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Chapter
3:
Time of Maulana Nur-ud-din:
Links present on
this page:
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1.
First
Phase of Opposition
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2.
Public
Meeting in Lahore as Lord Headley Accepts
Islam ||
3.
Report
of the Isha'at Islam (Western Countries)
Trust
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Shortly after his meeting with Hazrat
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Dr. Iqbal went to Europe for higher
education. By the time he returned, Hazrat Mirza had passed
away and, under the leadership of Maulana Nur-ud- Din,
Qadian had come to be recognised as the centre of a truly
Islamic way of life.
1. Dr. Iqbal sent his elder son, Aftab
Iqbal, to be educated at the Ahmadiyya community’s
school known as the Taleem-ul-Islam High School in
Qadian.
2. In the same period, in the year
1910, Iqbal delivered a lecture in the famous Muslim
University town of Aligarh, during the course of which he
referred to the Ahmadiyya community in the following
words:
"In order to be a dynamic
member of the Muslim community, a person must not only
repose unconditional faith in the religion of Islam but
also imbue himself thoroughly in the colouring of the
Islamic civilisation. The object of diving into this jar
of the ‘colouring of Allah’ is that Muslims
should give up duality and become of one hue. … In
my opinion the aspect of national life represented by
Aurangzeb is a model of pure Islamic life, and it should
be the purpose of our education to develop this model and
to make Muslims keep it in view all the time. …
In the
Punjab a true model of Islamic life has arisen in the
form of that community which is known as the Qadiani
sect.” (Millat
Baiza Per Ayk ‘Imrani Nazar, published by Aeenah
Adab, Lahore, 1970 edition, pp. 84 – 85.)
Dr. Iqbal expressed these views two
years after the death of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, fully
knowing about his claims and teachings. There was no way
that Hazrat Mirza could now make different claims which
would lead Dr. Iqbal to change his views about the Ahmadiyya
Movement. If by the year 1910, in the period of leadership
of Maulana Nur-ud-Din, there had prevailed in the Ahmadiyya
Movement the beliefs that Hazrat Mirza was a prophet and
that his deniers were kafir, then Dr. Iqbal certainly
would not have recommended to his audience in Aligarh to
look to Qadian to find “a true model of Islamic
life”. This is no ordinary matter. It shows that Dr.
Iqbal was himself deeply impressed by this
“model”. Besides, this opinion expressed by Dr.
Iqbal caused no commotion among the audience; on the
contrary, his hearers listened to him with attention and
calm. This shows that in those days Muslims in general held
the Ahmadiyya Movement in very high regard and honour. If a
Muslim public figure today were to express such views, one
shudders to think of the hostility and adverse reaction
which would result. It is, however, a solid fact that in the
time of Maulana Nur-ud-Din the opposition to the Ahmadiyya
Movement had all but disappeared, and a wonderful era of
general acceptance was on the rise day by
day.
First Phase
of Opposition:
The first obstacle in the
continuance of this popularity came when, in April 1911,
Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad wrote and published a
magazine article entitled A Muslim is one who accepts all
those appointed by God. In this article, contrary to the
clear pronouncements of the Founder of the Ahmadiyya
Movement and the unanimous stand-point of the Community, M.
Mahmud Ahmad condemned as kafir all the Muslims of
the world who had not taken the bai‘at to join
the Movement of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. This caused a
certain amount of unease, both within the Ahmadiyya Movement
and Muslims in general. However, the true position was made
clear very quickly when Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din published a
Notice entitled My beliefs about non-Ahmadi Muslims,
dated 18 August 1911, bearing Maulana Nur-ud-Din’s
endorsement in the words: “I approve it, you may
publish it.” At around the same time, Maulana
Nur-ud-Din made an observation in the presence of several
people about M. Mahmud Ahmad’s beliefs as
follows:
“The question of
kufr and Islam is a very subtle matter. Even our
Mian [M. Mahmud Ahmad] has not understood
it.”
As these statements cleared up the
misconceptions caused by M. Mahmud Ahmad’s article,
there arose no difference of view between Dr. Iqbal and the
Ahmadiyya Movement. In fact, he used to have recourse to
Maulana Nur-ud-Din for advice on matters of Islamic law. As
an example, we mention one incident related by Maulana Abdul
Majid Salik:
“At last the Allama
(Iqbal) agreed to take his wife back. However, as he had
intended to divorce her, he suspected that in Islamic law
divorce had taken place. So he sent Mirza Jalal- ud-Din
to Maulana Hakim Nur-ud-Din in Qadian to enquire about
the Islamic position. The Maulana said that no divorce
had taken place according to Islamic law, but if he was
uncertain in his mind he could hold the marriage ceremony
again. So a maulvi was called, and the Allama was
re-married to this lady. He then took her to Sialkot.
This happened in the year 1913.” (Zikr-i
Iqbal, p. 70.)
Public
Meeting in Lahore as Lord Headley Accepts Islam:
At the same time, Dr. Iqbal
was a fervent supporter of the work of the propagation of
Islam being done by the Ahmadiyya Movement. In 1913 Lord
Headley, a British nobleman, embraced Islam in England
through the work of Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din, the famous
Ahmadiyya missionary to the West. To celebrate this, a big
gathering of the Muslims of Lahore was held at Ahmadiyya
Buildings, the centre of the Movement in Lahore. We
reproduce below the report of this meeting as published at
the time (Paigham Sulh, Lahore, 25 November
1913):
Report from Paigham
Sulh:
In accordance with the
announcement, a meeting of the Muslims of Lahore was held
on 23rd November 1913 at 3:30 p.m. in Ahmadiyya
Buildings, Lahore. Even before the appointed time, Muslim
brethren started arriving in crowds, and by the time of
the opening of the proceedings the Ahmadiyya mosque and
the adjoining marquee were entirely full. Besides Muslims
of all sections of society, followers of other religions
were also present in large numbers. Khan sahib Shaikh
Khair-ud-Din, pensioner, District Traffic Superintendent
of the Railways Department, who takes a keen interest in
Muslim national affairs, was chosen as President of the
meeting. First of all, Dr. Mirza Yaqub Baig (A prominent
Lahore Ahmadi and friend of Iqbal) recited the Holy
Quran. He was followed by Sufi Ghulam Muhammad who
recited the poetry of the Promised Messiah in praise of
the Holy Prophet Muhammad. After this, Dr. Sayyid
Muhammad Husain Shah (Another prominent Lahore Ahmadi and
friend of Iqbal) delivered a speech for nearly an hour,
which derived its force from his sincerity.
After him, Dr. Shaikh Muhammad
Iqbal, whose heart is full of love for the Muslim nation,
made a profound and meaningful speech on the propagation
of Islam. He said:
“The allegation
against Islam that it was propagated by the sword is
proved to be utterly baseless when we look at world
history. Taking India as an example, history shows
that Muslims never established any permanent or
lengthy rule in Bengal, yet the proportion of Muslims
there is greater than in other provinces. Similarly,
in the Balkan states, Islam first spread from a Muslim
prisoner to his Christian fellow-inmates, and then
further afield. In Java Islam spread at a time when
Muslim political power in Asia was declining fast. At
the present time, the downfall of Muslim political
power is complete but the progress of Islam is such
that in the island of Madagascar Christian clergymen
have held a conference which passed the resolution
that, as the daily advance of Islam on the island
poses a threat to the French government, it should
take measures to stop the spread of Islam. The same is
the situation in Africa where Islam is expanding
rapidly even though Muslims have no political power
worth mentioning in those countries, and that too is
due solely to individual efforts. The biggest cause of
the decline of the Muslims is the neglect of the task
of the propagation of Islam. Thank God that the man
who first recognised this shortcoming is Khwaja
Kamal-ud-Din, who has sacrificed all worldly interests
to take this great work upon himself. It is,
therefore, our duty not to neglect to help him in any
way, and we must not let the question of Ahmadiyyat
stand in the way of this noble work, for our God, our
Prophet and our Scripture is the same.”
In short, his speech was
praiseworthy from every angle, and was full of concern
for Islam from beginning to end. Afterwards, the
following resolutions were passed unanimously:
Resolution no. 1, moved by Dr.
Shaikh Muhammad Iqbal:
"A telegram of
congratulations should be sent on behalf of the
Muslims of Lahore to the Right Honourable Lord
Headley, through Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din of the Woking
Mosque, England, on his acceptance of Islam. This
resolution was passed unanimously by all
present."
Resolution no. 3, presented by
Nawab Muhammad Salim Khan, Raees of Taitri:
"This meeting proposes
that a campaign for funds be launched among the Indian
Muslim population for the Islamic mission of Khwaja
Kamal-ud-Din. A trust should be created, having
Ahmadis and other Muslims as members, to receive the
contributions, and the funds should be spent to
support Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din. This resolution was
seconded by Dr. Mirza Yaqub Baig and Mr. Abdul Majid,
and passed unanimously by those present."
Resolution no. 4: At the proposal
of the President of the meeting, and with the unanimous
agreement of those present, the following persons were
elected as members of the trust:
1. Dr. Shaikh Muhammad Iqbal, M.A.,
Ph.D., Barrister at law.
2. Khan Bahadur Mirza Sultan Ahmad
Khan, E.A.C., Member of the Council of Regency,
Bahawalpur.
3. Shaikh Rahmat-ullah, proprietor,
English Ware House, Lahore.
4. Nawab Muhammad Salim Khan, Raees
of Taitri, the Frontier.
5. Dr. Sayyid Muhammad Husain Shah,
L.M.S., Lahore.
6. Dr. Mirza Yaqub Baig, L.M.S.,
Lahore.
7. Mian Charagh-ud-Din,
Raees, Government Pensioner.
The Joint Secretaries were declared
to be Shaikh Rahmat-ullah and Dr. Mirza Yaqub Baig. The
meeting closed with a prayer.
Report of
the Isha'at Islam (Western Countries) Trust:
News of the activities of
this trust appeared some months later in Paigham
Sulh of 5 July 1914:
Report from
Paigham Sulh:
This trust was created on 23rd
November 1913, at the proposal of some friends, on the
occasion of the magnificent gathering in Ahmadiyya
Buildings to mark the embracing of Islam by Lord Headley,
and had the object of helping the Islamic mission of
Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din in England. The following members
were appointed to the trust: …
Afterwards the following were
added:
8. Maulvi Muhammad Ali, M.A.,
Ll.B., editor Review of Religions,
Qadian.
9. Maulvi Ghulam Muhiy-ud-Din,
B.A., Ll.B., lawyer, Qasur.
The Secretary Shaikh Rahmat-ullah
and Sayyid Muhammad Husain Shah toured various places in
the Punjab to collect funds. At the annual meeting of the
Muhammadan Educational Conference held in Agra, a large
meeting was convened at the suggestion of Maulana Abul
Kalam Azad for the support of this Islamic propagation
mission of Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din. Many speeches were made
and great interest was expressed by those attending. The
following dignitaries were also appointed members of the
trust:
1. Maulana Abul Kalam
Azad.
2. Maulana Maulvi Abdul Qadir Azad
Subhani.
3. The honourable Khwaja Ghulam
Asqalain.
4. The honourable Sahibzada Aftab
Ahmad Khan.
5. Maulvi Ali Ahmad, M.A.,
Allahabad.
6. Qazi Kabir-ud-Din Ahmad,
Lucknow.
7. Mr. Shaukat Ali, B.A.
(Aligarh).
8. Nawab Imad-ul-Mulk Sayyid
Hasan Ali Balgrami.
9. Sayyid Mazhar-ul-Haq,
Bar-at-law.
10. Haziq-ul-Mulk Hakim
Muhammad Ajmal Khan.
Besides these the following were
appointed patrons of the trust by unanimous
agreement:
1. Maulana Hakim Haji Hafiz
Nur-ud-Din.
2. Maulana Maulvi Shibli
Numani.
3. Waqqar-ul-Mulk Maulvi
Mushtaq Husain Bahadur.
On 14th May 1914 a meeting of the
Isha'at Islam Trust (Western countries) was held with Dr.
Shaikh Muhammad Iqbal as President, which was attended by
the following prominent persons:
1. Maulana Muhammad Ali.
2. Dr. Shaikh Muhammad
Iqbal.
3. Shaikh Rahmat-ullah.
4. Dr. Sayyid Muhammad Husain
Shah.
5. Maulvi Ghulam Muhiy-ud-Din
Qasoori.
6. The Secretary.
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