Life of Ahmad — Page 180
180 CHAPTER 16 SUSPICIONS OF CO-RELIGIONISTS On November 4th, 1888, Bashir I died and the enemies of Islam made much extravagant commotion about it. They fabricated all kinds of lies against Ahmad as , so much so that even his own co-religionists felt uneasy. The objections raised on this occasion have been dealt with elsewhere; but there is one most fundamental point that needs attention here. For several years Ahmad as had now spent the whole of his energy, time, attention and resources in the service of Islam. He had written books, issued leaflets in thousands, held debates and made speeches to fight the rising tide of anti-Islamic movements. He had arrested the progress of the A rya Sam a j and checked the spread of the Christian faith. He had drawn the attention of the world towards him. And there was one thing that had characterised and dominated all his efforts right through: this was his anxiety to demonstrate the excellence and superiority of Islam and to do this through Heavenly Signs as a thing apart and distinct from his polemics. He had