Ahmadiyya Movement — Page 64
64 lower of any particular saint, or the leader of any religious or temporal community, or the Khalifa of any religious order, so that it cannot be said that he was accepted by any particular community owing to the authority or influence which he already possessed over them, and then employed the resources of his community for the propagation of his doctrine among other peoples. The fifth factor is the favourable position of the centre of the movement. With regard to this, I have already indicated the po- sition of Qadian, where the Promised Messiah was born and lived and which is the centre of the. It was neither the capital of a country nor of a province, nor a commercial, industrial or religious centre, nor was it connected with any intellectual, political or social movement. It was a small village eleven miles distant from the nearest railway sta- tion, and could not even boast of a metalled road. In this respect its position is no better today than it was in the early days of the Movement. It is situated in a province which is regarded as the most backward province of a backward country. Its distance from the sea, forbids tourists to contemplate a visit even to the province in which it is situated. The sixth factor, that is, the hope of deriving political, social or financial advantage, from a religion was also totally absent in the case of the. The Promised Messiah kept strictly aloof from all political cements. His political doctrine consisted in this, that the people of each country must honestly co-operate with their respective Governments. How abhorrent this doctrine was to the sons of India who were looking with yearning eyes towards the eastern horizon to witness the rising of the glorious sun of India’s freedom, may easily be conceived. I can confidently assert that thousands of persons who are con- vinced of the truth of the hesitate to join it merely on account of its political creed.