The Review of Religions [English], November & December 1923
Qadian
Thank God, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih [IIra] is enjoying good health. Last month, in November 1923, His Holiness had to go to Lahore, the capital city of the province, and there he delivered two public lectures, the summary of one of which appears in this [November and December 1923] issue of The Review of Religions.
The second lecture was given in the Habibia Hall of the Islamia College, Lahore. Khan Bahadur Mian Fazl Husain, Minister of Education, was in the Chair. The lecture dealt with the objection so often raised by Christian historians that while he was being badly persecuted by the Meccans and consequently he earnestly desired their conciliation, [God forbid] the Holy Prophet[sa] of Islam once admitted the authority of the idols of the Quraishites and allowed their worship along with that of Allah. The lecture lasted for about an hour and a half and was very much liked by the audience. The hall was packed to its full, and the audience included men of position and learning. A summary of this lecture will, God willing, appear in our next issue.
The Annual Jalsa [Salana Qadian 1923] of the Ahmadis is drawing near. Preparations are being made for it, and the pindal [marquee] has been proposed to be considerably extended. The gentleman specially in charge of the arrangements about the Jalsa is Sheikh Abdur Rahman, late [student] at Al-Azhar [University], Cairo. The programme has not yet been published, but it is understood that the Khalifatul Masih will, as usual, give two lectures. The dates fixed for the Jalsa are 26 to 29 December 1923. Dr Sadiq will also address the audience.
Malkana Rajput Apostasy Movement
God has crowned the efforts of our preachers in the field of apostasy with great success, and many of the affected villages that had apostatised have come back to the fold of Islam. We are still maintaining a force of about 90 workers in the affected area under the supervision of Chaudhry Fateh Muhammad Sayal, MA. Qazi Abdullah BA BT is working under him as his assistant. Both of these gentlemen were once our missionaries in London, so they are eminently suitable for the work. Most of our preachers in the Malkana Field are strictly honourary workers. The term of service for all such men is three months, after which they come back to resume their ordinary duties and new batches of preachers are sent to occupy their place.
Berlin
Brother Baba Ghulam Farid MA has sailed for Germany with his wife and little son. He will of course relieve Maulvi Mubarak Ali BA who is now a days our missionary in Germany.
The mosque so eagerly contributed to by our sisters is being made at Berlin but on account of great and unexpected market changes in the country, further progress in the work of building seems to be difficult for the present. Baba Ghulam Farid, who is proceeding to Germany, is an old boy of the Talim-ul-Islam High School, Qadian, and the editor [of The Review of Religions (1923)] is further interested in his welfare on account of the fact that the Baba is an old pupil of his. May God help him in all his efforts in the cause of Islam and bring him and his family back safe and sound after he has successfully finished the period of his term in Germany.
Bukhara
Our readers must already be aware that about two years ago, our blessed Leader sent Maulvi Muhammad Amin Khan Afghan to Bukhara to ascertain the condition of the said country and to find out the best way of establishing an Ahmadiyya Islamic Mission in Bukhara. Our brother has now come back to Qadian and relates very interesting things about his journey. He met great adventures on the way and was more than ten times imprisoned by the Bolshevik authorities, who suspected him of being a spy of the British, but God always helped him, and he at last came back safe and sound. Though he was not sent as a preacher his religious zeal which is really highly commendable secured for him the conversion of a number of persons in that country. His Holiness is now thinking of sending some missionary to Bukhara.
Mauritius
We have to record in connection with our Mauritius mission, the very sad news of the death of Maulvi Hafiz Obaidullah, a former student of the Madrasa Ahmadiyya, Qadian. It was only the day before yesterday, i.e., on 4 December 1923, that His Holiness, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih [IIra], the head of the Ahmadiyya Community [1923], received a cablegram from Mauritius in which it was stated that Hafiz Obaidullah was dangerously sick and His Holiness was asked to pray for him. Today, at the time of the Friday sermon, His Holiness announced that he had received another telegram that contained the news that our dear brother had breathed his last. The deceased was quite a young man, and while still a student, he had offered to devote his life to the cause of Islam. When he took his final degree from the said Madrasa in 1915, he was ordered by our blessed Leader to forthwith proceed to Mauritius. There in Mauritius, Hafiz Obaidullah worked as an assistant of Hafiz Sufi Ghulam Muhammad BA, and the weekly reports of the mission indicate that our departed brother proved himself a very sincere and devoted servant of the cause of Islam. He had his share of trials and troubles, but not a word of complaint or dissatisfaction ever escaped his lips. His letters to His Holiness show that he was too engrossed in his missionary work to think of anything else. Undoubtedly, our brother dies the death of a martyr, and every Ahmadi should pray for his departed soul, peace be with him.
– Editor, The Review of Religions (1923)
(Transcribed and edited by Al Hakam from the original, published in The Review of Religions [English], November and December 1923)