Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page 338
338 AHMADIYY AT whatever capacity he was called upon. For a period he served as the President of the Sadar Anjuman Ahmadiyya, which office, though honorary, involved the discharge of heavy responsibilities at the Centre of the organizational pattern of the Movement. He possesses a firm but gentle disposition which is charac- terized chiefly by shyness and modesty. It has been observed, however, that when the occasion so demands he does not fail to provide dashing leadership. He was called to his exalted office at a mature age in the face of the most poignant tragedy of his revered father's death, and by the grace and mercy of God, has proved himself an inexhaustible source of comfort and consolation to all members of the Movement, not only at that critical juncture in the fortunes of the Community but through the series of crises with which the Movement has been faced fro m time to time during his Khilafa t. From the beginning of his Khilafat he has given proof of great zeal and drive in the pursuit of the objectives of the Movement. One of the very first projects that he initiated was the setting up of the Fazl-i-Umar Foundation in memory of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II, the purpose of which was to push forward all the designs in which the late Khalifatul Masih had taken particular interest. It was made clear that the Foundation would not take over or intervene in the exercise of any function that had been allotted to any of the existing institutions or departments of the Movement, though it could be called upon to render aid or assistance in carrying out any project which the department concerned was unable to put through for lack of adequate personnel or resources. An appeal was made to the Community to provide two and a half million rupees as the capital of the proposed Foundation, the income of which would be utilized by the Foundation for the achievement of its purposes. The Community responded readily to the appeal and provided over two million rupees in