Ahmed was recruited to Lodi by his mentor, Adil Khan, because the latter wanted to be replaced as imam in order to focus his energies on building an Islamic school modeled after Jamia Farooqia.
He came disturbingly close to realizing his goal.
Before the small town of 60,000 was rocked by the arrests of the imams and three others last June, Lodi officials had approved development of the new school.
Adding further intrigue to the case is the high-profile status of the defendant’s grandfather, Qari Saeed ur Rehman.
The former minister of religion in Pakistan, Rehman is the founder and still the head of the Jamia Islamia madrassa, an Islamic school believed to be deeply radical.