Life of Ahmad — Page 200
200 CHAPTER 19 BAI‘AT AT LUDHIANA It was in March 1882, that Ahmad as received the first Divine command which made him a reformer. Righteous people requested him to accept their Bai‘at (spiritual allegiance) as early as 1883, but he did not like the idea and as he had no such authority from God, he always expressed his inability to do so. He was commanded by God in February or March 1888, to lay the foundations of the Community by inviting people to Bai‘at. But he did not want all and sundry to join the faith and therefore waited for a suitable opportunity which presented itself when, at the death of Bashir I, men of weak and superficial type separated themselves from him. It may be noted here that if Ahmad as had been a self-appointed, worldly leader this was a most inopportune time for such a venture. People were denouncing him because they said that the death of Bashir I (November 4th, 1888) had falsified his claims. But as Ahmad as was commanded by God, he had no regard for ridicule nor did he seek popular