A glimpse into the rich history of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat
18 July 1935: On this day, Al Fazl published an article by Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra, written in response to Sir Muhammad Iqbal’s call for Ahmadis to be declared a non-Muslim minority sect. His powerful and logical rebuttal conveyed a clear message across religious and political circles. (Al Fazl, Qadian, 18 July 1935, pp. 3-4)
18 July 1974: On this day, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih III’srh statement was recorded by the investigation tribunal set up under Justice Samdani to probe the 1974 Rabwah railway station incident. (Silsila Ahmadiyya, Vol. 4, p. 337)
19 July 1935: On 31 May 1935, a deadly earthquake erupted in Quetta, Pakistan. This earthquake was not only the worst in the province of Balochistan but also in the whole of the Indian subcontinent at the time. Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra wrote on this subject on this day and proved this earthquake to be a grand sign in fulfilment of the Promised Messiah’sas truth.
To read this book, see: alislam.org.
19 June 2012: During his tour of the USA, on this day, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa visited the Bait-un-Nasir Mosque in Columbus, Ohio. (“Head of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at Continues Tour of USA”, www.pressahmadiyya.com)
20 July 1891: The Promised Messiah’sas written debate with Maulvi Muhammad Hussain of Batala commenced on this day in Ludhiana. It continued for the next 10 days. It was later published in book form under the title Al Haq: Mubahisa Ludhiana, from Sialkot. It was through Hazrat Maulvi Abdul Karim Sialkoti’sra efforts that it saw publication through his magazine, Al Haq Sialkot. To learn more about this book, see: www.ahmadipedia.org.
20 July 1900: On this day, the Promised Messiahas issued an announcement in which he invited Pir Meher Ali Shah to a contest. To learn more about this opponent of the Promised Messiah, see: www.ahmadipedia.org.
21 July 1967: On this day, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIIrh inaugurated Masjid Nusrat Jahan in Copenhagen, Denmark, which was the first mosque in Denmark. The inaugural ceremony was not only aired on Danish television but also in other European countries and some Islamic countries showed great interest in this ceremony, especially Saudi Arabia, where the visuals of this ceremony were shown on television twice. They showed the building of the mosque, the inaugural address and the first Friday sermon. The ceremony was also shown on television channels of West Germany, which was viewed by hundreds of thousands of people. Moreover, Morocco’s radio broadcast the news of this event in its news bulletins three times. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 24, p. 118)
21 July 2006: During his Friday sermon on this day, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa said that Dr Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, the President of Sierra Leone at the time, had come to offer the Friday prayer at the Bait-ul-Futuh Mosque. Huzooraa introduced the distinguished guest and said that he had expressed his desire to offer the Friday prayer here. Huzooraa prayed that Allah the Almighty may fulfil his pious wishes, reward him and establish lasting peace and security in his country. Huzooraa also graced a reception held in honour of the distinguished guest.
22 July 1955: On this day, the first-ever international conference of the Ahmadi missionaries commenced in London, presided over by Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra. On 23 July, the Civil and Military Gazette reported on this, titled “Conference of Muslim Mission of Europe and America Begins.”
For more details, see “First-ever international conference of Ahmadiyya missionaries, London, 1955”, at alhakam.org (21 July 2023, p. 16).
22 July 1974: On this day, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIIrh read out the Jamaat’s statement in the National Assembly of Pakistan, and the question-and-answer session began, which continued until 24 August. During these sessions, Huzoorrh was questioned for almost 52 hours in the National Assembly of Pakistan. (Silsila Ahmadiyya, Vol. 3, p. 339)
23 July 1933: On this day, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra drew the attention of members of the Jamaat towards learning the Urdu language. Huzoorra said that deriving benefit from the books written by the Promised Messiahas was the best and most efficient way to learn Urdu.
Huzoorra stated that where, on the one hand, the Promised Messiahas resolved religious disputes, at the same time, he also reformed the Urdu language. A person wrote a thesis as part of his PhD degree at the University of London. In his thesis, he stated that the Promised Messiah’sas writings had had a great impact on the Urdu language. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 6, p. 117)
23 July 1938: Two Christian missionaries from Spain and Belgium reached Qadian and had an audience with Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra on this day. One guest was Mr Pareja, MA, who was from Spain and had graduated from Cambridge. He was a professor at St Xavier’s College, Mumbai. The other guest was Mr Francis. He was from Belgium and was posted in the Amritsar area. Before meeting with Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra and having the opportunity to ask him various questions, the guests were shown various institutions and offices of the Jamaat in Qadian. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 7, p. 545)
24 July 1910: On this day, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira journeyed towards the city of Multan to record his witness statement in a case in a government court. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira appointed Hazrat Sahibzada Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmadra as the amir in his absence from Qadian. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira returned to Qadian on 26 July. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 3, p. 321