much repression. False reports carried to the Khalifa were causing no end of trouble to our brethren. If this state of things continued for some time there would soon be nothing to distinguish between an Ahmadi saint-worshipper and a non-Ahmadi saint-worshipper. A new reformer was not likely to appear until at last one hundred years after the time of the Promised Messiah (as). Those who held and spread a contrary opinion did so out of personal interests. The welfare of the Community lay in having all its affairs managed on democratic principles.

The tract then went on to trace thus the history of dissensions in the Community. On the death of the Promised Messiah (as) and in the excitement which naturally followed, the Community turned their backs on the instructions of the Promised Messiah (as) and elected Maulawi Noor-ud-Deen as their Khalifa. But it was on every body’s lips at the time, that after Maulawi Noor-ud-Deen, only Maulawi Muhammad Ali could be Khalifa. There were, however, envious people who, when they saw this, at once began their intrigues through the help of Hazrat Ummul Mu’minin. They got her to write to the Khalifa that she had sworn Bai‘at at his hands, but would not swear it at the hands of any person of mean descent. The Khalifa replied to her in soothing words and satisfied her for the moment. After this, efforts both fair and foul began to be made to interfere in the work of the Anjuman and to make the situation uncomfortable for Maulawi Muhammad Ali. Then trouble was created through Mir Muhammad Ishaq. (This refers to the questions submitted by him to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) of which an account has been given above.) An agitation was started against members of the Anjuman. Mirza Mahmood Ahmad was put up as a candidate for the Khilafat, and it was declared publicly that members of the Anjuman were hostile to the family of the Promised Messiah (as)—a statement which had not the least basis in fact. Members of the family of the Promised Messiah (as) were a burden upon the finances of the Community and were busy making attacks upon the Anjuman and upon its members. Charge after charge had been brought against Maulawi Muhammad Ali. When a proposal was submitted to the Khalifa for the publication of the Paigham-e-Sulh, immediately a request was made for permission to publish the Al-Fadl, a request which the Khalifa was obliged to grant for fear of trouble.

The tract continues: The authorities of the Paigham-e-Sulh have nothing to do with the contents of the present tracts nor are they aware of their existence. When the Cawnpore mosque controversy began the authorities of the Paigham-e-Sulh sent Khalifa Rajabuddin to Qadian with a copy of the Tribune, and obtained instructions from the Khalifatul-Masih (ra). If, however, at the time of their publication any departure had been made from those instructions, the right course for the Khalifa was to publish a contradiction in the columns of the Paigham-e-Sulh, and not to become offended with the authorities of the paper. The Khalifa in fact discontinued receiving the paper not because of any difference of opinion as to the mosque controversy but because of some minor matters which gave him offence. Ye Brethren! Is it not a matter of surprise that a person learned in the Holy Quran (meaning Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra)) should thus seek to humiliate the editor of the Paigham-e-Sulh and other people connected with the paper—both by oral propaganda and through articles in the Al-Fadl? Is this the justice inculcated by Islam? The abuse that has been heaped upon the Paigham-e- Sulh by the Al-Haq of Delhi has not been replied to by the Qadian party. The latter therefore stands charged with being a party to the same.

The tract then proceeds to indulge in a series of personal attacks which it would be difficult for readers living far away from Qadian to follow without laborious explanations. The substance of these charges is that members of the Promised Messiah’s (as) family have been fomenting discord in the Community and bringing into disgrace its leading members. The tract invites the Community to strive and save the Movement from the impending disaster and to put themselves into communication with the writer.

Who Wrote the Tracts?

This tract, like the first, was published anonymously, but there were certain points about them both which clearly indicated their source:

Firstly, these tracts had been published from Lahore, which was at that time the headquarters of the party of Maulawi Muhammad Ali. By calling it their headquarters I do not mean that at that time Lahore was openly set up as a rival to Qadian. What I mean is that the majority of the members, who shared the views of Maulawi Muhammad Ali lived in that city, and their organ, the Paigham-e-Sulh, was published from that place. Practically, therefore, if not openly, Lahore was already the headquarters of the party. Of course, after the death of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra), Lahore began openly to be mentioned as such.

Secondly, the tracts reached most places packed in printed covers belonging to the office of the Paigham-e-Sulh. The fact was sufficient to prove that they had been dispatched from the office of that paper, or at least that the people connected with that paper had a hand in the distribution of the tracts.

Thirdly, the writer of the tracts asked his readers to communicate with him on the subject-matter of the tracts, but at the same time failed to furnish any address. The question naturally arises as to how, in the absence of an address, were the people to communicate with the author? It is therefore probable that the author had at first put down his name and address, but had subsequently considered it prudent to suppress the information. But, since the sentence asking people to correspond with the author had not been deleted from the body of the tract, it is probable that the idea of suppressing his name and address occurred to the author after the tract had been handed to the press. It was perhaps the fear of delay, which was inevitable if parts of the text had to be altered, and also perhaps the risk of spoiling the language, which induced the author to leave the text intact. In some copies of the tracts, a close examination showed that some words had been rubbed off with the finger from the end of the text. In some other copies, again, there had been left unerased the word “through the medium of newspaper,” while the rest of the note had been rubbed off. These words clearly indicate that replies were invited through the medium of some newspaper. And, although the paper might not necessarily be the Paigham-e-Sulh, the words showed so much for certain that the people who had issued the tract were persons in close touch with the newspaper. And the fact also is well-known that for considerations which fellow professionals have for one another those belonging to different newspapers are willing to render small services of this kind to one another.

Fourthly, in these tracts the ideas expressed were the same as those which were entertained by Maulawi Muhammad Ali and his party. Only the language employed with reference to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) was less respectful than was generally used by them in their public conversations, and with regard to this, I can name more than twenty persons who are witnesses to the fact that in their private conversations some prominent members of Maulawi Muhammad Ali’s party used to employ the very terms with reference to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) which had, been used in these tracts.

It was only after the death of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) that it became customary with them to praise Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra). While he lived, these people in their private correspondence used to refer to him in very derogatory terms. In illustration of this, I shall here quote a few passages from letters, which two leading members of the party had written to the late Sayyid Hamid Shah Sahib during the lifetime of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra). The first letter was written by Sayyid Muhammad Husain, the treasurer of the Central Anjuman of the Lahore party. He wrote to Sayyid Hamid Shah Sahib:

“1-10-09. Respected brother Shah Sahib: … Your favour to hand, and all its news … The news of the distressing occurrences at Qadian has perhaps already been communicated to you by Shaikh Sahib. The garden which our holy Master had watered with the blood of his heart had scarcely begun to grow when it is in danger of being destroyed by autumnal winds, Maulawi Sahib (i.e. Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra)) is so obstinately blind in his affections that he can hardly listen to anybody. He has turned his back upon Al-Wasiyyat (Promised Messiah’s (as) Will). He disregards the words of the Messenger of God, and keeps in view only his personal prestige and authority. The Movement may come to grief, but the words which fall from his mouth must be fulfilled. The Movement founded by our holy Master and which will and is certain to grow is, through the obstinacy of some men in danger of such a serious set-back that it will take a long time to recover. The wiser members of the Community are all occupied with their private concerns. With the death of Mirza Sahib, they have banished from their memories all recollections of his many benefits, his greatness and his will, and saint-worship, for the eradication of which the Movement was founded by God is being introduced again. The condition of the Movement is now best described in the couplet:

‘Friendless has become the faith of Ahmad (sas), not a friend or dear one by:
With every one taken up with his own affairs, the faith of Ahmad (sas) has none to care.’

There is nobody who will venture to ask: Well, brother, has Al-Wasiyyat any importance or not? It was written under Divine inspiration. Was it meant to be thrown away? If one would venture to ask such a question, one is met with the threat of apostasy. God have mercy. The heart is disconsolate. News from Qadian is that the Maulawi says that in about ten days a bomb will explode which will ruin and crush the Movement. God have mercy. Is there no limit to pride and vainglory? While there is so much of preaching about trusting one another there is no end to mistrust. Should the Movement come to ruin for the sake of a shia? God have mercy. O God! we have sinned. Thou alone canst save us by Thy mercy and grace. Take us under Thy special protection and save us from these trials. What more should I write. The worst is happening. It is time that some special Divine favour should appear and save this Movement founded by Himself from the impending disaster. Amen! Salams to all brothers, and request for prayer.

The other letter was written by Mirza Ya‘qub Baig, the General Secretary of this same Anjuman of the Lahore party. It ran as follows:

“Respected brother … At present we are in great anxiety over difficulties which have arisen in Qadian. The Khalifa’s vacillation has exceeded all bounds. He is going shortly to publish a notice from which serious troubles are to be feared … If anybody exhibits the least difference of view with the Khalifa, it sends him into great rage … The circumstances were all fully explained to him but his fury failed to quell, and he is firmly resolved to publish a notice … I ask you what more is there for us to do. His object is to do away with the Anjuman, and to see that there is not the least opposition to his opinions. But this is not the intention of Al-Wasiyyat. It lays down that after the Promised Messiah (as) all should work by mutual consultation. Shaikh Sahib and Shah Sahib send salutations. They agree with what I have said above.

Fifthly, the clearest and the most convincing proof of the fact that these people were responsible for the publication of these tracts is afforded by the fact that as soon as the tracts were published, Sayyid Inamullah Shah, the manager of the Paigham-e-Sulh, and Babu Manzur Ilahi, the moving spirit of its organisation, published a letter in the Paigham-e-Sulh of 16th November. In this letter, while refuting the alleged charge brought against them by the Anjuman Ansarullah, that they were the authors of the tracts, they observed that there was no doubt that the contents of the tracts which had come to their notice, were for the most part, and so far as they knew, quite true although the tracts also contained matters which were outside their knowledge and regarding which they were not, therefore, in a position to give any opinion. The letter proceeded to observe that if in spite of the fact that the writers entertained the most implicit faith in every word of the Promised Messiah (as), the Lahore section of the Ansarullah continued to misrepresent them for the only fault that on certain minor points they held views at variance with those of the Ansarullah, or endorsed sentiments expressed in the two tracts, then it would lie at the door of the Lahore Ansarullah themselves if in refuting their attacks, the writers should fail to observe an exact balance of language.

These five considerations show that the tracts were published by Maulawi Muhammad Ali’s friends and partisans. Their publication makes two facts quite clear. First that in a controversy with this party, it is useless to expect them to observe any moral, civil or religious law. For, it will be observed that in the publication of the tracts there was, in the first place, a transgression of the civil law of this country, inasmuch as the name of the press where the tracts were printed, was not printed on the tracts. There was also a violation of the law of propriety, because in these tracts some very foul charges had been brought against Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) and myself and my relatives by a person or persons who chose to remain anonymous. There was, therefore, no possibility of ascertaining the truth about the charges, because, so long as the accuser did not furnish any proofs in support of his statements, there was no means at all of refuting those statements. There was also an infringement of the religious law of Islam as the writer or writers had raised their voice against, and had charged with un-godly conduct and immorality one to whom they had sworn the oath of Bai‘at, and inasmuch as they had chosen to publish, without a shadow of proof or cause, matters, which according to the law of Islam, they were prohibited even from speaking about.

The second fact which the publication of the tracts made clear was that the party had arrived at a final decision that, come what might, they would not abandon their effort to attain their end even though it might lead to a split in the Community, and further that even during the lifetime of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra), they had begun preparations for a split in the Community.

I do not say that these tracts were written by Maulawi Muhammad Ali himself. But there is little doubt that they were the work of one or another of his friends and coadjutors. Nor were they the work of any single individual. They were the work of a group of men, because to publish a series of tracts and to distribute them widely could not be the work of one man. The preparation, the expense, and the distribution of the tracts required cooperation, and could not be accomplished without assistance. All these facts make it clear that there had been a secret party of Maulawi Muhammad Ali’s friends and associates, and it was they who were responsible for the tracts.

Replies to Anonymous Tracts

The distribution of the tracts among members of the Community, acted as a bombshell. The Community founded by the Promised Messiah (as) now realised the serious nature of their responsibility, and desired that a suitable reply should be written to the tracts. Fear of the disfavour of the Community and the displeasure of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) now induced the authorities of the Paigham-e-Sulh to publish a brief note disavowing the remarks, which had previously been published in that paper in support of the tracts. But the language used in the note was so equivocal that while, from one point of view, the note seemed to denounce the sentiments expressed in the tracts, from another point of view it seemed to lend support to those sentiments. Another group, however, was destined to make a proper rejoinder to the tracts. This was the Anjuman Ansarullah. As the writer of the tracts had made the Anjuman Ansarullah the special object of his attack and the Paigham-e-Sulh had also addressed its remarks to them, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra), was pleased to entrust the Ansarullah the duty of replying to the tracts.

The reply was published under the direction of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) in the form of two tracts. The first was named Khilafat-e-Ahmadiyya, and was a reply to the tract Izharul Haq No, 1. The second was named Izhar-e-Haqiqat, and furnished a reply to Izharul Haq No. 2. Both these tracts were shown to and were corrected by Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra). At one place, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) added these words: “A thousand shames upon the Paigham-e- Sulh, which in publishing its letter delivered to us a declaration of war and cast the apple of discord.”

After the publication of these tracts, I tried also to induce members of the party, in whose interest the anonymous tracts seemed to have been written and published to issue a refutation of them. But as they were only dissembling and were at heart in sympathy with the views expressed in the tracts, they avoided such a course on various pretences—all except Mir Hamid Shah Sahib who was good enough lo furnish written answers to the questions sent to him among others. Incidentally, Mir Hamid Shah Sahib was the only one out of this group who was granted the grace to enter later into my Bai‘at.

Whether the purpose, which the authors of the anonymous tracts had in view in publishing them, was fulfilled or not would be known only to the authors of the tracts. According to us, one benefit which accrued from their publication was that it afforded us an opportunity to refute publicly the doctrines which Maulawi Muhammad Ali and his partisans had so long been promulgating in secret. And God be thanked, the whole of their intrigue was now exposed to the light of day.

After the publication of these tracts everything was quiet for some time. The manager of the Paigham-e-Sulh and Babu Manzur Ilahi had to sue for Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih’s pardon and the whole affair seemed to have closed. But these people did not abandon their plans. Khwaja Kamaluddin now asked for permission to offer prayers behind non-Ahmadi Muslims, pleading as his ground the special circumstances of England. According to him the people there knew nothing about the Ahmadiyya Movement, and it was not desirable to acquaint them with differences among different sects which prevailed in Islam. At length, observing how weak Khwaja Sahib was in his faith, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) granted him the permission on which he was so keen. The first use Khwaja Sahib made of the permission was to pray behind Maulawi Zafar Ali Khan, the well-known editor of the Zamińdar, one of the bitterest enemies of the Ahmadiyya Movement and its most foul-mouthed detractor. Apparently. Khwaja Sahib attributed to the soil of England the virtue which Hindus impute to the river Ganges, the virtue that is of purifying everyone who visited its shores. In India, it might indeed be unlawful to pray behind Maulawi Zafar Ali Khan, but no sooner did he put his foot on English soil, than all his sins dropped away from him making it legitimate for anybody to offer his prayers behind him.

I have said that after the publication of replies to the tracts there was peace and quiet, but this was only outwardly so. The fire of rancour smouldered within the breasts of the people, and this fact was manifested on the occasion of the Annual Jalsa in December 1913. It happened in this way.

In the course of his address on the occasion of this Jalsa, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) once again made a reference to the anonymous tracts and expressed his strong disapproval of them. Upon this, the Paigham-e-Sulh promptly published a distorted version of his address stating that the Khalifa had expressed his strong disapproval of the booklets published in reply to those tracts by the Ansarullah.3 The object was to restore the effect of the anonymous tracts and to destroy the effect of the replies, although, as a matter of fact, the replies had been published under the direction of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) and after having been shown to him and after corrections had been made by him. As a matter of fact, the last time the manuscripts of the replies were shown to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) and permission was sought for making them over to the press, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) wrote as follows: “Publish them in all sincerity. I shall pray, and you too must not cease to pray that the wicked may receive understanding of the consequences of their act. —Noor-ud-Deen.” This note is still with me. It is not surprising that whereas Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) promises to pray that these replies might prove effective, and in case the author of Izharul Haq does not desist, he utters an imprecation against him. the Paigham-e-Sulh was so blinded by opposition to the truth that it represented Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) as being displeased by the replies issued by the Ansarullah? The fact was that the Paigham-e-Sulh wanted to promote opinion in favour of the Izharul Haq tracts, and to produce prejudice against the replies. But its effort was defeated. For, on the 15th January 1914, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) published an announcement to the following effect:

“Last year many foolish people tried to create dissensions in the Community, and distributed a pamphlet called Izharul Haq among members of the Community, which cast aspersions on me also. The object of the writer in publishing the pamphlet was to create a split in the Community, but God out of His grace has saved both myself and the Community from this danger.”

Maulawi Muhammad Ali’s Tract: Kufr-o-Islam

A few days after the Annual Jalsa Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) was taken ill. His illness gradually increased, but he continued to teach as usual. Maulawi Muhammad Ali used to consult him with regard to the interpretation of difficult passages of the Holy Quran, and Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) used to dictate explanatory notes on those passages. At the same time he used to teach some other persons. One day, while he was discoursing on Musnadi Ahmad, he observed that that work was a most reliable repository of Hadith equalling in authenticity the work of Bukhari. It was, however, a pity, he said, that some unauthentic traditions had found a place in the book through one of the disciples and a son of Imam Ahmad. “I had a great mind,” he said, “to separate the original work from its spurious portions, but I am sorry this has not been done in my time. It may probably be done in the time of Miyań Sahib (meaning the present writer).” At this time, Maulawi Sayyid Sarwar Shah Sahib made his appearance. Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) repeated the wish in his presence, saying that the work could not be done in his time and that Maulawi Sayyid Sarwar Shah Sahib might undertake the work in the time of the present writer. These words were uttered by Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) only two months before his death. They serve to prove at least so much that he who uttered the words wished that the succession of Khilafat should continue after him, and besides, that he had a premonition that after him God would make the present writer occupy the office of Khalifa.

The question of Kufr and Islam was a constant subject of debate in the Community. But hitherto, Maulawi Muhammad Ali had never written anything publicly on the subject. His attitude with reference to this question was apparently one of complete unconcern. Accordingly, it happened that one day while Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) was dictating to Maulawi Muhammad Ali notes on certain passages of the Quran, he made remarks with regard to some verses that they served to throw light on the question of Kufr and Islam, although the general belief was that they were mutually conflicting. In illustration, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) cited the two verses:

In the same way, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) continued, there were men who said of him that he sometimes called non-Ahmadis Muslims and at other times kuffar. He had it in his mind, he said, to write an exposition on the subject explaining the true meaning of the Quranic passages on the one hand, and reconciling the seeming inconsistency between his own statements on the other. Since, however, Maulawi Muhammad Ali was at the time engaged in taking down notes on the Holy Quran, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) wished that he should write an article on the subject which should be shown to him. The article should reconcile the apparent conflict between the Quranic verses on the subject. All this was said in my presence.

Likewise, on another occasion, when I happened again to be present, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) reverted to the subject and said, “Regarding myself, people are wont to remark that I sometimes call non-Ahmadis Muslims and at other times kuffar. The fact is that people have not been able to understand me at all. It is a difficult matter and even our Miyań (meaning the present writer) has not understood it.”

Though Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) had considered Maulawi Muhammad Ali to be unconcerned with this question, yet Maulawi Sahib was full of envy and prejudice. The opportunity was to him a godsend, and while Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) had told him to write one thing, he wrote quite another. Instead of writing upon the Quranic verses on the subject and reconciling those which seemed to some to be inconsistent, he wrote an article on the question of Kufr and Islam of non-Ahmadis. Meanwhile, a report was published in the Paigham-e-Sulh that Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) had said that the Miyań (the present writer) had not understood the question of Kufr and Islam. The report however, as I have already said, was quite wrong.4 (See this book pp. 160–162)

When Maulawi Muhammad Ali had finished writing the article, he took immense pains—what he was afraid of is not known—so as to be able to read it privately to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra). Accordingly, one evening having placed some men to guard the door, Maulawi Mohammad Ali prepared to read out the article. But Dr. Khalifa Rashiduddin happened just then to arrive on the scene, and this led Maulawi Muhammad Ali to postpone the reading. On another occasion he absented himself from the Friday congregation and prayers in order to read out his article to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra).

Not Approved by Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra)

Miyań Abdul Hayi the eldest son of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) was present at the reading. His report is that Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) directed that the article should not be published just then, and even said that he had meant something quite different. But Abdul Hayi was at the time very young. I do not, therefore, propose to make his statement the basis of my contention. There is evidence in the article itself which proves that this article was disapproved by Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) or it must have been altered after it was read out to him, or it was read out to him at a time when his attention was otherwise engaged and he could not attend to the article at all. The article contains many things which cannot be attributed even to a person of ordinary intelligence, much less to a person as well informed and learned as Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra). The following are some examples:

(1) In the article, arguments have been adduced from the Holy Quran and the Hadith to prove that Islam consists simply in belief in God and the Last Day and nothing more. Maulawi Muhammad Ali writes in the course of the article; “The Holy Quran has itself made the question plain in one of its verses wherein it says:

Here the Holy Quran says that most people are such that although they profess belief in God, still lying deep in their hearts there is a secret Shirk (unbelief). Nevertheless, in spite of such an admixture of Shirk they are called Mu’mins (believers).” (Kufr-o-Islam by Maulawi Muhammad Ali, page 4.) The verse quoted by Maulawi Muhammad Ali refers to the unbelievers of Mecca and is to be found in the last section of Chapter entitled Yusuf. Maulawi Muhammad Ali has cited this verse to prove that Islam is so wide in its connotation that in the category of Muslims one may properly include even such people as do not believe in the Holy Prophet (sas). According to him, a belief in the Holy Prophet is a secondary matter, lack of which will not render a man kafir.

In the same strain and on the same page he writes: “One who denies the truth of La Ilaha Illallah (No God but Allah) is altogether excluded from this circle. One, however, who accepts this creed though he rejects some part of the faith, nevertheless remains within the circle, but is a kafir so far as that part is concerned.” From this also, it is evident that according to Maulawi Muhammad Ali everybody who believes in the formula La Ilaha Illallah is a Muslim. Disbelief in any of the other parts of Islam, including disbelief in the prophethood of Muhammad (sas) cannot affect the fact of his being a Muslim. The only difference it makes is to prove him a disbeliever in a part of Islam. It does not exclude him from the circle of Islam. Maulawi Muhammad Ali therefore concludes that denial of the Promised Messiah (as) likewise is denial only of a part of Islam; it does not exclude anybody from the pale of Islam.

Such a doctrine is fraught with the gravest possible danger. It strikes at the very root of Islam. The Holy Quran makes it imperative for a Muslim to believe in God, His angels, His books, His Prophets and the Last Day. The view expressed by Maulawi Muhammad Ali, therefore, must be his own. It could not possibly have been dictated or approved by Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra), whose belief was expressed in the Badr of 9th March 1911 in the following words:

“Belief in the formula La Ilaha Illallah includes belief in all the Messengers of God … Belief in Adam (as), in Abraham (as), in Moses (as), in Jesus (as) is included in this very formula of La Ilaha Illallah, even though these Prophets have not been expressly mentioned in it. Acceptance of the Holy Quran, belief in Muhammad (sas) the Seal of the Prophets, belief in the Last Day as all Muslims know, are included in this same formula.” In view of this declaration by Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra), himself, and in view of the fact that a contrary position is palpably wrong, who is there who can say that this article by Maulawi Muhammad Ali was approved by Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) or was based on notes dictated by him.

(2) Further internal evidence in this connection is that in this article Maulawi Muhammad Ali has blundered in the interpretation of a verse of the Holy Quran, so egregiously as to contradict not only all canons of Arabic but also the interpretation given by Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) himself. It may be said that Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) had in a way refuted the interpretation given to that verse by Maulawi Muhammad Ali. The verse

is interpreted by Maulawi Muhammad Ali as meaning: “Bring them to acknowledge the existence of God and then leave them alone.”—(Kufr-o-Islam by Maulawi Muhammad Ali, page 1.) Maulawi Muhammad Ali means to say that people should be made to acknowledge the existence of God, and then be left to themselves, the acknowledgment of the existence of God being sufficient for being a Muslim. When, however, we turn to the verse in question we find that it runs as follows:

i.e. “They did not properly understand the attributes of God when they said that God had never revealed anything to any of His creatures. Say, Who was it Who revealed the Book brought by Moses, a light and guidance for men, the Book which you divide into fragments, giving out some of them to the people and hiding a considerable portion. (And now) you have been taught things which neither you nor your ancestors did know before (In other words the Holy Quran contains truths which are not to be found in the Old Testament. How is it possible then, that the Old Testament should be a revealed Book and the Holy Quran not?). Tell them that it was God (Who revealed the Book to Moses (as)), and (having given them this final reply) leave them sporting in their folly.” In this verse, there is not any mention anywhere that men should be made to acknowledge the existence of God and then left alone. The verse purports to say that the Jews were apt to deny that God ever revealed anything to His creatures. In reply God asks the Holy Prophet (sas) to inquire Who it was Who revealed His Book to Moses (as), and then to tell them that He was none other than God Himself. Now as this reply is just in accordance with what they themselves believed on the subject, and as they could have no objection to this reply, God asks the Holy Prophet (sas) not to waste any more words with them but to send them away with the reply, because they are given to make a sport of religion.

Judged by Arabic usage the interpretation given by Maulawi Muhammad Ali is not at all legitimate. Accordingly, we find that even in his own translation of the Quran, the interpretation adopted by him is not the one here presented by him but the one presented by me above. He translates the passage as follows:

“And they do not assign to Allah the attributes due to Him, when they say, Allah has not revealed anything to a mortal. Say: Who revealed the book which Moses brought, a light and guidance to men, which you make into scattered writings which you show while you conceal much. And you were taught what you did not know, (neither) you nor your fathers. Say, Allah, then leave them sporting in their vain discourses.” [The Holy Quran, Arabic Text English Translation and Commentary, p. 306]

If the meaning of the verse, as given by Maulawi Muhammad Ali in the tract was a correct one, what reason had he to alter it in his own translation of the Quran. The divergence between the interpretations put on the verse in the two places proves either that Maulawi Muhammad Ali knew from the beginning that the interpretation presented by him in his tract Kufr-o-Islam was really incorrect, but he still had recourse to it only to mislead his readers, or that as a result of the objections raised against it he altered it in the text of his translation before it was printed. That he admits the inaccuracy of the interpretation in question is further corroborated by the fact that in his many subsequent writings on the subject of Kufr and Islam, he has not even for once cited the authority of this verse in support of his position. In saying all this, my object is to impress upon the reader that such a palpably wrong interpretation of the verse can never be attributed to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra), nor can it be believed that he approved of any such interpretation.

But in further corroboration of the view that Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra), could never possibly approve of such a wrong interpretation, we may cite the additional fact that in published reports of his lectures on the Holy Quran, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra), has adopted the same interpretation which I have given above. He said: “Qulillah thumma zar hum does not mean that you should repeat Allah, Allah; because a simple repetition of the word Allah has no precedent in our religion. The words actually furnish a reply to the question (Who revealed the Book?), saying ‘It was Allah!’”

(The Badr, Vol. 9, No. 45 dated 2nd and 9th September, 1910). To attribute to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra), a view in direct conflict with his published interpretation and contrary to Arabic usage is sheer injustice and a wanton outrage. A tract which argues a particular view of Kufr and Islam from such a wrong interpretation of a verse of the Holy Quran can never have been approved by Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra). For, not only does he furnish an interpretation of the verse quite different from that of Maulawi Muhammad Ali, but actually refutes Maulawi Muhammad Ali’s interpretation when he says that

[Say, Allah] is really a reply to the question put earlier in the verse

[Who revealed the Book?].

(3) Yet another refutation of the statement that the tract Kufr-o-Islam was published with the approval of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra), is to be found in the fact that in this tract Maulawi Muhammad Ali writing about Hazrat Imam Abu Hanifah says: “He entertained the belief that if any person should for once utter from the depth of his heart the formula La Ilaha Illallah, it would make him a Mu’min (believer) no matter if he should subsequently be guilty of Shirk, Kufr or Zulm.” (Kufr-o-Islam by Maulawi Muhammad Ali, page 4). Such a statement is, on the face of it, without sense or significance. Nevertheless, Maulawi Muhammad Ali not only ascribes it to Hazrat Imam Abu Hanifah, but asserts that it was his considered creed. When, however, Maulawi Muhammad Ali was challenged to produce any work of Hazrat Imam Abu Hanifah or work of any of his disciples where this belief was described as a part of the great Imam’s creed, Maulawi Muhammad Ali did not give any reply except that Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) had dictated so to him. But as Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) did not live in the time of Hazrat Imam Abu Hanifah, whatever he might have said about the Imam must have been derived from the writings of the Hanafites. But of all the works which record the words of Hazrat Imam Abu Hanifah, not one can be found which contains anything warranting the statement made by Maulawi Muhammad Ali. Under the circumstances, it cannot be held that Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) attributed any such statement to Hazrat Imam Abu Hanifah. It is certain that the statement was either an invention of Maulawi Muhammad Ali’s mind or a result of misunderstanding something which Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) might have said. Whichever view is taken, it becomes clear that the tract cannot have been approved by Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra), or published with his consent.

These three items of internal evidence show then that the tract could not have been approved by Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra). But, in addition to these we may take note of the circumstance that, in spite of the fact that the tract was read over to Hazrat Khalifatul Masih I (ra) about a month before his death, it was not published till after that sad event, although a longer tract written subsequently by Maulawi Muhammad Ali was published earlier. This fact is sufficient to indicate that the postponement of the publication of this paper was intentional, and that the obvious purpose was to await the death of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra).

The Will of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra)

The illness of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) continued to advance, till at last in February 1914 doctors advised that he should move outside the town into purer air. Khan Muhammad Ali Khan Sahib, Chief of Malerkotla, and son-in-law of the Promised Messiah (as), vacated a portion of his house for the residence of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra). He moved to this house, but his weakness continued to grow. Therefore, I also took up my quarters with him. On the 4th March at about ‘Asr time (afternoon) he called for writing materials, and wrote out a will as follows:

“The undersigned, in full possession of his senses and consciousness, writes the following testament: La Ilaha Illallah Muhammadur Rasulullah. My children are young. I have no money in my house. God is their Protector. They should not be supported out of funds for the orphans and the poor. Let a sum be advanced to them, to be repaid by those of my sons who are able, or from the proceeds of my books. My property should be constituted Waqf for the benefit of my children. My successor should be pious, popular, learned and virtuous, and should overlook the faults and shortcomings of the friends, both old and new of Hazrat Sahib. I was a well-wisher of them all. He too should remain their well-wisher. Lectures on the Quran and the Hadith should continue. Peace.

After he had finished writing it, he made over the Will to Maulawi Muhammad Ali who was sitting by his side, and asked him to read it out to the people present. He made Maulawi Sahib read out the Will a second time, and a third time, and then asked him whether anything had been left out. Maulawi Muhammad Ali, who at heart was contemplating the destruction of the Khilafat, and was devising means to that end, was taken aback when he read the Will, and for once everybody could see on his face signs of disappointment and resentment. These signs were not due to the fact that Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) had written out the Will, but due rather to the fact that he saw in the Will the end of his endeavours. Only the awe of the Khalifa restrained him from speaking.

In spite of being opposed to the intention of the Will, he only said in reply to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) that the Will was quite all right. Subsequent events, however, will show that in saying this Maulawi Muhammad Ali only practised a dissimulation, and let it be said that no disciple ever practised upon his master lying on his death-bed a worse dissimulation than this.

While Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) was lying ill, and there was no one to look after the Community, disputations on question of controversy waxed hot, and wherever one might have turned, the topic of conversation was found to be the same. The seriousness of the situation induced me to write out a notice to the following effect:

“So long as Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) was in sound health, there was no great harm in our discussions of controversial topics inasmuch as there was among us one who could restrain us in case we ever tended to overstep the limits or in case there was apprehension of any disorder. But now that Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) is lying seriously ill, it is not proper that we should engage in discussions which might lead to any disorder. It is, therefore, necessary that until God is pleased to restore Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) to health and strength, and enable him to keep an eye over our discussions we should neither write nor otherwise discuss questions in dispute so as to save the Community from any possible trouble.”

After writing it out, I sent the notice to Maulawi Muhammad Ali requesting that he also should sign it and that it might prove effective in restraining people of all shades of opinion, and thus protect the Jama‘at from division and disorder. Maulawi Muhammad Ali, however, replied that as differences in the Jama‘at were not so widely known, a public notice such as I proposed was not advisable. It would merely serve to carry information to the enemy and afford him an opportunity to laugh at our expense. It was better, he said, that the people of Qadian should assemble at a meeting where both he and I should speak and explain the need of putting an end to all discussion of controversial subjects. I wondered what Maulawi Muhammad Ali could mean by saying that differences which had arisen in the Community were not yet known to people at large, seeing that the two Izharul Haq tracts had already been printed and circulated. Still, I accepted his proposal. I did hot know at the time that it was another ruse which Maulawi Muhammad Ali played upon me. Only subsequent events led me gradually to see that Maulawi Sahib was up to every kind of strategy in order to score his end, and that his reason for declining to sign the notice was not a reluctance to let people know about the internal differences of the Community, but that it lay far elsewhere.

The people of Qadian assembled at the Masjid Nur, the mosque attached to the High School and situated near the house of Khan Muhammad Ali Khan Sahib of Malerkotla where at this time Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) was lying on his sick bed.

Maulawi Muhammad Ali and myself both went to the mosque to address the meeting. Maulawi Sahib expressed the wish that I should speak first. At this I stood up to speak without taking further thought of the circumstances. I merely repeated to the public in different words the substance of the notice I have mentioned above, and tried to impress upon them the need for unity. But Maulawi Sahib, instead of dwelling upon the subject of unity, started raking up the past. He went on to rebuke the Jama‘at for their attacks upon Khwaja Sahib and his friends, and indulged in similar other recriminations. People kept sitting out of their regard for me, otherwise it was all but certain that, instead of putting down existing differences, the meeting might have led to a serious disorder in the Community. Towards the end of his speech, Maulawi Sahib also made a few remarks about unity, but his tone was throughout incisive, and tended to increase public displeasure and to aggravate the existing differences.

Meantime, the condition of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) had become worse, and everybody was afraid that a crisis was coming. Under the circumstances it was natural that their thoughts should have turned to the question, what was going to happen? I was all along engaged in addressing prayers to God and pressed others to do the same. For, at the time, the questions in dispute did not concern me. My only concern was to preserve the unity of the Community. The fear of a possible split was consuming my heart. Accordingly, I had talks on the subject with Ahmadis who had influence in the Community. On the whole, that section of the Community which recognised the necessity of Khilafat and believed in the Nubuwwat of the Promised Messiah (as), held the opinion that they must not accept as Khalifa anybody who differed from them on these points. They feared that otherwise the whole Movement would come to a crash. On the contrary, I had come to the conclusion that unity was the supreme need of the hour, and that unity must not be sacrificed in consideration for personalities. I began to press for this view among my friends, and to tell them that if, on the death of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) a split was imminent, then we should pledge our Bai‘at to one of Maulawi Muhammad Ali’s party, in spite of the fact that the party was small in numbers. What I urged was that if we were to pledge our Bai‘at to one of our own views, then the others were sure to stand aloof, and a split in the Community therefore was bound to arise. On the other hand, if I should pledge my Bai‘at to one of them, then one could say that nearly all my friends would follow my example and enter into his Bai‘at and save the Community from the impending split. It thus happened that on a certain day when Maulawi Sayyid Sarwar Shah Sahib, one of the most learned theologians of the Community and myself were out for a walk after the ‘Asr prayers, we remained conversing for nearly two hours about this very subject, and at last I succeeded in convincing him that we should be prepared—in case the issue should turn out to be which party the Khalifa should be elected from—to pledge our Bai‘at to one member or another of the party of Maulawi Muhammad Ali.

Demise of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra)

At last came the day of which we had been afraid for so long. On Friday, the 13th March, in the morning, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) felt his strength ebbing away and the doctors forbade everyone to enter his room. Still nobody thought that the end was so near. During his illness, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) had charged me with leading both the five daily prayers and the special Friday prayers. Accordingly, this Friday I went to the big Qadian Mosque to lead the Friday prayers. The prayers over, I went to my house for a brief visit. But immediately there came to me a servant of Khan Muhammad Ali Khan Sahib with the message that the Khan Sahib was outside waiting for me in his coach. Forthwith I got into the coach and together we set out for the house of Khan Sahib. But we were yet on our way when a man came to us running with the news that Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) had expired, and so was fulfilled a dream of mine, dreamt long ago, that I was in a coach coming from some place when I received the news of the death of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra). Under the circumstances of the time, this was a most disconcerting news. The death of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) was a great shock to us. But greater than the shock was our fear of that dissension and disunity in the Community which the death seemed to occasion.

Telegrams were despatched at once to various places to inform Ahmadiyya centres of the sad event. The greater portion of the Jama‘at at Qadian engaged themselves in prayers to the Almighty. At the time of the ‘Asr prayers when a majority of the Jama‘at was present at the Masjid Nur I made a brief speech. I said: “With the departure of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra), there has devolved upon us a grave responsibility which everyone of us must prepare himself to discharge to the best of his powers. Deeds however worthy in themselves lose their worth by being associated with bad motives. This is the reason why God has enjoined the recitation of the prayer ‘I seek refuge with Allah etc.’ at the time of reading any passage from the Holy Quran, and has prefixed the text ‘In the name of Allah, etc.’ at the head of every chapter of the Quran. By the first, the reader seeks Divine protection against the intrusion of evil motives, and by the second, he seeks Divine assistance in the performance of good deeds. When such caution has been recommended to us even in the study of the Holy Quran, the undoubted word of God, the reading of which has been enjoined upon us by God Himself, how much more cautious must we be while performing other duties, however meritorious they may apparently be? Regarding Namaz God says in the Holy Quran:

i.e., ‘Woe to the devotees who are unaware of the purpose of their devotions, and perform them only for show.’ Thus, according to this verse, even devotions to God, which lead man to God may succeed only in exciting His wrath, if they proceed from wrong motives. It is, therefore, all the more necessary that in discharging the responsibility which has now devolved upon us, we should particularly engage ourselves in addressing supplications to God and seeking His guidance with frequent iteration of the prayer:

(Lead us to the straight path), so that the special grace of God may descend upon us, and His purpose become manifest to us. If God be not pleased to grant to us His help at this juncture, then we stand the imminent danger of destruction. Let us, therefore, all betake ourselves to prayer, not only at the prescribed hours of prayer but also during other hours, so that God may protect us and keep us on the right path. You should also be up at night to offer prayers and those who can should also fast for tomorrow.”

Conversations with Maulawi Muhammad Ali

After the speech I prayed silently together with those assembled and then all dispersed to their homes. I left the mosque and was on my way to the house of Khan Muhammad Ali Khan when Maulawi Muhammad Ali accosted me, and expressed a wish to have a talk. I, therefore, turned to follow him and together we made our way into the woods. Maulawi Muhammad Ali said: “Things done after proper consultation are done best. After the death of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) nothing should be done in haste. Everything should be done after full consultation.” I answered: “Without doubt things done in haste often turn out wrong. It is proper that everything should be done after due consultation. People have been coming already and there is every hope that by to-morrow there would be gathered here a fairly large number of them. When they assemble tomorrow, we should have a consultation. The men who hold any large influence in the Community all belong to places within easy distance. They will all be here by tomorrow.” Maulawi Muhammad Ali however interposed saying: “No, it would not be right to be in such haste. As now there is disagreement, it is necessary that the whole question be fully discussed, and then an agreed decision reached and acted upon. The Community should have at least four or five months to think and exchange views on the matter, and only then should action be taken on any decision that may be reached.” I said: “But, first of all, what is the disagreement? And secondly if, in the absence of any leader, there should arise any trouble in the Community, who is going to be responsible? This is what happened at the death of the Promised Messiah (as). A consultation was held among those who had assembled on the occasion. This is also what happened in the early days of Islam. To wait for months has no precedent either in the early history of Islam or in the recent history of the Ahmadiyya Movement.” To this, Maulawi Muhammad Ali replied, “There are now differences which did not exist then, and moreover, what is the harm in waiting for sometime? If there is no Khalifa, what difference will it make? What is there on the morrow waiting to be done by the Khalifa?” Said I: “At the death of the Promised Messiah (as), the Jama‘at had unanimously decided that they would have a succession of Khulafa’. No consultation is needed on this point. We cannot, in fact, open the question over again. The question to be consulted about is the election of the Khalifa. And as regards your question, what is the need for a Khalifa, my answer is that besides spiritual guardianship of the Community, the function of a Khalifa is to maintain unity in the Community, and to protect it against disorder and dissension. A practical definition of these functions is not possible. I cannot, therefore, enumerate the concrete forms which it may assume. Nor is spiritual governance a tangible thing, that I could specify the duties which the Khalifa must perform, nor can we say when troubles may arise, that we could be certain that, for some time at least, there would be no need of a Khalifa. It is possible that, even tomorrow there should arise a situation calling for the interference of a guardian hand. You ought to give up, therefore, the question whether we should or should not have a Khalifa. We should discuss only the question who should be Khalifa?” Maulawi Muhammad Ali answered: “Here lies the difficulty. As there are differences of doctrine, there would be differences over the election of a Khalifa. How can we pledge our Bai‘at to one whose doctrines we disapprove?” I said: “Well, in the first place, the doctrinal differences are not such as would preclude one side from pledging its Bai‘at to one belonging to other. (At that time the doctrinal differences had not become so very marked as they became later on). And then we, at any rate, are prepared to pledge our Bai‘at to one of your party.” Maulawi Muhammad Ali now said: “It is a difficult matter. You had better think, and take counsel. Tomorrow again we will talk over the subject.” So did I request, saying, “You too had better consult your friends about the views I have expressed and let me know what they think, so that we may discuss the subject again.” Then we parted. At night, I called a meeting of my friends and reported to them our conversation. They all held that it was impossible on religious grounds to deny the Khilafat. It had been explicitly mentioned in the Holy Quran, that those who denied the authority of Khulafa’ were transgressors, and further that the Khilafat was one of the special blessings of God to the believers, and therefore they thought that it would never be proper for them to forego the Divine blessing. I told them that so far as I had understood from my conversation with Maulawi Muhammad Ali he would lay special stress upon that point. But still the meeting held that the point involved a religious principle, and could not, therefore, be sacrificed to any regard for personalities. The opposite side, it was urged had already pledged their Bai‘at to one Khalifa, and this proved that such pledging was at least permissible even according to them, and was not a sin. With our side, on the other hand, not to enter into Bai‘at with a Khalifa and thus to give up Khilafat itself, was a sin. If the party opposite was so insistent upon rejecting that which they regarded as permissible, how could they surrender a point and principle which they regarded as quite indispensable?

14th of March and a Tract by Maulawi Muhammad Ali

As advised by me the day before, many Ahmadis had resolved to fast and even those who seldom offered the Tahajjud prayers, made up their minds to offer them this night. I was up at about two and began to get ready for the Tahajjud prayers. I was in the middle of my ablutions, when somebody put into my hand a tract which, he said, had been distributed all over the route to Ahmadis coming from outside. I looked at the tract and found that it had been written by Maulawi Muhammad Ali. In it, he had asked Ahmadis not to let the succession of Khulafa’ continue any longer, and had stated that he had pledged his Bai‘at to the last Khalifa not as Khalifa but merely as a saint and Sufi. He had also stated that he was not aware as to who was going to be elected as the next Khalifa, but what he wished was as a well-wisher to advise Ahmadis not to have any Khalifa. Continuing, he had said that Miyań Sahib (i.e., the present writer) regarded non-Ahmadis as kuffar, a view which was not only wrong, but contrary to piety, and that if after all they were going to elect a Khalifa, he should be one who did not regard non-Ahmadis as kuffar, because the Khalifa should be one pre-eminent for his piety, while a person who regarded non-Ahmadis as kuffar could not be pious. Regarding himself he had said that he was a well-wisher of the Promised Messiah’s (as) family and friends, and respected them all. The object of the tract was obvious and need not be dwelt upon. It can be seen by anybody who would spend a little thought and try and read between the lines.

When I saw the tract I was struck with surprise, and my amazement knew no bounds. For, only a couple of days before, when I had proposed to issue a notice to the Jama‘at, suggesting that no discussion should be held on points of controversy so long as the Jama‘at did not have a chief who could direct the controversies and keep all excesses in proper check, Maulawi Muhammad Ali had observed that as Ahmadis outside were unaware of the internal differences of the Jama‘at such a notice was likely to prove injurious to the Movement. And now the same Maulawi Muhammad Ali had written not a notice but a tract and had sent it to Lahore to be printed, and not only had intended to distribute it himself, but had noted upon its first page a request to all Ahmadis widely to distribute the tract. This action of his seemed to be beyond my comprehension, and I wondered what to think of him, who while dissuading me only two days before from publishing a notice on the ground that it would prove a severe trial for many Ahmadis, had full one week before written a tract on the questions in dispute, and sent it to Lahore for printing and publishing. Could such an action, I wondered be consistent with true piety? Was there any sincerity in the reply he made to my proposal for a joint notice? Was it not mere diplomacy? Did not such action indicate the absence of a proper fear of God? Did it not contradict the clear teaching of the revealed word of God, the teaching promulgated by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sas)—the teaching to which, to lead back the world was the mission of the Promised Messiah (as) and for the due observance of which Maulawi Muhammad Ali had taken a pledge with Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra)?

Maulawi Muhammad Ali’s aim was only to bide time. In dissuading me from publishing the notice, his object was not to save the Community from any possible danger, but to throw the Community instead into an even more serious danger. This is evident from the fact that, even before I made my proposal for a notice, he had written a tract on those very subjects of controversy which he pretended to wish to avoid, and had it secretly forwarded to Lahore for printing. Could it be that while there was danger in restraining the Community from discussing controversial subjects—danger of making them aware of differences in the Community, and thus creating anxiety for individual members, and so on—there was no danger when he himself wrote his tract on those very subjects, called a whole section of the Jama‘at impious, and charged some with conspiracy?

It is certain Maulawi Muhammad Ali knew that if he had put his signature to the proposed notice, people would have demanded of him an explanation of the inconsistency between his word and deed, and reproved him in the words of the Holy Quran:

i.e., “What! do you admonish others to do good deeds and forget your own selves?” At the same time he saw that there was nothing in the proposed notice to which he could object and from this dilemma he sought to save himself by a plea. If Maulawi Muhammad Ali really meant to be sincere and honest, then the proper course for him, in case he was in agreement with the substance of the notice, was to recall the tract and stop its publication, and in case he was in disagreement with the notice, to tell me frankly that it was very necessary to inform the Community of the existing differences, that he had already written a tract on the subject, and sent it to Lahore for printing and publication, and that accordingly he could not properly be a party to the notice which I had proposed to circulate. But he chose to adopt neither of these two straightforward courses. He approved of the notice, but dissuaded me from its publication on the plea that it would make people aware of the internal differences of the Community. But himself he did not desist from publishing his tract. More than this, in the tract, he had gone so far as to say that differences had assumed such proportions that each party thought the other kuffar and deserving of the punishment of death and yet five years have passed since these discussions have been going and though they have increased in bitterness, nobody has pronounced the other party to be kuffar and deserving of the punishment of death. It appears however that Maulawi Muhammad Ali and his party have a strong desire to win the glory of such a pronouncement, that not so long ago they caught hold of a reporter’s mistake in the Tashhidhul Adhhan, and, in spite of an authoritative repudiation, persisted in the attitude of persecuted virtue to advertise their sufferings to the world.

In short, when I read the tract, I was filled with wonder. I could see the trouble that was coming. I had little doubt now that Maulawi Muhammad Ali would not be satisfied with anything less than a split in the Community. In such a predicament, what course was open to a believer but to fall down in supplication before the Lord and pray for His assistance. This was then the course which I followed. I prayed. There were others in the same room with me. I roused them from their beds and told them of the tract, and asked them to pray to God. We all prayed and fasted, as did most Ahmadis of Qadian who agreed with me in their views.

Maulawi Muhammad Ali Proves False to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra)

The tract is an index of Maulawi Muhammad Ali’s own inner mind. I have pointed out how in the matter of the notice proposed by me and the tract which he had secretly prepared and printed, he played false with me. I now wish to point out how by publishing this tract, Maulawi Muhammad Ali also proved false to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra). The most hard-hearted of men would shrink from acting with duplicity towards a dear friend who is seen lying in his death bed. But what did Maulawi Muhammad Ali do? Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) wrote out the Will, and made it over to Maulawi Muhammad Ali, and asked him to read it not once, nor twice, but three times over, and then asked him if there was anything which had been left out, and Maulawi Muhammad Ali said in reply that nothing had been left out, and that the Will was all right.

This Will had not been written by Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) while in the enjoyment of health. It was written in the course of illness and at a time when all hope of his recovery had been given up so far as human resources were concerned.

This Will had been written at a time when Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) could see death approaching, and when he was waiting for the hour he would leave the world to meet his Master and Lord.

This Will had been written at a time when Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) was going to bid farewell to the Community, the vessel of whose destiny, for six long years, he had been steering to success through all the worst storms and stresses. It had been written at a time when the thought of the future welfare of the Community more than anything else occupied his mind.

This Will had been written at a time when Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) was expecting to return to his beloved Master, the Promised Messiah (as), to report how faithfully he had discharged the Master’s trust.

This Will had been written at a time when Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih was about to close the last chapter of his life, and did not hope to have any more opportunity to serve the Community.

This Will had been written at a time when from weakness and prostration, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) could not even sit up in his bed, and the Will was therefore written with utmost difficulty in a state of reclining.

In short, this Will had been written at a time when its great author was passing the last hours of his holy life; when, on the one hand, the thought of the imminent meeting with his Creator and his beloved Master filled his soul with pleasurable excitement and, on the other, the fear that his death might bring to end all that he had worked and striven for during the last years of his life, filled his heart with untold anxiety; the Will had been written at a delicate hour when hope and fear between them tossed the soul of this great man.

This Will had been written by one at whose hands the whole of the Ahmadiyya Community with but few exceptions had solemnly pledged the oath of allegiance.

This Will had been written by one who, apart from being a Khalifa of the Promised Messiah (as), enjoyed an unquestioned pre-eminence in the whole Community in respect of piety and integrity.

This Will had been written by one whose benefits both material and spiritual a greater part of the Community had enjoyed right from the time of the Promised Messiah (as).

This Will had been written by one who was universally acknowledged for his great knowledge of the Quran and Hadith and for his undoubted devotion to them.

This Will had been written by one to whose every behest Maulawi Muhammad Ali had sworn implicit obedience, and whose spiritual yoke rested unshakeably upon Maulawi Muhammad Ali’s shoulders.

This Will had been written by one who even during the course of his last illness and in spite of the utmost physical prostration, underwent the trouble of giving Maulawi Muhammad Ali lessons in the Holy Quran.

In short the Will had been written by one, obedience to whom was for Maulawi Muhammad Ali a divinely appointed duty, and under the burden of whose favours Maulawi Muhammad Ali was bound to bow his head.

This was the Will which Maulawi Muhammad Ali was made to read not once, not twice, but three times over, and about which he was asked to say whether it had left out any thing unsaid.

Yes, this was the Will, regarding which when it had been read over by Maulawi Muhammad Ali when he had been asked whether anything had been left out of it unsaid, he had declared that nothing had been left out and that it was quite all right. This Will, in brief, was a remarkable Will in all respects and in all details. Its author was perfect in piety. The occasion on which it had been written was one of very special importance. Its contents were made fully known to Maulawi Muhammad Ali and Maulawi Muhammad Ali admitted that they were all right. It was his duty and a sacred duty to see that the Will was carried out. But what do we find he did? He treated the sacred trust in a way in which nobody ever treated such a trust.

While he was reading the Will, his mind was occupied in planning ways of undoing the Will. He was deceiving his spiritual chief while he lay on his deathbed. His body was by the bedside of his chief but his soul was far away devising its own plans. Retiring from the presence of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra), perhaps the first thing he did was to write out that tract, in which he tried to incite the Community against the Will; and although outwardly its principal objectives were myself and some other unnamed persons, what he really aimed at was to tear up that very testament which a few hours before he had solemnly received and acknowledged beside the deathbed of his spiritual chief and master.

No Plausible Pleas

Maulawi Muhammad Ali cannot possibly put forward the plea that the tract had been written before the Will. Even if it had been so, there was time for its withdrawal, and if he wished he could easily have recalled what he had written. He cannot put forward this plea because he himself wrote in that tract that Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) had declared that he should have a successor. Maulawi Muhammad Ali offers only one explanation of his conduct. He says that what Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) meant by having a successor was that a person should be selected from among the Jama‘at whose commands should be received with general respect. Such an interpretation, however, is obviously false, and I challenge Maulawi Muhammad Ali to say on oath, if he dares, that it was not the belief of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) that he was a Khalifa of the Promised Messiah (as), and the Bai‘at which people pledged to him was pledged to him in his capacity as Khalifa and not merely as an advanced Sufi or saint and further that after his death Khulafa’ who would succeed him would be Khulafa’ in the same capacity. I am sure, however, that Maulawi Muhammad Ali will never venture to deny this on oath, because he is fully aware that he has misrepresented Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra). He is also fully aware that the many published speeches of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) bear ample witness to what the great Khalifa thought and believed in this respect.

The conduct of Maulawi Muhammad Ali in the whole affair is indeed very amazing. But much of the amazement disappears when we remember that once before Maulawi Muhammad Ali had turned his back upon the Will of the Promised Messiah (as) himself. For, we remember that after the death of the Promised Messiah (as), agreeably to his instructions contained in Al-Wasiyyat, Maulawi Muhammad Ali not only pledged his Bai‘at to Hazrat Maulawi Noor-ud-Deen as Khalifa of the Promised Messiah (as), but also published an announcement calling upon other Ahmadis to do the same. (The Badr 2nd June, 1908, p. 6). Yet he ventures now to write that in the Will of the Promised Messiah (as) there is no mention of Khilafat at all, and that the Promised Messiah (as) never gave his sanction to Khulafa’ accepting Bai‘at from Ahmadis. Now, when it came to the knowledge of some people of the Jama‘at that Maulawi Muhammad Ali had not only played false with them, but had also ignored the Wills of the Promised Messiah (as) and the Khalifatul-Masih, and had attempted to create a split in the Community and invited Ahmadis to signify their opinion on the subject of his tract, then they also wrote out a statement and circulated it among Ahmadis who had come from outside with a view to ascertaining their opinion on the subject. The statement requested those who agreed with it to put their signatures on it, so that it might become clear to which side the opinion of the majority was inclined. From these signatures it was found that of those assembled more than ninety per cent were of the opinion that there must be a Khalifa, and that he should possess the same functions and powers as the late Khalifa. This statement has been misrepresented by Maulawi Muhammad Ali and his friends as a kind of intrigue. But what I wish to ask is whether it is an intrigue to ascertain openly the views of people, whether it was not Maulawi Muhammad Ali who, in his tract, had first invited Ahmadis to express their opinion on the questions in dispute, and whether it was not he and his party who first opened the door to this method of ascertaining the views of the people. Thus when the door was first thrown open by them, and others were constrained by the situation to enter the same door and make use of the same method, how could there be anything to object? Still there is this to be said to the credit of others that while Maulawi Muhammad Ali proceeded in the business with secrecy and craft, others acted throughout in an open and straightforward manner. Maulawi Muhammad Ali invited people to express their opinion about his views, and then others made a similar request to the people to give them their signatures in case they found themselves in agreement with views expressed in their statement.

All through Saturday, the stream of visitors continued to flow into Qadian. The idea was that as large a congregation as possible should be allowed to assemble, and the consultation made as wide as possible. By the time of Zuhr more than a thousand members from various centres had arrived and there was quite a large gathering. After the Zuhr prayers I assembled5 all my relatives and solicited their advice on the subject of the differences. Some were of the opinion that it was our duty to promulgate the doctrines which we believed to be true, and it was, therefore, indispensable that the Khalifa should be one who agreed with us in his views.

I explained to them that our most important concern at that moment was to preserve unity in the Jama‘at. To have a Khalifa was with us a religious necessity. If the other party should accept this view, then the proper course would be, to call for a general plebiscite, but if the party should object to such a course, then a person might be elected as Khalifa who was regarded by both parties as neutral, but if even this would not satisfy the other party, then some person might be selected from their ranks for the office of Khalifa, and to him the whole Community should pledge their Bai‘at. At my request the family of the Promised Messiah (as), to a person, agreed to these terms. Their agreement pleased me exceedingly and I thought that now the Community would be saved from the danger of a dissension. But providence had intended otherwise.

Last Conversation With Maulawi Muhammad Ali

When I came out I received a note from Maulawi Muhammad Ali to the effect that he wanted to speak to me on the subject of our previous day’s conversation. I asked him to come to my place. There were then present with me Maulawi Sayyid Muhammad Ahsan, Khan Muhammad Ali Khan, and Dr. Khalifa Rashiduddin. Maulawi Muhammad Ali had with him some of his own friends. When conversation began, I told him it was no use discussing the question of the need or validity of Khilafat; the discussion should be confined to the question who was to be the next Khalifa. Maulawi Muhammad Ali and his friends contended that nothing ought to be done for the time being, that enough time should be allowed to enable the Community to think over and decide upon the proper course they ought to follow, and that only when a unanimous decision had been reached, should we take any practical step. In reply I repeated what I had already said on the subject the day before. I also pointed out on this occasion that if after all the waiting the Community were still divided over the question, what were they then going to do? If the question was later to be decided by a majority, it was open to them even at the time to let the majority decide the question. Incidentally, the conversation turned upon the question of beliefs and Maulawi Sayyid Muhammad Ahsan had a passage at arms with Maulawi Muhammad Ali, in which Maulawi Muhammad Ahsan strongly upheld the view that the Promised Messiah (as) was a Nabi. I believe that if Maulawi Muhammad Ali were asked even now to state on oath, he will not venture to deny the truth of the incident. I, however, stopped the discussion saying that the time was not a fit one for such controversy, and that now every one should devote his thought to the problem, how to save the Community from a possible split. But the conversation showed no sign of coming to an end. Meanwhile, the noise outside increased and people got so excited that there was danger of the door being burst open. The people urged that they could wait no longer, that while we were unable to come to any decision the Community was waiting without a leader. I then said to Maulawi Muhammad Ali that we had better go out and consult the people assembled outside. Upon this, all at once the words escaped him, “You say so, because you know whom the people are going to elect.” I said, “Not so, I have already decided to pledge my Bai‘at to some one of your party.” But, nevertheless, he persisted in saying, “No, no, you know what they would do,” meaning that I knew that they would elect me as Khalifa. This made me despair of an agreement, and I could see that God had decreed quite otherwise. In spite of the decision, therefore, which I had come to, I saw that the other party showed no disposition for unity. These words which escaped Maulawi Muhammad Ali’s lips made it clear to me that the real cause of his opposition to the Khilafat was not his disbelief in Khilafat qua Khilafat but the fact that he had become afraid that the Community was bent upon choosing a particular person as their Khalifa. That this is the plain truth might be seen from the fact that only six years before, he had made a public announcement to the following effect:

“Agreeably to the commands of the Promised Messiah (as), contained in the book Al-Wasiyyat, we Ahmadis, whose signatures are appended below, with perfect sincerity of heart agree that all the present members of the Ahmadi Jama‘at, as well as all those who in future may seek admission into it, should in the name of Ahmad pledge their Bai‘at on the hand of Hazrat Haji Maulawi Hakim Noor-ud-Deen Sahib, the First of the Muhajirin, the most eminent amongst us in learning and piety, and the loyalist and the oldest Companion of our Imam, one whose example was held up before us by our Imam as a model for all of us, as in the couplet: ‘How well had it been if every one of this community had been a Noor-ud-Deen. So would it have been indeed, had every heart been filled with the Nur (light) of certainty.’ The commands of Hazrat Maulawi Sahib, in future, should be for us as the commands of the Promised Messiah and Mahdi (as).”

This announcement was published over the signature of a large number of the leading members of the Community. Maulawi Muhammad Ali was one of the signatories. The draft of the announcement which was published in the Badr of June 2, 1908, was first submitted as a supplication to Hazrat Khalifatu-Masih I (ra) on May 27, 1908. And then after the Bai‘at of Khilafat had been held, a further announcement in the same issue of the Badr was made by Khwaja Kamaluddin as Secretary, Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya. This announcement was to the following effect:

Before the funeral prayers of the Promised Messiah (as) were held at Qadian, and in accordance with his instructions contained in the book Al- Wasiyyat … Hakim Noor-ud-Deen Sahib was proclaimed the Promised Messiah’s (as) Successor and Khalifa, and the oath of Bai‘at taken on his hand … This announcement is being addressed as information to all members of the Movement, so that on reading it they should all in person or through letter present themselves at once to Hazrat Hakimul Ummat Khalifatul-Masih wal-Mahdi and take the oath of Bai‘at.

No new will or testament had since been found by Maulawi Muhammad Ali that he had now come to regard Khilafat as wrong. So the truth is but this that for their next Khalifa the Jama‘at was looking not to him but to somebody else.

Having despaired of agreement, I told Maulawi Muhammad Ali that as according to us to have a Khalifa was indispensable, while according to them, it was not, and as the difference was on a principle of religion, therefore, while it was open to him and his party to do as they pleased, we, who believed in the necessity of Khilafat, would meet separately and after consultation pledge our Bai‘at to one as our Khalifa. Saying this I got up and this meeting came to a close.

Bai‘at of Khilafat

It was now time for the ‘Asr prayers. After these prayers, Khan Muhammad Ali Khan, Jagirdar of Malerkotla, as executor of the Will of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) read out the Will to a congregation of between fifteen hundred and two thousand persons, and asked them as required by the Will to choose his Successor. The people then suggested my name for the office. Upon this Maulawi Muhammad Ahsan stood up and made a short speech. He said that in his opinion also I was the proper person to hold the office of Khalifa. Then, a general cry was raised that Bai‘at should be taken. In spite of the general wish I hesitated and held back. But the popular demand grew hot, as it did at the time of the election of Hazrat Abu Bakr. Men ran over one another. Some caught hold of my hand and pulled, insisting I should accept their Bai‘at. Still I hesitated, whereupon some who sat close to me began to urge that for the safety and security of the Jama‘at I should accept Bai‘at. I noticed that men were bursting with eagerness for Bai‘at and were pushing closer and closer so that at last I was completely surrounded by them. I might even have been crushed by their weight had not some friends thought of making a cordon behind me. I did not know the words in which Bai‘at was administered, and I sought to make that a ground for holding back. I said, “I know not the formula of Bai‘at.” But Maulawi Sayyid Sarwar Shah Sahib offered to repeat the formula, and urged that I should only accept Bai‘at. Then I understood that such was the Will of God and to His will I submitted. I accepted Bai‘at from the people, and in spite of my reluctance, it all came to pass as it had been decreed from the beginning.

Out of about 2,000 people who were present at the time, only about 50 withheld their Bai‘at. All the rest took the pledge. The Bai‘at over, funeral prayers were offered for Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra).

The Bai‘at then had been taken. The men who entered into the Bai‘at were more numerous, and the congregation which agreed on the Bai‘at was larger than in the case of the last Khalifa. Nevertheless, Maulawi Muhammad Ali and his friends were not satisfied. Still they called the whole thing an intrigue. They circulated to the Jama‘at at large that no decision had been reached regarding the question of Khilafat, and that all that had taken place at Qadian was the result of collusion and conspiracy.

Unscrupulous Propaganda

Opposition grew until all ordinary scruples were thrown to the winds. The Paigham-e-Sulh for instance reported that the funeral prayers of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) had been attended by some two thousand five hundred men (March 17, 1914). But the same paper a little later wrote, “Those who had seen the faces of the Promised Messiah (as) and of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) refrained from such a Bai‘at, and of all the people present nearly half refused to take Bai‘at (March 22, 1914).” This report obviously implied that of the men who had been in the company of the Promised Messiah (as) and of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) not one entered into Bai‘at with me, and further that of all the people present at Qadian nearly one half declined to pledge their Bai‘at. The truth, as I have said, was that those who refused Bai‘at did not number more than fifty, while of the 2,000 or, according to the Paigham-e-Sulh, 2,500 people who were present, more than half were those who had been in the company of the Promised Messiah (as) and Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra). Of the Muhajirin at Qadian whose number was not less than three or four hundred, only four or five held back. Apparently, according to the Paigham-e-Sulh, not one of them had been in the company of the Promised Messiah (as) and Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra). Dr. Mirza Ya‘qub Baig, Secretary Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha‘at-e-Islam, Lahore, went even further. He wrote in the Akhbar-e-‘Am that a majority of those present on the occasion did not even know who had been elected Khalifa. When notice was taken of this glaring falsehood Dr. Mirza Ya‘qub Baig, the author of this report wrote in the Paigham of April 2, that what he meant was that of the “enlightened” members present, the majority did not enter into my Bai‘at. This epithet of “enlightened” is so conveniently vague that what the doctor could mean by it must necessarily remain a mystery to others. For, it is open to everybody to say that only those who agree with him are enlightened and the others not. If, however, any reasonable criteria are to be applied to that expression than I can well say that not only a considerable number but a preponderating majority of those present entered into my Bai‘at. The Paigham-e-Sulh and its correspondent between them furnished a refutation of the false report made by Mirza Ya‘qub Baig. For, the Paigham stated that the congregation consisted either of the Ansarullah or of rustics who were thrilling with eagerness to enter into Bai‘at and so they did. The question what the congregation consisted of—the Ansarullah or rustics or what—is not my present concern. Whoever they were, they—according to the Paigham-e-Sulh not only swore the Bai‘at but were thrilling with eagerness for it. It was, therefore, a misstatement, nay, a case of clear falsehood on the part of Dr. Mirza Ya‘qub Baig to say that of the assembled people the majority did not even know who had been elected Khalifa.

The misstatement of the Paigham that the majority of those who pledged their Bai‘at were members of the Anjuman Ansarullah is sufficiently refuted by the fact that the total strength of this Anjuman was less than 175 and of these not all were present at Qadian at the time. And yet, according to its own report, some 2500 men were present at Qadian on the occasion.

Conspiracy Charge Against the Ansarullah

Another method they adopted in order to mislead the people was to represent the Bai‘at of Khilafat as the result of a conspiracy by the Ansarullah. As already said, the total strength of the Ansarullah throughout India was less than 175. So even if one were to assume that the Ansarullah made themselves very active in this affair, what influence could the opinion of a hundred or a hundred and fifty men exert upon that of two thousand and five hundred? Of what consequence was the opinion of such a small body? As for the alleged conspiracy, it will suffice for the purpose of refutation to quote a statement from the right hand man of Maulawi Muhammad Ali, Hakim Muhammad Husain alias Marham-e-‘Isa, a preacher of the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha‘at-e-Islam, Lahore.

The statement was made by him at the time when these charges were made against the Ansarullah. It runs as follows:

“I bear witness in truth that I was for a considerable time a member of the Ansarullah, and even now, if Miyań Sahib has not removed me from membership, I consider myself one of its members. At the meetings of the Ansarullah held at Lahore in which I had the occasion to take part, I never found any body intriguing with the object of putting up Miyań Sahib6 as Khalifa, or indulging in any conversation suggestive of such an intrigue. And God is my witness in what I say. Nor did I ever receive any note from Sahibzadah Sahib which could suggest any intrigue for becoming Khalifa; nor did I ever have any conversation with Sahibzadah Sahib suggestive of any such intrigue.

A similar statement in writing was also made by M. Faqirullah Sahib, Superintendent of the Office of Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha‘at-e-Islam, Lahore who was also a member of the Ansarullah: “There never was in my presence in the Ansarullah any conversation suggesting any such intrigue.” But, in addition to these testimonies, the fact which goes completely to disprove the allegation is that a considerable number of the members of the Anjuman Ansarullah are at present with Maulawi Muhammad Ali. If the purpose of the Anjuman was to raise me to the Khilafat, how could it be that as soon as I was elected Khalifa these men went over to the other side, and how could it be that in spite of having joined the other party and in spite of being aware of the intrigue to promote me to the Khilafat, they decided to keep it all to themselves? Of the Anjuman Ansarullah there are at least 10 members at present who are with Maulawi Muhammad Ali. The existence of such men in the Anjuman is proof positive of the fact that the charge of conspiracy brought against the Ansarullah in connection with the Khilafat is a gross falsehood fabricated out of malice to deceive the people.

Another charge brought against the Ansarullah is that towards the end of the life of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) they wrote post cards to members outside informing them that the health of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) was fast failing, and that his life was not likely to be much prolonged, so that those who wanted to see him should come to Qadian. From this, it is concluded that a conspiracy had been organised by the Ansarullah. True, post cards were written by the Secretary, Anjuman Ansarullah. It was one of the duties of the Anjuman to render service to the brethren. But the question is, who were the people to whom those cards were addressed. Had the cards been addressed only to members of the Anjuman Ansarullah even then there would have been no cause for complaint, though their enemies could then say that the motive in writing the post cards was to collect together men of their own way of thinking. But in point of fact the post cards were not written to the Ansarullah only but were written to the Secretaries of all the Ahmadiyya Anjumans. If, therefore, any conclusion is to be drawn from the writing of the post cards it is that the Ansarullah desired that on the occasion of the election of the Khalifa there should be as large a gathering as possible of the representatives of the Jama‘ats and that there should therefore be an adequate consultation. Their action, therefore, was one to be commended and not one to be criticised. The post cards were a vindication of the innocence of the Anjuman Ansarullah, because, had there been any thing sinister in them, the efforts of the Anjuman would have been directed towards dissuading Ahmadis from coming to Qadian. It would have sent its intimations only to its own members so as to be able to carry out everything as it desired. But, instead, the Anjuman Ansarullah sent out timely intimation of the impending event to the whole of the Jama‘at and not merely to their own members, with the result that nearly 2,000 people assembled on the occasion. In this connection, the fact may also be noted that, during the illness of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (ra) similar intimations were sent out twice by Maulawi Sadruddin. Now, if the posting of cards by the Anjuman Ansarullah was a conspiracy, was not the action of Maulawi Sadruddin also conspiracy?

Yet another method designed to defame me was to say that those who had assembled on the occasion had been tutored beforehand to suggest my name when time came for the election of the Khalifa. In support of this, it is said that even during the lifetime of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra), Maulawi Muhammad Ismail asked some people to prepare 40 men who when the time came should pledge their Bai‘at to me. I am sorry to have to say that, forced by circumstances, Maulawi Muhammad Ismail did really commit an indiscretion. He has, however, made a frank confession to me of the facts which are as follows: A friend of Maulawi Muhammad Ismail brought him the report that Maulawi Muhammad Ali had been asked by Dr. Mirza Ya‘qub Baig to hold himself in readiness for the office of Khalifa, to which the former had replied that he was not equal to the burden. Upon this, the doctor had reassured him saying that he need not worry about the burden, as the doctor Sahib and his friends would render him all necessary help. [This story was current at Qadian at the time with the further addition that doctor Sahib said at the end that if Maulawi Muhammad Ali was not prepared to undertake the burden, they might put up the doctor Sahib for the office, God only knows what truth there was in the story. But as I have not up to now come across any evidence in support of the story, I am not prepared to give any credit to it —Author]. This friend of Maulawi Muhammad Ismail warned him to be on the alert, lest the other party should spring a surprise at the last moment, and in concert with a number of people make a bid for the Khilafat. The friend also pointed out the necessity for being prepared for such a contingency. Maulawi Muhammad Ismail says that after this he mentioned the danger to several of his friends, suggesting that on their side too a party should hold themselves in readiness for such an emergency. Some of the men to whom he made the suggestion approved of it but others opposed it. Among the latter he named Miyań Mirajuddin. The latter insisted that the affair was one for the decision of God, and that any such interference would be unjustified. Similarly, Maulawi Muhammad Ismail says regarding Mir Muhammad Ishaq that although he (Maulawi Muhammad Ismail) had not spoken to the latter directly on the subject, the latter having heard some of his conversation on the subject with somebody else had remarked that they (Maulawi Muhammad Ismail and his friends) must abandon any such idea, and that everything would turn out as it would please God, and that any endeavour on their part was sure to end in discomfiture. Maulawi Muhammad Ismail says that such consultations were held with not more than 8 or 10 men, most of whom were not members of the Anjuman Ansarullah. The idea was, however, abandoned because of the view expressed by some that the affair was one which belonged to God, and should best be resigned to Him, and it was abandoned particularly because it had become known that I had already decided that it was our duty to save the Jama‘at from a split even if we had to pledge our Bai‘at to one of the other party. This is the truth about the incident, and although there is no doubt that Maulawi Muhammad Ismail did commit an indiscretion, we must remember that neither the Anjuman Ansarullah, nor I had any concern with the affair. Maulawi Muhammad Ismail was actuated by what he thought was a necessary precaution against a rumoured danger. Not more than 8 or 10 persons were taken in confidence in connection with it, and then it was promptly abandoned. Some members of the Ansarullah and one of my own relatives (Mir Muhammad Ishaq Sahib) strongly dissuaded him from the enterprise and when he came to know my mind, he completely abandoned any further pursuit of the idea. There was therefore, in this no conspiracy of any kind.

A Proper Rejoinder

But on the other hand, as a proper rejoinder to the charge, we on our part may mention one incident of which the communicant is no less a person than the well known writer, the late Qazi Abdul Haq. He did not in the beginning pledge his Bai‘at to me. He reported that after the death of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra), Maulawi Sadruddin, Woking Missionary and Headmaster of the Muslim High School at Lahore, when he saw that Ahmadis were not disposed to go without a Khalifa, made up his mind that a Khalifa should be elected, and as Maulawi Muhammad Ali by the publication of his secret tract had given away his own case, he proposed that Sayyid Abid Ali Sahib should be elected to the office. It was therefore resolved to prepare 40 men who would agree to pledge their Bai‘at to Sayyid Abid Ali Sahib. For this purpose, says Qazi Abdul Haq, Maulawi Sadruddin, lantern in hand, went round the whole night visiting the 2000 Ahmadis who had assembled on the occasion. He was accompanied in those rounds by Qazi Abdul Haq himself and another person. His object was to find out at least 40 men who would endorse his views, but out of a gathering of 2000 (the majority of whom according to their report entertained the greatest aversion for me), they could not find even that inconsiderable number to support their views. Qazi Abdul Haq, of course, is now dead, but will Maulawi Sadruddin who is still alive affirm on oath that the above incident has no basis in fact; and in view of this incident was he justified in objecting to the activity of Maulawi Muhammad Ismail which was soon abandoned at the instance of Maulawi Sahib’s own friends.

Besides this, there is another testimony in this connection. This is the testimony of Doctor Ilahi Bakhsh Sahib, who says:

“I remember that at the time when the illness of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I (ra) had not yet reached so serious a stage—though his condition was daily growing worse—I happened one day to speak to Akbar Shah Khan Sahib saying that the condition of Hazrat Sahib was getting more and more critical. May God help us. The conversation led us to the question of Khilafat, and Khan Sahib said that there was of course the danger of a split because the Lahore party would not accept the Khilafat of Miyań Sahib. On the other hand if one were to look to Khwaja Sahib, then there were others who were reluctant to accept him. There was, however, one way open which could prevent the split, and at the same time maintain the Khilafat, I inquired what; to which Khan Sahib replied that if Miyań Sahib could be-magnanimous a way could be found which lay in the selection of Maulawi Muhammad Ali. If Bai‘at were to be pledged to him then the Lahore party as well as others would agree to accept him in common. This was a private talk which took place a considerable time before the death of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I.

From the above testimony, it is clear that the charge which our opponents wish to prove against us is one of which they themselves stand guilty. As for the charge levelled against us, I have already shown that the incident in question arose out of an indiscretion by one or two of our members. But this was stopped at the instance of other members of our own party before it could produce any results.

Other reports of a similar kind were spread from time to time with a view to prejudice the people against me. But God granted increased strength to the Movement; and although, to begin with, 99 per cent of the members of the Community, according to our opponents’ version, were with them, in a short time God brought them all over to my side so that now by His grace about 99 per cent of the members are with me.

Consultation at Lahore

Maulawi Muhammad Ali’s party raised the cry that the men who were assembled at Qadian at the election of the Khalifa could not represent the opinion or the advice of the Community at large. They, therefore, invited the Community at large through letters and through newspaper announcements to assemble on the 22nd of March at Lahore to discuss the whole question. As a result of this general invitation, there assembled at Lahore according to a report of the Paigham-e-Sulh itself, a gathering of 110 men inclusive of the local members. Only 42 came from outside Lahore and of these none, except 4 or 5 possessed any representative character. They came to the meeting in their individual capacities. The supporters of Maulawi Muhammad Ali at Lahore accepted the opinion of these 42 members as the deliberate opinion of the whole of the Ahmadiyya Community and announced that my Khilafat was irregular and invalid. But what actually happened was that even out of these 110 members, a further 10 subsequently came over to me and entered my Bai‘at. One of these was the same Mir Hamid Shah Sahib, now deceased, whom previously they had selected as a person suitable for the Khilafat. This left to them only 100 men. According to the Lahore party, the decision of these 100 men was the authoritative decision of the entire Ahmadiyya Community, while the decision of the very much more numerous gathering at Qadian was the result of collusion and conspiracy on the part of the Anjuman Ansarullah!

The whole of the Jama‘at at Qadian, with the exception of four or five individuals accepted my Bai‘at, and the other party came ultimately to abandon all hope of success at Qadian. Accordingly they decided to transfer their headquarters at Lahore. An excuse was sought for Maulawi Muhammad Ali to leave Qadian. One day news came to me that while Maulawi Muhammad Ali was leaving the mosque after performing the Friday prayers, 3 or 4 children (from 5 to 7 years of age) had expressed their intention of throwing pebbles at Maulawi Muhammad Ali. Upon this, at the time of my lecture on the Holy Quran, I spoke to the Jama‘at saying that although they were only children who had said these words, yet upon a repetition of the offence, I would hold the parents of the children responsible and visit them with punishment.

Later, I heard that Maulawi Muhammad Ali was afraid of continuing further residence in Qadian, and had therefore decided to leave the place. I, thereupon, sent Dr. Rashiduddin to assure him that he need not have any apprehension whatsoever, and that I was prepared to undertake full responsibility for his safety; and so I requested him to give up the idea of leaving Qadian. Dr. Rashiduddin also bore a letter containing the same message. Maulawi Muhammad Ali replied to the effect: “How can it be that I should abandon Qadian? I am only going to the hills on account of the heat in order to complete the translation of the Holy Quran, and for this purpose, I have already had permission of the Anjuman during the lifetime of the late Khalifa.” He also thanked me for the expression of sympathy. I was not, however, satisfied with this. So I went personally to his house in order to talk over the subject with him. I was accompanied by Khan Muhammad Ali Khan Sahib and Doctor Rashiduddin. When we arrived there, there was to begin with some talk on the subject of the translation of the Holy Quran. I then turned the conversation to the immediate purpose of our visit. But Maulawi Muhammad Ali called out to a certain half-witted man known as Miyań Bagga, and started talking at random with him. When I found that Maulawi Sahib was not disposed to bring his talk with Miyań Bagga to a close, I had to get up and withdraw. Soon after this, Maulawi Sahib left Qadian. He took away with him properties of the value of nearly Rs. 3,000/ in books, type-writer, etc on the plea of having had to translate the Holy Quran. Some people advised me at the time to ask him to leave behind the properties. He was not likely, they said, to return, and was taking away the properties only on a false pretence. Some even went so far as to urge that the properties were a sacred trust and I must not be negligent in taking proper care of them. But I replied to them all saying that as Maulawi Muhammad Ali had given the assurance that he was taking those books and accessories in order to help him in the work of translating the Holy Quran, and that he was going out only for a few months, for the period of leave already sanctioned to him, I had no right to call his motive into question. Accordingly I said nothing.

Maulawi Muhammad Ali Leaves Qadian

Later events show that the suspicions of my friends were well founded. Maulawi Muhammad Ali’s departure from Qadian was a departure for good, and what he had said to me was simply an excuse with nothing sincere about it. The books and other things which he had taken away with him, he refused to return in spite of repeated requests. Now so long as his name continues to be remembered the odium of this misappropriation will remain associated with him. A man who could take away books and other articles on trust for a few months and then refuse to return them could not be the leader of any community much less the leader of a Muslim community.

With the departure of Maulawi Muhammad Ali from Qadian, Lahore became the new Madinatul Masih (the City of the Messiah). The question naturally occurred to many, whether Maulawi Muhammad Ali was himself the Messiah. Because so long as he was in Qadian, Qadian remained the Madinatul Masih. But as soon as he withdrew to Lahore, Lahore became the Madinatul Masih. True, a certain distinction now fell to the share of Lahore, and thus was fulfilled one of the wishes of the promoters of the Paigham-e-Sulh which had found inadvertent expression in its issue of March 10 in the following words: “At any rate, the death of the Promised Messiah (as) in this city ought to bring to Lahore some distinction.” Shrewd students of human motives will perceive and enjoy the pathetic humour of these few words in which are packed a mass of ambition, desire, longing and hope.

No sooner was Maulawi Muhammad Ali installed at Lahore than the opposition received an added impetus. The incident of the children’s threat to pelt him came soon to assume the form that “some children threw stones at Maulawi Muhammad Ali, but … God be thanked they did not hurt him.” A little later that “some children threw stones at him but God be thanked that his eyes were not hurt.” Then, the story underwent a further elaboration, and took the form that “the people of Qadian threw stones.” Then that “his life was not safe among the people of Qadian, inasmuch as a beginning had been made by them by throwing stones at him.” The last version was one given by Maulawi Muhammad Ali himself before a number of people at Amritsar.

Maulawi Muhammad Ali left Qadian, and it was thought that with his departure would go down the sun of Qadian’s prosperity, and dissolution would set in the centre established by the Promised Messiah (as).

Maulawi Muhammad Ali left Qadian, and it was thought that no trace would now be left of Islam in this place. Mirza Ya‘qub Baig remarked referring to the Ta‘limul Islam High School at Qadian that now that they were going, not ten years would pass before the place would be captured by the Christian missionaries.

Maulawi Muhammad Ali left Qadian, and it was thought that the moving spirit of the place had departed. It began to be remarked publicly that there remained no capable person at Qadian, that not many days would pass before all activities of the place would come to an end.

Maulawi Muhammad Ali left Qadian, and it was thought that with him all blessings had left the place. It was openly asserted that contributions would cease, the people would begin to starve, and would then come to their senses.

Maulawi Muhammad Ali left Qadian, and it was thought that with his departure had vanished the integrity of the Qadian headquarters. For, it was given out that all funds would now be appropriated by the Khalifa, and would be lost to the Community.

Maulawi Muhammad Ali departed from Qadian, and it was thought that with his departure, death would come over Islam in Qadian. For, it began to be feared that open disregard would now be shown to the commandments of Islam, the Ahmadiyya Movement would be brought to ruin and there would be no one to prevent the disaster.

Maulawi Muhammad Ali departed from Qadian, and the Muhajirin of Qadian at once changed places with the unbelievers of Mecca, for it was prophesied that in ten years time Maulawi Muhammad Ali would come back with his friends, and enter the place victoriously like the Holy Prophet (sas) in pomp and power.

Prophecies Fulfilled

The truth however was that Maulawi Muhammad Ali departed from Qadian, and with his departure was fulfilled the prophecy contained in the revelations of the Promised Messiah (as) “There are many humble ones who will be made eminent, and many eminent ones who will be made humble. So danger lies ahead!” (Brahin-e-Ahmaddiyya, part V, p. 89.)

Maulawi Muhammad Ali and his friends departed from Qadian, and in their departure was fulfilled for a second time the revelation of the Promised Messiah (as)

, i.e., Men of Yazid-like disposition would be expelled from Qadian. The prophecy was fulfilled first by the fact that the original dwellers of Qadian refused to accept the Promised Messiah (as), and it was fulfilled for a second time by the fact that people who were envious and jealous of members of the Promised Messiah’s (as) family, and had thereby proved themselves like Yazid, now came, by a Divine design, to be expelled from Qadian.

Maulawi Muhammad Ali departed from Qadian, and in his departure was fulfilled the divine promise revealed to the Promised Messiah (as)

, i.e., “I am with you and your family.” For, notwithstanding his high position in the Jama‘at and his hold on all its affairs, God made him bite the dust in his contest with a weak and helpless person like me.

Maulawi Muhammad Ali left Qadian, and by His powerful signs, did God prove that the Movement did not depend for its success upon any individual. God Himself was its Protector and that, if He wished, He could make even him, who was thought to be unworthy and a mere stripling, the instrument of His Will.

In short, Maulawi Muhammad Ali departed from Qadian, and in his departure God furnished another powerful evidence of His Greatness and Glory. He showed Himself again with all His living signs, and manifested His effulgence in the fullness of its glory. He proclaimed to the world the fact that Ahmadiyyat was a plant of His own sowing, which no one could destroy, that Khilafat was a tree of His own rearing which no one could uproot, that this humble and helpless one had been brought through His own grace and favour to occupy the seat of Khilafat, and now there was no one who could stand against him, and that Qadian was a city beloved by Him which no one had the power to ruin. For Qadian is Mecca—the Mecca of the vicegerent and counter-type of Muhammad (sas). It is a town of the poor but under the Protection of God Almighty.

And now we close with the prayer, “All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.”

1 The Masjid Mubarak was in the beginning very small in size. It had been built by the Promised Messiah (as) long before he made any claim to any Divine commission. It was, at first, simply intended to provide for him a place of retirement where he could worship God in solitude. It was built over the lane which adjoins his house, and which had been roofed over for the purpose. There was room in it for only thirty persons to offer their prayers. When, after the announcement of his claim, people began to come and settle in Qadian, and the Community increased in numbers, the mosque was extended with the help of subscriptions raised from the Community. A sketch plan of the mosque is given below:

2 Vide Lord Headley: A Western Awakening to Islam.

3 In summarising Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih’s (ra) address, the Paigham-e-Sulh wrote: “The people who wrote the Izharul Haq and those who published the open letter as well as those who discussed the question of Khilafat and those who published the booklets what right had they to do so?” (The Paigham-e-Sulh dated 14th January 1914, page 13.)

4 The Paigham-e-Sulh, dated the 3rd March, 1914 wrote: “Even the Miyań has not understood it.” Risala Kufr wa Islam, p. 12 wrote: “Even the Miyań has not understood the question.”

5 As far as I remember this consultation was held on Saturday but, according to some, even this consultation was held on Friday.

6 i.e., the present writer.

PART TWO

The True Story of the Split

Suggestion to Convert The Review of Religions