Hazrat Maulvi Nooruddin - Khalifatul-Masih I — Page 93
Hadrat Maulw i Nur-ud-D i n ra — Khalifatul Masih I IDEAL DISCIPLE 93 IX IDEAL DISCIPLE Maulaw i N u r-ud-D i n ra had pledged his allegiance to Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as , believing him righteous in his claim that he was a recipient of Divine revelation and had been commissioned to carry out a revival of Islam. When his status as the Promised Messiah as and Mahdi was emphasised in the revelations vouchsafed to him, a fierce storm of opposition was roused against him, and some of those who had hailed him as the greatest champion of Islam in more than a millennium now turned against him and denounced him as a disbeliever, outside the pale of Islam, and reviled him in foul terms. Maulaw i N u r- ud-D i n ra stood firm as a rock in his support, and exerted himself to the utmost in championing his cause—which he sincerely and passionately believed to be the true cause of Islam. On his side the Promised Messiah as , as we shall henceforward designate Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as , esteemed his first disciple highly and expressed his appreciation of him in glowing terms. For instance: "Ever since I have been commissioned by Allah, the Exalted, and have been revived by the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting One, I have been eager to meet distinguished helpers of the faith, with an eagerness greater than that of a thirsty one for water. I supplicated day and night: 'Lord, I am alone and helpless, who will be my helper and my assistant?' When my