Fazl-e-Umar — Page 116
Fazle Umar 116 to Sadr Ala (Chief President) and full conformity to his wishes. This propaganda was continued, especially in Lahore, to undermine the author- ity of the Khalifa. Maulvi Muhammad Ali even made his views known to Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih I [ra]. When Huzur received his comments, he was amazed at their purport, which revealed that he was in accord with the dissentients, who were seeking to put an end to the institution of Khilafat. For instance, he had written: “It does not appear from the Al Wasiyyat (Testamentary Direction) of the Promised Messiah [as] that the Khalifa must be an individual, though that can happen in special circumstances, as is the case just now. Indeed, Hadhrat sahib appointed the Anjuman his Khalifa. It is not necessary that a single individual should be Khalifa. ” Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih I [ra] realising that the matter was serious and the malady deep, directed that representatives of all branches should convene at Qadian on 31 January 1909 for consultation. 75 C O n SU LTAT IO n O n T H E I n ST I T U T IO n OF K H I L A FAT The summoned delegates arrived in Qadian on 30 January and were advised to spend the night in prayer seeking Divine guidance on the matters to be discussed the next morning. They were approached en route by agents of the ‘Lahore Group’ (dis- sentients) to influence their minds in favour of the view that the final authority in the affairs of the Community was vested by the Promised Messiah [as] in the Anjuman, not in the Khalifa. The delegates gathered in the Mubarak Mosque for the morning service. The mosque was soon full, but Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih had not yet arrived. The uphold- ers of the supremacy of the Sadr Anjuman, taking advantage of the interval before his arrival, urged the validity of their proposition upon the waiting worshippers. Shaikh