Truth About the Split — Page 387
387 right to call his motive into question. Accordingly I said nothing. Maulawi Muhammad Ali Leaves Qadian Later events show that the suspicions of my friends were well founded. Maulawi Muhammad Ali’s departure from Qadian was a departure for good, and what he had said to me was simply an excuse with nothing sincere about it. The books and other things which he had taken away with him, he refused to return in spite of repeated requests. Now so long as his name continues to be remembered the odium of this misappropriation will remain associated with him. A man who could take away books and other articles on trust for a few months and then refuse to return them could not be the leader of any community much less the leader of a Muslim community. With the departure of Maulawi Muhammad Ali from Qadian, Lahore became the new Madinatul Masih (the City of the Messiah). The question naturally occurred to many, whether Maulawi Muhammad Ali was himself the Messiah. Because so long as he was in Qadian, Qadian remained the Madinatul Masih. But as soon as he withdrew to Lahore, Lahore became the Madinatul Masih. True, a certain distinction now fell to the share of Lahore, and