This Week in History: 31 December – 6 January

31 December 1946: Hazrat Maulvi Syed Zia-ul-Haq^ra passed away. He was amongst the 12 early and famous companions of the Promised Messiah^as from Odisha, East India.

He first came to Qadian in 1902 and he served and rendered great service as amir of Jamaat Songara, Odisha. 

Due to his success in tabligh, opponents plotted to kill him. He was an expert in Arabic, Urdu, Persian and the vernacular Odia. He used to deliver darses of the Holy Quran very well. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 9, p. 617)

31 December 1959: During US President Eisenhower’s four-day visit to India, when he was taken to Delhi for a tour, he was gifted with literature from Qadian. In reply to this, the US minister of foreign affairs wrote to Sahibzada Mirza Wasim Ahmad Sahib in which he expressed his deep gratitude and stated that the president appreciated this gesture. (Al Fazl, 9 March 1960, p. 3)

1 January 1933: Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud^ra, along with other members of the Promised Messiah’s^as family, enjoyed a ride in an aeroplane for the first time as the famous pilot, Mr Chawla landed in Qadian with his small plane.

Mr Chawla had a small three-seater aircraft and intended to set a record by travelling to London on it. He, therefore, appealed to the maharajas and nawabs of the Indian states for donations. A copy of his letter also reached Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II^ra. Huzoor^ra wrote to him that if he brought his aircraft to Qadian and gave some people a chance to ride in it, he would give a donation of five hundred rupees. 

So, on 30 December 1932, he took his aircraft to Qadian. The next day, he met with Huzoor^ra. At 11 o’clock in the morning on 1 January 1933, Huzoor^ra and Hazrat Mirza Sharif Ahmad^ra boarded the aircraft with Mr Chawla. The aircraft flew away from Qadian to the east and soon disappeared. Seeing this, members of the Jamaat became anxious. After landing, Huzoor^ra said that he had told Mr Chawla to take him to the Beas River so that he could see the area from Qadian to the Beas River from above. At the behest of Huzoor^ra, many elders and children had the chance to board the aircraft too.

1 January 1936: Hazrat Syed Nasir Shah^ra, a companion of the Promised Messiah^as, passed away. Hazrat Shah Sahib^ra was a very sincere companion of the Promised Messiah^as. Once, when Hazrat Ahmad’s^as book Nuzul-ul-Masih, due to a lack of funds, came to a halt in publication, Hazrat Shah Sahib^ra took leave from his job and presented a sum of money to the Promised Messiah^as to be used for the book. Huzoor^as accepted his donation. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 7, p. 321)

1 January 1966: There was a risk of famine and drought in Pakistan due to a lack of rain. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih III^rh urged Ahmadis to dedicate two prostrations of nawafil for the next seven days and pray for rain. Upon Huzoor’s^rh instruction, Hazrat Maulana Jalaluddin Shams^ra led Salat-ul-Istisqa (prayer for rain) on 6 January in Rabwah. (Al Fazl, 8 and 12 January 1966, p. 1)

2 January 1929: Hazrat Maulvi Muhammad^ra, a companion of the Promised Messiah^as, passed away. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 5, p. 161)

2 January 1976: Hazrat Khalifatul Masih III^rh, under the Waqf-e-Jadid scheme, encouraged members of the Jamaat to take up honorary life-devotion (waqf). That is, members of the Jamaat should stay in the markaz for three months and attain religious education so that the moral training of the Jamaat can progress. 

Huzoor^rh also directed the construction of rooms to accommodate guests on the occasion of Jalsa Salana because in 1974, the government of Pakistan had taken into their possession some buildings of the Jamaat worth about 50 million rupees which were in the form of schools and colleges. For this reason, there was a risk of problems in accommodating guests at the next Jalsa Salana. (Khutbaat-e-Nasir, Vol. 6, p. 269)

3 January 1930: Renowned Muslim leader, Maulana Shaukat Ali visited Qadian on this date. He had led the Khilafat Movement that was initiated in response to the fall of the Ottoman Empire. He was also the brother of the renowned political leader, Muhammad Ali Jauhar, and Hazrat Maulvi Zulfiqar Ali Khan Gohar^ra. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 5, p. 240)

3 January 1935: Hazrat Pir Siraj-ul-Haq Numani^ra of Sarsawa, India passed away at the age of 80. He was a well-known spiritual leader with a large following, prior to accepting the Promised Messiah^as. He recorded the life of the Promised Messiah^as in his book Tazkiratul-Mahdi.

On 23 December 1889, Hazrat Pir Siraj-ul-Haq Numani^ra arrived in Qadian and pledged allegiance at the hand of Hazrat Ahmad^as and by September 1899, he had migrated to Qadian. He used to make copies of Hazrat Ahmad’s^as writing, performed scholarly works, performed the duty of correspondence for Hazrat Ahmad^as and stayed in the company of Hazrat Ahmad^as during his travels.

Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud^ra led the funeral prayer of Hazrat Pir Siraj-ul-Haq Numani^ra, who was buried in Bahishti Maqbarah Qadian.

4 January 1931: Upon the demise of Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud^ra expressed his condolences. Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar was an Indian Muslim independence leader, activist, scholar, journalist and poet. He was also among the leading figures of the Khilafat Movement. He was the younger brother of Hazrat Maulvi Zulfiqar Ali Khan Gohar^ra. 

On the orders of Huzoor^ra, nazarat umur-e-kharjia (the Jamaat’s directorate for foreign affairs) had sent a telegram expressing condolences to Maulvi Shaukat Ali, the brother of Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar.  

The Al Fazl newspaper wrote a note on the demise of this Muslim leader and paid tribute to his scholarly contributions. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 5, p. 311)

4 January 1952: Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud^ra directed the central administrative offices of the Jamaat to draw up a list of projects in detail that needed to be completed during the year. He also instructed that the projects be completed within the given timeframe. (Khutbaat-e-Mahmud, Vol. 33, p. 1)

5 January 1944: In the night between 5 and 6 January, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud^ra was shown in a vision that he was the person mentioned in the Promised Messiah’s^as announcement of 20 February 1886 that spoke of a “promised son”. At the time, Huzoor^ra was staying in Lahore at Sheikh Bashir Ahmad Sahib’s residence located on 13 Temple Road.

5 January 1945: Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud^ra instructed that every Ahmadi family must ensure that at least one person from their family devoted their lives to serve the Jamaat. 

Huzoor^ra explained that the work of tabligh and spreading religion could not solely be done with finances, but the efforts of people were also required. (Khutbaat-e-Mahmud, Vol. 26, p. 1)

6 January 1942: Hazrat Chaudhary Hakim Ali^ra of Chak Paniar, Gujrat, a companion of the Promised Messiah^as, passed away. 

When the cousins of the Promised Messiah^as built a wall in the street in front of Huzoor’s^as house in Qadian to cause his guests inconvenience, Hazrat Ahmad^as intended to migrate. Hazrat Hakim Maulvi Nuruddin^ra requested Huzoor^as to migrate to Bhera, while Hazrat Maulana Abdul Karim Sialkoti^ra invited Huzoor^as to settle in Sialkot; Hazrat Sheikh Rahmatullah^ra invited Huzoor^as to Lahore and Hazrat Chaudhry Hakim Ali Sahib invited Huzoor^as to his village of Chak Paniar in Sargodha.

6 January 1945: Hazrat Hafiz Mirza Nasir Ahmad^rh, then principal of Talim-ul-Islam College, was elected as a member of the academic council of Punjab University for 1945-46. The principals of concerned intermediate colleges elected him unanimously.

As soon as Talim-ul-Islam College was established, its reputation grew due to its teaching standards. This had an effect not only on the province of Punjab but on the whole country. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 9, p. 63)