Truth About the Split — Page 257
257 happened that a lecture of his was preceded or followed one of the five daily prayers. Ahmadis and non-Ahmadis had to offer prayers in separate congregations, and people naturally asked the reason for this separation. The situation was rather awkward for Khwaja Sahib. On the one hand he was not willing to forfeit his newly acquired popularity with non- Ahmadis, and, on the other hand, he was afraid of the displeasure of Ahmadis. In this strait he took recourse to various devices. On some occasions, he would say that the prohibition to pray behind non-Ahmadis was meant only for the common class of Ahmadis, in order to protect them from the influence of outsiders, that it was not intended for advanced Ahmadis like himself, and that he was prepared to offer his prayers behind non-Ahmadi Imams. On other occasions, he would say that he had to work under the orders of an Imam (Leader) and that the question should therefore he addressed to the Imam. Sometimes, he would say that if non-Ahmadis would revoke their fatwa of Kufr against the Promised Messiah as , he was ready to offer his prayers behind them. Such and similar were the pleas he offered to excuse his failure to say his prayers behind non-Ahmadis. In fact Khwaja Sahib’s ideas had become poisoned already at the time of Dr. Abdul Hakim’s apostasy, and the poison began now