The Moslem Sunrise, April & July 1923
Hazrat Mufti Muhammad Sadiqra (1872-1957)
Muhammad Yusuf Khan
[Muhammad Yusuf Khan of India is] our young friend in America, who works hard for his living and then evangelizes for Islam in his spare time. […]
In praise of the Master-Prophet Muhammad[sa]
“He never frequented the wine-shop, or looked at the dancing-girls, or talked abroad in the bazaars. He was more modest than a virgin behind the curtain. When he met children, he would stop and pat their cheeks; he followed the bier that passed him in the street; he visited the sick; he was kind to his inferiors; he would accept the invitation of a slave to dinner; he was never the first to withdraw his hand when he shook hands; he was humble, gentle and kind; he waited always on himself, mending his own clothes, milking his own goats; he never struck anyone in his life. When once asked to curse someone, he said, ‘I have not been sent to curse, but to be a mercy to mankind.’ […]
“When we regard him as a ruler and lawgiver, we can only wonder and admire. He established for the first time in history a United Arabia. In the moral life of his countrymen, he effected a remarkable reform. He abolished drunkenness and gambling, vices to which the Arabs have been especially addicted. He abolished the practice of infanticide, and also succeeded in rendering its memory detestable. […] Whatever laws he made respecting women and slaves were made with the view of improving their condition. […] His career is the best example that can be given of the influences of the Individual in human history. That single man created the glory of his nation, and spread his language over half the earth. The words which he preached to jeering crowds twelve hundred years ago are now being studied by scholars or by devotees in London, Paris and Berlin; in Mecca, where he labored; in Medina, where he died; in Constantinople, in Cairo, in Fez, in Timbuctoo, in Jerusalem, in Damascus, in Bassora [now Basra], in Bagdad, in Bokhara, in Cabul, in Calcutta, in Pekin; in the steppes of Central Asia, in the islands of the Indian Archipelago, in lands which are as yet unmarked upon our maps, in the oases of thirsty deserts, in obscure villages situated by unknown streams. It was Mohammad who did all this, for he uttered the book which carried the language, and he prepared the army which carried the book. His disciples and successors were not mad fanatics, but resolute and sagacious men, who made shrewd friendship with the malcontent Christians among the Greeks, and with the persecuted Jews in Spain, and who in a few years created an empire which extended from the Pyrenees to the Hindoo Koosh [now Hindu Kush].” (Winwood Reade, The Martyrdom of Man (1872), pp. 266-69)
Abraham Holasi
[Abraham Holasi is] our dear brother and friend in Pitcairn, Pennsylvania. […]
Islam and Issa, salam
Brief statement of faith by Mohammad Abdul Haqq, Charles Francis Sievwright (Australian Muslim):
“Dear Brethren: On the 26th of March, 1896, in Melbourne, Australia, I was converted to the religious belief known as Islam. Prior to that date, I followed the teachings of Jesus[as], and in doing so. I was professedly what is called “A Christian”. After twenty-seven years a follower of the teachings of Mohammad, the founder of the Faith of “Islam”, I desire to tell you that I find that both Teachers are one and the same in teaching the Truth concerning the way to God by Submission or Resignation, or as I would describe its name, “Soul’s Peace.”
“Issa (Jesus[as]), salam (the peace of) is the meaning of the words I have placed on the headline of this statement. Islam, the other word, I can only define as the Peace of Mohammad which he gave to the world in his message. Both these Messengers have shown me in their Teachings that the peace of the Soul consists in absolute resignation to the will of God or Allah.
“What we all require is true simplicity, a certain calmness of spirit which comes from entire surrender to all that God wills, patience and toleration for all your neighbors’ faults which a sense of God’s presence inspires, a certain candor and childlike docility on acknowledging one’s faults and accepting reproof and counsel; these are the solid graces which are needful for our Sanctification.
“The trouble we feel about so many things comes from our not accepting everything which may happen to us, with sufficient resignation to God. Put all things, then, in Allah’s care and offer them beforehand to Him in your heart as a sacrifice. From the moment when you cease to want things to be according to your own judgment, and accept unconditionally whatever Allah sends, you will be free from all your retrospects and anxieties about your own concerns; you will have nothing to conceal or contrive. Until then you will be troubled, changeable in your views, and tastes, easily displeased with others, and out of harmony with yourself, full of reserve and distrust. Your talents, until they truly become humble and simple, will only torment you; your piety, however sincere, will serve less to sustain and comfort you than to fill you with inward self-reproach. If on the contrary, you give your Soul fully to God, you will be full of peace and joy in this Holiness as was also stated by Issa in the fourteenth chapter of the gospel of John in the twenty-seventh verse, [‘I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid’].” […]
Stories of Turkish atrocities untrue
Buffalo Express, New York, 13 February [1923], AP [Associated Press], states:
“Dr Albert Ross Hill, former president of the University of Missouri, and vice-chairman of the American Red Cross in charge of foreign work, returned today from Athens on the Carmania with the assertion that stories of Turkish atrocities after the burning of Smyrna were without foundation.
“Dr Hill, who set up the original Smyrna relief outfit and forced refugees to bathe almost at the point of the bayonet, said he had found no evidence of Turks having deliberately separated families. One instance of a Greek mother having had her children taken away was disproved, he said, when the children later were found by a relief party and returned to her.”
Cheer up Brother
An excerpt from a letter from BW Lye of Ceylon to Brother Abdullah Din Muhammad (Mr JL Mott) of New Orleans:
“I am indeed delighted to hear that you are standing firm by your religious conviction in spite of adverse circumstances. Never be discouraged in the least for you are never alone, Allah is always with you. Be prepared to make every possible sacrifice for Islam and you will have your reward with Allah in this and the next life. If calamities befall you, be resigned completely to Allah. Immunity from sorrow pertains not to this world but to another. Divine succor is always near at hand to the earnest souls like you.
“I assure you of the very sincere prayers of all of us here for your family and all the other American Muslim Ahmadi brothers and sisters.
“I read with much interest the brief account you have given of your noble family’s history in your letter. Remember, the name of the Motts shall go down in history as the great pioneers of the Islamic propaganda [tabligh] in the New World. Brother, can you foresee the great future of Islam? America is going to be the field where the past might and glory of Islam is to be revived. ‘The sun of Islam shall rise from the west’, aye, from America! Its light-waves shall hound over the plains of Europe and cover the whole world. This is the age and time for this final consummation of Islam’s glory in the world.
“Man, hath a body and a soul. They are the two sides of his nature. Religion is spiritual sustenance for him. As there is but one God, Allah, and one humanity, there is, as there can be but one religion or Divine Law. From the beginning upwards this Religion and Law was being revealed by Allah to the Prophets, only modified to suit the special needs of humanity of the age at every stage of its evolutionary progress. The final perfection of this Law and Religion is Islam. Open the Holy Quran and see if its laws and teachings are not such as are only conducive to the progress, enlightenment and perfection, of mankind. See if they are not the remedy for the countless evils and abominations prevailing in the so-called civilized countries. See if they are not the laws that can and will save Europe and America.
“It is true that Islam has been the religion that is most misrepresented. and, therefore, most misunderstood in the Western countries. This is chiefly due to the bigotry and hatred of the early Christians against Muslims, and the mischievous writings of Christian missionaries and journalists. But Truth triumphs in the end. Glory be to Allah! Muhammad’s[sa] vicegerent, Ahmad[as] of Qadian, has again unfurled the banner of victory of Islam. Come, ye valiant sons and daughters of Islam from the fertile soil of the West, stand by us under this banner. Victory is ours, is yours, is Islam’s.”
A message by Shaikh Khalid Sheldrake
From London (England), Shaikh Khalid Sheldrake writes:
“Allah has indeed blessed you [Mufti Muhammad Sadiq Sahib] abundantly and we are seeing the reward your labors merited. To light the torch of Islam in America is a grand work, and Mufti Muhammad Sadiq is the worthy instrument chosen by Allah. Your Moslem Sunrise is a journal of which you may indeed feel proud. It is full of Divine guidance and brings us so close to you that we can feel that your endeavors are ours.
“As one who dwelt in the light of Islam for twenty years, may I send a message to my American brethren? It is this:
“‘Remember that each Muslim is a sentinel who must be ever watchful over his habits and actions. Islam is judged by men from what we say and do. By example, we can make men first wonder, then enquire as to our motive power and so they come to know of the eternal truths of our Holy Faith. Let us guard ourselves, be true to Islamic principles, and we need not fear others.”
In love and appreciation
This is a sample of the letters recently written by the Moslems in this country to the head of the Ahmadia Mission in India:
“To His Holiness, Khalifatul-Masih II[ra], Qadian, Gurdaspur, Punjab, India.
“From: The Ahmadia Moslem, Americans in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
“Most Reverend Sir:
“Whereas: We, the Moslem members of the Ahmadia Movement of Chicago, Illinois, USA, have stepped from darkness into light from religious ignorance into Religious Truth through the Spiritual and intellectual guidance, personal and individual love of our dear leader and teacher, Mufti Muhammad Sadiq. We, as a community, express our love for Dr Sadiq and beg that he be commanded to remain with us indefinitely, with or without other assistants that you can manage to send to America. Yours obediently, (Signatures)”
Confessed by an old priest
In his “Confessions of an Old Priest”, the Reverend Samuel David McConnell, who has been for fifty years a minister in the church, writes of Jesus[as] as follows:
“[…] As an example, to copy, his manner of life will not serve. It does not furnish the material. He had no experience of the multiform relations in which every human life must be spent. The parent, the citizen, the father, the soldier, the man of business, the craftsman find nothing in the actual conduct of his life either to copy or avoid.” (Confessions of an Old Priest (1922), pp. 33-34)
The reverend gentleman is quite right. Jesus[as] never pretended to teach all mankind. He came for the lost sheep of Israel only as he himself avers. That was his role. His mission was confined to his time and place and the attendant circumstances only. This ministry can only be accepted in that light. As a world-teacher there is only one blessed teacher, Muhammad of Arabia, peace be on him and the blessings of God. His is the most perfect exemplar, and in him we find solution for the minutest details of our life, whatever walk of life we may happen to belong to.
Some remarks on the Christian “Moslem World” by Maulvi Muhammad Din
The Quran mentions some incidents in the lives of the various Prophets, but it does not relate them for the sake of giving information about the past. Its purpose is to teach a lesson. However seemingly “minor” or “unimportant” a detail, if it can teach a lesson, then it has served its purpose. It says: “In their histories, there is a lesson for men of understanding.” These incidents presage that something is coming about, and if the disbelievers cannot profit by the lesson, their end will in no wise differ from those who rejected the previous Prophets and they will suffer in the long run. It draws the attention of the scoffers of the Holy Prophet[sa] of Arabia to a similar fate that is awaiting them by telling them in prophetic words that “It is not a narrative which could be forged, but a verification and fulfilment of what is impending.” To the believers, it holds out the same promise of “guidance and mercy” as was given to the believers of old and fulfilled, in their case. These promises may take long to fulfill and may sometimes try the patience of believers as well as the Prophets, but come they must. The fulfilment of these promises generally comes about at the time “when the Prophets and the believers despair of any more success” among the unbelievers who on account of the long delay in their punishment come to regard those warnings as empty threats and so get hard-hearted. It is at this juncture that the divine aid comes “delivering those with whom he is pleased” and “His punishment is not averted from the guilty people.”
This is the lesson which the holy word of God wanted to drive home into the minds of the people – the opponents of the Holy Prophet Muhammad[sa]. Like the brethren of Joseph[as], “They had resolved upon their affair and they were devising plans”, but their plans were all destined to be wrecked, and one day they were told that they would all have to be down on their knees as did the brethren of Joseph[as]. “He is the true Prophet of God; he stands on the bedrock of certainty; with this certainty of faith, he and his followers call the people to the way of Allah.” He is certain that if they do not believe in him their end would be the same as that of those who preceded them. History was sure to be repeated in his case with certainty and with a wealth of detail as was never witnessed before. It was then all the more necessary for them to hearken to his message and be not foolhardy. It is with this end in view that the third verse of the chapter “Joseph” begins. “We explain to you with the best explanation by our revealing to you this Quran, though before this you were certainly of the unaware ones.” Reverend Boyd Oscar of the American Mission of Beirut laughs at this revelation which, he says, only recounts past events recorded in other books. His Christian mentality does not allow him to see what is written a few lines ahead, for four verses further we find it recorded: “Certainly in Joseph[as] and his brothers, there are signs for the inquirers.” What those signs are is clear from the concluding portion of the chapter, where the Holy Prophet[sa] in the most critical part of his life, when his enemies are thinking of banishing, imprisoning or trapping him to death, is told that he will return victorious and that his own people will bow down before him asking to be forgiven, just as did the brethren of Joseph[as]. Surely there can be no greater revelation than this that a fugitive and forlorn is told that all the details of Joseph’s[as] life will find their fulfilment in him and that on a far grander scale, and then like Joseph[as] when his erstwhile foes will be quite at his mercy, he would pass over all the wrongs done to him. If this is no revelation, we do not know what the Reverend gentleman means by revelation and prophecy. […]
Mosque and Ahmadia Mission House
To whom it may concern:
The Building Lot No. 3 in the subdivision of Lots Four and Five in Block Two in Hoxies Subdivision of the South 263.18, known as 4448 S Wabash Avenue, Chicago, purchased by Dr MM Sadiq and used as The Mosque and the Ahmadia Mission House is the property of the Ahmadia Movement with its central headquarters at Qadian, India, and directed and guided by the Khalifatul Masih II[ra] and now represented in America by Dr Mufti Muhammad Sadiq and Maulvi Muhammad Din.
(Transcribed and edited by Al Hakam from the original in The Moslem Sunrise, April and July 1923)