The True Succession: Founding of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement

158 Pages·2014·2.77 MB·English

by  Zahid Aziz

About this book
This book has been published at the centenary of the Ahmadiyya T
H
Anjuman Isha‘at Islam, or Ahmadiyya Association for the Propaga- E The

tion of Islam, known also as the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement,
T
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which was founded at Lahore in May 1914. It is the result of new
U
research and brings to light some forgotten and buried material. E
True

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U
The Lahore Ahmadiyya exists to present Islam, by literary and
C
missionary means, as a tolerant, rational, progressive, compassion- C
E
ate, and peace-loving religion, a religion of inner spirit and not S Succession
S
merely outward form. This is Islam as found in the Quran and in the I
O
life of the Prophet Muhammad. It has published a vast quantity of N
highly-regarded literature on Islam in various languages, and has —
branches and members in several countries.

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The Lahore Ahmadiyya is a direct continuation of the U
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Ahmadiyya Movement as founded by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
D Founding of the
(d. 1908) and as led afterwards by his successor Hazrat Maulana Nur- I
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ud-Din (d. 1914). It seeks to preserve the beliefs, mission and goals G

of this Movement as set down by these two guiding lights. O Lahore
F

The Lahore Ahmadiyya holds that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
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did not claim to be a prophet. No prophet, or absolute authority in H Ahmadiyya
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Islam, can come after the Holy Prophet Muhammad, neither a new

L
one nor the re-appearance of one from the past. It strongly proclaims A
Movement
that all those who profess the Kalima of Islam are Muslims and H
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cannot be declared as outside the fold of Islam. R
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A
H

M

A
D
I
Y Zahid Aziz

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Ahmadiyya Anjuman Lahore Publications, U.K.
Dedication
This book is dedicated to all the pioneers
who, with toil and sacrifice, helped to build and sustain
the world-wide Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha‘at Islam Lahore
on foundations so firm that it reached its centenary.

“Hundreds of worthy people have spent their lives on constructing
this building …
Those people are countless who sacrificed their daily bread or sold
their possessions to spend on this construction…
Earnest pleas before the Almighty have come from the hearts, and
tears shed during prayers which would fill a river…
Hands luminous with Divine light laid the foundation, builders
possessing the highest skills carried out the construction, and
honest, sincere labourers working purely for Allah’s pleasure
helped to build it.”
— Maulana Muhammad Ali
The True Succession

Founding of the Lahore
Ahmadiyya Movement
Preserving the original Ahmadiyya Mission
of reform, propagation of Islam,
and inter-Muslim unity and tolerance

by

Zahid Aziz

Ahmadiyya Anjuman Lahore Publications, U.K.
2014
A LAHORE AHMADIYYA PUBLICATION

First edition, 2014
Reprinted, 2022

Copyright © 2014 by Ahmadiyya Anjuman Lahore Publications, U.K.
15 Stanley Avenue, Wembley, U.K., HA0 4JQ

Websites: www.aaiil.org
www.ahmadiyya.org
e-mails: [email protected]
[email protected]

This book is available on the Internet at www.ahmadiyya.org.

Cover photo: One of the minarets at the Ahmadiyya Buildings
Mosque, Lahore, the location where the Ahmadiyya Anjuman
Isha‘at Islam Lahore was founded in 1914.

ISBN: 978-1-906109-30-1
Preface
This book is an account of the founding, in 1914, of the
Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha‘at Islam at Lahore (then in India, now
Pakistan), and covers the background, the events and the issues
in relation to the creation, objectives and work of this organi-
zation. It aims to show that this body was created to save the
mission of propagation of Islam started by the Founder of the
Ahmadiyya Movement, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, and to
preserve his teachings and beliefs, in the face of the grave threat
that arose within the Movement to undermine its true character.
In this book, I have compiled material from existing Lahore
Ahmadiyya publications, and have edited it as necessary and
verified references within it by checking against the original
sources. I have also added many further details by consulting the
original sources directly, in particular Ahmadiyya Movement
publications before and around the year 1914. Developments of
much later times are also covered, particularly in chapter 7.
This book is being published to mark the centenary of the
Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha‘at Islam Lahore. Time has vindicated
its interpretation of the teachings of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam
Ahmad in two ways. Firstly, today that interpretation is showing
the light to the Muslim world as to how to resolve its intractable
problems; but that topic is beyond the scope of this book. Sec-
ondly, the Lahore Ahmadiyya view of his claims and beliefs has
triumphed over the erroneous standpoint of the group which be-
lieves him to be a prophet and treats all other Muslims as outside
the fold of Islam. As we show in chapter 7, that group has been
retreating from its un-Islamic doctrines of 1914 ever since.
Zahid Aziz, Dr
February 2014
i
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad said:
“Among the most sincere friends in
our community is Maulvi Muhammad
Ali, M.A. … I am sure that by the
grace of God he will prove to be so
firm in righteousness and love of
religion that he will set an example
worthy to be followed by his peers.”
(1899)
“I wish that such people could be
produced who would do the kind of
work that Maulvi Muhammad Ali
sahib is doing. There is no certainty of life, and he is all alone.
We cannot see anyone who can assist him or take his place.”
(1905)
Hazrat Maulana Nur-ud-Din declared:
“[Maulvi Muhammad Ali] is a friend
of mine and my arm, at whose sinceri-
ty I am amazed and I envy it also.”
(1909)
“The people of Lahore are sincere.
They love Hazrat [Mirza Ghulam
Ahmad] sahib. … the works which
they have performed, you should also
try to do the same.” (1912)
“Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din does not
work out of hypocrisy. He works only
for Allah. This is my belief about him.
Of course, he can make mistakes. I am happy with his works.
There is blessing in them. Those who spread mistrust about him
are the hypocrites. … He is engaged in a good work. None of
you can compete with him. … Can any of you do the work which
Kamal-ud-Din is doing?” (1913)
ii
Contents
1. Introduction ........................................................................... 1
2. Fulfilling the aims of the Founder of the Movement .......... 7
Spreading knowledge of Islam in the West ........................... 7
Translations of the Holy Quran............................................ 13
Book ‘The Religion of Islam’ .............................................. 15
“Sunrise from the west” prophecy ....................................... 16
3. Services during the life of Founder of the Movement ...... 26
Maulana Muhammad Ali joins Movement .......................... 26
Promised Messiah’s first assessments of the Maulana ........ 27
The magazine Review of Religions ...................................... 29
The plague incident .............................................................. 30
High estimation of Maulana’s knowledge and sacrifice ...... 32
Appointed Secretary of Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya ............ 33
Gives pen to Maulana in dream ........................................... 34
Directs the Maulana to write book on Islam ........................ 35
The Maulana to be with Promised Messiah in after-life ...... 36
Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din ......................................................... 37
Services during the 1904 court case hearings ...................... 39
Revelation husn-i bayan ...................................................... 40
Last month of life of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad ............ 41
Lecture Paigham Sulh (‘Message of Peace’) ....................... 43
4. Services during time of Hazrat Maulana Nur-ud-Din ..... 49
English translation of the Holy Quran ................................. 51
Starts work on translation .................................................... 52
Calcutta Convention of Religions ........................................ 58
Debate at Rampur ................................................................ 60
Religious convention at Allahabad ...................................... 61
iii
iv CONTENTS
Devotion to cause even at wife’s death ................................ 67
Lectures in Bangalore .......................................................... 69
Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din goes to England .............................. 73
5. Events of the Split ................................................................ 84
Death of Promised Messiah and bai‘at of
Maulana Nur-ud-Din ........................................................ 84
Mischief-making questions about Anjuman versus khalifa . 85
Maulana Nur-ud-Din’s 1912 visit to Lahore —
exonerates Lahore members ............................................ 90
Defends Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din in khutbas ......................... 94
The scandal of calling Muslims as kafir and the
establishment of the Ansarullah party .............................. 95
Maulana Muhammad Ali writes tracts to clarify beliefs ...... 96
Maulana Nur-ud-Din’s death and subsequent events ........... 97
Maulana Muhammad Ali’s emigration from Qadian ......... 100
6. Founding of the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha‘at Islam
Lahore .............................................................................. 103
Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya ................................................. 106
Fate of Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya in Qadiani Jama‘at ..... 111
Khilafat .............................................................................. 115
7. Retraction of beliefs by the Qadiani Jama‘at .................. 119
Who is ‘Ahmad’ in Jesus’s prophecy given in the Quran? 120
The final retraction on this prophecy ................................. 123
Declaring other Muslims as kafir and its reversal .............. 123
Retraction by Mirza Nasir Ahmad, 3rd Khalifa ................. 126
Definition of ‘Muslim’ submitted to National Assembly .. 127
Belief in Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as prophet ........... 128
Meaning of al-akhira in the Quran, 2:4 ............................ 135
Conclusion ......................................................................... 136
8. Summary ............................................................................ 139
Bibliography .......................................................................... 142
Index ....................................................................................... 144
1. Introduction
The name Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha‘at Islam means ‘The Ah-
madiyya Association for the Propagation of Islam’.* The terms
Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement and Jama‘at Ahmadiyya Lahore
are often used to refer to it, and its members are also generally
known as ‘Lahori Ahmadis’. The term Qadiani Jama‘at is often
used, as in this book, to refer to the section of the Ahmadiyya
Movement which remained based in Qadian, later shifting its
base to Rabwah in Pakistan, and has been headed by a series of
khalifas who, since 1984, live in the U.K.
As to the reason for the creation of the Ahmadiyya Anjuman
Isha‘at Islam at Lahore, Maulana Muhammad Ali has explained
it in the preface to his English booklet, The Ahmadiyya Move-
ment — IV: The Split, published in 1918, as follows:
“…a great misconception prevails as to the true reasons
of the split which is due, not to a desire to work sepa-
rately, but to far-reaching differences on the cardinal
principles of the religion of Islam. M. Mahmud [Mirza
Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad], a son of the founder
of the movement, who is the present head of the Qadian
section of the community, began to drift away from the
basic principles of the Islamic faith about three years
after the death of the Promised Messiah [Hazrat Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad], going so far as to declare plainly that
the hundreds of millions of Muslims, living in the
world, should be no more treated as Muslims.… A large
number of the educated members of the community,
who had the moral courage to dissent openly from the

* Due to legal restrictions imposed by the government of Pakistan on
Ahmadis in 1984, the name of the organization within Pakistan has since
been reduced to Ahmadiyya Anjuman, Lahore.
1
2 1. INTRODUCTION
erroneous doctrines taught by him, perceived the great
danger to the whole community, when after the death of
the late Maulvi Nur-ud-Din a particular clique in the
community succeeded in raising M. Mahmud to head-
ship at Qadian without any general consultation. They
at once rallied round the true doctrines of the Promised
Messiah, and after in vain trying for over a month and a
half to keep up the unity of the movement, formed
themselves into a separate Society, known as the Ah-
madiyya Anjuman Isha‘at-i-Islam, on 2nd May 1914,
which is now earnestly working for the propagation of
Islam.”
It is often alleged that the Lahore Ahmadiyya founding
members wanted to modify the original creed of the Ahmadiyya
Movement to make it accord more with mainstream Muslim
beliefs. If that were true, they would not have continued to retain
and preach the key Ahmadiyya belief that Jesus is dead and the
Messiah promised to arise among the Muslims is Hazrat Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad; they would not have created an organization
bearing the name Ahmadiyya which would admit members to its
fold by means of the same pledge of allegiance (bai‘at) to Haz-
rat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad which he had himself instituted; nor
would they have adopted for this organization the same objec-
tives which he had set for the Ahmadiyya Movement. In fact, as
we show in this book, they continued the same work from
Lahore in 1914 which they had been doing since they joined the
Movement in the lifetime of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.
There have been several phases of severe opposition to the
Ahmadiyya Movement in its homeland, directed by the so-called
orthodox Muslim religious leaders, in particular in 1932–36,
1953 and 1974. These were the occasions, rather than 1914, on
which the Lahore Ahmadiyya Anjuman would have earned the
greatest approval of the general Muslims by amending its beliefs
to become closer to them. However, it remained resolutely loyal
to the beliefs that it had always proclaimed, and did not move
from them in the least, even under the most intense and hostile
pressure and scrutiny.