Hazrat Maulvi Nooruddin - Khalifatul-Masih I — Page 314
CLOSING SCENE Hadrat Maulw i Nur-ud-D i n ra — Khalifatul Masih I 314 shirked it, nor evaded it, nor did he yield a single inch of ground under overt and covert challenges and threats. He stood firm as a rock and the waves of discontent and dissent dashed themselves against him and retired in helpless confusion like raging foam. His total reliance was on God; he knew that his stand was justified in Divine estimation. The passage of two- thirds of a century since his demise has demonstrated its justification in the eyes of man also. If on the question of the status and authority of the Khal i fa , Hadrat Maulaw i N u r-ud-D i n, Khalifatul Masih I ra , had yielded a single inch, under the persistent pressure of those who fancied themselves as occupying a position of leadership in the Movement, there would have followed a rapid and progressive withering of the tree planted by the Promised Messiah as , as is indeed observable in the pitiable decline of the dissentient group and their organisation. The divine promise of the triumph of Islam in the latter days would have remained unfulfilled, thus putting the very truth of Islam in doubt. But God’s promise never remains unfulfilled. Hadrat Maulaw i N u r-ud-D i n ra was God’s instrument for the maintenance and strengthening of the institution of Khilafat , whereby the triumph of Islam was to be ushered in and achieved. How well and truly that instrument worked may be gathered from the pages of this book, and the results of its working may be witnessed in the flourishing already achieved by the tree of Ahmadiyyat. Its root is firm and its branches reach into heaven. It brings forth fresh fruit at all times by the command of its Lord (14:25-26). In contrast the tree of the dissentients is uprooted from the earth and has no stability (14:27). The fostering care of Hadrat Maulaw i N u r-ud-D i n ra insured that the seed sown by the Promised Messiah as should send