Truth Prevails — Page x
( iv ) interfere in any way with the rights and previliges, and the prerogatives, of the Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya vested in that body by the Promised Messiah himself, holding that the Anjuman would be considered to have succeeded him as the overall supreme authority in the affairs of the Movement. A deputation comprising the following gentlemen should wait on Sahibzada Mahmud Ahmad to place these resolutions before him, requesting his agreement on the points involved, to ensure joint endeavour on the part of all Ahmadies, for all times to come. At the end was a list of the names of those included in this deputation ( Paigham-i-Sulha , March 24, 1914, under title Proceedings of the Shura, page jim , column1). Since Maulvi Mohammad Ali, and his friends had unconditionally taken bai’at at the hands of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih I, accepting him as entitled to an unquestioned obedience in all affairs of the Movement there was, evidently, no reason why Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II should have agreed to the imposition of these limitations on the sacred office, to which Providence had called him. In despair over the failure of the cunning and the covert attack on the authority of the duly elected Khalifa, the Lahore Section now set up a front for opposition in the guise of questions relating to the Prophethood of the Promised Messiah, and the kufr or Islam of those who failed to yield belief in the Promised Messiah’s claims of being the Mehdi and Masih expected by Muslims all over the world, turning both questions into a basis for rejecting the Khilafat of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II and the supreme authority in the affairs of the Movement now vested in him. (3) When members of the Lahore Section sat down to ponder why they were not making any progress, some consoled themselves by arguing that the obstacle lies in the Qadian Section’s view that the Promised Messiah was a Prophet, Nabi , and their belief that those not yielding faith to him were kafirs , really, not Muslims; that these two points had injected a virulent poison into the mind of the general public, outside the fold of the Movement. In point of fact, his view has no real basis; one of their own well known speakers, a chairman of their Anjuman, clearly explained: “Thirtyseven years have passed since the day we started our work here in Lahore; but it is discouraging to note that, so far, we have failed to emerge out of the four walls, hemming us in… Spirited discussions take place as to what are the causes of the disappointing stalemate, wherein we find ourselves bogged down. Some of us argue that the Qadian Section’s view that the Promised Messiah was a Prophet, and those who rejected this claim were kafirs , not Muslims, really speaking, has filled the public mind with a strong poison against the Ahmadiyya Movement, creating a gulf not easy to