Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page 313
THE RENAISSANCE OF ISLAM 313 distance from Qadian and was worried by a recollection that Qadian had been invaded. In his dream Sheikh Muhammad Naseeb, an Ahmadi resident of Qadian, came to him and the Khalifatul Masih inquired from him what was the situation in Qadian. The reply was that the enemy had occupied the greater part of Qadian but had been checked just outside the central quarter of the town which contained the house of the Promised Messiah, the two principal mosques, the offices of the Central Association and the heavenly graveyard. On receiving this reply the Khalifatul Masih II observed: 'If the central quarter is secure, all is secure. ' It so happened that after all the upset and the taking over of the greater part of Qadian by the non-Muslims, with the active assistance of the Indian army and police, the incursion was checked right at the border of the central quarter. These revelations, dreams and visions were fulfilled during the tribulations that followed in the wake of partition. The horrors that were let loose on that occasion arose suddenly and in circumstances in which no effective steps could be taken to avert them or to reduce their severity and impact. All that could be done was to organize the evacuation of practically the whole of the Ahmadi population with honour and a minimum loss of life. The gravest damage, however, that was suffered was that the Community ceased to have a headquarters and all the central institutions of the Movement were disrupted. The Khalifatul Masih and such of his col- leagues and workers who moved about the same time to Lahore, or rallied around him from Lahore itself, or who were summoned from within Pakistan, were confronted with an enormous problem of rehabilitation, resettlement and reorganization. This was a. baffling and back-breaking task in itself, but the Khalifatul Masih was still under great strain and suffered grave anxiety concerning the situation in Qadian and the branches of the Community in India who were, for the moment, bereft of spiritual leadership and guidance and had no means available of communication with the Head of the Movement.