Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page 251
THE RENAISSANCE OF ISLAM 251 charge of the Ahmadiyya Mission in London. The organizers of the proposed conference sounded him on the possibility of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II participating in the conference and addressing it as the representative of Islam. Maulvi Nayyar Sahib conveyed the suggestion to the Khalifatul Masih and urged him to signify his willingness to address the conference, if he was invited to do so. The Khalifatul Masih took counsel with some of the leading members of the Movement and decided that he would accept the invitation. His willingness to do so was conveyed to the organizers of the conference through Maulvi Nayyar Sahib. On his part he immediately embarked upon a project to write a book setting forth in some detail the principles and teachings of Islam. He wrote it in Urdu and it was translated into English. The printing of the English translation was completedjust in time before he set out on his journey to England with a dozen companions. On his way he stopped off at Port Said and visited, among other places, Jerusalem and Damascus. In London he took up his residence, along with his companions, at 6 Chesham Place, S. W. 1. His arrival in London was widely publicized in the press. The conference was held at the Imperial Institute in South Kensington, in an upper hall of commodious proportions. The Khalifatul Masih attended the conference at various times and thus had opportunities of meeting a large number of people. On the day on which his paper was to be read out he was seated on the dais with his companions and his paper was read out by one of his principal followers. The great hall was absolutely packed with people and some people not finding room inside the hall crowded the. wide staircase that led down from the hall. The address. was listened to in absolute silence and with concentrated attention and when the reading was finished a deep sigh was heard to go up as if the audience had been released from a spell, and everybody attempted to rush to the dais to shake hands with the Khalifa- tul Masih, or at least approach close to him. The address received a very good press also. The Khalifatul Masih's book, Ahmadiyyat or The True