This Week in History: 30 May – 5 June

A glimpse into the rich history of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat

30 May 1908: After the sad demise of the Promised Messiah^as, the first-ever meeting of Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya took place on this day, in the blessed era of Khilafat. Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad^ra presided at the meeting. This session decided on three different pressing matters. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 3, pp. 207-208)

30 May 1955: On this day, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud^ra went to Geneva during his tour of Europe, where he acquired medical treatment as well as analysed the missionary activity of those countries. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 16, p. 528)

31 May 1991: On this day, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IV^rh delivered his Friday sermon at the Nasir Mosque in Paramaribo, Suriname, and called the attention of the jamaats to make arrangements so that members could listen to the Friday sermons of the Khalifatul Masih. (Khutbat-e-Tahir, Vol. 10, p. 457)

31 May 2013: On this day, during his Friday sermon, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V^aa spoke about his tour of the United States and Canada and said that, according to a conservative estimate, the message of Islam Ahmadiyyat reached about 20 million people through this visit.

1 June 1957: On this day, the magazine Tashheez-ul-Azhan started its publication as an organ of Majlis Atfal-ul-Ahmadiyya Markaziyya in Pakistan. Previously, it was a rich research journal on oriental and religious topics, founded by Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad^ra from Qadian. 

For more details about the history of this magazine, see: “Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad: The young editor of Tashheez-ul-Azhan” at alhakam.org (16 February 2024, pp. 8-9).

1 June 1970: On this day, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih III^rh returned to England from his tour of Spain. Huzoor^rh went to Spain on 25 May 1970. Reporting on this journey, Bashir Ahmad Rafiq Sahib stated that the journey on the plane took two hours. As they approached Madrid, they sensed a sort of anxiousness in Huzoor^rh. When Madrid’s airport became visible, Huzoor^rh said, “I can hear the stomping hooves of Tariq’s horses. Can you also hear them?” Huzoor^rh repeated this sentence two or three times.

During this journey, Huzoor^rh stayed in Madrid for two days. He then went to the historic centre of Islamic culture, Al-Andalus, and then reached Cordoba on 27 May. He stayed in a hotel and visited the grand mosque of Cordoba. The following day, Huzoor^rh went to Granada and visited the Alhambra palace. During this journey, he went to Toledo as well, which was the capital of Spain until 1560. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 26, p. 83)

2 June 1934: On this day, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud^ra delivered a lecture at the town hall in Lahore about the need for religion. Surendra Kumar Datta MBE, the then principal of Forman Christian College, Lahore, presided over the session, attended by more than a thousand people. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 6, pp. 181-182)

2 June 1974: During the series of coordinated attacks on the lives and properties of Ahmadis, on this day, the following four Ahmadis embraced martyrdom in Gurjanwala: Bashir Ahmad, Munir Ahmad, Muhammad Ramzan, Ghulam Qadir, Inayat-Ullah and Muhammad Iqbal. On the same day, the Ahmadiyya mosque in Lala Musa was ransacked; moreover, the houses and livelihood of Ahmadis in Burewala, District Vihari, were also looted by a charged anti-Ahmadiyya mob. (Silsila Ahmadiyya, Vol. 3, p. 293; Khutbat-e-Tahir, Babat Shuhada, pp. 145-148)

3 June 1946: On this day, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud^ra went to the site of the Precision Manufacturing Company in Qadian. Huzoor^ra laid the foundation stone and led a silent prayer. It was a project of his younger brother, Hazrat Mirza Sharif Ahmad^ra. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 9, p. 620)

3 June 1974: During the riots of 1974, on this day, 12 shops and businesses owned by Ahmadis were looted in Jhang, Pakistan. (Daily Al Fazl, 6 March 2003, p. 2)

4 June 1978: On this day, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih III^rh delivered the concluding address at the Deliverance From the Cross Conference in London. Earlier on 2 June, this conference with an extraordinary topic for the Christian world was inaugurated by Hazrat Chaudhry Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khan^ra. (Silsila Ahmadiyya, Vol. 3, p. 607)

5 June 1998: On this day, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IV^rh advised Ahmadis during MTA’s Urdu Class to avoid the usage of certain types of aluminium utensils, owing to their hidden hazardous effects on the human body. (Silsila Ahmadiyya, Vol. 4, p. 894)

5 June 2000: On this day, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IV^rh inspected the Ahmadiyya mosque in Wittlich, Germany, which was the first mosque built under the 100-Mosque Scheme of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Germany. (Silsila-e-Ahmadiyya, Part 4, p. 902)

Previous week: 23-29 May

Next week: 6 – 12 June