Unscrupulous Propaganda

Truth About the Split

Opposition grew until all ordinary scruples were thrown to the winds. The Paigham-e-Sulh for instance reported that the funeral prayers of Hadrat Khalifatul Masih I (ra) had been attended by some two thousand five hundred men (March 17, 1914). But the same paper a little later wrote "Those who had seen the faces of the Promised Messiah (as) and of Hadrat Khalifatul Masih I (ra) refrained from such a Bai‘at, and of all the people present nearly half refused to take Bai‘at (March 22, 1914). This report obviously implied that of the men who had been in the company of the Promised Messiah (as) and of Hadrat Khalifatul Masih I (ra) not one entered into Bai‘at with me, and further that of all the people present at Qadian nearly one half declined to pledge their Bai‘at. The truth, as I have said, was that those who refused Bai‘at did not number more than fifty, while of the 2,000 or, according to the Paigham-e-Sulh, 2,500 people who were present, more than half were those who had been in the company of the Promised Messiah (as) and Hadrat Khalifatul Masih I (ra) . Of the Muhajirin at Qadian whose number was not less than three or four hundred, only four or five held back. Apparently, according to the Paigham-e-Sulh, not one of them had been in the company of the Promised Messiah (as) and Hadrat Khalifatul Masih I (ra) . Dr. Mirza Ya‘qub Baig, Secretary Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha‘at-e-Islam, Lahore, went even further. He wrote in the Akhbar-e- ‘Am that a majority of those present on the occasion did not even know who had been elected Khalifa. When notice was taken of this glaring falsehood Dr. Mirza Ya‘qub Baig, the author of this report wrote in the Paigham of April 2, that what he meant was that of the "enlightened" members present, the majority did not enter into my Bai‘at. This epithet of "enlightened" is so conveniently vague that what the doctor could mean by it must necessarily remain a mystery to others.

For, it is open to everybody to say that only those who agree with him are enlightened and the others not. If, however, any reasonable criteria are to be applied to that expression than I can well say that not only a considerable number but a preponderating majority of those present entered into my Bai‘at. The Paigham-e-Sulh and its correspondent between them furnished a refutation of the false report made by Mirza Ya‘qub Baig. For, the Paigham stated that the congregation consisted either of the Ansarullah or of rustics who were thrilling with eagerness to enter into Bai‘at and so they did. The question what the congregation consisted of—the Ansarullah or rustics or what—is not my present concern. Whoever they were, they—according to the Paigham-e-Sulh not only swore the Bai‘at but were thrilling with eagerness for it. It was, therefore, a misstatement, nay, a case of clear falsehood on the part of Dr. Mirza Ya‘qub Baig to say that of the assembled people the majority did not even know who had been elected Khalifa.

The misstatement of the Paigham that the majority of those who pledged their Bai‘at were members of the Anjuman Ansarullah is sufficiently refuted by the fact that the total strength of this Anjuman was less than 175 and of these not all were present at Qadian at the time. And yet, according to its own report, some 2500 men were present at Qadian on the occasion.