Cherished Memories of Africa — Page 98
80 addition to French (national language of Senegal) he knew English quite well. (Very few of the Senegalese speak English). Therefore, I had little problem in communicating with him and that was a great blessing in Senegal. The school was only five minutes’ walk from my house and I would visit him whenever I had time and spoke to him at length on various issues. Very prudently, I started introducing Ahmadiyyat to him. Initially he argued a lot, even resorting to absurd reasoning at times. However, he mellowed gradually with passage of time and was greatly impressed by the beliefs and international services rendered by the jama’at. I started giving him French translations of jama’at books, including ‘Invitation to Ahmadiyyat’ and ‘Introduction to the Study of the Holy Quran’. He was a well-educated person and free of prejudice. When he had studied those books, I prompted him in a suitable way to perform bai’at and gave him a bai’at form which he promised to fill in and send it to me in due course. I spoke to him about the bai’at form a few times, but he kept silent. I did not want to push the matter either. Several months elapsed but he did not sign the bai’at form. I felt that he avoided talking about the jama’at any further. Later, I came to know that his wife belonged to the family of a well-known religious guide in Senegal. I reckoned that his in-laws must have warned and threatened him, therefore, I adopted silence over the issue. But it hurt me very much because I had worked hard over him; he was an educated person and I had imagined and had hoped that his conversion would open up many avenues for the introduction and progress of the jama’at. His negative approach was quite a shock for me. Anyway, I always maintained good relations with him and he would help me whole-heartedly in any academic project wherein I needed his help.