Invitation to Ahmadiyyat — Page 347
347 high officials for appointment as a revenue officer. I found Mirza Sahib in his cloister, absorbed in study. When I asked him why he did not go with his father who wanted to find a respectable posi - tion for him, he looked at me and said, “Please convey to him with all due respect that I have already found the One I want to serve. I had better be left alone. ”’ In those days, he was absorbed in a study of the Holy Quran, Hadith, and Mathnawi Rumi. His only visitors were some needy people and orphans with whom he would share his meals. Often he would give away all his food and be content with some roasted grams. Retiring and self-effacing, he was easily forgotten, so much so that at times his brother’s family would forget to send him his meals. At one time, the Promised Messiah as left Qadian and went to Sialkot hoping that his father would forget about wanting to get him a job. In Sialkot, he took up a small position to provide for his basic needs. This job did not hinder him from his worship and devotion to God. It was in Sialkot that he realized for the first time that Islam was in a precarious state and that other religions were all out to destroy it. Sialkot was a centre for Christian mission - aries who routinely proselytized in the streets and squares. They would attack Islam and rouse feelings against it. The Promised Messiah as was surprised that no one came forward to answer them. Christianity was seen as the religion of the state and people did not want to confront Christian missionaries. With very few exceptions, Muslim clerics were afraid to contradict the critics, and even those who did so were easily defeated because they did not have true knowledge of the Holy Quran. Seeing this state of affairs, the Promised Messiah as resolved to counter the Christian