Why Islam is my choice — Page 45
45 themselves just one square meal a day? I wore expensive clothes and possessed a large wardrobe full of them while others could not even afford one modest pair of dress. I was living in a large building but many others did not even have a mud house for a shelter. I struggled in great agony with questions like these and remained awake. There was a resolution forming up alongside all this debate in my mind. The resolution was that I would give up that kind of life and adopt a modest living. The following morning I was a changed person. I bought myself some very simple dress, got rid of all my Western style suits, stopped shaving my beard, gave up smoking and all other vices that I had picked up over the years. I filled out the Bai‘at form and mailed it to Qadian. A few days later, I visited Qadian and met with Ḥ a ḍ rat Mirz ā Bash ī r-ud-D ī n Ma ḥ m ū d A ḥ mad, Second Successor to the Promised Messiah , may All ā h be pleased with him. I performed the Bai‘at at his hands at which time he prayed for me. That magnetic personality I will never be able to forget. I could see in him the real heart of a father, a teacher, a preacher, a friend and a leader. I saw that spiritual glow on his face that might have otherwise sounded to me like fiction. He displayed, and spoke with, passion and tenderness. I returned to Bahawalpur but my heart was left behind in Qadian. I found myself reading the A ḥ madiyyah Muslim Jam ā ‘at literature most of the time. Soon I had gained enough knowledge so I could preach the claims of Ḥ a ḍ rat Mirz ā Ghul ā m A ḥ mad, the Promised Messiah, peace be on him, to others. Meanwhile my stepfather had retired and the family had moved to the village. I had been frequently visiting them and during one of these visits, I got engaged to the daughter of a wealthy and influential landowner from a neighboring village. I wrote a letter to my family informing them of my conversion. I had hoped that they would be pleased to know that my ways had changed and that I had