Life of Ahmad — Page 774
THE WHITE MINARET as 774 their prayers. Names of those who responded to this call are given in Appendix II. The enemies of Ahmad as never liked anything which originated with him. Innocent things, done with the best of motives, gave offence to these people. So they decided to oppose the construction of this religious ensign. i. e. the unbelievers, all of them, are a single fraternity. Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims including government officials took counsel amongst themselves and made it a common cause. When the work of excavating the foundations was nearing completion, a police officical came to Qadian from Batala on his round and sent a secret report, dated 6-3-1903, against the construction of the proposed Minaret. On 13-3-1903, Friday following the Eid, Ahmad as was requested after Friday prayers to lay the foundation stone of the Minaret. A brick was brought to him for the purpose. He was sitting in the mosque. He took it and placed it on one of his thighs and prayed for a long time in company with his followers. Then he handed over the brick to Hakim Fa d l Il a h i of Lahore to have it laid in the western part of the octagonal foundations. It was placed there by an Ahmadi mason, named Fa d l D i n ra. The work of construction then commenced. On 17-4-1903 Buddhei Shah, Ghanayya L a l, B u r Singh, Nar a’ in and Dasawar Singh complained to the authorities that the Minaret was being constructed only to tease and annoy them and that it would