Cherished Memories of Africa — Page 159
141 directions. The religious leaders organized a meeting in which a programme to combat Ahmadiyyat in an organized way was hatched. Accordingly, Alahaje Jikini and another religious scholar Alahji Fadera were sent to the Ahmadiyya mission. Alahaje Jikini had prepared forty questions which he thought could not be answered by the Ahmadis. The consequent defeat will disgrace the jama’at throughout the country. The delegate came to see Maulana Muhammad Sharif, the then Amir of the Gambia Jama’at. They were offered drinks but they refused. They started putting forward their objections. Maulana Sharif started answering the questions calm and patiently in the light of Quran and Hadith. He had dealt with only a few of the questions, Alahaje Jikini listened to these sound, satisfactory, logical and irrefutable answers. As he was inherently good natured and virtuous, the explanations untwined the cords of his heart, he took the oath of allegiance sincerely and entered the fold of Ahmadiyyat. Severe Opposition : The news was no less than a bolt of lightning for the religious scholars and especially for his household as the whole tribe had placed high hopes in him. The household tried everything to bring him back from the right path. All his brothers and sisters, his dear ones and near ones and the renowned scholars and chiefs tried every conceivable trick. However, neither love nor temptations or fear could shake his conviction. Then, everything changed dramatically. Love changed to hatred, friends became foes and the family distanced themselves. The dear ones and near ones who would previously lay down their lives for him turned into deadly enemies. According to the family