Khilafat Centenary Souvenir 1908-2008 — Page 143
Khilafat Centenary for the son of Malik Masoud Ahmad and, while climbing onto the stage, he slipped and hurt himself. He continued to climb up and sat through the dinner and dua (collective silent prayer). While driving home, he mentioned that he had hurt his leg. I called my brother-in-law, Dr. Ashfaq Hasan, who is an orthopedic surgeon, and he was kind enough to drive to our house at 1 a. m. He treated Mian Sahib's wound and told me that he should be taken to the hospital first thing in the morning. The words he used were: "This could be life threatening for someone with his age and medical history". When I asked Mian Sahib why he did not tell me about it at the dinner so he could have received medical assistance three hours earlier, he said "Malik Sahib is such a hard working devotee; I did not want to spoil his special day. " Caring for the underprivileged Mian Sahib possessed great virtues. There is not enough time to do justice to all of them. However, I will attempt to discuss a few. Some of you have read an article written about him in the Al Fazl newspaper. This article shows several of his characteristics and I would like to share them with you. The writer recalls the time when a friend of his, who felt that some injustice was done to him, expressed a desire to take his case up to the commissioner of the district. Both of them decided to travel and seek audience with the commissioner and present their case. When they arrived at the office, they saw that several people were sitting outside waiting their turn. Most of these people were influential personalities. Since they had no appointment, they did not think they had a chance. One of them wrote a note in which he stated that we are poor people and have traveled a great distance to seek your audience. The attendant came right back and asked them to proceed to a door on the side of the building. When they knocked on the door, a young man opened it and invited them in. He asked them if they had had their meal since they had been traveling a great distance. They responded by saying that they were only to see the commissioner and if the young man could arrange that they would be very grateful. The young man went out of the room and returned with a tray of tea and biscuits. Once again, the visitors requested to see the commissioner. The young man smiled and said: "I don't know which commissioner you want to see; for this district, I am the commissioner". I chose this incident as it shows Mian Sahib's compassion for the underprivileged and justice. It also shows his sense of hospitality and humor. Re spect and consideration for others Mian Sahib was a very considerate and gracious person. He always tried to safeguard the interests of others. In this respect I would like to share two incidents. While we were visiting Islamabad in 1993, we received a call from the Presidency. Mr. Ghulam Ishaq Khan wanted to visit my mother. Once Mian Sahib learned about this, he immediately asked my mother to call her and tell her that instead of Mr. Ishaq coming to the Jama' at guesthouse, where we were staying, my mother would visit her at the Presidency. His concern was that with all the anti- Ahmadi propaganda, it would not be in the President's political interest if the first lady visited. On another occasion, while I was driving him to a