Akhbar Faruq, 3 June 1920
The newspaper, Hamdam of 25 May has published two columns under the heading “Do Do Batain” about our tabligh work which is taking place in England and America.
Apart from one paragraph, which is not suitable for such a substantial newspaper like Hamdam, we have extracted all of them below:
“Our Ahmadi friends, who are also mistakenly or maliciously called Qadianis by some, are in fact very much ahead of ordinary Muslims in their religious zeal. Their passion for the teachings of their … prophet, his righteous khulafa and noble elders, and in general religious affairs, certainly cannot be matched by the ordinary Muslims.
“This is not surprising or an extraordinary matter. If you turn the pages of a few lessons in Islamic history, you will find that the forefathers of the present Muslims had the same zeal in the past. Even now, their religion is the same and its commandments are the same, but people have become indifferent to religious matters and are trapped in the businesses of the world; they have developed heedlessness to religion.
“It has been a few years since the inception of our Ahmadi friends and in accordance with the proverb, ‘The newborn calf runs to the doe deer [to drink milk]’, they have a lot more religious enthusiasm and fervour than other Muslims. Maybe it is more appropriate to compare present unfaithfulness of the Muslims with the passion of the Ahmadis after the passing of 1,300 years, only if by this time something in the name of religion had survived from the calamities of earth and skies. However, at the current pace of the time, the religious ignorance of the nation’s youngsters and the growing irreligiousness threatens that even such a comparison may not be possible.
“… The efforts of Ahmadis for the promulgation of Islam etc. are certainly a source of satisfaction for the general Muslims. In present times – if we observe – the formal effort to carry out tabligh of Islam in the Western countries has been initiated by the great resoluteness of Ahmadi friends. What is even more commendable is the formal effort by the Ahmadiyya Jamaat to establish a magnificent mosque in London. The people of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat are generously collecting chanda for this cause and we hope that their religious fervour and passion will soon help to shape a glorious mosque in London, for which the world of Islam can be grateful to them …
“The name of Mufti Muhammad Sadiq Sahib is very popular among the missionaries of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat. He is a very active and passionate worker … Mufti Sahib took leave from the British mission and left for America to convey the message of Islam. It is unfortunate that at first, Mufti Sahib had to face difficulties after arriving in America and the democratic government of America, which claims to be the giver of freedom, did not allow him to deliver sermons and lectures on the basis that Islam allows a man to have up to four wives.
“The reason why the American authorities wanted to stop Mufti Sahib from the tabligh of Islam was that polygamy was illegal in the eyes of the American people and against the equality of men and women. However, nature has not kept equality between men and women and in matters where equality can be achieved, Islam has recognised the rights of women more than any other religion.
“American authorities, by law, force men to marry only one woman, but no law can change human nature. Hence, a few days ago, this telegraphic message was published from New York, the largest city of America, that Mr Watson, a resident of New York, had publicly admitted that he had married 24 women and killed five of them. Another similar incident of a man was mentioned a few years ago. At first, he deceived many women into marrying him and after getting their wealth by force or trickery, left them. This man continued to do so for a quarter of a century and did not come in the clutches of the law.
“Both the said persons could be referred to as having criminal tendency, but all American tourists assert that there are more street women in America than in European countries. On the contrary, there are Islamic countries where men are allowed to marry more than once to fulfill the requirements of nature. Brothels, pleasure houses, and prostitute women are nowhere to be found. However, in countries that fall under the influence of Western powers, this evil takes root in them like other social ills.
“Some Muslims, whose proportion is barely two percent, keep two or more wives for having children, or let us assume for luxury or pleasure, but they do not increase their number to a dozen or kill them.”
(Hamdam, 25 May 1920)
(Translated by Al Hakam)