Fazl-e-Umar — Page 148
Fazle Umar 148 Islam), with Maulvi Muhammad Ali as its head. To start with they appointed four of their leading members, Maulvi Muhammad Ali, Khawaja Kamal Uddin, Maulvi Ghulam Hasan Khan, and Syed Hamid Shah sahib, Khalifatul Masih; but they soon abandoned this ridiculous attempt at make-believe. Of these four gentlemen the last named made his covenant of Bai’at at the hands of Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih II [ra] within a few weeks. Years later Maulvi Ghulam Hasan Khan sahib also swore allegiance to Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih II [ra]. Maulvi Muhammad Ali was given the title of Amir and in his sermons and addresses began to stress his own concept of his functions and authority as Amir, which was indistinguishable from the concept of the functions and authority of Khalifa as set out by Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih I [ra]. The real distinction, however, was that Maulvi Muhammad Ali, though he insisted upon it, was not accorded that sincere and wholehearted obedience and reverence by the members of the dissident group as the Community most willingly and cheerfully accorded to the Khalifatul Masih. Hostility towards Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih II [ra] and fault finding with all that he said and did, derived from suspicion of his motives and ill-will towards him, remained for a long time a cardinal factor in the policies and activities of the group. Their principal organ for giving expression to their policies, doctrines and ambitions was the Paigham Sulh ; but from time to time they published pamphlets, brochures and booklets on matters of controversy between them and the Community. For instance, Maulvi Muhammad Ali published his own version of the differences that had arisen over the subject of Khilafat and the election of the Khalifa and called it The Split. Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih II [ra] rejoined with a detailed and well-reasoned account under the title The Truth About the Split , which established very clearly that the entire responsibility for the split lay on Maulvi Muhammad Ali and some of his close associates.