Al Fazl, 14 December 2022
Hazrat Mufti Muhammad Sadiqra (1872-1957)
A priest converts to Islam
By the grace and blessings of Allah the Almighty, the work of spreading Islam in America is progressing by the day. The work of tabligh through lectures, meetings, jalsas, correspondence and writing articles in newspapers has increased so much that sometimes I do not find any time to write the reports. Apart from several lectures, two jalsas are held every week in the mosque and the hall. A class is also held every two days of the week to teach the Arabic language and the Arabic wording of Salat. In addition, one has to go into the cities [for tabligh]. Hence, this week I had to go to Detroit for a lecture. The work in Chicago was done by Mr James Sadiq and Mr Saeeda Joseph in my absence. Five people in Chicago and six in Detroit, a total of eleven people, accepted Islam.
Now, I am going to the town of Stanley. I have been called to preach there because a young girl’s attention has been drawn towards Islam and she is expressing a dislike for Christianity. Her parents, who are conservative Christians, have complained to the government about our mission. They want to criminalise a religious issue as if Muslims are misleading Christian girls and kidnapping them. We sincerely request that you pray that Allah the Almighty saves us from every evil and protects us from every calamity and grants us success in the work of the mission.
Notable among those who have converted to Islam in Detroit is a priest named Sutton. He is a man of high capabilities and has previously served as a pastor for a church. He has been appointed as the sheikh for the new converts of Jamaat Detroit. He has been introduced to the central office of Nazarat Qadian, so that in the future he and his jamaat will be directly connected to Qadian. His own business is sufficient for his livelihood and he will perform the mission work in his spare time. It is hoped that he will be able to convert many more people through his efforts, insha-Allah. Since he is an influential person, he will send his reports directly to Qadian. His Islamic name is Sheikh Abdus Salam. His picture will be given in the next issue of the magazine, The Moslem Sunrise, insha-Allah.
Mufti Muhammad Sadiq, 1437 Russell Street, Detroit, Michigan. 22 October 1922.
Mauritius
Hazrat Hafiz Sufi Ghulam Muhammadra
Opposition and support of God
I, a missionary of Islam, landed on the shores of Mauritius on 15 June 1915. According to Hazrat Fazl-e-Umar’sra [Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II] vision, the island was full of snakes. It was published in a so-called Muslim newspaper on 16 June [1915] that, “One of the passengers of the Canara ship is Maulvi Ghulam Muhammad BA, who is a missionary of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat and has come to preach against the Christians and the widely-held beliefs of the [non-Ahmadi] Muslims. He teaches people that Hazrat Isaas has died a natural death and his shrine is in Srinagar, Kashmir.” This newspaper requested the government to send the missionary [of Islam] back, but he faced the following fate:
وَهَمُّوۡا بِمَا لَمۡ يَنَالُوۡا
[“And they meditated that which they could not attain.” (Surah at-Taubah, Ch.9: V.74)]
Then, when the governor gave me permission to preach publicly in Rose Hill, he published many articles in the newspaper and strongly emphasised that I should be boycotted. The opponents put forth every effort that the Ahmadiyya Jamaat could not establish here. The people of every city were incited against us and stricter rules were issued in the [non-Ahmadi] communities. Severe punishments and fines were imposed on those who met me. A lot of deceptive techniques were used and efforts were made to malign the authorities against us. In various ways, their so-called erudite scholars were brought in front of me so that somehow, I could be humiliated. However, Allah the Almighty always helped and supported me, and exalted me in every sphere and humiliated my opponents. Various accusations were made against me so that the people might throw me away like garbage, but the answer to the disbelievers has already been given by Allah in the Holy Quran:
يُرِيۡدُوۡنَ لِيُطۡفِـُٔوۡا نُوۡرَ اللّٰهِ بِاَفۡوَاهِهِمۡ وَاللّٰهُ مُتِمُّ نُوۡرِهٖ وَلَوۡ كَرِهَ الۡكٰفِرُوۡنَ
[“They desire to extinguish the light of Allah with the breath of their mouths, but Allah will perfect His light, even if the disbelievers hate it.” (Surah as-Saff, Ch.61: V.9)]
The non-Ahmadi scholars always forbid their people from meeting even an ordinary Ahmadi, let alone an Ahmadi missionary. They tell them not to meet them and that no one should study their books, lest they “become disbelievers”. They are absolutely sure that the arguments and irrational views of non-Ahmadis will not stand before the arguments of Ahmadis. On the other hand, they think that the Ahmadis will show arguments from the Holy Quran and this will certainly influence the general public. This is the reason why they order the boycott of Ahmadis. If they had arguments and could prove their points with the Holy Quran and Hadith, then instead of running away from the Ahmadis, they would have confronted and answered the Ahmadis. They would have placed the Holy Quran and Hadith in front of the Ahmadis.
Piety of Ahmadis
By the grace of Allah, this [piety of Ahmadis] has become clear to both the supporters and the opponents. When the non-Ahmadis are alone, they present the piety, brotherhood and religious zeal of Ahmadis as an example to inspire people among themselves. However, they act brazenly in front of Ahmadis and though they accept the truth, they start abusing to hide their weaknesses. On the other hand, when Hindus and Christians, who are always dumbfounded by the arguments of Ahmadis, are present in the audience [of their gathering], the non-Ahmadis face a lot of difficulties answering the Ahmadis in front of them.
Verdict in the Rose Hill Mosque case
By the grace of Allah, the case of the Rosehill Mosque has revealed to the people that the non-Ahmadi scholars do not possess any arguments. The imam, who was seen as something of a “Lord Bishop” of the Muslims of Mauritius, when he was presented the arguments of the Ahmadis from the Holy Quran and Bukhari, became astonished. Earlier, when the common people used to ask their scholars to talk to the Ahmadi scholars, they used to avoid saying that they [Ahmadi scholars] were in league with the government and that if somebody debated them, the government would arrest and exile them. However, when the verdict was issued in the Rose Hill Mosque case, it became clear to everyone that the government is not with the Ahmadis.
Escape of the imam
I and five Ahmadis went to listen to the imam’s lecture in 1917 and met him. He promised that he would meet me, but since he was the servant of the secretary committee of the mosque, he first withdrew on the secretary’s instructions. Then, they brought the imam before me and had a discussion, which has already been published in 1918 [in Al Fazl] under the heading “Ruidad Jalsa” [Proceedings of the Meeting]. During this discussion, the imam became aware of his state and observed that he had no leg to stand on, so he quickly retreated, promising to meet again the next Sunday and after that, he never met me.
Positive impact of Ahmadis
There is no doubt that those who openly accept Ahmadiyyat are fewer in number, but the positive impact of Ahmadiyyat is definitely being felt by the Muslims of Mauritius. Suleman Yar Ali of […], who was present at the annual Jalsa of Qadian in 1919 and passed away in Calcutta [now Kolkata] in 1921, اِنَّا لِلّٰهِ وَاِنَّاۤ اِلَيۡهِ رٰجِعُوۡنَ [Surely, to Allah we belong and to Him shall we return.], by the grace of Allah, both his brothers Mahmud and Hameed have accepted Ahmadiyyat. Along with them, his cousin has just accepted Ahmadiyyat. Usman of […] showed an enviable example of patience after accepting Ahmadiyyat. He and Ahmed Jafar were expelled [from their homes] by their relatives. The latter has been ill for a long time. In this state of serious illness, his parents expelled him to repent from Ahmadiyyat, but he left his home but did not abandon Ahmadiyyat. Likewise, Usman’s wife and children have been separated from him. He is firm that he will stay alone without his wife and children but will not abandon Ahmadiyyat. If such courage as shown by both of them is shown by other people, then, God willing, many people will come under the banner of Ahmadiyyat. On 24 and 25 September [1922], I was on a tabligh tour. When I reached […], I spoke to the imam there. He admitted that what I said was absolutely true. When he was asked as to why he did not accept, he said, “When I accept that you are on the right, then what is the benefit of openly declaring it and pledging allegiance, except to get a bad name among the people. […]”
(Translated by Al Hakam from the original Urdu, published in the 14 December 1922 issue of Al Fazl)