In 1924, a year remembered for its deep significance in the history of Islam Ahmadiyyat, a sincere spiritual journey was unfolding in the life of a Dutch woman named Miss Budd. She encountered the message of the Holy Quran through its Dutch translation. As she read, her curiosity did not remain academic; it awakened a genuine desire to understand the faith of Islam in more detail and to explore its teachings beyond the written page.
This search led her to articles written by an Ahmadi missionary stationed in America, Hazrat Maulvi Muhammad Dinra, which were published in The Moslem World, a quarterly Christian magazine circulating in the West. Through these writings, Miss Budd came to learn about the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat and its beliefs.
She began corresponding with Hazrat Maulvi Muhammad Dinra and Hazrat MM Sadiqra, asking questions, reflecting on their replies, and gradually finding clarity in her understanding of Islam. With time, her study and correspondence strengthened her conviction. Although separated by distance, she formally pledged allegiance through a letter to Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra, thus entering the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat. Upon accepting Islam Ahmadiyyat, she was given the name “Hidayat,” a name that reflected the guidance she had sought and found through patient study and sincere inquiry. Below is an article by her on the status of women in Islam:
Position of women in Islam
One of the accusations of the opponents of Islam, which always surprises me, is the assertion that Islam keeps the position of women low. As yet, I have not succeeded in finding out on what this assertion is based; certainly not on the Quran at any rate, as nowhere have I found in that book a verse indicating or even hinting in the slightest degree that the position of the woman should be an inferior one.
Islam and women’s rights
On the contrary, the verses dealing with women’s rights state clearly that the position of women in Islam is as honourable as that of men in every respect. As regards her social position, we read in Surah an-Nisa’ (4:34): “Men shall have the benefit of what they earn and women shall have the benefit of what they earn.” I know that many a working woman in Holland would jump up with joy if this Islamic injunction were to be put into practice here.
It seems to me that the position of the Dutch lady in The Hague, on whose private business property her husband had drawn a cheque for several thousand guilders and who a few weeks ago lost her case against him before the Dutch court, is far more inferior to that of a Muslim woman, who, under Islamic Law, never could have been subjected to such treatment.
Women’s respect in Islam
As regards the position of a Muslim woman with respect to her family, we read in the Quran:
“And we have enjoined man in respect of his parents – his mother bears him with faintings upon faintings and his weaning takes two years – saying, ‘Be grateful to Me and both your parents; to Me is the eventual coming.” (Surah Luqman, 31:15)
Attention is drawn to the fact that the Quran commands man specially, to be grateful to both his parents, not only to the father, but also to the mother. To women, the same respect and gratitude are due. Those who have come into contact with the Muslims know that this injunction is acted upon up to this very day in every Muslim family.
Those who also have witnessed the way in which parents are treated by their children in Western countries certainly will have to admit that, in this respect too, the position of a Muslim woman is better than that of a Christian woman.
Religious duties
With respect to the religious duties, no difference whatever is made in Islam in this respect between man and woman.
Rewards
And lastly, with regard to the final reward, we read, for example:
“Surely the men who submit and the women who submit, and the believing men and the believing women, and the obeying men and the obeying women, and the truthful men and the truthful women, and the patient men and the patient women, and the humble men and the humble women, and the almsgiving men and the almsgiving women; and the fasting men and the fasting women, and the men who guard their private parts and the women who guard, and the men who remember Allah abundantly and the women who remember: Allah has prepared for them forgiveness and a mighty reward.” (Surah al-Ahzab, 33:36)
Thus, we see that the Quran keeps the position of women as high as that of men. Why then do our opponents charge Islam with the accusation that the position of the Muslim woman is an inferior one? On which verses of the Quran do they base this assertion? And how can they substantiate their assertion that the position of a Christian woman is better than that of a Muslim woman? – Hidayat
To the editor of The Times, London
Hazrat Maulana Abdur Rahim Dardra (1894-1955) wrote:
“Dear Sir,
“In your issue of 5 December [1925], you publish an article written by the Bishop of Salisbury. It appears to me that its heading “A Christian Empire” made conspicuous and important on the editorial page is rather objectionable.
“It seems to suggest that the British Empire is or should become a Christian Empire. I may be permitted to say that it is not so yet and any effort on the part of the Government to proselytise would be most unwelcome.
“Speaking numerically, some British people proudly say that the Empire is Muhammadan rather than Christian, because most of the British subjects are Muhammadans. From the religious point of view, the Empire as such is quite undenominational. There is no Empire religion.
“On the other hand, the most precious jewel in the British Crown is its policy of non-intervention in religious affairs. Therefore, the Empire should not be called Christian, though it be only in name. It is by small beginnings that the greatest changes in the world are marked. Names are not devoid of meaning. Those who are proud of belonging to the Empire would lose all their fervour. The agitators would try to turn it to their advantage. And the religious section of the Empire, which can by no means be easily ignored in the East, would be seriously offended.
“Christian missionaries are better unpopular with the Foreign Office, at least so far as the major portion of the Empire is concerned. It is regrettable, however, if the policy of the Foreign Office, as suggested by the Bishop of Salisbury, has really undergone a change in this respect. I think it is not so, but it would be quite advisable for the Government to throw some light on this point to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.
“It is hard to understand, however, why the Colonial Office has (if it has) turned to the Christian missionaries alone for help in response to the demand of Africa for education. If the Government wants men, there are hundreds of the unemployed at home and abroad who will be willing to go to Africa as teachers and professors. Or it may educate and train some of the suitable persons from among the people themselves and they will prove far more useful than the missionaries thus employed.
“If the Government wants money, it can open local funds or a public appeal may be made at home and abroad for this purpose, in which all kinds of people interested in Africa, the missionaries included, can gladly take part.
“Why should [Christian] missionaries be specially selected for it?
“Yours faithfully, Imam First London Mosque.”
A poem by a new convert titled “Ahmad”
The following poem has been composed by Mr Robert Scott, an Englishman, who has recently accepted Islam in Baghdad through the efforts of our brother Jafar Sadiq and his friends.
Oh Ahmad! Star of the East!
Thou sunshine after rain!
Thou hast brought the light to my sightless eyes
And eased my heart of its pain.
Many and dark the byeways
I have wandered in the past.
But the light that shines from Qadian
Has led me to the truth at last.
Allah be praised who hath deigned
A prophet like Thee to give.
Blest be Thy name and all Thine house
For Thy trials that we may live.
A picture mine eyes behold
Of Islam, the old and new.
Cold sets the sun in a wintry sky
To rise in a sky of blue.
’Tis the spirit of Ahmadiyya
That has wrought this change of view
All glory and praise to the giver
Of all that is good and true.
On thee He breathed the spirit that fired
His Apostles [Messengers] of long ago,
That the tree of life may be green again
And the streams that were dry may flow.
Grant then, Oh Great Creator
To whom all praise is due,
That I may cleave to the path of right
With a heart that is born anew;
That the army founded by Ahmad,
The Mahdi and Promised Messiah,
Pass, fearless, in victorious march
While Satan’s hordes retire.
What hope have they to conquer,
Those serried ranks of sin?
Since Thou, Divine Commander,
Leadest, we needs must win.
A letter from America and its reply by Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II
We publish below a letter written by our brother Sheik Ahmad Din (P Nathaniel Johnson), of St Louis, Missouri, USA and its reply from Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II[ra], the [then] Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Sheik Ahmad Din wrote:
“O Master,
“Rest assured that I, to the best of my ability, am a faithful worker in the Cause [of Islam] and have ever been since first I started under Dr Sadiq[ra].
“Truly, I did not know before what religion meant, nor did I know what adversity meant. But Allah knows what I have suffered and what there be yet to suffer.
“For my dear faith, I have undergone much humiliation and domestic strife. I am still praying and battling. May I expect a prayer from you for myself and for my brothers in faith here?
“Yours in Islam, Sheik Ahmad Din.”
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II[ra] replied:
“Dear Brother,
“Peace be on you. I have received your letter dated 7/10/25 and as I had heard nothing about you or the other members of our Community for a long time, I read it with great pleasure.
“I am very sorry to learn that you are being bitterly persecuted. May the Almighty God quench this fire of opposition and, out of His boundless mercy, give eyes to your opponents who, on account of their spiritual blindness, not only deny the truth and turn away from it, but are even always ready to fight against it.
“Be sure that every hardship man bears for the sake of God results in elevating and purifying him and draws him near to God, so much so that he becomes the loved one of God. Such sufferings are, in fact, a blessing.
“Real troubles are those which shake our belief in the Almighty and result in destruction. The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of God be upon him, says: ‘The firmer the faith, the greater the share of hardships.’
“Remain firm, therefore and do not feel uneasy. These are only trials from God so that while going through these hardships, we may realise our true position and thus find out our weaknesses, if there be any.
“Why are you persecuted? Is it because you have stolen or wrongfully taken possession of something that belonged to another? Have you committed murder? Have you sinned against society or the government? Not at all.
“Why should you then feel uneasy? Your persecution, on the other hand, is due to your manfully standing up to warn mankind against their running heedlessly on to destruction.
“This is a real sacrifice. It is a cross, having ascended which, man becomes the beloved of his Lord God. Would that these votaries of the wooden cross realise that we are the truest disciples of Jesus Christ. Not on account of any sin, but purely for our love for mankind, we take upon ourselves a whole world of troubles and hardships, in bearing which we carry a new cross every day!
“I hope you will keep writing to me now and then about yourself and the other members of our Community, because it will always keep you before my mind at the time of prayer. It is always a source of satisfaction to hear from those whom we hold dear.” – (Sd.) Khalifatul Masih
(Transcribed and edited by Al Hakam from the original English, published in the January 1926 issue of The Review of Religions)
