Fazl-e-Umar — Page 113
Fazle Umar 113 Sometimes, Hadhrat Mian Mahmud Ahmad also came to listen and sat in the back rows. But when Hadhrat Maulvi sahib saw him, he would invariably call him and vacate half of his own seat and request Mian sahib to sit with him. “Maulvi Zahoor Hussain also relates that once Hadhrat Maulvi sahib [ra] gave him a letter to deliver to Hadhrat Mian Mahmud Ahmad in which he had respectfully and lovingly requested him to pray for him. At that time, Maulvi Zahoor Hussain thought how much Hadhrat Maulvi sahib respected Hadhrat Mian Mahmud. ” 70 T H E C R I SI S O v E R T H E K H I L A FAT This then was the position of high esteem, deep respect and great love which Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih I [ra] accorded to Mian sahib. However, there were people in Qadian who clearly perceived the favour that Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih [ra] accorded to Mian sahib and the increasing esteem and affection in which the members of the Community at large held him. They had begun to apprehend that after the death of Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih I [ra] , the Community, with few exceptions, would manifest its preference for Mian sahib as the next Khalifa. However, in their eyes Mian sahib was no more than an ordinary young man, or rather a young man, whom the accident of birth had put in a position that he really did not deserve. It seemed to them that he had not the capabilities of even a man of ordinary intelligence. Had he not left school without as much as a Matriculation Certificate to his credit? What greater proof was required to show that he was only a worthless sort of young man with no promise in him of anything greater? Of course he was the son of the Promised Messiah [as] but that was all. The weight of responsibility for proper conduct of the affairs of the Community was on their shoulders; and it was they who toiled day and night: yet, in the eyes of