Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page 5
THE REN AISSANCE OF ISLAM 5 bouring villages. The family did excellent service during the mutiny of 1857. Ghulam Murtaza enlisted many men and his son Ghulman Kadir was serving in the force of Gen. Nicholson when that officer destroyed the mutineers of the 46th Native Infantry who had fled from'Sialkot at Trimughat. General Nicholson gave Ghulam Kadir a certificate stating that in 1857 the Qadian family showed greater loyalty than any other in the district. Mirza Ghulam Murtaza was an expert physician. He treated people freely but would not accept a fee. He was very generous and ~penhanded. He had an imposing appearance and most people stood in awe of him. He was of a literary bent of mind and was also by way of being a poet. . Towards the end of his life he built the central mosque in Qadian which is known as the Masjad-i-Aqsa. Though by that time his resources had been much reduced he spent a large amount of money in constructing the mosque. He made continuous efforts to regain possession. of his ancestral estate. He approached the government authorities in that behalf and also had recourse to judicial proceedings on several occasions but nothing availed. He disposed of a con- siderable portion of his properties to defray the expenses of the series of litigation upon which he embarked in the effort to recover portions of his ancestral estate. His wife, who belonged to a respectable Mughal family of Aima, a village in the Hoshiarpur district, and was named Charagh Bibi (Lady of the Lamp), was a generous, hospit- able, cheerful and good-hearted woman of exemplary piety. She looked after the poor and administered relief to them while they lived and arranged for their decent burial when they died. She proved herself a devoted wife and,an excellent companion to Mirza Ghulam Murtaza both in adversity and in prosperity. He esteemed her highly and constantly sought her advice in his affairs. She was a most loving mother and lavished her :n;lost tender care on her children. As her son Ghulam Ahmad grew