Invitation to Ahmadiyyat — Page 275
275 the pilgrimage to Mecca and instead stayed on in Qadian. He returned to Afghanistan a few months later intending to share the great gift with the King. Reaching Khost, he wrote letters to four prominent courtiers in Kabul. After receiving these let - ters, the courtiers set Amir Habib Ullah Khan, Your Majesty’s father, against Sahibzadah Sahib. They made many false allega - tions and persuaded the Amir to arrest Sahibzadah Abdul Latif. Accordingly, orders were sent to Khost and Sahibzadah Sahib was arrested and brought to Kabul. He was then handed over to the mullahs but they could not find anything against him. Then some individuals, more selfish than patriotic, told Amir Habib Ullah Khan that if Sahibzadah was set free and his influence was allowed to spread, people would lose their ardour for Jihad and this would harm the state of Afghanistan. Consequently, Sahibzadah Sahib was ordered to be stoned to death. Amir Habib Ullah Khan, out of feeling for the Sahibzadah, repeatedly asked him to recant his faith and save himself but Sahibzadah Sahib replied that, having found true Islam, he could not now become a disbeliever. He said that he would never turn back from that which he had accepted as true. When it was seen that Sahibzadah Sahib would not recant, he was taken out of the capital and stoned to death before a large crowd. A loyal and self-sacrificing subject became the victim of self-serving intriguers. They had deceived the Amir when they told him that if the Sahibzadah survived he would be a danger to his country. The truth is that men like the Sahibzadah are a shield for their country. For their sake, God averts many calamities from their homeland. These cruel advisers told the Amir that the Sahibzadah’s influence would dampen the passion for Jihad, but