Truth Prevails — Page 131
( 131 ) leadership in Maulvi Mohammad Ali. We need not go into the question how far they have succeeded in this. But we hope they would allow us to say that the name for a leader of this type, in terms of the Islamic teaching, is ‘Khalifa’. Important Event It is very important that one incident should be set down here. In the days of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih I, whispers started in some circles that there were people trying to lower the power and position of the Khalifa , and to give to the Anjuman a position of higher authority. At this stage Mir Mohammad Ishaq drew up a number of questions, which he placed before Hazrat Khalifatul Masih I, with a request that he be pleased to throw proper light on the question of Khilafat, and the position of a Khalifa. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih I directed that the questions should be sent to the Ahmadiyya Communities in various places. When answers came in, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih fixed a date for a meeting in Qadian, to be attended by representatives of the Jama’ats where the questions had been sent. On this occasion some people held a meeting at the residence of Kh. Kamaluddin, in Lahore, where prominent Ahmadis from Lahore were especially invited, on the plea that this was a moment of crisis, which called for serious thought, since the consequences of a wrong step would be extremely harmful, and far reaching. The central idea in these circles was that the real Successor of the Promised Messiah was the Anjuman. If anything was done which disturbed this view, the Movement would run into danger of being wrecked. Signatures of various people were obtained on this thesis. Since the Ahmadis of Lahore had been generally given to understand that these were the thoughts of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih as well, many put their signatures, who otherwise, would not have wanted to associate themselves with this drift. But Quraishi Mohammad Husain, a well known Ahmadi from Lahore declined to sign. His idea was that efforts to obtain signatures on questions of this kind were inadvisable. Members of the Movement were under a pledge of loyalty and obedience to a man who was a great scholar of Islam, in all its aspects. He was also more sincere to the Movement, and to Islam, than anyone else. So the best thing was to wait for his verdict, and to accept it when it came to be given. Following the example set by Quraishi Mohammad Hussain, some others also witheld their signatures. On the date fixed for the meeting people assembled in Qadian, and Hazrat Khalifatul Masih rose to address them. He said: “By what you have been doing, you have given me so much pain that I have stood up to address you, not in the portion of this mosque constructed under your supervision, but in a part built by the Promised Messiah himself. ” When people heard his views on the questions circulated, they readily perceived the error involved in the view taken by Kh. Kamaluddin and his friends; and many who had been influenced by this view to some extent