Al Fazl, 18 October 1919
Maulvi Abdul Rahim Nayyarra
London’s weather
Through the warmth of the sun, the first half of August was beautifying the weather in such a way that the atmosphere of the east was being experienced in the west. A lot of people were traumatised by the hot weather as it caused a lot of deaths and some women even lost her minds.
However, the weather has changed now and the temperature varies between cold and hot. At times, it begins to rain. Beneath the ever-changing skies, Ahmadi missionaries request their master and the members of the Jamaat to always pray for their spiritual and physical health.
Meetings
Below is the list of those noteworthy persons who visited the house during this week:
- A Christian doctor, who is extremely keen on listening to the attributes of Islam. He takes interest in our Jamaat as well
- An educated young lady, who is a Catholic and holds hours of discussions with our missionaries. After the discussions, she says that she is a Christian and will remain so till the time of her demise. She studies Arabic from Mufti Sahib and now, she has started to learn Urdu from me
- An educated new lady convert who accompanied us at the time of our arrival. She accepted the teachings of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat and returned with a positive impression
- Some sailors and several Arab and Egyptian gentlemen have visited the house and listened to the narrative of the Jamaat. They had a long discussion as well
- A lady by the name of Annie May, to whom [the teachings of] Islam has been explained
The list of people who we visited at their residence, is as follows:
- We met Mr Ahmad Din Kar Ahmadi, who is a passionate person, along with his wife Amina (an English lady) and their children. Certain beneficial recommendations were presented for the promulgation of the Jamaat. Soon enough, a second Markaz of tabligh shall be established in London, Insha-Allah!
- We met two musadiqa [those who attest to the truth] ladies. I was greatly moved to see their affection, familial dignity and compassionate attitude towards Ahmadiyyat. Allah Almighty is All Powerful that owing to their virtues, He may illumine them with the light of Islam. Each of the two ladies prepared sumptuous feasts for us and we met new persons through them, conveying the message of Islam Ahmadiyyat to new souls
Distribution of literature and general tabligh
The meetings demand a great deal of time and money. As we put in money, other people also spend their money in coming [to meet us]. Therefore, meetings hold a special importance. Besides this, as time is equally precious, we distribute literature while walking along the way and travelling on a tram or a motor. Our brothers in Ceylon have recently printed a tract and sent us [tabligh literature] in a large quantity. [In the literature] they have admonished the world from divine torment and have drawn attention towards the prophet of the age.
Hazrat Mufti Sahib distributes the leaflets in a very effective way and gives them to all sorts of people by talking to them in charming words. For instance, yesterday, some ladies approached us and there were four of them. He turned towards them, their eyes were already focused on the green turban and now they were more attentive.
Mufti Sahib said, “You are four, correct?”
They responded with a smile, “Yes, four! Yes, four!”
Mufti Sahib, “These four are for each of you.” (He handed over four leaflets in the hand of one lady.)
The Ladies replied, “Thank you, so much.”
On one occasion, the ladies who bring telegram messages met us. They had a conversation with Mufti Sahib in the following way:
Mufti (with a green turban): “Are you here with a message for me?”
Ladies: “No.” Mufti:
“Right, if you are not, then I am here with a message for you.” (The very next moment, he handed them some leaflets.)
Ladies: “Thank you.”
Sometimes when leaflets are distributed to passenger vehicles, the answer is, “No, thank you.” At other instances, not only is the leaflet accepted, but a long discussion ensues and questions are asked. Moreover, letters are received afterwards.
Sermon and lecture
I delivered the Friday sermon this week. An Egyptian gentleman and an English Ahmadi lady seemed greatly influenced. On Friday, Dr Abdul Hakim Khan Ahmadi (veterinary assistant) came along with three men from Houston Court. A lecture was held on Sunday at 6pm in the evening. Its announcement was already made through mail. We had also glued the announcement on the wall of our house in bold letters in the following manner:
“Mohammad[sa] the Perfect Ideal”
The attendance was quite good. Apart from Ahmadi English ladies and gentlemen, the audience also included a Christian doctor and Catholic Christians (as mentioned in the section of “Meetings”). Moreover, a Brazilian gentleman was also there along with his English wife. I delivered the lecture and it proved successful by the grace of Allah.
After the lecture, Dr Sahib expressed remarks in extremely affectionate words and showed his interest in Islam. Following the speech, some people had a discussion with me and Mufti Sahib regarding the Jamaat. A new convert friend delivered a number of successful lectures in the suburbs of London about Ahmadiyyat. A lot of people are enquiring about the Jamaat.
Acceptance of Islam Ahmadiyyat
By the blessing of Allah Almighty, as a result of our humble efforts in the current week, a respected and wealthy lady accepted Islam Ahmadiyyat through this humble one and embraced the servitude of Syedna Mahmud Ahmad. Her request of Bai‘at has been sent to be presented before Huzoor. The name of the lady was Annie May and I have given her the Islamic name of Ayesha.
Aside from her, two Arabs, Haji Ali Musa and Haji Hassan have accepted Ahmadiyyat through the combined tabligh of this humble one and Mufti Sahib. Their request of Bai‘at has been sent to be presented before Huzoor.
Through the tabligh of Chaudhry Fateh Muhammad Sahib, an educated and respected English man of noble descent has started to call himself an Ahmadi in Folkestone.
A recent musadiqa
Owing to the efforts and influences of Hazrat Mufti Sahib, a party of those people is being established who possess affection towards Islam and prefer to use Islamic names for themselves. If we have no fear of Allah Almighty and the only goal is to collect money from people, their names can very easily be mentioned in the list of Muslims.
As matter of fact, our task is based on taqwa [righteousness], therefore except for those people who sign the Bai‘at form, we do not add anybody’s name in the list of those who accept Islam.
This week, a lady of noble descent by the name of Ms Ronald included herself in the party of musadiqin and got herself named from Mufti Sahib as Saeeda. These persons use Islamic names in correspondence with Mufti Sahib.