Cherished Memories of Africa — Page 97
79 opinion expressed by the others – ‘what would the people say’. Therefore, they often resort to absurd reasoning and see nothing wrong in relying on falsehood. Thus the imam’s presence aroused the concern that he would not let the villagers listen to us. About forty persons had gathered there. The imam said, ‘you are our guests and you have said that you have brought the message of Ahmadiyyat. Please give us the message. ’ I asked our Arabic speaking muallim, Sali Jabi to read out the conditions of bai’at. Sali Sahib read out the bai’at form in Arabic, explaining some points. That was followed by a question/answer session. The imam then stood up and said, ‘I have been searching the truth all my life. I have studied and observed many religious jama’ats and sects but none of them ever satisfied me. Today, I have heard the teachings of your jama’at for the first time and my heart tells me that this is the jama’at I have been looking for all my life. ’ Then he declared that he was becoming an Ahmadi. Many of the others also performed bai’at with him. That was a wonderful experience – my concerns at variance with the Divine Will! I sought forgiveness for entertaining those concerns and thanked Allah for His bounties. Change for the better ABDUSSALAM Jallow In 1985, the Amir, complying with directive from the centre, instructed me to go to Laolack, Senegal. I took the local transport and got there. There was a Government Primary School near my house. I went to the head master’s office one day and introduced myself briefly to him. He told me his name was Abdussalam bari. Bari People are members of Fulani tribe, mostly from Labe area of Guinea Conakry. Bari was a nice and good natured person In