Opening ceremony of London’s first mosque
A Christian journalist writes:
In the presence of a distinguished company, whose remarkable composition testified to the occasion’s unusual interest, the first London Mosque was formally opened at Melrose Road, Southfields, on Sunday, 3 October [1926].
A dignified opening
The simple ceremony, which was marked by the dignity of true reverence, was performed by Khan Bahadur Honourable Sheikh Abdul Qadir, who was formerly a minister of the Punjab Government and is now a member of the Indian Delegation to the League of Nations.
A historic moment
From the flower-bordered terrace that stands slightly higher than the ground upon which the mosque is built, the assembly witnessed an act which must prove of deep significance in the history of Islam.
Members of the Ahmadiyya Community resident in Great Britain were, of course, present in strength; but this “cloud of witnesses” also included the adherents of many other creeds, whose sympathetic interest in the proceedings afforded the best possible proof of the tolerance and general goodwill that characterise the Ahmadiyya Community’s outlook.
Distinguished guests attend
Followers of the Prophet [Muhammad, peace be upon him], who belong to other sects were there; India’s non-Muslims were fitly represented by the dignified presence of the Maharajah of Burdwan; the well-known features of Sir Michael O’Dwyer were a silent reminder of the peace Islam enjoys under the British Raj; and the attendance of several members of the Imperial Parliament suggested what was, indeed, the truth – that the occasion was of far greater than merely parochial importance.
The standard of Islam planted in London
In effect, at the opening of the mosque the standard of Islam was formally planted in the Empire’s capital, a portent and a sign of the Prophet’s [sa] increasing influence.
Formal proceedings
The actual ceremony was of brief duration. Standing on one side of the door of the mosque, the imam (Maulvi Abdul Rahim Dard [ra]) chanted verses from the Quran, his clear voice rising in a stillness that was otherwise broken only by the slash of the fountain in the Pool of Ablution – followed the reading of the following message from the Ahmadiyya Community’s leader.
The message of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (ra)
The [following] message of the head of the Ahmadiyya Community [was] sent by cable from India and read at the occasion of the opening ceremony of the mosque by AR Dard (the imam of the mosque):
In the name of Allah the Most Beneficent and the Most Compassionate
We praise Him and invoke His blessings on His Prophet, the Exalted One
With the grace and mercy of God – He alone is the Helper
First of all, I thank God Who has, out of His mercy, awakened us after a deep sleep of centuries and granted us the power to erect this sacred house in the greatest centre of the West and thus enabled us to pay back the great good which the West did us by holding aloft the torch of knowledge during the period of our heavy sleep.
After this, I thank our noble guest Khan Bahadur Shaikh Abdul Qadir in particular and others in general who, by taking the trouble of coming here from far and near, have stretched out to us the hand of co-operation and sympathy on the completion of this our humble effort in the cause of Islam.
Then I avail myself of this opportunity by requesting those present and, through the courtesy of the Press, all peoples of the world to understand the purpose of their creation and through collective efforts try to obtain the object for which the best men of the world have laid down their lives.
I particularly address the people of England and of the West who have covered the face of the earth with monuments in memory of their heroes and I ask them in what manner have they kept alive the memories of the holy messengers of God? Is it not a matter of regret that people do not nowadays care to raise any monument in memory of these brilliant stars of the spiritual heavens?
These holy persons came into the world to establish the unity of God, love of the Creator, piety of the soul, loftiness of morals, true sympathy for the poor, real protection of the rights of men and the union and true equality of mankind.
And these are the virtues which people are nowadays sadly neglecting. And this is the ideal to which the House of Allah invites us: the call to prayers, sounded from the mosque, drawing our attention to the Oneness of God, congregation to the blessings of union, rows of worshippers to the teachings of equality, the imam to the benefits of organisation and the last words, viz., “Peace be with you,” to the spread and establishment of peace.
Hence, if we build mosques in the name of God, we should manifest those lofty teachings of which the mosque is the outward symbol. We should try to cultivate the love of God in our hearts, should reform our morals, establish the freedom of conscience, bring about union and equality, and should look after the poor and the needy.
It was for the fulfilment of this object that God raised in the present age the Promised Messiah, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, peace be upon him, and it is this mission of his which the Ahmadiyya [Muslim] Community is trying to fulfil by sending out missionaries of Islam to the West, and this mosque also has been erected to achieve the same end.
When I laid the foundation stone of this mosque in October 1924, I had nothing in view but the propagation of the above-mentioned teachings which the Master Prophet of God, Hazrat Muhammad [sa], may my soul be a sacrifice in his cause, brought into the world.
We do not cherish feelings of enmity towards Christianity, but look upon Jesus Christ, peace be upon him, as a true and great prophet of God and we believe that the coming of the Holy Prophet [sa] of Islam was in fulfilment of his prophecies, and that God revealed through the Holy Founder [sa] of Islam the final guidance which will hold true till the end of the world, so much so, that the great reformer of the present age, the Promised Messiah [as], the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement, who also came in fulfilment of the prophecies of Jesus Christ [as], was raised only to serve and establish the truth of this final guidance and the hidden treasures thereof.
Our object therefore will be to spread the worship of the One Living and Powerful God in this centre of unity with love and sincerity, and to establish the love of the Creator in the hearts of men. We will try to remove the feelings of hatred and enmity from betwixt the followers of different religions and will do our best to create the true spirit of search. We will try to reform morals and efface wrongs and transgressions. We will try to create feelings of sincerity and true equality which recognises the legitimate differences of grades and to engender feelings of brotherhood and mutual sympathy and co-operation.
And I avail myself of this opportunity by appealing to the Christian people that they also should not look upon Islam with feelings of enmity; and instead of trying to find faults with the Islamic teachings, should search for its beauties, because the truth of a religion is not manifested by finding faults with others, but by proving the excellence of its own teachings.
Brethren, the world of today is a sorrowful scene of polytheism, irreligiousness, neglect of God, enmity between countries, hatred between nations and tension between classes. Hence, it is the duty of every honest man who loves his God, to wake from his sleep and make houses consecrated in the name of God, strongholds of His unity and centres of union, instead of making them places of irreligiousness and means of disunion.
Come! And let us all be united and establish the unity of God upon which all agree. Come, that we should try to create in men the spirit of honest research, and by freeing ourselves from all prejudices which form the greatest hindrance in the way of truth, should seek after the will of our Maker and be prepared to accept it in whichever religion it may be found.
We should not bow before the god who is the creation of our own brains, because whatever name we may give him, he is no better than an idol, but we should bow before God the Almighty, Maker of the Universe, Whose glory is manifested in the tiniest particles of creation and Who has always been exhibiting His living powers through His holy messengers; and after making firm our belief in this, the One Lord of the East and the West, we should try to establish peace and harmony so that there should be tranquility in the internal affairs of countries as well as friendliness in relations between different countries and nations.
Our greatness should not lie in subduing others with our wealth and power, nor in dispossessing others of their lawful rights through force of our numbers, but our greatness should lie in showing mercy to the weak and giving men their lawful rights and privileges.
O Lord God! May Thy glory be manifested in the world and may this mosque erected by Thy humble servants prove a means of exaltation of Thy name and a means of creating in the hearts of Thy servants feelings of love and sincerity. Amin. – Mirza Mahmud Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih, the Head of the Ahmadiyya Community, Qadian, India.
(Transcribed and edited by Al Hakam from the original English, published in the October 1926 issue of The Review of Religions)