Al Fazl, 19 January 1922
26 November 1921
Salat in the dark
A person asked whether it was forbidden to pray in the dark. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih [IIra] said:
“It is not forbidden. According to the ahadith, the Holy Prophetsa used to offer prayers in the dark and when he used to prostrate, Hazrat Aishara would be lying in front of him. Hazrat Aishara relates that, ‘I used to fold my legs [when he fell in prostration].’”
Is azan compulsory?
The same person asked if the azan [call to prayer] was compulsory for the congregational salat. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih[ra] said:
“Yes, the call to prayer should be made, but if those who want to join the congregation are already present, then there is no harm if azan is not said. People have expressed different views on this matter. However, once, I was going to Gurdaspur with the Promised Messiahas and the time of salat came during our journey. Someone asked to say the azan. The Promised Messiahas said, ‘What is the need of azan if friends are already gathered?’ Therefore, if this is the case, then the call to prayer may not be made. Otherwise, it is compulsory to say the azan because it motivates a person to offer salat.”
Separate call to prayer
Someone asked, if non-Ahmadis had already said the azan, whether it was permissible for Ahmadis to offer salat on the basis of that azan. Huzoor[ra] said:
“The azan should be said separately because it is said in ahadith that Satan runs away from the call to prayer. When you do not say the azan, Satan does not run away.”
Separate salat from non-Ahmadis
A person asked, if non-Ahmadis were praying, whether Ahmadis should offer salat separately. Huzoor[ra] said:
“Yes, but their [non-Ahmadis’] prayer should not be interrupted.”
Jumuah of two persons
Someone asked if two persons could offer the Jumuah prayer. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih[ra] said that it was possible.
Vain hope of scholars of Europe – the species between ape and man
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih[ra] turned to Chaudhry Fateh Muhammad Sahib MA with a smile and said:
“A telegram was published today that the bones of the missing link between humans and the apes was found in the Odisha (region of Africa). It is being happily celebrated and its pictures are being shown everywhere.”
Huzoor[ra] said:
“I don’t know how the said people would respond to this question, that if, after thousands and millions of years of change, apes became human beings, then why do apes still exist and humans also exist? Where did this middle generation go? If humans really evolved from apes, then that missing link should not have been lost and this process should have continued. There was no need for the process of reproduction. Humans should have been produced in the said way.”
Huzoor[ra] smiled and said:
“The people of Germany who are announcing rewards for having more children should have opened factories and regularly produced humans every year and presented them to the world.”
Opposition of non-cooperators in England
At the mention how Gandhi wrote certain words for the Muslims in his announcement by Sheikh Abdur Rahman Sahib Misri, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih[ra] said:
“Over the last six months, my views about Mr Gandhi have changed and I have come to the conclusion that he has no sympathy for Muslims.”
Huzoor[ra] said:
“The riots in Bombay [now Mumbai] had a negative effect on the Labour Party in England. From the telegrams that have been published, it is clear that the articles against them [non-cooperators] are being written by the Labour newspapers. They ask what the reason was for boycotting the prince because they know what effect the prince has on the empire.”
29 November 1921
Arrest of Sikh leaders
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih[ra] said:
“In Ajnala, seven prominent leaders of the Akali [movement] have been arrested, which include the president and secretary of Prabandhak Committee, and Sardar Mehtab Singh, former vice president of Punjab Council. When they were arrested, a Sikh lay down in front of the car and asked to be arrested. He was repeatedly told that they did not want to arrest him. However, when he lay down right before the wheels of the car, he was also arrested under the charges of preventing government officials from performing their duties.”
Huzoor[ra] said:
“The viceroy has now announced in a recent speech that the government would now use all its power.”
The situation would have been different if Punjab’s mistake had been admitted
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih[ra] said:
“If the mistake made by the government officials in Amritsar and Kasur in 1919 was admitted at that time and those officers were suspended, and it was declared that it was the fault of the officers and the government had nothing to do with it, the current situation would not have arisen. At that time, it was thought that if the mistake was admitted, then it would have affected the authority [of the government], and just because of that approach, all those administrative mistakes led to what has happened today.”
Mr Gandhi objects to Islam
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih[ra] said:
“Barely a week had passed since Mr Gandhi’s previous announcements that today, he has published another announcement in which it has been stated, ‘We have forgotten the Moplahs in this hue and clamour. Moplahs are misguided people who are doing all this by considering it as an obligation of their religion. However, the atrocities that are being perpetrated on them are very severe.” In this way, on the one hand, [Mr Gandhi] wants to divert the attention of the people from the said riots and on the other, he has also objected to Islam that it teaches violence.”
1 December 1921
Mian Muzaffaruddin Sahib, son of Hazrat Mian Tajuddin Sahib of Lahore, who has returned from Iraq, met Hazrat Khalifatul Masih. Huzoor[ra] asked him, “Have you learned Arabic?” Mian Sahib said, “I have learned the colloquial language, but I did not get the opportunity to learn the written language. However, I have become proficient in Turkish in both writing and speaking.” […]
(Translated by Al Hakam from the original Urdu in Al Fazl, 19 January 1922)