Why Islam is my choice — Page 38
38 Gul who was appointed the Deputy Commissioner in Basra. My mother presented her plight to the Deputy Commissioner’s office. Kh ā n Ṣāḥ ib was a kind person. He was moved by the situation of my mother but apparently had no authority to help her in his official capacity. He offered to marry my mother which she accepted and thus Kh ā n Ṣāḥ ib Mi āň Me ḥ m ū d Gul Ṣāḥ ib became my stepfather. My mother became a Muslim after her marriage to my stepfather. Soon, he was appointed as a Trade Assistant to Iran and the family moved to Tehran. My stepfather thought that in order for me to get a good education, I should move to Lahore where one of my stepbrothers, Dr. Mi āň Ghul ā m Samdalli, was already living and receiving his education. I was entrusted to his supervision. Since my brother had graduated from Muslim High School, he had a very good opinion about that school and so he wanted me also to go to that school. I was thus admitted to this school and assigned to the boarding house. At this time perhaps my stepbrother had the word Mu ḥ ammad added in front of my name. My full name thus became Mu ḥ ammad ‘ Ī s ā J ā n. At school, I got involved in all kinds of athletic activities. My athletic side was better than my academic one as I excelled in soccer and especially boxing, in which I received the top honors of the time and my school retained the boxing trophy for a long time due to my victories. Syed Ghul ā m Mu ṣṭ af ā was our superintendent in the boarding house. He was not only a kind and generous person but sometimes made one feel as if he was an elder member of one’s own family. Syed Ghul ā m Mu ṣṭ af ā was also a very religious person. My own life had been such that without any particular religious direction, I had grown up only to respect the religion but saw no compulsion of practicing or following any particular religious faith. Mr. Mu ṣṭ af ā once gave me the Urd ū book of Ḥ a ḍ rat Mirz ā Ghul ā m A ḥ mad, the Promised