Hazrat Maulvi Abdur Rahim Nayyarra (1883-1948)
Sad news
My dear friend, a devoted servant of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat and respected leader or chief of the Fante Muslims, Mr Mahdi [referred to as “Chief Mahdi”], passed away on 19 October 1925 after a brief illness.
The sorrowful news of his demise was communicated by Maulvi Fazlur Rahman Hakim Sahib, the Ahmadiyya missionary in the Gold Coast, through a telegram.
Mahdi’s piety
When King Prempeh of Ashanti oppressed the Fante people, and the British government intervened in support of the Fante by launching an attack on Ashanti, a contingent of Muslim Hausa soldiers arrived from Nigeria. It was through this interaction that the Fante people first became acquainted with Islam.
Among the local youth, the first to accept Islam was a young man. Observing his blessed disposition, the Hausa preacher – guided by divine wisdom – named this new convert “Mahdi”.
Establishing his village, Ekroful, as the Markaz (centre) of his efforts, Mahdi began preaching Islam and, by 1902, had brought 150 people into the faith.
He also opened an Islamic school in Ekroful. During this period, more Hausa and Lagos Muslims arrived from Nigeria. However, a government-appointed Christian instructor began teaching the Bible in the school. Concerned that this might lead people towards Christianity, Mahdi closed down the school and continued preaching independently, leading to a steady increase in the Muslim population. However, the state of the Hausa Muslims in comparison with the Christian missionaries and the view of the local pagans that Islam was merely a religion for Black people, not for Europeans, troubled Mahdi deeply. Consequently, the Fante Mahdi earnestly began seeking the rightful Promised Mahdi.
Finding the awaited one
In West Africa, several Syrian Christian merchants – known for their hostility towards Islam – conducted trade. By a fortunate turn of events, a Muslim Syrian trader also arrived among them.
While travelling to Africa via London, he witnessed Hazrat Mufti Muhammad Sadiq Sahib[ra] distributing Islamic literature. The trader secured a leaflet bearing the address of the London Mission. This vital information eventually reached the expectant Mahdi through a Lagosian named Mr Pedro. Acting on Mahdi’s behalf, Mr Pedro initiated correspondence and facilitated contact with Hazrat Mufti Muhammad Sadiq[ra].
However, divine providence had ordained that Mahdi’s message should reach West Africa through Nayyar. Before proceeding to Nigeria, I arrived in the Gold Coast, and on 19 March 1921, Mahdi, accompanied by other tribal chiefs and their followers – numbering four thousand newly converted Muslims – formally entered the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, thus proclaiming that they had found the long-sought truth.
Meeting
I arrived on the shores of the Gold Coast on 28 February 1921. At the seaside, only two individuals had come to receive me: Mr Pedro, a semi-Christian Lagosian, and the Superintendent of Police. I remained in Saltpond until 10 March 1921.
During this period, Chief Mahdi repeatedly sent his men to verify my arrival and to inform other tribal leaders. Eventually, Friday, 11 March 1921, was fixed as the day of our meeting. That morning, I departed for Ekroful by car. In my diary, the following words are recorded beneath this date:
“Journey to Ekroful. Payment to the motor driver: three pounds and five shillings. Green bushes on both sides. Met the Holy Prophetsa, the Promised Messiahas, and Syedna Mahmud [in a divine vision]. The speech of the Amir (Mahdi) on how he learnt Islam, what he desired, and his expression of gratitude that he had finally seen a white maulvi in his lifetime. My reply: reassurance that now I had arrived, and God willing, the work would progress. Conveyed the message of the Promised Messiahas. Delivered the Friday sermon in Arabic. Offerings included eggs, yams, and a sheep. A journey of twenty-one and a half miles.”
A divine sign
As the diary notes, while I was travelling by car, God blessed me with a divine vision and I witnessed the Holy Prophetsa, the Promised Messiahas, and the Khalifatul Maish. When I arrived in Ekroful and met Mahdi, he narrated – under oath – that on the night before my arrival in Saltpond, he had seen the Holy Prophetsa enter his chamber.
Blessed character
The late Mahdi possessed deep spirituality, sincere devotion, and heartfelt concern for Islam. In the darkness of the African continent, Mahdi shone like a radiant star. Though elderly in age, he possessed the determination and vigour of youth. Had Mahdi not remained steadfast, Islam in the Gold Coast would have suffered greatly. The opposition he faced – from Christian missionaries, clergy, colonial officials, as well as the people of Hausa and Lagos – was intense, both overt and covert.
Before my arrival, government authorities had already instructed that obstacles be placed in the path of Islamic propagation. Yet this elderly Mahdi stood firm, and God supported him, granting him the joy of witnessing, during his lifetime, that the seed he had planted was now bearing fruit.
Chief Mahdi was approximately 90 years old at his passing. He had no male offspring; however, his nephews survive him, and they are all Ahmadis. Moreover, the Ahmadiyya mission house in the region stands as his enduring legacy.
May God envelop him in His mercy. May God forgive him. The departed possessed many virtues.
It is my deep regret that I was unable to meet Mahdi again in his lifetime. Yet I hold firm hope that when I reach the Promised Messiahas and eagerly await those I long to behold, the aged Mahdi will be among the first I encounter.
O my Lord! Raise many more Mahdis – many more such souls – in the Gold Coast, and grant us their blessed successors, amin, thumma amin. – Nayyar
Financial sacrifice of Mauritian Ahmadis
Regarding the “One Hundred Thousand” appeal, the local jamaat in Mauritius had collected a sum of money. Sufi Ghulam Muhammad Sahib[ra] wrote to Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II[ra], informing him of the amount gathered for this appeal and asking for his instructions to forward the contributions.
Alongside this, Sufi Sahib also mentioned the debt on Masjid Darus-Salaam, Rose Hill. In response, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II[ra] graciously instructed that the said jamaat would be exempted from this special contribution on the condition that the remaining debt of three thousand rupees on Masjid Darus-Salaam, Rose Hill, be cleared immediately.
By the grace and mercy of God, our humble and financially limited jamaat succeeded in freeing Masjid Darus-Salaam from debt.
It is now our intention to build mosques in all those areas where our community is significantly represented, such as Sainte Pierre, Triolet, and Phoenix.
We also aim to acquire a property in Port Louis – the largest city of Mauritius – in order to establish a centre for tabligh activities and to hold the Friday Prayer there regularly.
We request all friends to pray for the progress of the humble but devoted Ahmadiyya Jamaat Mauritius and to pray that the Generous Lord graciously fulfils these righteous aspirations.
I remain in need of my friends’ prayers. Muhammad Ihsan Siddiqi, Second Missionary, Mauritius.
(Translated by Al Hakam from the original Urdu, published in the 7 November 1925 issue of Al Fazl)