Hazrat Maulvi Nooruddin - Khalifatul-Masih I — Page 295
Hadrat Maulw i Nur-ud-D i n ra — Khalifatul Masih I CLOSING SCENE 295 Sahibz a da Sahib ra continued to occupy himself with prayers and supplications, and urged his friends to do the same. He was not concerned so much with differences of points of view as with preserving the unity of the community, to which he attached vital importance. He talked to several influential members of the Movement and discovered that the general view of those who were in support of the institution of Khilafat and believed in the Prophethood of the Promised Messiah as was that they could not swear allegiance to any one who was opposed to these concepts as that would mean the end of Ahmadiyyat. But he was convinced that unity had priority and should not be sacrificed to personalities. He started persuading his friends that in the event of the demise of Hadrat Khalifatul Masih ra should there be apprehension of a split they should be prepared to swear allegiance to one of the minority group, because they would not accept any one who differed with them and the community would be divided. But if he swore allegiance to one of them his friends would follow his example and the unity of the community would be preserved. One afternoon he spent two hours in persuading Maulaw i Sayyid Muhammad Sarwar Sh a h ra , one of the topmost divines in the community, to fall in with his point of view that in the case of a difference on the person of the Khal i fa they should be prepared to swear allegiance to one of the other group. As to matters of difference, so long as the Khal i fa issued no directive concerning them,they would be at liberty to follow and maintain that which they considered right and true. If the Khal i fa issued a directive concerning such matters they would be bound to obey him and keep silent, leaving the issue in the hands of God, Who was the true Guardian of the Movement.