Islam and Britain: Muslim Mission in an Age of Empire

241 Pages·2018·10.01 MB·English

by  Ron Geaves

Islam and Britain
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Islam and Britain

Muslim Mission in an Age of Empire
Ron Geaves
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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iv
Bloomsbury Academic
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BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published 2018
© Ron Geaves, 2018
Ron Geaves has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
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be accepted by Bloomsbury or the author.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: HB: 978- 1- 4742- 7173- 8
ePDF: 978- 1- 4742- 7175- 2
eBook: 978- 1- 4742- 7174- 5
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Geaves, Ron, author.
Title: Islam and Britain : Muslim mission in an age of empire / Ron Geaves.
Description: New York : Bloomsbury Academic, 2017. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017019303 | ISBN 9781474271738 (hb) |
ISBN 9781474271745 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Islam–Missions–Great Britain–History–19th century. |
Islam–Missions–Great Britain–History–20th century. |
Islam–Great Britain–History–19th century. | Islam–Great Britain–History–20th century.
Classification: LCC BP170.3 .G43 2017 | DDC 297.0941/09034–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017019303
Cover image: British Muslims gather at the Inauguration of the London Mosque in 1926
© Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, London, UK
Typeset by Newgen Knowledge Works Pvt. Ltd., Chennai, India
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Contents

List of Figures vi
Acknowledgements viii
Note on Quotations and Spelling ix
List of Abbreviations x
1 Introduction 1
2 ‘Islam in Danger’: Reactions to Mughal Decline and Loss of Power 15
3 Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and the Ahmadiyya Movement 31
4 Ahmadiyya Reactions to the British: Taking Islam to the West 43
5 Muslim Mobilization in Britain 67
6 Ahmadiyya Relations with Early Western Converts 81
7 Islamic Mission to Britain: Woking 95
8 Islamic Mission to Britain: London 119
9 A Mosque in London: Transformations to the LMM 143
10 Final Reflections 157
Appendix: Interview between Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and
Professor Wragge 171
Notes 176
Bibliography 211
Index 221
vi
Figures

1 Mirza Ghulam Ahmad with early followers in Qadian circa 1910.
Courtesy of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community 2017, London 40
2 A postcard of Woking (Shah Jehan) mosque circa 1920. Courtesy
of Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha’at Islam Lahore (UK), Wembley,
London, 2017 100
3 Khwaja Kamal- ud- Din with Lord Headley soon after his
conversion to Islam in 1913. Courtesy of Ahmadiyya Anjuman
Isha’at Islam Lahore (UK), Wembley, London, 2017 105
4 Khwaja Kamal- ud- Din with the first converts to Islam at the
Woking Mosque, 1913. Courtesy of Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha’at
Islam Lahore (UK), Wembley, London, 2017 110
5 Portraits of the early missionaries sent from Qadian to London
(1913– 1930): (left to right) Fateh Muhammad Sayyal, Qazi
Muhammad Abdullah, Mufti Muhammad Sadiq, Abd ur Raheem
Nayyar, Mubarrak Ali, Maulana Abdur Rahim Dard. Courtesy of
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community 2017, London 124
6 Eid ul- Fitr gathering in London circa 1920. Courtesy of
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community 2017, London 135
7 The second Caliph Mirza Basheer- ud- Din Mahmood Ahmad
(1889– 1965) arrives in London in 1924. Courtesy of Ahmadiyya
Muslim Community 2017, London 139
8 Mirza Basheer- ud- Din Mahmood Ahmad and his companions
at the Wembley Conference of Religions, 1924. Courtesy of
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community 2017, London 140
9 Mirza Basheer- ud- Din Mahmood Ahmad at the foundation
ceremony of London (Al- Fazl) mosque, Southfields, 1924.
Courtesy of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community 2017, London 142
10 Al- Fazl mosque, Southfields, London’s first purpose- built mosque.
Courtesy of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community 2017, London 144
11 British Muslims attend the opening of Al- Fazl mosque, 1926.
Courtesy of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community 2017, London 146
Figures vii
12 The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Amir Saud bin Abdulaziz Al-
Saud (1902– 1969), visits the Al- Fazl mosque, July 1935. Courtesy
of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community 2017, London 148
13 Eid ul- Fitr gathering on the grounds of Al- Fazl mosque, 1930.
Courtesy of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community 2017, London 154
viii
Acknowledgements

In writing a book of this kind there are so many acknowledgements to be made,
it is inevitable that someone will be forgotten – my apologies for that in advance.
I would first like to thank Asif Basit at the London headquarters of the Ahmadiyya
movement. He was there from the very inception. He is an excellent historian
of the movement and always knew where some piece of information could be
found. He was supportive all the way through, and his hospitality was represen-
tative of Islam at its best. I will always remember my two journeys to Qadian in
Northern India and Rabwah in Pakistan. The first permitted me to soak up the
spirit of the movement, its origins and the fervour of its adherents. The latter
allowed me to experience living every day with a community under considerable
pressure to survive and flourish. People were sensitive to my needs, careful of my
safety and patiently cooperative with my demands. I worked every day for many
hours with the History section of the movement, searching through the archives,
translating the Urdu documents, photocopying and scanning. I completely dis-
rupted their normal activities, and I thank every one of them for their gracious-
ness. In particular, I remember Mirza Usman Ahmad, my guide to the various
departments of the movement, the college, the hospital and the marketplace in
Rabwah. I will always take pleasure in the memory of our visit to the Caliph’s
farm, eating fresh guava from the orchards and drinking buffalo milk still warm
from its source. It was my host’s substitute for the forbidden dangerous walk to
the mountains that I very much desired but understood could not take place.
My safety was paramount, and my family is grateful for the care I received. I also
thank Qaasid Muin Ahmad and Sabahuz Zafar, who worked tirelessly with me
to translate the Urdu resources brought back from Pakistan. There are so many
among the British Ahmadiyya whom I met in passing. My greetings and thanks
to everyone. In particular, I thank His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad for his
blessings on the project. I am aware that his support for the book has opened
many doors for my work. My son still enjoys the pens Mirza Masroor Ahmad
presented him with. Finally, I acknowledge the patience of my wife and son,
who miss me when I am away, either physically or simply locked for hours in my
study bent over my laptop. This book could not have happened without them.
Note on Quotations and Spelling

Following the conventions of anthropological fieldwork, wherever possible,
Arabic or Urdu terminology does not use diacritics. There are exceptions.
Quoting from sources, I have followed the spelling used in the quotation or cit-
ation. Thus it is possible for the same terms to be spelled differently throughout
the book. Titles of works that are transliterated from Urdu precisely follow the
variant used in the original.