Life of Ahmad — Page 812
QADIAN IN 1901 as 812 other side of the well across the lane were used for the purposes of the school. The Masjid Aq sa was the old three-domed building erected by Ahmad’s as father. There was no Minaret, though in May 1901, preparations were begun for its construction. Bricks were being made and wood was being brought from outside Qadian. In front of the mosque there stood the deep well in the open space. It was equipped with a wooden wheel fixed with pakka pillars to draw water with a leather bucket tied to a long rope. Near the well and to its south stood a mulberry tree. The tomb of Ahmad’s as father stood in the open. At the top of the eastern steps leading up into the open space was a small pakka wall about two or three feet high on which children used to play. Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Adha prayers were offered in the Masjid Aq sa. The prayers were led by Maulaw i N u r-ud-D i n ra. The faithful gathered from Lahore, Bhera, Lucknow, Kapurthala, Cuttack, Batala, Amritsar, Jhelum, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Sanaur, and Malerkotla. Friday prayers on August 2nd, 1901, were offered in both the mosques. Combined prayers were daily offered for several months. The middle school (Ta‘l i mul Islam) at Qadian was raised to the high standard in February 1900, and a boarding house was opened in May 1900. The number of students on the rolls by the end of 1900 was 124.