Perseverance — Page 146
146 – the story of al-haj Rashid ahmad american ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT On March 10, 1954 when the adh ā n had just been called for ‘Asr prayer, I prepared myself to go to the mosque. There was a place in Masjid Mub ā rik that I regularly occupied behind the Khal ī fah ra and all understood that I would pray there. However, my wife went into labor and requested me to find the midwife. On my way to find the midwife, I discovered that the Second Khal ī fah ra had been stabbed in the neck while in prayer. I rushed to the mosque. There I saw a group of Ahmadis pouncing upon the would-be assailant and the Khal ī fah ra holding the back of his neck with blood dripping down his hand and arm saying, “Don’t kill the fool. ” 41 In accordance with the instructions of the Second Khal ī fah ra , the would-be assailant was not harmed, but was properly handed over to the authorities. As it turned out, the would-be assailant sat in the very space which I regularly occupied in the mosque. However, as my wife was in labor that day, I was unable to attend the prayer. When I returned home, my son had already been born and I named him Ma h m u d in honor of Hadrat Sa hib. My other 2 children, Mur i d and N as irah, were named by Hadrat Sa hib. 42 41 Spoken in Urdu. 42 When I asked Rashid about the midwife, he gave me this pensive look and said, “You know, I don’t know how the midwife got there because I had become so concerned about the Khal ī fah ra that I forgot to get her; but when I returned home my wife had already delivered my son. ” Rashid’s son was born on the day the Second Khal ī fah ra was stabbed, and was named Ma h m u d Ahmad. [Writer]