Perseverance — Page 49
Part II – My Life as a Muslim 49 Jad ī d, and Lajnah Im a ’ill a h. The time was set after the Fajr prayer (5:30am). The Hazrat sent a message to me saying to come to his home (called Qasr-e-Khilafat in Urdu) after the prayer and we would proceed from his home by car to the spot where the laying of the foundation stones would take place. Upon my arrival at Qasr-e- Khil ā fat, waiting in front of his house was the German brother (named Abdush-Shakoor Kunze 15 ), the Egyptian, Sudanese and Indonesian (their names I did not write and have since forgotten). Many people were walking to the place where the foundation stones would be laid, anticipating the Hazrat to come. Whenever the Hazrat would go anywhere, the whole population of Rabwah would follow him. It was expected that the population would be with him when there was any announcement of his activity. Hazrat Dr. Muft i Muhammad Sa diq ra walking slowly with his cane stopped in front of the house and began to ask questions about where the Hazrat was going. Then he came to know that Hazrat was going to lay the foundation stones and he hurried back to his home and dressed himself with his characteristic ceremonial green turban and tan coat and then he returned to Qasr-e-Khil ā fat. 15 “ Once a Nazi tank captain with Rommel's Africa Corps, Abdush Shakoor Kunze now leads a peaceful band of Muslims. He was captured in the desert campaign and, after repatriation, accepted Islam and trained as a missionary in Pakistan. He married a Muslim girl, and they have a three- year-old daughter, Muraraka [sic]” [The Argus, Monday, May 2, 1955]. Unfortunately, years after Kunze & Rashid were dispatched as missionaries from Rabwah, Kunze renounced his faith in Ahmadiyyat and died an apostate. He is buried in Germany. [Writer]