Truth Prevails — Page 125
( 125 ) letter is being sent out now to inform all members of the Movement, and to request that immediately on reading this letter they should tender their allegience to Hakimul Ummat , Khalifatul Masih wal Mehdi, by coming to Qadian in person, for this purpose, or in writing, by mail. ” The same content was also published in a special issue of Alhakm , May 28, 1908. Words chosen to embody the pledge of allegiance, commonly called “ bai’at ” were: Following three recitals of the Kalima-i-Shahadat , a pledge to the effect: “At the hand of Nuruddin, today, I take bai’at subject to all those conditions operative in this connection when the pledge was taken by the Promised Messiah, himself, in his time. Also, I pledge that I would make special effort to study the Holy Quran, and the Hadith, listen carefully, wherever I get an opportunity to participate in gatherings where these scriptures are read, or expositions thereof are being given; and I shall do my best to live up to them; and to the best of my power and means, I shall endeavour to carry their message and teaching to others. I shall make arrangements to pay zakat , whenever, wherever it falls due on me. I shall strive to the utmost to create and maintain a relationship of sympathy, friendship, and love, with my brethern in faith. I seek forgiveness from God for my sins, my shortcomings, and my weaknesses; and I turn to Him (three times). O God, I confess that I have transgressed against my own better self. Be pleased to pardon me, since there is no one else who can save me from the consequences of mine own actions. ” Request put up before Hazrat Maulvi Nuruddin Mufti Mohammad Sadiq, Editor of Badr , wrote: “When Hazrat Ummulmoninin was asked, she replied there was no one more deserving to become the Successor of the Promised Messiah than Hazrat Maulvi Nuruddin. Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad also agreed fully. So when the janaza was placed in the garden, and all the friends were present there, with the concurrence of them all, my humble self (Mohammad Sadiq, Editor of the Badr ) stood up and read the following, as a request addressed to Hazrat Maulvi Sahib: ‘In compliance with instruction from the Promised Messiah, vide Al-Wasiyyat , we, the Ahmadies, whose signatures, appear below, sincerely agree that Hazrat Maulvi Nuruddin, the most learned and erudite among us, and the most pious, the most loyal and devoted follower of the Imam of the age, whose example has been approved and appreciated by the Promised Messiah himself – to which fact the following couplet of the Promised Messiah bears witness: ‘How happy it would have been, if everyone in the Ummat had been Nuruddin; and indeed it would