Fazl-e-Umar — Page 243
Fazle Umar 243 as Khalifatul Masih II in 1914. The educational institution would definitely sink into insignificance. The building would pass over to Aryas or Christians whose arguments in favour of their faith and attacks on Islamic teaching would remain unbaffled by the mediocre ability and intel- ligence left behind. Hitherto all attention had been riveted on the school and almost all those associated with its name were then considered to be huge intellectual giants and all prophecies about the collapse of the Community bade fair to being fulfilled. They left Qadian but their hopes never materialised. 115 During the lifetime of the Promised Messiah [as] the Ta’limul Islam High School had been raised to an Intermediate College, but in consequence of a set of new regulations of the University of the Punjab, compliance with which was beyond the resources of the Community, the College classes had to be closed in 1905. The need of a college had, however, progressively become more insistent due to the reasons cited above and eventually the Ta’limul Islam College was restarted on 4 June 1944, but this time the College was not limited to Intermediate classes. It was designed as a Degree College. Sahibzada Mirza Nasir Ahmad sahib M. A. (Oxon. ) was appointed the first Principal of the College, a position that he held for 21 years, till he was elected to the holy office of Khalifatul Masih. It was preordained that the opening of the college should coincide with the announcement of the claim and declaration of being the Promised Reformer by Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih II [ra]. The college had some characteristic features which were beautifully set down by Hadhrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad, M. A. , in one of his articles published in the Al Fazl. In the course of his article he says: “The first peculiar feature of this college is that its inauguration coinciding with the announcement of the claim of ‘Musleh Mau’ood’ by Hadhrat Amir ul Momineen Khalifatul Masih, has fallen in a time, which may be called the