Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page 337
CHAPTER SIXTEEN Hazrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad Sahib, Khalifatul Masih III, was 56 years of age when he was elected to his exalted office. Under the directions of his revered father he had at an early age committed the whole of the Holy Quran to memory. His education and training had comprised the religious as well as the secular in both of which he attained high proficiency. All through priority had been given to the religious over the secular and to the spiritual over the intellectual, yet neither was neglected. After having completed his course of theo- logical and oriental studies at the level of High Proficiency, he graduated from Government College Lahore and obtained the Bachelor of Arts Degree of the Punjab Univer- sity. He then proceeded. to England for postgraduate studies at Balliol College, Oxford, and in due course obtained the Honours Degree of the University of Oxford, and later became Master of Arts of the University. On return from England he was appointed a professor in the Theological Seminary at Qadian and later became its Principal. On the establishment, in 1944 of the Talimul Islam College, which was affiliated to the Punjab University, he was appointed its first Principal, which office he filled with distinction for 21 years, and which he relinquished on his election as Khalifatul Masih III. Under his devoted care and guardianship the Talimul Islam College went steadily for- ward and established a record of both academic achievement and athletic performance, as one of the foremost educational institutions in the province. For a number of years Sahibzada Mirza Nasir Ahmad Sahib also served as a member of the governing body of the Punjab University in which capacity he rendered valuable service to the cause of higher education in the province. While for more than twenty years the college had a prior c~aim on his time and attention, he was ready to serve in 337