Al Hakam 26 October 2018

Religious Upbringing Linked to Better Health and Well-Being During Early Adulthood

Mufti Muhammad Sadiqra

Book Intro

An Early Ray of Western Sunrise Part II

The Holy Quran with English Translation and Explanatory

Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health research work

Tracing the roots of early Islam Ahmadiyyat in the USA

Page 6

A

Nasir Hospital, Guatemala

Part I. Pp. VIII, 117. (Through Surah 2, verse 142.)

Page 12

Page 5

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih V, inaugurated, on Tuesday 23 October 2018 in the Sacatepéquez city of Guatemala

Page 4

THE WEEKLY

www.alhakam.org AL HAKAM | Friday 26 October 2018 | Issue XXXII Ahmadiyya Archive & Research Centre (ARC), 22 Deer Park Road, London, SW19 3TL. UK info@alhakam.org | F: +44(0)208 544 7673

Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V in the Americas aa

Hadith-e-Rasul – Sayings of the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa

Rising of the Sun from the West Hazrat Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: “The hour will not be established till the sun rises from the West; and when it rises (from the West) and the people see it, they all will believe. And that is (the time) when no good will it do to a soul to believe then.” Then he recited the whole verse (Ch.6: V.159).

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Tafsir)

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas, In His Own Words

Worldly Wealth is Worthless Inaugural Friday sermon Baitul Aafiyat Mosque, Philadelphia

• Formal opening of Philadelphia mosque with Friday Sermon • Key to Philadelphia presented to Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa • Huzooraa opens Baitus-Samad Mosque, Baltimore • Huzooraa travels to Central America for the very first time • Hundreds of Ahmadi Muslims of Central America take Bai‘at • Opening of Nasir Hospital, Guatemala

OMasroor

n 19 October 2018, Hazrat Mirza Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih Vaa formally inaugurated the Baitul Aafiyat Mosque in Philadelphia, USA. Huzooraa delivered his weekly Friday Sermon from the mosque, which was broadcast live around the world on MTA International.

In his sermon, Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa reminded the worshippers that it is not enough to simply celebrate the opening of the new mosque, rather it is incumbent upon Ahmadi Muslims to fulfil the true purposes of mosques by joining together for the worship of Allah the Almighty and preaching the true, peaceful teachings of Islam.

Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa called on the worshippers to self-reflect and analyse to see if they are fulfilling the rights owed to mosques.

“Now that this mosque has been inaugurated, the responsibilities of all those who associate

themselves to it have become far greater with regard to fulfilling the rights of God and the rights of the creation of God. Only when you fulfil both these responsibilities will you be the recipients of the constant love of Allah the Almighty.”

Giving emphasis on the importance of spreading the peaceful teachings of Islam, Huzooraa narrated that the Promised Messiahas had stated that wherever one wishes to propagate Islam, they should build a mosque in that area.

Huzooraa observed that despite a multitude of prayer centres established by different Islamic sects, the Baitul Aafiyat Mosque was the first purpose-built Mosque in Philadelphia.

The plot for the mosque was purchased in 2007 and is based on a four-acre piece of land. The complex hosts a mosque with prayer halls for both men and women capable of

accommodating about 700 people, a multipurpose hall, a missionary’s residence, numerous offices, kitchen and large parking facilities with space for further development.

Later that day, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa delivered the keynote address at a special reception held to mark the inauguration of the Baitul Aafiyat (literally meaning “House of Security”) Mosque in Philadelphia, USA. The mosque, which is the first purposebuilt mosque in Philadelphia, was officially opened earlier in the day when Huzooraa delivered his weekly Friday Sermon. Over 175 dignitaries and guests attended the evening reception held in the new mosque.

The highlight of the event was the keynote address delivered by Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadaa during which he spoke of the true objectives of mosques and stated that freedom of belief is a core tenet of Islamic teachings.

Throughout his address, Huzooraa emphasised the importance of fostering unity and tolerance within society.

“Irrespective of differences of race, religion or social background, we are united as human beings and so it is vital that we interact with other people, rather than isolating ourselves or only mingling with members of our own particular community… For the advancement

Become righteous so that you may live long and receive the blessings of God. He who remains engrossed in extreme luxury, lives an accursed life. He who shows discourtesy or inconsideration, lives an accursed life. He who neglects God and is unsympathetic towards His servants, lives an accursed life. A rich person will be held accountable for their duties towards God and their fellow human beings, in the same way as will one of meagre means, nay, even more stringently. How unfortunate is one who places their trust in this short span of life and completely turns away from God and makes use of those things prohibited by God with such impudence as if they were lawful for them. In the likeness of one who is mad, when angered, such a person is prepared to curse, injure or even kill.

In the heat of their lustful passions they are driven to the extremes of shamelessness. Such a person shall never attain true happiness until death seizes them.

(Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas, Noah’s Ark, pp. 115-116)

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Friday 26 October 2018 | AL HAKAM

Baitul Aafiyat Mosque reception

Arrival in Guatemala

The Mayor of Philadelphia, James Kenny presenting the key to the city of Philadelphia to Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa

and evolution of society, and to foster an atmosphere of peace and togetherness, respectful discourse and discussion between people and amongst different communities is vital.”

Referring to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat’s motto of “Love for all, Hatred for None”, His Holiness said the slogan was nothing new, rather it was based directly upon the teachings of the Holy Quran and of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. He said that Islam taught Muslims to respect people of all beliefs and religions.

He cited the example of Ahmadi Muslims living in Philadelphia who immediately offered their support to members of the Jewish community following an attack at a nearby Jewish cemetery.

Explaining the true objective of mosques, Huzooraa said that the primary one is for

Saint Prix, France

Friday 26 October 2018: amaat Ahmadiyya France will be holding their 26th Jalsa Salana at Baitul Ata, Trie Chateaux – a site owned by the Jamaat in the beautiful countryside of France, spanning over 33 acres. This Jalsa is unique for Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya France as for the first time, Majlis Ansarullah, Lajna Imaillah and Majlis Khuddam-ul-Ahmadiyya will also be holding their Ijtemas at the Jalsa Salana.

Thus, the 26th Jalsa Salana of France will be intertwined with three separate Ijtemas as well.

The location of the Jalsa Salana is at the Baitul Ata site in northern France

J

Muslims to join together and worship the One God. Secondly, Huzoor said, a mosque’s major objective is to function as “a centre for serving mankind.”

“Our mosques increase our determination to spread peace and to cultivate bonds of brotherhood and mutual affection with people from all walks of life and to eliminate all forms of hatred, bigotry and division from society.”

Before the keynote address by Huzooraa, a range of dignitaries also addressed the audience, whilst the Amir of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat USA, Dr Mirza Maghfoor Ahmad Sahib introduced Huzooraa prior to the keynote address.

The Mayor of Philadelphia, James Kenny presented the key to the city of Philadelphia to Huzooraa as a show of respect and appreciation.

“I am delighted that you now have a beautiful new place to worship,” he said. “Philadelphia’s history is based on being a place for religious

freedom. It is part of its family principles. Our city was built on the idea that while we may be different in nationality and ethnicity, this city welcomes all to worship and practice the faith of our culture of our choosing… The opening of this mosque is a testament to our unity and to our harmony. Muslims are the central part of the American establishment.”

Congressman Honourable Dwight Evans, Member of the United States Congress, said: “This is really an honour to be here today, to welcome His Holiness to the great city of Philadelphia, to the city of brotherly love and sisterly affection. On behalf of the Philadelphians I would like to say to the Muslim community that your message of peace [is] welcome here… I want you to know that we stand with you against hatred, prejudice and wilds.”

Prior to the reception, the Mayor of Philadelphia, James Kenny and Congressman Dwight Evans were able to have a personal audience with Huzooraa. Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa also met members of the assembled media and answered questions about the objectives of the new Mosque and other related issues.

On 22 October 2018, at 12:10pm local time, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih Vaa arrived in Guatemala for his first ever visit to Central America. Huzooraa had travelled specially to inaugurate the Nasir Hospital, a large-scale humanitarian project of Humanity First.

After landing in Guatemala City after a flight from Houston, Texas, Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa was greeted at the airport by Guatemala’s National Congresswoman, Iliana Calles. During a meeting with Huzooraa, the Congresswoman offered her deep appreciation to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat regarding the Nasir Hospital project. She said that it was

very much needed and would be a means to serve humanity and the underprivileged in particular.

At 1:10pm, Huzoor travelled by road to the city of Antigua.

It is for the first time that Huzooraa has travelled to Central America to meet local members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat and to directly deliver Islam’s true teachings of peace, justice and humanity.

Later in the day, Huzooraa visited the Baitul Awwal Mosque in Guatemala, which had been inaugurated by Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih IVrh in 1989.

Huzooraa inspected the mosque before meeting hundreds of Ahmadi Muslims hailing from various Central and Southern American countries, including Guatemala, Belize, Paraguay and others.

Emotional scenes were witnessed as various Ahmadi Muslims expressed their joy when meeting their beloved Imam and hosting him. They had the chance to ask Huzooraa various questions during the moving and faith inspiring session. Later, after leading the Maghrib and Isha prayers at the mosque, Huzooraa initiated the Bai‘at in which hundreds of Ahmadi Muslims pledged obedience to Khilafat and entered the fold of Islam Ahmadiyyat at Huzoor’s hand for the first time. During the ceremony, those converting to Islam could be seen deeply moved by emotions.

The following day, on 23 October 2018, Huzooraa inaugurated the Nasir Hospital – an event among the highlights of his blessed tour.

Before travelling to Guatemala, Huzooraa had travelled to Houston and Baltimore in the USA. The events that took place there will be reported in our next issue.

26th Jalsa Salana France (a 40-minute drive from the Jamaat headquarters in Saint Prix) which is a large area complete with numerous halls to hold the various sessions, several fields where marquees have been set up and ample parking to accommodate up to 500 cars. By the grace of Allah, the site facilities enable the Lajna to carry out their Jalsa and Ijtema proceedings exclusively with plenty of indoor and outdoor space.

Over 30 different nationalities and ethnicities of Jamaat members comprise the Jamaat in France, including French, Moroccan, Pakistani, Algerian, Bengali and many other African countries. This

means that the Jalsa will truly have a true multicultural feel. Due to the various nationalities of Ahmadi brothers and sisters attending the Jalsa, the common language will be French, and most part of the sessions will also be in French.

The first speech of Jalsa Salana France will be delivered by Ashfaq Rabbani Sahib, Amir Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya France, on The Blessings of Khilafat-e-Khamisa followed by an array of speakers delivering speeches on various topics. Other speakers include Naseer Ahmad Shahid Sahib, Usama Maqsood Sahib, Bilal Akbar Sahib, Saeed Haddoui Sahib, Asif Arif Sahib, Abdul

Ghani Sahib, Omar Ahmad Sahib, M Kone Idrissa and Maqsud-ur-Rahman Sahib.

The topics cover subjects ranging from The Teachings of Islam Ahmadiyyat to Islam’s Response to Contemporary Issues.

The second day of Jalsa Salana France will witness the historic event of Majlis Ansarullah, Lajna Imaillah and Majlis Khuddam-ul-Ahmadiyya holding their respective Ijtemas from 9am-1pm at the Jalsa Salana site.

The concluding session is set to take place on the afternoon of Sunday, 28 October 2018.

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Friday 26 October 2018 | AL HAKAM

This Week in History

oon after settling S in the USA, Hazrat Mufti Muham-

mad Sadiq, may Allah be pleased with him, started publishing a quarterly journal, The Muslim Sunrise, the first issue being published in July 1921.

The name of the magazine indicated to the famous eschatological hadith of the Holy Prophetsa of Islam, where he mentions, among other signs of the latter days, that the sun shall rise from the West.

As Hazrat Mufti Sahibra had set foot on the American soil to propagate the message of Islam, he believed that it was the dawn-break of the fulfilment of the prophecy.

The very first issue is a proof of the excellent journalistic abilities of Hazrat Mufti Sahibra as the topics carry a great variety of themes. This issue was blessed by a special message sent by Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih II, may Allah be pleased with him, from Qadian:

26 October 1905: The Promised Messiahas was in Delhi, and on this day he visited the shrines of Muslim saints buried in this historic city. Huzooras offered prayers at the tombs of saints including Hazrat Khawaja Mir Dard Sahibrh and Hazrat Shah Waliullah Sahibrh.

27 October 1889: The Promised Messiahas was in Ludhiana, in the house of Hazrat Mir Nasir Nawab Sahibra.

28 October 1904: The Promised Messiahas was in Sialkot. He delivered a speech after offering Jumua prayer in Hasamuddin Mosque, Sialkot.

28 October 1906: The Promised Messiahas received some guests from Lahore; one was Miyan Muhammad Chattu Sahib and another was Syed Muhammad Yusuf Sahib, a tourist from Baghdad.

29 October 1904: The Promised Messiahas was in Sialkot and his health was reportedly poor on this day.

29 October 1905: On this day, the Promised Messiahas, during his stay in Delhi, visited the shrines of the Sufi Muslim saint, Hazrat Muhammad Nizamuddin Auliyarh and Amir Khusrow Dehlvi, a Sufi musician, poet and scholar.

He also had a audience with Khawaja Hasan Nizami on this day.

29 October 1905: One exemplary incident of the highest standard of obedience shown by Hazrat Hakim Maulvi Nuruddinra is reported in the books of history, when he acted without the delay of a single moment. It is reported that he was busy examining his patients in his clinic in Qadian, when a telegram reached him asking him to arrive at Delhi without

The Sun Shall Rise from the West Asif M Basit

26 October - 1 November

27 October 1904: The Promised Messiahas embarked on his journey towards the city of Sialkot. The entourage commenced its journey from Qadian at 4am. The Promised Messiahas covered half the distance seated in a palki (palanquin) and the other half of the journey, towards Batala, on foot. He reached Batala by 8am. From Batala Railway Station, a secondclass rail-carriage was reserved for the travelling party. Hazrat Ahmadas reached his destination of Sialkot by 6pm.

Editorial

The first issue of Al Badr

any delay. He left everything on the spot and began his journey, literally dragging his shoes half worn and tying his turban as he moved. He didn’t even check whether he had money in his pocket for travel expenses. On this day, he reached Delhi.

30 October 1955: Sufi Mutiur-Rahman Bengali Sahib passed away on this day.

He was an Ahmadi missionary in the USA who also served as editor for The Review of Religions. He penned a scholarly book called The Tomb of Jesus.

31 October 1902: The weekly newspaper Al Badr started its publication from Qadian. Earlier, it had brought out its sample issue under the title of Al Qadian, which the Promised Messiahas renamed.

31 October 1904: The Promised Messiahas was in Sialkot, occupied in writing his lecture that was to be delivered in the days to come.

1 November 1905: Whilst in Delhi, the Promised Messiah’sas daily schedule shows that he visited the shrines of Muslim saints buried there. His presence in the city was felt so much so that Mirza Hairat Dehlvi’s famous newspaper, Curzon Gazette, published unethical news articles against the Promised Messiahas, with intentions to misguide the masses.

This issue had a translation of a poetic work of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIra, the quality of which is magnificent; the meaning conveyed, poetic value uncompromised.

There are lists of converts who, through the preaching efforts of Hazrat Mufti Sahibra, had joined Islam Ahmadiyyat. He had only been in the USA a year, yet the lists are promisingly and astoundingly long.

The journal is still published under the administration of the USA Jamaat and carries, traditionally so, a variety of topics ranging from the teachings of Islam Ahmadiyyat to comparative studies of religions to pressing contemporary issues.

The journal, and its past issues dating back to the very first issue, can be read at www.muslimsunrise.com

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Friday 26 October 2018 | AL HAKAM

Nasir Hospital, Guatemala Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih Vaa, inaugurated, on Tuesday, 23 October 2018 in the Sacatepéquez city of Guatemala, Nasir Hospital.

After the formal inauguration, a reception was held to mark this historic opening of a hospital by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat.

A large number of dignitaries – ranging from the local authority officials to state officials and also the deputy head of the US embassy in Guatemala – were in attendance.

The speeches of guests and dignitaries were followed by the highlight of the event – a keynote address by Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa. Huzoor said, “You may well be wondering why we have built this hospital.

The answer is very simple. It has been built with purely one intention and that is quite simply to serve humanity by providing high quality healthcare to the people of this nation.”

Huzooraa further said, “Having built this insitutue, this will not be the end of our services to this country; rather it is my prayer that it proves to be first of the many humanitarian projects by Humanity First in this region.”

Below is a background and introduction to the concept of this hospital written by Dr Mansoor Qureshi Sahib and provided to us

by Humanity First: Guatemala is a beautiful country of 16 million in Central America just south of Mexico. It is considered to be the cradle of Mayan civilisation.

Humanity First was established in

Guatemala in 2010. At this time, Humanity First had a Masroor School established in 2015 serving the community of Alotenango.

Guatemala is a developing country and has huge needs in medical care. The ratio of physicians to the general population is only 0.9 per 1,000 people. It has one of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in Central and South America. Humanity First was aware of this first hand through assessments done by various medical camps.

Over three years ago, a delegation of Humanity First Guatemala along with certain dignitaries from the country met Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadaa and

expressed the need for having a hospital in Guatemala. That request was accepted, and Humanity First USA was assigned to complete the project. Majid Khan Sahib was appointed as the project director.

The hospital was named by Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadaa in memory of Hazrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih IIIrh, who was a champion for human service and set up hundreds of schools and many hospitals in Africa.

Nasir Hospital has been established on three acres of land in Sacatepéquez. The building is 28,000 square feet and is located on a major high way in Central America.

It is projected to help a population of 2.2 million. The cost of the project has been around 3 million US dollars. It has 22 beds with two high-technology operation theatres and a four-bed maternity obstetrics unit. The hospital has modern radiology, sonogram and laboratory units.

Outpatient services include pediatrics, general medicine, general surgery, obstetrics and gynecology and dentistry.

The hospital will also be a resource to improve the health of the surrounding communities by education and communitybased preventive health initiatives.

The hospital is being supported by a large faculty of physicians from the United States that includes members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Medical Association of USA (AMMA). The team has already started consulting the Guatemalan physicians who will be working at Nasir Hospital in setting up policies and procedures to establish quality of care.

Nasir Hospital was inaugurated on 23 October 2018 by Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad. Over 400 local dignitaries were invited for the event. The event was held on a farm adjacent to Nasir Hospital.

Arrangement were made for welcoming the international guests at Guatemala airport and guests stayed at hotels in the historic town of Antigua not far from the hospital.

After the inauguration, the staff of Nasir hospital are looking forward to starting their work in serving the people of Guatemala.

State of the art facilities in Nasir Hospital

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Friday 26 October 2018 | AL HAKAM

Mufti Muhammad Sadiqra

An Early Ray of Western Sunrise Tracing the roots of early Islam Ahmadiyyat in the USA Part II

Asif M Basit London, UK

The Historic Significance of Mufti Sadiq’sra Confinement The sacrifice that Hazrat Mufti Muhammad Sadiqra offered, by going through the ordeal of confinement in the Philadelphia Detention House in Gloucester, New Jersey, was not something that remained confined to his person. It was a sacrifice of greater historic value.

It seems to be the first ever instance when the American authorities explicitly showed a gross misunderstanding of Islamic doctrine by not only misinterpreting it, but also by passing a bill based on this gross misunderstanding (The Cambridge Companion to American Islam, p. 208).

As stated above, the Immigration Act of 1870 clearly seems to take polygamy as a commandment of Islam, hence not allowing any Muslim to step on the soils of America.

Mufti Sadiqra, by appealing against the deportation orders of the immigration authorities and by presenting his case before the American federal Government, became

Ahmadiyya ARC

the first Muslim to initiate a campaign to remove Western misconceptions about Islam. What Mufti Sadiqra performed before the American government was a legacy he had inherited from the Holy Founder of Ahmadiyyat, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas of Qadian: the legacy of nonviolent jihad (inner struggle) by way of reasoning and logical discourse.

This legacy of the Promised Messiahas continues to this day with his successor, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadaa, Supreme Head of the Worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, who travels throughout the world to remove misconceptions and to show the true and beautiful teachings of Islam.

Another factor that made this confinement historically important, was that this sacrifice of an Ahmadi missionary opened the otherwise closed gates of America for the active proselytisation of the faith of Islam.

There existed a strong discrimination

against Indian and Muslim immigrants in the United States in the early part of the twentieth century. The American immigration authorities had refused entry to many Muslim immigrants on the grounds that “they were neither Caucasian nor African.” (Richard Brent Turner, Islam in the African-American Experience, p. 117.) The racially oriented uprisings and riots of 1907 on the West Coast targeted immigrants from the British Indian Punjab, whom the local citizens saw as economic immigrants. This class of Punjabi immigrants included Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims, but the American eye branded them all as Hindus for the turbans they wore on their heads. Agnes Foster Buchanan, writing in The Overland Monthly saw this as “the propitious moment for the State Department to […] tell our brothers of the East that while the earth is large enough for us all, there is no part of it that will comfortably accommodate both branches of the Aryan family.” (Agnes Foster Buchanan, The Overland Monthly, California, April 1908) There existed a deep-rooted hostility in America against people of Asian origin, which laid the basis for the Oriental Exclusion Act of 1917, declaring an “Asiatic Barred Zone.” This zone included Arabia, India, Afghanistan, the East Indies, Indochina and all other Asian nations. The Johnson Act set up strictly limited quotas for Asian immigrants and in 1924, the Johnson-Reed Act set up a “national origins system” which was extremely discriminating as it virtually blocked all ways for non-European immigrants (Turner, Islam in the African-American Experience, p. 117). Mufti Sadiq’sra appeal to the higher immigration tribunal and the federal authorities of America, thus, played a pivotal role in opening up and paving the way for people of “other-than-white” ethnic origins in general, and for the peaceful teachings of Islam in particular, to reach America. (The definition of white given by American law was only European in the aforementioned laws.)

Islam, p. 146.) Mufti Sadiqra “missionised through lecturing and writing. By May 1920, he had contributed twenty articles on Islam to various American periodicals and newspapers, among them The New York Times. During his first year of missionary work in the United States, he delivered fifty public lectures on a variety of subjects in American cities, including Chicago, New York, Detroit and Grand Haven, Michigan.”

(Turner, Islam in the African-American Experience, p. 118.) Historians of Islam in America all admire his intellectual, literary and missionary capabilities. Richard Brent Turner describes him as a “learned man” who “was a graduate of the University of London, a philologist of international repute, and an expert in Arabic and Hebrew whose work had been published in [The] Philomath.” (Ibid.)

Nabil Echchaibi draws our attention to a very important aspect of Mufti Sadiq’sra contribution, in emphasising a Muslim identity in America. He initiated the publication of The Moslem Sunrise (later spelt The Muslim Sunrise and is still in print in the USA) – the first English-language Muslim newspaper to be published in America (The Cambridge Companion to American Islam, p. 125). This historic journal “featured articles on the missionary work of the Ahmadiyya leaders, introduced new Muslim converts to the proper performance of religious rituals, and defended Islam against misrepresentation in the American press.”

(Ibid.) Readers will agree that this publication was a great milestone for Islam in America.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has historically always been at the forefront of demystifying myths and misconceptions concerning Islam in the West. Under the leadership of Khalifatul Masih V, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadaa, Ahmadiyyat is the torchbearer of actively taking the true and peaceful message of Islam to the corners of the earth, primarily through the teachings of the Holy Quran. (The Oxford Handbook of American Islam, p. 144)

Sowing the Seed of Muslim Identity All historians agree that Mufti Sadiq’sra steps on American soil served as the dawn of an Islamic identity in the American nation (The Cambridge Companion to American Islam, p. 141 & 208). Yvonne Haddad, with her co-author Jane Smith, declares that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was “unquestionably the most influential group in African American Islam.” (The Oxford Handbook of American Islam, p. 146.) The aspect of Mufti Sadiq’sra approach that attracted the Americans, especially the African Americans, was his openness to people of all ethnic origins (Ibid.). Richard Brent Turner very justifiably sees the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community as “unquestionably one of the most significant movements in the history of Islam in the United States in the twentieth century, providing as it did the first multiracial model for American Islam.” (Turner, Islam in the African-American Experience, pp.

109-110.) Mufti Sadiqra highlighted the antiracist teachings of Islam, that became highly attractive to African Americans in particular.

(The Cambridge Companion to American Islam, p. 53) Mufti Sadiqra, under the guidance of the second Khalifa, Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmadra, proactively “established mosques and reading rooms, translated the Quran into English, and countered what they saw as the distortions of Islam by the media.” (The Oxford Handbook of American

The Ahmadiyya Tradition of Winning Hearts The Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, from its very inception, laid emphasis upon the fact that Islam was meant to be spread by winning hearts not territories. He stressed that territories had been won alongside hearts in the early phase of Islamic glory, but that was a by-product of the political state-of-affairs of the world at that time. The second phase of Islamic glory, Hazrat Ahmadas taught, was to dawn upon the world through winning hearts and not political-geographic territories. (The British Government and Jihad by Hazrat Ahmadas sheds light on the true Islamic notion of jihad.)

This teaching has always been at the heart of Ahmadiyya missionising. Mufti Sadiqra had set foot in America with the same philosophy.

Sally Howell gave a very befitting description of Mufti Sadiq’sra efforts for propagating the message of Islam to the American public. She describes him as “an energetic agent of Islam in the United States, speaking at whatever public engagements he could arrange, writing frequently to local newspapers, and launching The Moslem Sunrise, the newsletter of the Ahmadiyya Movement in America.”

(The Cambridge Companion to American Islam, p. 52) Mufti Sadiqra, and his co-missionaries, had “attracted more than one thousand Continued on page 7

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Friday 26 October 2018 | AL HAKAM

Religious Upbringing Linked to Better Health and Well-Being During Early Adulthood Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health

oston, MA – Participating in spiritual B practices during childhood and adolescence may be a protective factor for a

range of health and well-being outcomes in early adulthood, according to a new study from Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.

Researchers found that people who attended weekly religious services or practiced daily prayer or meditation in their youth reported greater life satisfaction and positivity in their 20s – and were less likely to subsequently have depressive symptoms, smoke, use illicit drugs or have a sexually transmitted infection – than people raised with less regular spiritual habits.

“These findings are important for both our understanding of health and our understanding of parenting practices,” said first author Ying Chen, who recently completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Chan School. “Many children are raised religiously, and our study shows that this can powerfully affect their health behaviours, mental health, and overall happiness and well-being.”

The study was published online 13 September 2018 in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Previous studies have linked adults’ religious involvement to better health and well-being outcomes, including lower risk of premature death.

For this study, Chen and senior author Tyler VanderWeele, John L Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb, Professor of Epidemiology, analysed health data from mothers in the Nurses’ Health Study II (NHSII) and their children in the Growing Up Today Study (GUTS). The sample included more than 5,000 youth who were followed for between 8–14 years. The researchers controlled for many variables such as maternal health, socioeconomic status, and history of substance abuse or depressive symptoms, to try to isolate the effect of religious upbringing.

UK Waqf-e-Nau Head for Spain

Musharraf Ahmad Muavin Sadr, MKA UK

t the National Waqf-e-Nau Ijtema 2018, A Hazrat Amirul Momineen said: “In terms of tabligh from a young age, Waqiaa

feen-e-Nau should have the habit of spreading the message of Islam. Thus, at weekends or during holidays, you should do tabligh and play your role in defending Islam from the false allegations that are levelled against it. Both the Jamaat and Majlis Khuddam-ul-Ahmadiyya should host tabligh functions and events and so you should offer your services and try to help as much as possible.”

In light of these instructions of Huzooraa, the department of Waqf-e-Nau in

Majlis Khuddam-ul-Ahmadiyya UK organised a trip for Waqifeen-e-Nau to Spain, where Waqifeen will experience what Waqf really is.

The main purpose of this trip is to bring Waqifeen-e-Nau closer to the Jamaat by occupying them in tabligh through distribution of leaflets in Southern Spain, whilst also acquiring knowledge of the history of Islam and Ahmadiyyat in Spain through various trips and lectures.

With the approval of Huzooraa, this trip takes place from 24 to 31 October 2018 and 25 Waqifeen-e-Nau from various parts of the UK will partake in this historic trip.

The results showed that people who attended religious services at least weekly in childhood and adolescence were approximately 18% more likely to report higher happiness as young adults (ages 23– 30) than those who never attended services.

They were also 29% more likely to volunteer in their communities and 33% less likely to use illicit drugs.

Those who prayed or meditated at least daily while growing up were 16% more likely to report higher happiness as young adults, 30% less likely to have started having sex at a young age, and 40% less likely to have a

sexually transmitted infection compared to those who never prayed or meditated.

“While decisions about religion are not shaped principally by health, for adolescents who already hold religious beliefs, encouraging service attendance and private practices may be meaningful avenues to protect against some of the dangers of adolescence, including depression, substance abuse and risk taking. In addition, these practices may positively contribute to happiness, volunteering, a greater sense of mission and purpose, and to forgiveness,” said VanderWeele.

One limitation of the study is that it consisted mainly of children of white females of relatively high family socioeconomic status, and therefore might not be generalisable to a broader population, though prior research by VanderWeele suggested the effects of religious service attendance for adults may be even larger for black versus white populations. Another limitation was that the study did not look at the influences of parents and peers on adolescents’ religious decisions.

While previous studies of adult populations have found religious service attendance to have a greater association with better health and well-being than prayer or meditation, the current study of adolescents found communal and private spiritual practices to be of roughly similar benefit.

Chen is now a research scientist with the Harvard Institute for Quantitative Social Science’s Human Flourishing Program, which VanderWeele directs.

Our special thanks to Hashir Altaf Qadeer (Canada) for sharing this article and to Chris Sweeney for granting permission to publish it.

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Friday 26 October 2018 | AL HAKAM

The Blessing of Huzoor’s Touch

Umar Nasser UK Tabligh Dept

uring this past Jalsa Salana UK 2018, a D photo was taken which may have been puzzling to some. Hazrat Amirul Momineen

aa

was browsing on two huge screens, while around him stood Ahmadis with a mixture of excitement and anxiety writ across their faces.

This is the story of that photo.

The photo was taken just after the Jumua prayer. In the preceding Friday Sermon, Huzoor said, “Today, two websites, True Islam & Rational Religion will be launched.”

After the Jumua prayer, Huzoor walked off the stage to the screens set up for this purpose. On these websites, “launch” buttons had been designed, which, when pressed by our beloved Imam, played an animation to turn on the website. The purpose of the launch was to signify the incorporation of these platforms into the body of Jamaat-eAhmadiyya. However, the action was not purely symbolic, for even the push of a button

by Huzoor brings with it countless blessings.

An introduction to the two platforms seems necessary. Both platforms were produced by the UK National Tabligh Department. True Islam going forward is the default “brand” of future national tabligh efforts. It is more than a single campaign; rather it is an entire platform from which multiple campaigns will be launched. The first campaign, The Messiah Has Come already marked a new benchmark in UK tabligh efforts, and further campaigns will follow Insha-Allah.

The website for True Islam (www. trueislam.co.uk) is a newly created repository of information on Islam and Ahmadiyyat for public consumption. The need was felt to produce a platform that provided information about the faith in easily navigated and delineated sections, combining written material with multimedia. The idea was to provide a website that could be easily sent to a tabligh contact without fear of them getting lost or overwhelmed by multiple resources.

To this end, the website goes through a widerange of topics, providing summaries along with expandable detail. There are sections on contemporary issues (the 11 points): Allah, Prophets, Islam, Khilafat and a detailed look at Ahmadiyya theology. While much of the content is excerpted and edited from previous

Jamaat resources, there are many thousands of words of original writing. It is hoped that the website will prove an invaluable resource for non-Ahmadis looking to understand the faith, and Ahmadis wishing to browse.

The next platform was Rational Religion (www.rationalreligion.co.uk). This is a website that initially began as a personal endeavour by some khuddam under the rather more controversial moniker, End of Atheism. Curiously, atheists found that name somewhat alarming, though the flagship book of the New Atheist movement being entitled The End of Faith was apparently of little concern.

This notwithstanding, after a year or so of endless online debates with atheists, the team decided that it was futile to miss out on the immense blessings of working under the guidance of Khilafat-e-Ahmadiyya, and so a request was made for the platform to come under the Jamaat Tabligh Department, which was kindly granted. Now under the Jamaat nizam, the team wished to send a more positive message into the world and rebranded the platform as Rational Religion.

The name seeks to portray the beautiful unity of rationality and spirituality that one finds in Islam. The platform has a special focus on refuting atheism. It seeks to show how the spiritual power of Islam is accompanied by intellectual rigour. By the grace of God, the YouTube channel has now a quarter of a million views, while the website has 50,000. Frequent videos and articles are uploaded countering atheist criticisms and putting forward arguments in favour of Islam. For instance, one series of videos is called Believe You Me, a talk-show discussing title questions such as “Is free will an illusion?”, and “Can you be spiritual but not religious?” Huzoor’s relaunch was a symbol of a new birth for the channel, the positive consequences of which are already being felt.

Back to the photo. The launch pages were designed, and the screens prepared.

The idea of launches blessed with the touch of Khalifatul Masih was already an immeasurable honour upon team members.

But our gracious Khalifa did not leave it there. In his sermon itself, beloved Huzooraa announced to the world the launch of these

Continued from page 5

converts, most of them African Americans in cities such as Chicago and Detroit.” (Ibid., p. 88.) Historians credit the Ahmadiyya contribution to Islam in America by acknowledging that it was Mufti Sadiqra who “established the first, and in some cases, the only, centres for Islamic gatherings.” (Ibid., p. 141.) In 1923 alone, Mufti Sadiqra “gave five lectures at the UNIA [Universal Negro Improvement Association] meetings in Detroit and managed to convert forty Garveyites to his faith.” (Ibid.)

Sylviane A Diouf credits the efforts of Mufti Sadiqra by crediting the fact that the Ahmadiyya Movement provided “Qurans and other Islamic literature in English.” (The Oxford Handbook of American Islam, p. 23) Mufti Sadiq’sra contribution to the propagation of Islam in the United States laid the foundation for the Islamic identity taught, practised and upheld by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community; the identity of Islam as a winner of hearts through the Ahmadiyya motto of “Love for All, Hatred for None”.

A Prophecy Fulfilled The services that Mufti Sadiqra carried out for the cause of Islam resulted in the fulfilment of a prophecy. Mufti Sadiqra always had an ardent desire to acquire knowledge. While seeking a Bachelor of Arts degree, he had partially qualified, with one examination remaining. He asked the permission of the Promised Messiahas to travel to Lahore to sit the examination. The Promised Messiahas replied, “You have already resigned from state service, why should you seek further qualifications? You do not need to attempt for this examination, degrees will themselves come to you.” (Al Fazl, 4 January 1944, reporting on a speech by Mufti Sadiqra on the Annual Convention of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community held in Rabwah on 26 December 1943.)

Acknowledging his aforementioned qualifications and the papers he read before various learned societies and the articles he wrote for a range of journals and newspapers, he was awarded honorary degrees by various British and American degree-awarding bodies and universities of his time. Mufti Sadiqra “was awarded degrees from the College of Divine Metaphysics, a New Thought-oriented institution, and the Oriental University, which was affiliated with the spiritualist Universal Theomonistic Association.” (Founded by Dr Joseph Perry Green in 1918. Dr Green was a pioneer of The Metaphysical Movement in America. He is amongst the signatories on Mufti Sadiq’sra degree. The college has ever since remained functional.) (The Cambridge Companion to American Islam, p. 87.) He was also awarded a degree by Lincoln-Jefferson University, Chicago, in recognition of his work. This university was founded on the principle that educational qualifications should be made accessible to those who had a desire to learn but could not afford, due to lifestyle constraints or lack of finances, to join established resident universities. (Lincoln-

platforms. Then, another blessing fell fast after the first: much to the surprise of at least this team member, we were called to be besides Huzoor for the launch. As his fingers came near, a thousand prayers flitted across our mind, such as, “O Allah, pray ensure the launch buttons work, and that we are not left troubleshooting IT issues while being broadcast to the corners of the Earth!” But, Alhamdollilah, the launches went smoothly,

Jefferson University Bulletin, 1922-1925, Vol. V, No. 1b. British Library Shelf Mark R.ac.2691.ek) Lincoln-Jefferson University would also award honorary qualifications to individuals of the general public who had achieved outstanding performance in their disciplines of knowledge. (Ibid.)

The prophecy of Hazrat Ahmadas, the Promised Messiah, was thus fulfilled.

The Saga of Jazz Musicians The arrival of Mufti Sadiqra in America “coincided with the height of the search by African Americans for a new identity in the American context.” (The Oxford Handbook of American Islam, p. 144.) As mentioned above, the Islam brought to American soil by the West African slaves had become extinct with their deaths. Their descendants were left without Islam but with Islamic impressions on their very troubled lives, where an identity crisis plagued them. The Western African slaves had called out Adhan (Islamic call to prayer) and sang anthems while at work in the fields. Their descendants carried out this tradition with some similarities and more variations. This musical impression left by the West Africans modified and evolved into a musical genre known as the blues. As more and more African Americans migrated from rural areas to cities, this genre gained popularity and led the African-American musicians to create bands and try their luck in other genres. This popularity created more forms of music that have their roots in the African melancholy songs of the long-dead African slaves.

Some jazz musicians of international renown, like the Grammy Award winner Dr Yusef Abdul-Lateef, joined the Ahmadiyya Community. This generation of African Americans had inherited the artistic rhythm of the adhan (call to prayer) and they replaced the recitation of the Holy Quran with music.

This nation found its lost soul in Ahmadiyyat, which brought back the true, original, artistic beauties of Islam. All sections of American society were deeply moved by the arrival of Islam, musicologists being no exception.

Conclusion The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has the honour and privilege to have taken the message of Islam to America – the nation now considered a superpower; a nation that always questioned and continues to pose questions about Islam.

Mufti Sadiqra, a devout companion of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas of Qadian, was chosen by Allah to be the first ray of light to bring about the prophesied sunrise from the West. His intellect, his fervour for sowing the seed of Islam in the hearts of the American people, his enthusiasm to bring about the revival of Islam, and above all, his contribution to Islam in America, is acknowledged by all who knew him.

(Originally published in The Review of Religions, November 2015)

and our beloved Huzoor left us feeling humbled, grateful and prayerful.

In the time since UK Jalsa, the team has already seen the blessings of Huzoor’s attention in myriad ways, and it is hoped that the current and future output reflects that.

Prayers are requested from all readers that these humble platforms of the UK’s National Tabligh Department are able to fulfil and exceed Huzoor’s lofty expectations!

Friday 26 October 2018 | AL HAKAM

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Friday Sermon 5 October 2018 Delivered from Baitul Futuh Mosque

Men of Excellence After reciting the Tashahud, Ta‘awuz, and Surah al-Fatihah, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa stated: In the previous sermon, whilst speaking about the Companions of the Holy Prophetsa, I spoke about Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘ud. There are plenty of narrations about him, either narrated by himself or others. Some of them were left out, which I will mention now.

Some of the elder and more senior Companions used to say about Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘ud that he had an exceptional status with regard to his closeness to God Almighty and his relationship with Him. In addition to the names of Hazrat Abu Bakrra and Hazrat Umarra, the name of Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘ud was also among the Companions, about whom the Holy Prophetsa used to specially advise others to take them as shining examples. And according to anther narration, the Holy Prophetsa used to tell them to hold fast to the way of Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘ud . (Jami‘ al-Tirmadhi, Abwaab-ul-Munaaqib, Baab Munaaqib Abdullah bin Mas‘udra, Hadith no. 3805) The Holy Prophetsa had special trust in him and Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra also had exceptional love for the Holy Prophetsa. I have previously narrated some of the accounts of his life but there are many more. Some are similar to each other, each with its own perspective.

It is written about him that, in terms of spirituality, the company of the Holy Prophetsa had transformed Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra into a righteous, pious, and worshiping individual.

He was so fond of worshipping and offering his nawafil [voluntary prayers] that, in addition to the obligatory prayers and Tahajjud, he would also regularly observe the prayer at the time of chasht [period between morning and noon].

Similarly, he used to observe voluntary fasts every Monday and Thursday. Despite this, he would be worried that he was not fasting enough.

Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra used to say, “My body begins to feel weak due to the Tahajjud prayer.” He used to observe a lengthy Tahajjud prayer. If one observes Tahajjud and nawafil as they truly deserve to be offered, then one indeed feels very weak. Hence, he used to say, “Giving precedence to Salat over fasting, I observe relatively less voluntary fasts.” (Sirat Sahaba Rasulsa, Hafiz Muzaffar Ahmad, p. 283, Nazarat Ishaat, Rabwah, 2009) Once the Holy Prophetsa, after having addressed people briefly, instructed Hazrat Abu Bakrra to also give them some advice. Hazrat Abu Bakrra addressed them briefly. Then he instructed Hazrat Umarra and he also addressed them but even more briefly than Hazrat Abu Bakrra. Then the Holy Prophetsa instructed another person, who began delivering a very lengthy speech. The Holy Prophetsa instructed him to quieten and to take his seat. Then the Holy Prophetsa instructed Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra to deliver a speech.

Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra praised and glorified God Almighty, then simply said, “O People!

Allah is our Lord. The Quran is our Guide. The House of Allah is our qibla [direction]. Muhammadsa is our Prophet.” According to another narration, he said, “We are content with having Allah as our Lord and Islam as our faith. And I

desire for you whatever Allah and His Messengersa desire.” Upon this, the Holy Prophetsa said, “Abdullah bin Mas‘ud has spoken the truth and I too desire for my ummah what ibn Mas‘udra has desired.” (Sirat Sahaba Rasulsa, Hafiz Muzaffar Ahmad, p. 284-285, Nazarat Ishaat, Rabwah, 2009) When Hazrat Alira went to Kufa, Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra, who had previously lived there, was mentioned during one of his sittings.

People praised him and said, “O Amirul Momineen [chief of the believers]! We have not seen anyone greater than Abdullah bin Mas‘ud in terms of excellent morals, teaching with kindness, keeping exceptional company and extremely God-fearing.”

In order to test them, Hazrat Alira addressed all of them and said, “I swear by God Almighty and ask you to tell me truthfully, whether you

bin Mas‘udra once saw the garment of a person tied around the waist in a manner that the cloth would reach the lower part of his ankles, upon which he asked him to raise it above his ankles. The person replied to him saying that he should also raise his garment above his ankles.

Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra replied, “I am not like you. My calves are thin and I am also slim.”

When Hazrat Umarra came to know of this, he reprimanded this person for speaking to Hazrat ibn Mas‘udra in the manner he did. (Al-Asaba Fi Tameez Al-Sahaba, Vol. 4, p. 201, Dar-ul-Kutb Al-ilimiyya, Beirut, 1995).

It is also possible that this person was arrogant as it was a custom at that time to wear long garments as an indication of one’s pride.

Hence, he explained this to him and in response to this, without looking at how modest he was, how ardently he followed the commandments

give this testimony with a pure heart.” Everyone replied that indeed they do so. Upon this, Hazrat Alira said, “O Allah! Remain a witness to this. O Allah! I also share the very same opinion of these people about Abdullah bin Mas‘ud. As a matter of fact, I hold him in even higher esteem.” (AlTabqaat-ul-Kubra li ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, p. 115, Darul-Kutb al-Ilimiyya, Beirut, 1990).

Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra fulfilled the rights of the bond of brotherhood with Hazrat Zubair bin Al-Awam, which was established by the Holy Prophetsa. Placing his entire trust in him, he bequeathed him to take care of all of his financial matters after him. He said that all of his affairs and the property that he would leave behind would be entrusted to Hazrat Zubair bin Al-Awam and his son, Abdullah bin Zubair. Furthermore, he said that their decisions in relation to his domestic affairs will be final and they must be complied with. (Al-Tabqaat-ul-Kubra, Vol. 3, p. 118, Dar-ul-Kutb al-Ilimiyya, Beirut, 1990).

Abu Wail narrates that Hazrat Abdullah

of God Almighty and how much he feared God Almighty, he replied in such a manner. Hence, when Hazrat Umarra came to know of this, he reprimanded him.

With regard to the obedience of Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra towards the Holy Prophetsa, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIra has stated on one occasion that there is an account mentioned in the Ahadith [sayings and traditions of the Holy Prophetsa], from which we are able to gauge the spirit of his obedience. A person may listen to this and consider it to be foolishness. However, as I have mentioned, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIra states that the secret of his progress lied in the very fact that as soon as he heard an instruction from the Holy Prophetsa, he would immediately be prepared to comply with it. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIra states that in the Ahadith it is mentioned that Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra was once walking towards a gathering which was being held in the company of the Holy Prophetsa.

He was still on the path outside, when he heard

the Holy Prophetsa, “Sit down!” It seems that it was a large crowd and may have been too big and people were standing on the sides, upon which the Holy Prophetsa instructed them to take a seat. Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra had not yet reached the gathering, however, he heard the voice of the Holy Prophetsa while he was on the path outside and he immediately sat down and dragged himself to the mosque in that very posture, similar to the way a child crawls. A person standing nearby, who failed to understand the secret of how obedience and the very spirit of it enables nations to succeed in the world, saw Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra drag himself in this manner. He criticised him and asked him what kind of foolishness this was. He considered this to be a foolish act and was completely unaware of the fact that the primary principle for nations to succeed was, in fact, obedience. Nevertheless, he said to Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra, “The Holy Prophetsa intended to say that the people who are standing on the edges of the mosque should sit down. However, you sat down on the path and dragged yourself to the mosque. You should have entered the mosque and then sat down. What was the point of sitting down on the path?” Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra replied, “Indeed, this might have been the case. However, if I had passed away prior to reaching the mosque, I would not have complied with this instruction of the Holy Prophetsa and there would at least have remained one aspect, which I did not comply with.” This was the passion of these people in that they desired to comply with every word of the Holy Prophetsa. He further said, “I heard this instruction and I became worried that if had passed away at that very moment, a statement would have been added to my ledger of actions of not complying with this instruction, despite having heard it.” Nevertheless, he said to him that due to this, he did not consider it appropriate to continue to walk and to only sit down once he had entered the mosque. He said he thought of the unpredictability of life and whether he would reach the mosque or not. Therefore, he decided to sit down immediately in order to also comply with that instruction. Thus, these people assessed everything with such minute detail.

Hazrat Musleh Maudra further writes that there is another incident regarding the very same Abdullah bin Mas‘udra. During the Khilafat of Hazrat Usmanra, he once offered four rak‘at [units of prayer] in Mecca during the days of Hajj [Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca]. He had gone for Hajj, the stay there was short and he had offered four rak‘at. When the Holy Prophetsa went for Hajj, he offered two rak‘at, as a person on a journey is instructed to offer only two rak‘at. Following this, when Hazrat Abu Bakrra went for Hajj during his Khilafat, he also offered two rak‘at. When Hazrat Umarra went for Hajj, he also only offered two rak‘at. In other words, whenever they were entitled to shorten the prayers, they did so. However, Hazrat Usmanra offered four rak‘at. As a result, this created some commotion amongst people.

They claimed that Hazrat Usmanra had modified the tradition of the Holy Prophetsa. Hence,

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Friday 26 October 2018 | AL HAKAM people approached Hazrat Usmanra and inquired as to why he offered four rak‘at. Hazrat Usmanra replied, “The fact of the matter is that I formed a decision according to my understanding which is that presently, many people have entered Islam from distant places and have also started coming for Hajj from those places. Many of them are not as aware of matters related to Islam as people previously were. Now, they merely look at our practise; they look at what we, the older Muslims, are doing. Furthermore, they imitate what they see us doing and they say that this is the Islamic injunction. As these people come to Medina very little and since they do not get the opportunity to stay there and observe our prayers, I thought that if they observed me offering two rak‘at on the occasion of Hajj, and if they saw me shorten the prayer, they would return to their areas and immediately announce that they observed the Khalifa offer only two rak‘at and that the actual Islamic instruction is therefore to offer only two rak‘at. When these people return to their areas and announce this, it will create a sense of dissention within Islam and people will be misled as they will be unaware of the fact that the two rak‘at were offered as a result of being on a journey.”

This was the decision of Hazrat Usmanra based on his understanding. Hence, Hazrat Usmanra said, “Due to this, I considered it appropriate to offer four rak‘at so that they will not forget that there are actually four rak‘at of prayer. As for whether or not it was permissible or not for me to offer four rak‘at, the answer to this is”, Hazrat Usmanra answered why he performed four rak‘at and why it was permissible for him, “that I married someone here in Mecca. So considering that the hometown of the wife is also my hometown”, all of his wife’s family, all of his in-laws lived there, “so for this reason I do not consider myself a wayfarer and I should perform the prayer in full.” This is a proof he gave in support of his reasoning. Hence, Hazrat Usmanra explained why he offered four rak‘at with the purpose of which he stated was so that the people were not misled and lest they stumble in learning the true teachings of Islam.

This was a very exquisite explanation of his and full of wisdom, and when the Companions heard this, most of them understood, but some failed to and remained silent. However, the others who desired to cause mischief made an uproar that Hazrat Usmanra had acted in contrary to the tradition of the Holy Prophetsa. Thus, some of those among the mischief-makers went to Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra telling him, “Did you not see what happened today? The Holy Prophetsa acted in such and such manner whereas today Hazrat Usmansa acted in a manner contrary to it.” They also mentioned to Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra that during the days of Hajj, the Holy Prophetsa would arrive in Mecca and only perform two rak‘at of prayer whereas Hazrat Usmanra had performed four. Having heard this, Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra replied, “Look, it is not our duty to create mischief as the Khalifa must have done so out of his wisdom, which we do not realise as of yet. So do not cause conflict.”

Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra then said, “I also performed four rak‘at behind Hazrat Usmanra but immediately after the prayer I raised my hands in supplication to God Almighty and prayed, ‘O Allah, accept from my prayer those two rak‘at which we would offer with the Holy Prophetsa and there is no need to accept the other two as a part of my prayer.’”

Hazrat Musleh Maudra states that how wonderful was this state of adoration which was found in Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra that he performed four rak‘at but was not satisfied to attain any more reward than the two rak‘at performed by the Holy Prophetsa. So he supplicated to God Almighty saying, “O Allah, accept only two rak‘at, not four.” As for those following in congregation, they performed the four rak‘at behind the Khalifa of the time out of sheer obedience. So they attained the reward of the prayer and also the reward of obedience, however, the perspective of Abdullah bin Mas‘udra was that he had obeyed but at the same time prayed to God

Almighty saying, “I do not wish to receive more reward than what the Holy Prophetsa enabled us to attain when he prayed before us.” For this reason, he prayed to God Almighty to accept the two rak‘at only.

Hazrat Musleh Maudra then writes that Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra also possessed an exemplary level of obedience to Khilafat. He was not aware of the reason why Hazrat Usmanra performed four rak‘at in place of two, albeit this reason has been deemed correct by many. This is because whenever he would go to his wife’s home, he wouldn’t consider it to be a journey.

Whenever he went to his son’s home, he never considered it to be a journey. Whenever he went to his parent’s home, he never considered it to be a journey. Therefore, his [dealing of the] matter was correct. This precaution of Hazrat Usmanra was so that the people coming from afar were not misled, and to prevent any obstacle in [the progress of] Islam and this is a proof of his extremely high level of righteousness. This was the extraordinary state of his piety that his intention was for the people to not stumble. Nevertheless, Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra was not aware of the reasoning at the time as to why Hazrat Usmanra had offered four rak‘at, yet he did not end his prayer abruptly. Rather he completed the prayer and showed obedience to Khilafat and then supplicated to God Almighty saying “O Allah, accept two of my rak‘at, not four.” This was the extraordinary obedience and spirit he had for following the Holy Prophetsa in every step. This is why despite the fact that the Companions were completely illiterate, and it was commonly stated that there were only seven literate people in the whole of Mecca, and in spite of this, they triumphed over the whole world. (Khutbat-e-Mahmud, Vol. 22, pp. 106-109) Hence, as a result of their obedience, this is the station they attained and the success they gained. Therefore, we must always remember this particular point. This incident not only displays the obedience of Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra to Khilafat but also his ardent love for the Holy Prophetsa. This is why the Holy Prophetsa praised the stance of Abdullah bin Mas‘udra on many occasions and this is the way of avoiding mischief and disorder. Therefore, this is the example that every Ahmadi must try to follow.

On one occasion, Hazrat Umarra met a caravan of people. But because of the darkness, he was unable to see them. Among that group was Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra . Hazrat Umarra sent someone to ask where the group had come from. When he enquired, Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra answered “Fajjul-Amiq”, i.e. from a distant track. He then asked “Where are you heading to?’” He answered, “To the Baitul-Atiq (Ancient House)” i.e. to the Ka‘bah. Hazrat Umarra asked, “Is there any scholar among them?” and instructed someone to ask them which verse of the Holy Quran is the loftiest. Upon the enquiry of Hazrat Umarra, Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra , who was in that delegation answered: َ َ ٌَ ُ َُْ ّٰ َ َ ْ ْ َّ ‫الل ُہ لَٓا ِالٰ َہ ِالا ُھوَ ال َح ُّی الق ُّیوْ ُم۔لَا تٔاخذ ٗہ ِسنۃ ّولَا نوْ ٌم‬ “Allah – there is no God but He, the Living, the Self-Subsisting and All-Sustaining. Slumber seizes Him not, nor sleep.” (Surah al-Baqarah: V.256) (He cited Ayatul Kursi.)

Hazrat Umarra then asked, “Which is the most encapsulating verse of the Holy Quran?”

Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra answered: ّٰ َّ ٔ ‫الل َہ یَٔاْ ُمرُ بال ْ َع ْدل َوالْاِ ْح َسان َو ِایْ َت‬ ٰ ‫ٓای ِذی ال ْ ُق ْر‬ ‫ِان‬ ‫بی‬ ِ ِ ِ ِ “Verily, Allah enjoins justice, and the doing of good to others; and giving like kindred.” (Surah al-Nahl: V.91) Hazrat Umarra then instructed the man to ask which is the most comprehensive verse of the Holy Quran. Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra answered: َ ً َ َ َ َ َ ْ ْ َ ْ َّ ْ َ َ ٗ َ َّ ً ْ َ َّ َ َ َ ْ ْ َ ْ َّ ْ َ َ ‫ال ذ ّر ٍۃ ش ّرا ّیرَ ٗہ‬ ‫فمن یعمل ِمثقال ذر ٍۃ خیرا یرہ۔ ومن یعمل ِمثق‬ “Then whoso does an atom’s weight of good will see it, And whoso does an atom’s weight of evil will also see it.” (Surah al-Zilzal: V.7-9)

He then asked which verse of the Holy Quran causes one to tremor the most. Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra answered: َّ ُ َ ُ ٓ َ ْ َ ‫ل َ ْی َس ِبا َمانِ ِّیک ْم َو لَٓا ا َمانِ ِ ّی ا ْہ ِل ال ِک ٰ ٰت ِب۔ َم ْن ی ْع َم ْل ُسوْ ًءا ّی ْج َز ِب ٖہ۔ َو لَا یَ ِج ْد ل َ ٗہ ِم ْن‬ ّ ُْ ً‫الل ِہ َول ًِّیا َّو لَا نَصیْرا‬ ‫دو ِن‬ ِ “It shall not be according to your desires, nor according to the desires of the People of the Book.

Whoso does evil shall be rewarded for it; and he shall find for himself no friend or helper beside Allah.” (Surah al-Nisa: V.124) Hazrat Umarra told him to ask which of the verses of the Holy Quran is the most promising.

Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra replied: ُ َ َّ ُ ََُْ ْ َ ّٰ َ ّٰ َ ُ َْ ‫ق ْل ٰیع َِبا ِد َی ال ِذیْ َن ا ْس َُرفوْا َع ٰٓلی انف ِس ِہ َ ْم لَا تقنطوْا ِم ْن ّر ْح َم ِۃ الل ِہ ۔ ِا ّن الل َہ یغ ِف ُر‬ ّ ّ َ ُ ُ ْ ُ ٗ ُ َ ً َ ُ‫الرَ ِح ْیم‬ ّ ‫الذنوْب ج ِم ْیعا۔ ِانہ ہوَ الغفوْر‬ “Say, ‘O My servants who have committed excesses against their own souls! Despair not of the mercy of Allah, surely Allah forgives all sins.

Verily He is Most Forgiving, Merciful.’” (Surah al-Zumar: V.54) After hearing all of this Hazrat Umarra then said, “Ask if among them is Abdullah bin Mas‘ud.” The group said, “Yes, by God, he is amongst us.” Having heard all this, Hazrat Umarra knew that he was a man who had deep knowledge of Islamic Fiqh [Jurisprudence]. (Naqoosh Sahaba, Khalid Muhammad Khalid, p. 68-69, Irfan Afzal Press, Band Road, Lahore) Indeed, after hearing all of his answers, Hazrat Umarra knew that it could only be Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra who could give such scholarly answers.

Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra relates, “On the day of Badr, the Messengersa of Allah said, ‘What do you suggest regarding these prisoners?’

Hazrat Abu Bakrra said, ‘O Messengersa of Allah, they are your people and your family; keep them alive and give them respite, and perhaps God may cause them to repent.’ Then Hazrat Umarra said, ‘O Messengersa of Allah, they drove you out and rejected you, bring them forth and strike their necks.’ Then Hazrat Abdullah bin Rawaha said, ‘O Messengersa of Allah, find a thick jungle and leave them in there, then set it alight.’ The Holy Prophetsa heard everyone’s suggestions but did not make any decision and returned to his camp.”

Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra states that people began to discuss whose advice would be taken. A short while later the Holy Prophetsa came out of his camp and said, “Allah makes some men’s hearts so soft that they are softer than milk, and He makes the hearts of some men so hard that they are harder than rock. Your likeness, O Abu Bakr, is that of Hazrat Abrahamas who said: ّ َّ َ َ َ ُ َ َ َّ َ ‫ف َم ْن ت ِب َعنِ ْي ف ِإن ُه ِمنِ ْي ۖ َو َم ْن َع َصان ِ ْي ف ِإنك غف ٌور َر ِح ْي ٌم‬ ‘So whoever follows me, he is certainly of me; and whoever disobeys me – Thou art, surely, Most Forgiving, Merciful.’” (Surah Ibrahim: V.37) He also said, “O Abu Bakr, your likeness is that of Prophet Jesusas who said: َْ َ ُ َ ْ ُ َّ َ ْ ُ ْ ّ َ ُ ْ ْ ْ ْ َ َ َّ َ ‫ادك ۖ َو ِإ ْن تغ ِف ْر ل َ ُه ْم ف ِإنك أن َت ال َع ِزيْ ُز ال َح ِك ْي ُم‬ ‫ِإن تع ِذبهم ف ِإنهم ِعب‬ ‘If Thou punish them, they are Thy servants; and if Thou forgive them, Thou surely art the Mighty, the Wise.’” (Surah al-Maidah: V.119) He then addressed Hazrat Umarra and said, “Your likeness, O Umar, is that of Prophet Noahas who said: َْ َ َْْ َ َ ْ َ َ َ ّ َ ‫ض ِم َن الكافِ ِريْ َن َد ّي ًارا‬ ِ ‫ر ِب لا تذر على الأر‬ ‘My Lord, leave not in the land a single one of the disbelievers.’” (Surah Nuh: V.27) The Holy Prophetsa then again said to Hazrat Umarra, “O Umar, your likeness is that of Prophet Mosesas, who said: َ ‫َر ّبَ َنا ْاطم ْس َع َل ٰى أَ ْموَال ِه ْم َو ْاش ُد ْد َع َل ٰى ُق ُلوبه ْم َفلَا يُ ْؤ ِم ُنوْا َح َّت ٰى يَرَ ُوا ال ْ َع َذ‬ َ ‫اب الْأَل‬ ‫ِيم‬ ِ ِ​ِ ِ ‘Our Lord! Destroy their riches and attack their hearts – and they are not going to believe until they see the grievous punishment.’” (Surah Yunus: V.89) The Holy Prophetsa then said, “Since you are all in need therefore the prisoners shall be freed

if they pay ransom, otherwise their necks shall be struck off.”

Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra states, “I said, ‘O Messengersa of Allah, exempt Sahl bin Baida from this ruling, for I heard him speak well of Islam.’ However, the Holy Prophetsa remained silent.” Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra states, “I was never more afraid that a rock would fall on me from heaven than on that day, but eventually the Holy Prophetsa exempted Sahl bin Baida.’” (Chaar Abdullah, Mufti Muhammad Fayyaz, pp. 34-36, Urdu Bazaar, Lahore 2017) He believed the silence of the Holy Prophetsa to be his displeasure and thus, out of the fear of God Almighty and His wrath, his state changed dramatically. The status of his fear of God Almighty was extraordinary. According to the practice of the Holy Prophetsa, Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra would only deliver a small lecture on Thursdays, which was succinct but profound in meaning. His words were so effective and eloquent that Hazrat Abdullah bin Mirdas relates that when Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra would finish his speech, it would be their desire for him to continue speaking. In the evenings he would often mention one narration from the sayings of the Holy Prophetsa and whilst relating the Hadith, his affection and love for the Holy Prophetsa would be evident. His student, Masruq, states, “One day he was narrating a saying of the Holy Prophetsa to us. When he said the words, ‘I heard the Holy Prophetsa say…’, his body began to tremble out of fear to the extent that his clothes could be seen moving. To be more cautious, he then added the words, ‘Perhaps the Holy Prophetsa said these words or used similar words.’ Whilst narrating a saying of the Holy Prophet he would be extra cautions. This was due to the warning of the Holy Prophetsa that whosoever narrated a false Hadith would be accountable.”

Another example of this level of caution can be assessed by the following narration. Amr bin Maimoon narrates, “I visited Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘ud one many occasions over the course of one whole year. He would be very cautious when narrating any Ahadith. Once I saw that when he said, ‘The Messengersa of Allah said…’, he went in to a state of anguish and sweat began to drip from his forehead. He then said, ‘The Holy Prophetsa used the words to the effect…’.

(Sirat-e-Sahaba, Hafiz Muzaffar Ahmad, pp.283284, Nazarat Ishaat, Rabwah, 2009). The level of his fear of God was such that he would say: “It is my wish that I am not raised after death so that I am protected from any accountability.”

Hazrat Abdullah narrates, “Once Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘ud fell ill and became anxious. We asked, ‘We have never seen you this troubled at times of illnesses before now.’ He responded, ‘I fell ill all of a sudden and do not consider myself prepared to face the afterlife and this has been worrying me.’” Whilst speaking about his own death, he stated, “That day shall not be easy for me. My desire is not to be raised up after my death.” It is narrated by inb Mas‘ud, “He wrote this as part of his will and included Bismillah [In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful]”.

(Al-Tabkaat-ul-Qubra Li-ibn Sa‘d, Pt. 3, p. 117, Abdullah bin Mas‘ud Dar-ul-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 1990) These days it is quite common to write Bismillah. However, the fact that ibn Mas‘ud has specifically mentioned this means that Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra possessed the true cognizance of these words. He understood the attributes of God Almighty being Al-Rahman [The Gracious] and Al-Raheem [The Merciful] and for this reason he began this document by using these attributes. He had the understanding that if there was anything in his will which could lead to the displeasure and punishment of God Almighty, then these two attributes of God could grant him protection.

Through the grace of God Almighty, Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra had become so affluent that in the last years of his life he stopped accepting his stipend (Usdul Ghaba, Vol. 3, p.

387, Dar-ul-Kutb Ilmiyah, Beirut). He had no

10 financial constraints and left behind an inheritance of 90,000 dirhams. However, despite all this he wrote in his will that at the time of burial, his shroud should consist of very simple cloths worth 200 dirhams and also that he should be buried alongside the grave Hazrat Usman bin Maz‘un. As mentioned earlier, Hazrat Usmanra lead his funeral prayers and he was buried in Jannatul-Baqi‘ in the evening. There is another narration that after the burial of Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra, the person narrating the incident walked by his grave in the morning and noticed that there was water sprinkled on it (Al-Tabkaatul-Qubra Li-ibn Sa‘d, Pt. 3, p. 118, Abdullah bin Mas‘ud Dar-ul-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 1990).

This displays the great respect people had for him. They solidified his grave overnight by sprinkling water on it.

Abul Ahwas narrates, “After the demise of Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra I was in the presence of Hazrat Abu Musa and Hazrat Abu Mas‘ud. One of them said to the other, ‘Has ibn Mas‘ud left behind anyone like him?’ The other responded, ‘At present there is no one amongst us like him. Perhaps after we pass, someone like him may be born.’” (Al-Tabkaat-ul-Qubra Li-ibn Sa‘d, Pt. 3, p. 119, Abdullah bin Mas‘ud Dar-ul-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 1990) Hazrat Tameen bin Haram narrates, “I have attended numerous gatherings of the Companions of the Holy Prophetsa, however, I never met anyone more averse from the material world and more concerned about the Day of Judgment than Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘udra.” (Al-Isabatu Fi Tamyiz Al-Sahaba, Vol. 4, p. 201, Abdullah bin Mas‘ud, Printed in Darul Kutub al-Ilmiyya, Beirut, 1995) The second Companion that I shall mention today is Hazrat Qudama bin Maz‘unra. Hazrat Qudama bin Maz‘unra was the brother of Hazrat Usman bin Maz‘unra and was the husband of Hazrat Safiyara, who was the sister of Hazrat Umarra. (Al-Isabatu Fi Tamyiz Al-Sahaba, Vol. 5, p. 322-323, Printed in Darul Kutub Al-Ilmiyya, Beirut) Hazrat Qudama bin Maz‘unra had multiple marriages. One of his wives was Hind bint Waleed, who gave birth to Umar and Fatima.

One of his wives was Fatima bint Abu Sufiyaan who gave birth to Aisha. Umm-e-Wald was another wife, from whom Hafzah was born and Hazrat Safiya bin Khitab gave birth to Hazrat Ramlah. (Al-Tabkaat-ul-Qubra Li-ibn Sa‘d, Pt. 3, p. 306, Qudamah bin Maz’oon, Dar-ul-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 1990) He was nineteen years of age when he accepted Islam so he accepted Islam at a very young age and his entire family left their homes in Mecca and resettled when the migration to Medina took place. His entire family was hosted by Abdullah bin Salma Ujlani in Medina. When the Holy Prophetsa migrated from Mecca to Medina, he arranged permanent residences for Hazrat Qudamara and his brothers by allotting them plots of land. (Sattar Sitaareh, Talib Al Hashmi, p.66-67, Al Badr Publications, Lahore) Hazrat Qudamara was amongst those early Muslims who participated in both the migration to Abyssinia and to Medina. He was able to participate in the Battle of Badr, Uhud and all other battles alongside the Holy Prophetsa. (Al-Isabatu Fi Tamyiz Al-Sahaba, Vol. 5, p. 322, Printed in Darul Kutub Al-Ilmiyya, Beirut, 1995), (Al-Tabkaat-ul-Qubra Li-ibn Sa‘d, Pt. 3, p. 306, Qudamah bin Maz‘un, Dar-ul-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 1990) When Hazrat Usman bin Maz‘unra passed away, he left behind a daughter and instructed his brother, Hazrat Qudamara, about her upbringing.

Hazrat Abdullah bin Amr narrates, “Both Hazrat Usman bin Maz‘un and Hazrat Qudama were my maternal uncles. I visited Hazrat Qudama and requested for the hand of the daughter of Hazrat Usman bin Maz‘un in marriage and he agreed.

Mughiyerah bin Shaba visited the mother of the girl and persuaded her to give her daughter’s hand in marriage by offering a financial incentive and the girl was also of the same opinion as her

Friday 26 October 2018 | AL HAKAM mother.” In other words, there was proposal of marriage, however the girl and the mother were inclined towards another proposal. This matter was then presented to the Holy Prophetsa and he called for Hazrat Qudama and asked him about this marriage proposal. Hazrat Qudama replied, “O Prophetsa of Allah! This girl is my brother’s daughter. I will not be negligent in selecting someone to marry her.” That is, she is the daughter of my brother who passed away. I will find the best possible person for her to marry. “Therefore, I have agreed to the first marriage proposal as I consider it better.” The Prophet of Allahsa responded, “This girl is an orphan. She will marry whomsoever she pleases.” Since her father is not alive, even though you may have agreed to the best suitor, however her consent should be sought. “She will accept any one of the two marriage proposals that she prefers.” Thus, this was the decision of the Holy Prophetsa. The narrator himself was the girl’s relative and had sent a proposal for marriage first but he states that instead of him, her marriage was settled with Mugheerah (Al-Isabatu Fi Tamyiz Al-Sahaba, Vol. 5, p.

323, Printed in Darul Kutub Al-Ilmiyya, Beirut, 1995) and they accepted the proposal which the girl and her mother had chosen. This is how the Holy Prophetsa established freedom of choice for women and taught the Muslims to take special care of the orphan. He made sure that she was not wronged because her father had passed away and the girl’s opinion should be sought. Hazrat Qudamara passed away in 36 AH, at the age of sixty-eight years.

May God Almighty enable us to follow in the footsteps of these individuals who had deep insight about faith, and through their loyalty and faithfulness they showed an outstanding level of love for the Holy Prophetsa, and God Almighty safeguard us from causing any disruption.

After the prayers I will lead two funeral prayers in absentia. The first is of Mrs Amatul Hafeez Bhatti Sahiba – wife of Mahmud Bhatti Sahib – of Karachi, who served as Sadr Lajna of the district of Karachi for a long time. She passed away on 27 September at the age of 93; to Allah we belong and to Him shall we return.

Her father’s name was Dr Ghulam Ali Sahib and he was among the Companionsra of the Promised Messiahas. Due to the fact that her father served as a doctor in the army, he was stationed in various places, as a result of which they had to live in several cities. Wherever he would stay, he would ensure that there was a spiritual atmosphere around them. This was a unique characteristic of the companions, in that wherever they would reside they would establish a spiritual atmosphere around them. After a few months of preaching, most of the people in his supervision would become Ahmadi. Dr Sahib would then establish a Jamaat and use his house as a centre.

In this manner he was able to establish several Jamaats.

It was his desire for his family to derive benefit from the spiritual atmosphere of Qadian and therefore decided to settle his family in Qadian.

Amatul Hafeez Sahiba’s mother also dedicated her life for the service of the Jamaat. Amatul Hafeez Sahiba lived in the spiritual atmosphere of Qadian from 1936. Having completed her Matriculation examination, she pursued religious studies until her fourth year of studies. During this time, she had the good fortune of regularly attending the Darsul Quran [lecture series on the Holy Quran] delivered by Hazrat Musleh Maudra. She had been serving the Jamaat for as long as she could remember. She was married to the son of her maternal aunt, Mahmud Bhatti Sahib.

There is a long incident connected to their marriage.

Hazrat Musleh Maudra says, “I saw in a vision that the girl’s mother sent me a letter through her daughter and enquired about a certain marriage proposal and also mentioned his name. Thereafter, exactly what had been seen in the vision was fuflilled wherein the girl came with the letter enquiring about the proposal.” Hazrat Musleh Maudra approved this proposal and said, “Whatever I

saw in my vision is now being fulfilled in exactly the same manner as I had seen.” Thus, Hazrat Musleh Maudra also agreed to this proposal. After their marriage in 1948, they settled in Karachi and she served diligently in Lajna Imaillah of Karachi. Alongside this, she continued her studies and at a mature age she obtained a masters degree in Arabic from the University of Sindh in 1972. She achieved this with an excellent first class result.

In 1975, Amatul Hafeez Sahiba’s husband went to Africa for work purposes and from time to time she would also go to Africa. She worked as the National Sadr [President for Lajna Imaillah] in Liberia, (West Africa). Then due to the [civil] war, they had to leave the country and returned to Karachi. She is counted amongst the five thousand Mujahidin for Tahrik-e-Jadid. In 1991 she was elected as Naib Sadr [Vice President] and also secretary for education of the district. During the Jubilee celebrations, she was awarded a degree for her 15 years of service from Lajna Markaziyya [Central Women’s Association]. From 1997 to 2018 she had the opportunity to serve as Sadr Lajna for the district of Karachi. She carried out many events throughout Karachi, which is a vast city. She held meetings with different offices and strengthened their administrative organisation. Her services spanned seventy years, from 1938 to 2018.

Amatul Nur Sahiba, serving as the President for Lajna in Karachi, said, “She rendered a great service for 70 years. She was extremely kind hearted, met others with a smile and speaking politely was ingrained in her nature. She was very punctual and whatever duty was assigned to her, she would note it down in her diary immediately so that she would not forget. Whenever she received any directive or instruction from the headquarters, she would call the relevant department and immediately notify them, she would not wait for the office to open and then convey the message. She fulfilled her duties with great devotion and showed a true example in her complete devotion and obedience to Khilafat.”

Amatul Bari Nasir Sahiba has worked along with her and she also wrote, “She would get the work done in a very loving manner and would not let her subordinates feel as if she was asserting her status of an officer upon them. During her tenure, 50 books were published by Karachi Jamaat and the book which has the entire collection of the Promised Messiah’s Persian works was published by Karachi Lajna during her tenure as president. She had great patience and I believe that her greatest qualities were her patience and calmness. She had the ability to ponder deeply into a matter, particularly in instances of domestic issues, she would listen to both parties and accordingly give advice. Her effort would always be to bring about a reconciliation.” Even today, these domestic disputes and issues are increasing in our Jamaat; may God Almighty guide both parties [involved in such cases] and they should seek to resolve these issues, and may He also guide the office-bearers so that they can effectively resolve these disputes.

He daughter-in-law writes, “She treated all her daughters-in-law like her own daughters and we could approach her and speak about any issue of ours without any kind of hesitation.” The General Secretary for Lajna Imaillah has also written, “While running the office she would treat us all equally and would always guide us.” Her daughter-in-law further writes, “She paid great focus towards the recitation of the Holy Quran.

She taught all her grandchildren how to read the Holy Quran and taught them religious knowledge. She treated the workers in the house and also the poor with great kindness. In fact, if any of them passed away, she would take care of their family members too and would always strive to fulfil their rights. May God Almighty grant her forgiveness and mercy and elevate her status.

May He also enable her progeny to follow in her footsteps.

The second funeral is of Adnan Vandenbroeck Sahib, who was the National Secretary

Umur-e-Kharija [External Affairs] for Belgium Jamaat. He passed away on 29 September; to Allah we belong and to him shall we return. His father was Rizwan Vandenbroeck Sahib who was the first Belgian Ahmadi, who accepted Ahmadiyyat in the 1960s. Adnan Sahib did not accept Ahmadiyyat because of his father, in fact he said he wanted to research for himself and thereafter, he performed Bai‘at in 1994. After accepting Ahmadiyyat he was very active in the field of tabligh [preaching]. In 1998 there was a tabligh gathering in Belgium and Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IVrh, referring to him, said to the gathering, “I have a translator, who can translate from English into French and Dutch.” By the grace of God Almighty, he was extremely helpful in this regard during those days.

Dr Idris Sahib, the National President of the Jamaat in Belgium writes, “He was suffering from cancer and through the grace of God Almighty when his condition began to improve, he started coming to the mission house again. He would always say that it is due to the blessings of God Almighty that his health had improved because all the other patients of this same illness had passed away. Right from the beginning, he was a member of Belgium’s public relations team. In 2016, I appointed him as the National Secretary Umur-e-Kharija and he rendered this service with great diligence. He played a vital role in introducing the Jamaat at government level.” Amir Sahib further writes, “He would go to the governmental offices with me and he would tend to the administrative work of Amoor-e-Kharjah even while he was ill in hospital during his last days.

He was also a member of the Dutch translation team. He spent great effort in translating various books into Dutch and conducted the final review of the Friday sermons. Similarly, he would review the translation of all the press releases.” Amir Sahib further writes, “During my various travels, he would express that his illness had proved to be a source of mercy for him because during this time he had the opportunity to read the books of the Promised Messiahas and other literature of the Jamaat and his faith in God Almighty had further increased. Even during the course of his illness, he remained content with the will of God of Almighty. During his last days, he would always advise his elder brother that he should spend less time in worldly endeavours and devote more time to Jamaat work.” Amir Sahib further writes, “He also used to tell me that his brother could be very useful in the Umur-e-Kharija team, therefore I should get him to work.”

His mother says, “Ahmadiyyat entered their family through Adnan Sahib’s father, who lived in Iraq for seven years and there he had the opportunity to read the Holy Quran and he also accepted Islam. When he came to Holland, he met Imam Bashir Sahib and as a result of his preaching, he accepted Ahmadiyyat. He once met Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IVrh in Belgium and requested him to pray that may God Almighty enable him to remain steadfast.” Adnan Sahib’s mother further states, “His father had no interest for material possessions.” She says, “My son Adnan also followed in the footsteps of his father. He offered his prayers regularly, served the Jamaat and was loyal to the institution of Khilafat. He would listen to the Friday Sermon every week and would also make his children listen to it. He would always remain ready to serve the Jamaat and had a deep bond with Khilafat.”

May God Almighty elevate his status and grant him His forgiveness and mercy. May God Almighty grant the Jamaat devoted individuals like him. He leaves behind his wife, one son and one daughter. May God Almighty enable them to remain firm on their faith and increase them in their faith and enable them to follow in the footsteps of their father.

(Translated by The Review of Religions)

11

Friday 26 October 2018 | AL HAKAM Continued from page 12

of its (sin).’” Then follows the explanation: The word nafsan is undetermined, “which often denotes a sense of grandeur. So the wording of the verse itself points to the inference that the person killed is a remarkably grand personality… Such a one can be no other than a prophet… Our investigation has so far enabled us to affirm with absolute certainty that he was a prophet. The verse also enlightens us on another important fact. It shows that the Israelites entertained doubts as to his death…

So the person spoken of in this verse can be no other than Jesus Christ.” This, he affirms (p. 61), explains the last clause of verse 73 (67): “And Allah would bring to light what ye concealed.” “With the appearance of the Promised Messiah (Mirza Ghulam Ahmad), the mask which had been so long hanging over the incident has at last been thrown off.” With this may be compared certain comments on the First Surah, pages 2 and 3. Its title, Fatihah, “occurs in a prophecy in the [New Testament] Revelation, chapter 10, which also contains a reference to the number of verses in this Surah.

The name occurs in the second verse... where it is translated as open. The original Hebrew word is Fatoah [sic]… The seven thunders in the prophecy represent the seven verses of this chapter. The Christian writers agree in holding that the prophecy refers to the second advent of Jesus and they are right in their opinion. [It should be remarked here, that the Messiah of the Punjab claims to embody the returning Jesus, as well as the Mahdi of the Moslems.] The little book Fatoah or Fatihah was constantly in the hands of the Promised Messiah, who wrote many commentaries on this chapter.”

He adds, that the inspired Interpreter revealed in the chapter many great truths which no one had found there before, since it had hitherto remained a “sealed book” (Rev. 10 4). It is one of these unsuspected truths, doubtless, which our commentator presents in his interpretation of the closing verse, the text of which he renders as follows: “[Guide us in] the path of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy blessings; excepting those on whom Thy wrath has descended and those who have gone astray.” On this he remarks: “The last verse of this chapter embodies a mighty prophecy…

[It] contains for the advent of a Messiah, for whose rejection the Muslims are threatened

to be reckoned among the Jews and whose advent was to be preceded by the ascendancy of the Christian religion. The Messiah referred to in this verse has already appeared, and his name is Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (Punjab, India).” It is quite plain from these last examples especially, that the main purpose of this translation and commentary is not to inquire into the meaning of the Quran, but to present a religious leader. How much of the exegesis offered here is derived from the latter, is an interesting question. Near the beginning of the commentary (p. 5) our author names ‘Abdallah Ibn ‘Abbas and the Promised Messiah as his two chief authorities. Those who hold the view of Ibn ‘Abbas’ trustworthiness which is held by all competent occidental scholars will feel that this lays a great weight of responsibility on the Messiah. And in fact, belief in the infallibility of this divine emissary – and his lesser representatives – will be found indispensable to acceptance of the views contained in this volume. The claims of the Promised One and the proofs in support of them are set forth in some detail on the cover of this First Part of the work, as well as in accompanying circulars. The last Imam in the great succession of twelve disappeared from human sight in the Mohammedan year 266 (879 A.D.), since which time his reappearance has been eagerly awaited by a large part of the Moslem world. After the lapse of just 1,000 (solar) years, in 1879 A.D., the leader stands forth at Qadian. Again, the Prophet Daniel prophesied (12:11) that “1,290 years after the breaking of idols in Mecca” the Messenger would appear. The breaking of idols took place in the Mohammedan year 8; the addition of 1,290 (lunar) years gives the equivalent of the Christian year 1881. Moreover, “just as the Israelite Messiah appeared 1,300 years after Moses, similarly the Promised Messiah made his appearance 1300 years after the Holy Prophet.” In fact, Moses appeared 1300 (solar) years BC, and 1,300 (lunar) years after the Hijra brings us to 1882 AD. This is all interesting as illustrating the credentials which can be obtained from chronology. “The Holy Prophet of Islam… even named the very place where the promised Mahdi was to appear.

He called it Kad‘a, a name which is quite like the name Kadi or Kadian.” This is certainly

Ahmadiyya ARC striking; and it is remarkable that the fact of this prediction should have remained so long unknown to the learned world, and especially to Mohammedan scholars. The Punjab Messiah has also himself foretold many events, it would seem. “He published hundreds of prophecies, many of which have already come true (such as his prophecy regarding the

Partition of Bengal, the defeat of Russia and the annexation of Korea by Japan, the Persian Revolution, the outbreak of plague in India,… the downfall and death of Dr Dowie, the false prophet of America, etc.), and many still await fulfilment.”

(The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 10, No. 4, October 1917, pp. 382-387)

Majlis Atfal-ul-Ahmadiyya UK on their trip to Ghana, following the footsteps of Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadaa when he lived in Ghana prior to being Khalifatul Masih. (More on this next week.)

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Friday 26 October 2018 | AL HAKAM

Book Intro

The Holy Quran with English Translation and Explanatory Notes Part I. Pp. VIII, 117. (Through Surah 2, verse 142.)

Publishers: The Anjuman-i-Taraqqi-i-Islam, Qadian. Punjab, India. (1915) The English translation of Part 1 of the Holy Quran was based on the commentary by Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih IIra. It was welcomed by scholars of Quranic exegesis. Below is a review published in the Harvard Theological Review. While one will appreciate the breadth of knowledge of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIra, the prickled sentiment of the occidental mind and their bias for the new aspects of Quranic meanings will also be felt on occasions. Nonetheless, the review is hereby presented for our readers.

Charles C Torrey Yale University

About forty years ago there appeared in the town of Qadian, near Lahore in the Punjab, a religious leader, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who before his death, which occurred in 1908, was hailed by his numerous followers as the Messiah promised by all the great prophets of antiquity. The Ahmadiya sect, called by his name, has continued to spread, chiefly in the Far East but also to some extent in the West, even gaining adherents in England. It is Mohammedan in its origin, and claims to represent the true Islam, the one universal religion; by orthodox Moslems, however, the Ahmadiya movement is looked upon as heretical.

The sacred book of the new sect is the Quran, and the commentary before us is being prepared as its authoritative interpretation.

It is an ambitious undertaking, and one in which scholars the world over would be keenly interested if it were in competent hands.

Unfortunately, this is not the case.

The appearance of the quarto page is very attractive. At the top is the Arabic text, reproducing in large characters a masterpiece of calligraphy. Below this is a transliteration in Roman letters, followed by the English translation in large type. The principal part of the page is usually taken up with the commentary. Below, in finer print, are running notes of a more general – often controversial – character; and at the bottom of the page are references to parallel passages.

In regard to previous English translations of the Quran the author says (Foreword, p. 5) that they “have been done either by those who were swayed by nothing but religious prejudice and whose object was... the presentation of a ghastly picture of the Holy Quran before the world; or by those who had no acquaintance worth the name with the Holy Quran and the Arabic language.” He claims to have followed a new and original method, by which the chance of error has been practically removed. “We have not based the translation and notes, and in fact every other matter connected therewith, on current stories and popular tales; but, on the other hand, our procedure has been to base the meaning of every word first on the corroborative testimony of the Holy Quran, and secondly on the context. The same golden rule has been observed in the preparation of notes.” ... The nature and extent of the author’s

equipment for a work of scholarly research will be apparent from the following examples.

Under transliteration (Foreword, pp. 6 f.): “Alif at the beginning of a word, pronounced as a, i, u, preceded by a very slight aspiration, like h in the English word ‘honour’; dhal, pronounced like the English th in ‘that’; dad, similar to the English th in ‘this’; hamza, a sort of catch in the voice.”

In matters of etymology: The word Shaitan (p. 16) “comes either from the root shtn or shyt.” In fact, he decides, it comes from both roots. “The former means ‘straying away from truth,’ and therefore Shaitan means ‘one who has gone astray from the right path.’ Taking the latter root, which means ‘burning,’ the word Shaitan signifies ‘one burnt or doomed to perish.’ Thus, Shayatin signifies ‘those men... and who had gone astray from the truth.’”

This same liberality in the recognition of Arabic roots and the combination of various meanings appears in many places. Thus, as to the meaning of the word Surah (p. 22): “Literally, a piece, a portion. Here it means a chapter, a section that has been set apart. Surat also means ‘height.’ In keeping with this sense, the chapters of the Quran are called Surahs because they contain each a discourse on a lofty subject.”

In commenting on 2:36 (33 in Flugel), the account of Adam’s temptation and fall in the Garden of Eden, our interpreter explains the meaning of the two principal words in the clause: “Approach not this shajara, lest ye be among the zalimin.” Shajara means “tree,” but in the Quran it “is also used to mean a quarrel, as in the verse... 4:66 (68 in Flugel). The Quran also mentions elsewhere both a ‘pure tree’ and an ‘evil tree.’ In the light of these Quranic explanations, the verse means, (1) that Adam was forbidden to quarrel; (2) that Adam was warned against evil things.” “As for the other word, zalim, the root means, first, ‘putting a thing in a wrong place or in a place not its own.’

Secondly… etc. The phrase would thus mean that the result of approaching the Shajara would be that he (Adam) would become one of those who do not observe the propriety of time and place in their actions.”

What this kind of learning can accomplish in the way of etymologies is also well illustrated in the case of Gabriel (p. 80); the angels Harut and Marut, the former from harata “to tear” and the latter from marata “to break” (p. 85);

Ahmadiyya ARC the borrowed words – here of course regarded as genuine Arabic – hanif and sabt (p. 113 f.). The following lexical and grammatical notes are characteristic: “It is a rule in Arabic grammar that whenever somebody is required to be induced to do a thing, the verb is omitted and only the object is mentioned” (p. 116).

“The Hebrew word Elohim, which originally meant ‘to be strong’ has come to mean ‘the strong one’” (p. 80).

One or two illustrations must suffice.

Surah 2:73 f. (67 f.), the story of the Red Heifer, where the text reads: “Ye (Israelites) killed a man (qataltum nafsan); ... then We said, ‘Strike him (the dead man) with a part of her (the heifer)’; thus Allah gives life to the dead,” etc. Our translator renders: “Ye almost killed a person. … Then We said, ‘Smite it (margin: i.e., the class responsible for the sufferings of the man whose murder was attempted) for a part Continued on page 11

Editor: Qaasid Muin Ahmad | Design & Layout: Jalees Ahmad|© Al Hakam 2018