Invitation to Ahmadiyyat — Page 326
326 low so that one could have a house for about four or five annas a month. The land was so cheap that a plot for building a decent house could be had for about ten or twelve rupees. Hardly any shops existed. The market was so small that it was hard to get two or three rupees worth of flour at a time. Since most people were related to agriculture, they would ground their own flour to make their bread. There was only one primary school and its teacher also served as a postman for an extra allowance. Mail arrived twice a week. Houses in the village were enclosed within the village wall. Thus, there was no apparent reason to believe that such a proph - ecy could come true. Qadian was eleven miles from the nearest railway station and only a dirt road connected it to the railway. Towns that are directly connected to the railways are the ones that can be expected to grow. Qadian did not have any local industry that might help it to develop. It was not a district or sub-district. It did not even have a police post. There was no market for any kind of products or goods. At the time when the prophecy was made, the followers of the Promised Messiah as did not number more than a few hundred and the town could not expand even if they were all instructed to come and live in Qadian. It may be said that because of his claim he might have expected his followers to come and live in Qadian and thus cause it to grow, but who could have said that the Promised Messiah as would get such a large following? How often do followers of a spiritual leader give up their vocations and homes to permanently live near their leader? Jesus was born in Nazareth and Nazareth is still a village. Great Saints like Shah a b ad-D i n Suhraward i , Sheikh Ahmad Sirhind i and Bah a ad-D i n Naqshband i (mercy of Allah be on them) were born in villages,