Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page 349
THE RENAISSANCE OF ISLAM 349 undertaken by the Community, and by the grace of God these proved most fruitful. Within a short time were wit- nessed numerous striking instances in which those who had suffered heavy, and in some cases crippling, losses were not only able to re-establish themselves but achieved a degree of prosperity higher than that which they had enjoyed before the disturbances. Boycotts of the Community were organized in several places which imposed great hardship upon the members of the Movement who were affected by them, especially women, children and old people. On the whole, however, the Community at large emerged from the trial stronger, more united and in greater vigour than had been the case before the trouble started. This was something that puzzled the opponents of the Movement and which they were not able to comprehend. They felt that a greater effort on their part was called for in order to coerce the members. of the Movement into submission. They began to agitate that the Movement should, by legislative action, be declared outside the pale of Islam. They prevailed upon the Prime Minister to make a declaration that appropriate action would be taken in the National Assembly to achieve that end. At the start of the session of the Assembly a resolution sponsored by the government was moved, the purport of which was to declare that the members of the Ahmadiyya Movement were not Muslims for the purpose of the law and the constitption. During the debates on the resolution the Khalifatul Masih was invited to make an exposition of the beliefs and teachings of the Movement before a committee composed of the total membership of the National Assembly. He was examined at great length by the Attorney General on the minutest details of the beliefs, doctrines and teachings of the Movement. The whole proceeding boomeranged upon the sponsors and pro- moters of the resolution and served to make them appear inconsistent and ridiculous even in their own eyes. Neverthe- less, the Assembly was dragooned into adopting the resolu- tion with the requisite majority and it was sent up to the Senate for its approval, which was accorded within a few