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I Shall Love All Mankind.
April
2016
Webcasting on the world’s first real-time Islamic service at
www.virtualmosque.co.uk
س
ب ی
ح الر
ن
ح اہلل الر
The Call of
the Messiah
by
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad,
The Promised
Messiah and Mahdi
Criterion for judging ahadith concern-ing prophecies
If there is a hadith containing a prophecy
which the muhadditheeni have considered
weak, but in your or at some earlier time than
i Compilers and scholars of the hadith
yours, the prophecy contained in that hadith
has been fulfilled, then that hadith must be ac-
cepted as authentic. And, those who judged it
weak and failed to accept it, thinking that it was
a fabrication, will be considered as being in er-
ror.
The number of ahadithii containing prophe-
cies runs into hundreds. Most of these have
been held by the muhaddithin to be fabricated
or defective. But, when one of these is fulfilled
and you try to avoid the point by saying that you
could not accept it because it was weak, or this
or that narrator in the link through which it had
come was not a righteous man, then such a re-
jection on your part would be due to your lack
of faith. This is because you would rejecting a
hadith whose reliability had been established
by Allah by the fulfilment of the prophecy con-
tained in it.
Now, suppose there are one thousand
ii Plural of hadith.
Editors: Shahid Aziz Mustaq Ali
Contents: Page
The Call of the Messiah 1
Submission and Sacrifice – II
By Dr Jawad Ahmad 2
The Early Legacies of Mirza Ghulam
Ahmad and the Lahore Ahmadiyya
Movement in America
By Patrick Bowen Ph.D. 7
A message for the Jalsa
By Iain Dixon 11
Readers’ Comments 12
International Organ of the Centre for the worldwide
Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam
The only Islamic organisation upholding the finality of prophethood.
Jan
ua
ry
20
17
The new Lahore-Ahmadiyya Mosque
Nickerie, Suriname
The Light 2
I Shall Love All Mankind.
January 2017
ahadith of this kind, held to be weak and unac-
ceptable by the muhaddithin. And, further sup-
pose the prophecies contained in them happen
to be fulfilled. Would you reject them? And, also
reject the one thousand arguments in support
of the truth of Islam which the fulfilment of the
prophecies stood for? If you do anything of the
kind, you will thereby become enemies of Islam.
Allah says: The Knower of the Unseen, so He
makes His secrets known to none, except a mes-
senger whom He chooses. . . (76:26-27).
Therefore, to whom is a true prophecy to be
attributed, if not to a true prophet? Is it not
more in tune with one's righteousness of mind
to say on such occasions that the muhaddith in
question had erred in so far as he had rejected
as weak a hadith which, in fact, was quite relia-
ble? Or would it more proper for us to say that
in supporting a weak hadith with the testimony
of actual events Allah Himself had been guilty of
an error? For you, the guiding principle in any
case should be that you should follow even a
weak hadith, provided it is not contrary to the
Holy Quran and the Sunnah, or contrary to
other ahadith which agree with the Holy Book.
However, great care is needed on this point,
for it is a fact that there exists a large number of
fabricated ahadith which have caused a great
deal of disruption in Islam. All the conflicting
sects take as the basis of their authority this or
that hadith, as suits their needs. So, that even
such a clear and well established question as
that of the prescribed obligatory prayers has
given rise to extreme differences of view. For ex-
ample, after the recitation of the Al-Fatihah,
some say "Ameen" loudly, audible to others.
While, others adhere to the view that this
should be done silently in one's own mind,
while others believe that such recitation spoils
one's prayer and is, therefore, forbidden. Some
hold their hands folded on the breast, while oth-
ers hold them at the navel. The real cause of all
these differences can be attributed to the
ahadith themselves, as the Holy Qur'an says:
But they became divided into sects, each party re-
joicing in that which was in them (23:53).
Amazing Story of
Submission and
Sacrifice II
Dr. Jawad Ahmad
(continued from the December 2016 issue)
Personality of Prophet Abraham is very piv-
otal in the religious structure of Islam. Islam
owes a great deal to the prayers of Prophet
Abraham, and it reaches its spiritual climax
with paying homage to him in the form of Hajj.
One can come across number of verses in the
Quran in which Holy Prophet Ibrahim is highly
Photographs of the opening ceremony of the new Lahore Ahmadiyya Mosque in Nickerie in Suriname
The Light 3
I Shall Love All Mankind.
January 2017
praised and is regarded as “model of virtue”:
“Surely Abraham was a model of virtue, obedi-
ent to Allah and upright… and grateful for Al-
lah’s favours. Allah chose him and guided him
on the right path . . . We revealed to you (O Mu-
hammad): Follow the faith of Abraham, the up-
right one . . .” (16:120-123). Hazrat Mirza Ghu-
lam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya
Movement in Islam, has put special emphasis on
this aspect of Islam and tried to revive the
Quranic injunction to persuade followers of
other religions to at least believe in One God “O
People of the Book, come to an equitable word
between us and you, that we shall serve none
but Allah and that we shall not associate aught
with Him” (3:63). And this is what Prophet Je-
sus also exhorted to his disciples: “Jesus said
unto him, thou shalt love the Lord, thy God with
all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
thy mind. This is the first and great command-
ment” (Matthew 22:37,38. Luke 20:27). Even
during the life time of the Holy Prophet (s) he
held discussions with Christians with a view to
create better understanding and closer rela-
tionship. This dialogue was held with a Chris-
tian delegation of 60 priests from the city of
Najran, in Syria. In the dialogue, all important
questions about Jesus such as his birth, his al-
leged claim to divinity and his death were dis-
cussed. Similarly, the founder of the Ahmadiyya
Movement held long and in-depth discussions
with Christians and Hindus and even offered to
give up eating cow’s meat etc. provided they
stop maligning the Holy Prophet Muhammad.
Ahmadi scholars like Maulana Abdul Haque
Vidyarthi, a scholar of Sanskrit and keen stu-
dent of comparative religions, inferred from Ve-
das and other Hindu scriptures that Brahma is
from Abraham or Arabic Ibrahim. He also made
a research and substantiated that prophet Dhul
Kifl mentioned in the Quran most probably re-
fers to Kapilvastu, (21:85) which is the birth
place of prophet Buddha in Nepal. It is a histor-
ical fact that it was the Founder of the Ahmad-
iyya Movement who encouraged a well-known
Hindu Pundit Shaugan Chander to hold an inter-
faith conference in Lahore in 1896. The Prom-
ised Messiah’s paper read at the Conference
was later published in the form of the book: Is-
lami Usool ki Philosophy. Its first English trans-
lation was by Hazrat Maulana Muhammad Ali as
The Teachings of Islam. It is time to boost efforts
for religious understanding and harmony. It will
not only make followers of other religions
aware of the true teachings of Islam but it will
also help in negating the misconceptions cre-
ated by the extremist activities by the disgrun-
tled elements among the Muslims. History tells
us that prophet Abraham in his several long and
arduous travels from Canaan to Makkah, each
way, trudged through deserts and rugged
mountains covering almost 1300 miles. This
great migration in obedience to the command of
Allah was not to find a better and flourishing
city – but to a city which is even today sur-
rounded by arid desert and rocky mountains.
Prophet Abraham with his wife and a son were
commanded by Allah to raise foundations of a
House of God which in the centuries to come
was to witness fulfilment of prophecies made
through the tongues of Moses and Jesus. This
unnoticed city was destined to become centre of
universal teachings of Islam and was to become
symbol of Divine might which withstood several
attempts to destroy it. This first House of God,
has after centuries, regained its destined glory,
and God proved that He can transform a muddy
house into glorious spiritual centre which today
enjoys respect and honour of millions of peo-
ples across the world. This house of God is a liv-
ing monument vindicating truth of all the
prophets – from Adam to Holy Prophet Muham-
mad - who delivered message of unity of God
and guidance to achieve nobility and submis-
sion. Prophet Abraham and his family played a
marvellous role in the working of this Divine
The Ameer, Hazrat Dr Abdul Karim Saeed, opening the annual prayer meeting of LAM.
The Light 4
I Shall Love All Mankind.
January 2017
Plan and there cannot be more lasting reward
for them than the institution of Hajj when every
tongue and heart of a Muslim recite salutations
and blessings for them. When Hazrat Ibraheem
leaves his wife and his son on the command of
Allah in the desert, did the wife complain? No,
rather she lived in those inhospitable surround-
ings showing utmost courage and patience.
Again, when the son comes of age and is able to
help his father and be his support, he sees in a
dream that he should sacrifice his son. When
this dream is repeated and he asks his son for
advice, does the son falter in his resolve to fol-
low request of his father? It is difficult to see any
son, agreeing to such an act on himself, unless
he has complete faith in the nobility, trustwor-
thiness, and godliness of his father and his own
personal faith and relationship with Allah. It is
only in this context that we could appreciate
Ishmael responding: “O my father, do as thou art
commanded: if Allah please, thou wilt find me
patient.” My own understanding of this re-
sponse, is that Ishmael’s offer in a way received
greater acceptance by Allah and He not only re-
placed it by a ram but also enjoined it to be a
part of the rituals of Hajj. Again, we should see
the act of sacrifice in relation to our own chil-
dren. As a child, Ishmael, by his devotion to Al-
lah, set the stage for the abolishment of human
sacrifice which was prevalent among the peo-
ples of that time. It is therefore heart-rending to
read that when young fifteen year olds, act as
suicide bombers to kill themselves and the peo-
ple in the name of Islam. This is, in fact, an out-
right defiance of Islam and mockery of the spirit
of Eid-ul-Adha. Replacement of a ram in the case
of Ishmael was designed specifically to abolish
such cruel acts of paganism. Moving on with the
subject of sacrifice: We see common day exam-
ples of sacrifice and the results it shows. For ex-
ample, students who work hard and sacrifice
leisure activities and don’t waste time on games
and television etc. do see the results of their
hard work. Also, more recently we had the
Olympic games being shown from Rio, and sto-
ries of all the athletes were full of sacrifices for
the last 4 years and how they missed their fam-
ilies and cut themselves off from other worldly
activities and concentrated on their chosen
sport and see how they were rewarded with
success and jubilation for all to see. So there are
examples for all of us that we can achieve any-
thing in life if we set our minds to it and work
hard to achieve it. Then there are ordinary sac-
rifices which we make in our choices on daily
basis where we may sacrifice one thing or an-
other to please each other which helps cement
our relationships and allows us to live more
harmoniously. All religions have their annual
remembrances. For example, in this country we
see nativity scene being played and acted in
schools and churches all over - reminding peo-
ple of the birth of Jesus and the story as per
Christian religion. This keeps the significance of
the birth of Jesus (as) and his significance as the
son of God for the whole world to see. Same is
the case with other religions. Dr Basharat Ah-
mad, a well-known writer and scholar of the
Quran, has written a beautiful article explaining
the philosophy of this sacrifice visualising it in a
wider perspective. He has explained in particu-
lar symbolic importance of the sacrifice of an
animal vis-a- vis love of God and sacrifice in
submission to His will. “There are two things es-
sential for the love of Allah, one is belief in the
unity of Allah and the other is sacrifice. Love of
worldly things and relations are usually deter-
mined by the importance of these things; the
more value a thing holds in our opinion, it will
supersede the love we have for it. For example,
love of the wealth is very common but if your
life is in danger then you will sacrifice it readily
to save your life. Similarly, in case one’s honour
is at stake, then one would sacrifice life one’s for
the sake of duty and honour. So, supreme love is
that one should sacrifice, what is most dear to a
person than to earn that love. True love de-
mands that the object of love should be one and
that you should be so much in love with it that
you are ready to sacrifice everything else in or-
der to achieve that objective. Unless intensity of
love for the objective is so overwhelming, it can-
not be considered to be whole-hearted love. In
other words, love for an objective demands ne-
gation of any other love. That is why perfect love
demands sacrifice of all other loves. Same is the
case when we say we love Allah and nothing but
Allah: laa i-laa-ha ill-lal- laah it should mean
that we totally negate entertaining any other
love and are ready to obey His commandments
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I Shall Love All Mankind.
January 2017
though we have to sacrifice any worldly objec-
tive. That is why when a Muslim believes in the
unity of Allah, and takes an oath: laa i-laa- ha ill-
lall-laah. It means that by taking this oath, he
undertakes to love One and Only Allah and ne-
gates love of all other objectives. This negation
on the part of a believer is further intensified by
subsequent undertaking: ill-lal- laah – that is,
nothing but Allah. So, the first part of the Kali-
mah is demonstration of love for Allah to the ut-
ter negation of all other loves. Therefore, Is-
lamic formula, Laa i-laa- ha ill-lal- laah is an ex-
pression of perfect love for Allah to the exclu-
sion of all other worldly interests. In other
words, we take an oath that if any worldly inter-
est comes in the way, we are ready to sacrifice it
and will hold belief in Allah above worldly af-
fairs. That is why we find all the prophets invar-
iably demonstrating such perfection in love for
Allah and His creatures that they were regarded
as perfect examples. The Holy Quran bears wit-
ness to the perfection of love and obedience of
prophet Abraham and Prophet Muhammad (s)
in these words: “Surely Abraham was a model of
virtue, obedient to Allah, upright, and he was
not of the polytheists” (16:120). Similarly, about
the Holy Prophet Muhammad Allah testifies:
“Surely you have sublime morals” (68:4). In
other words, a believer’s love for Allah is so per-
fect that he cannot ignore his love for His fellow
beings. That is why his character is a perfect ex-
ample and anyone who follows him becomes
lover of Allah and Allah in return loves him. This
is what the Quran says: “Say: If you love Allah,
follow me: Allah will love you, and grant you
protection from your sins” (3:30). The Holy
Quran explains this point in the following
words: “There are some who take for them-
selves objects of worship besides Allah. And
those who believe are stronger in their love for
Allah” (2:165). Love is a relative term. Man loves
various things in his life which include his fam-
ily and other material things. But Quran has
placed the love of Allah in the highest order. And
that is why in order to achieve higher and
higher state of moral sublimity, love of Allah
works as the most active motivation.
Therefore, while performing sacrifice, the
object should be complete submission to the
will of Allah and that gives strength to a believer
to stand steadfast and bear opposition and
hardship in upholding the truth. The Holy
Quran draws our attention to the object of offer-
ing sacrifice as ‘performing of duty’ and not to
achieve any ulterior objective: “Not their flesh,
nor their blood, reaches Allah, but to Him is ac-
ceptable observance of duty on your part. Thus
has He made them subservient to you, that you
may magnify Allah for guiding you aright. And
give good news to those who do good (to oth-
ers)” (22:37). The flesh and blood of the sacrifi-
cial animal does not reach Allah but what is re-
quired to achieve thereby is God-consciousness
so that we fulfil our obligations which we owe
to Allah and His creatures with sincerity and de-
votion. One way of understanding significance
of submitting to the will of Allah which can be
symbolically called Sacrifice is to visualise state
of an animal when he is being slaughtered. Ani-
mal stands for animal instincts such as worldly
emotions and desires while angelic instincts are
humane and moral desires. Sacrificing an ani-
mal stands for that we commit ourselves to sac-
rifice our worldly desires and submit entirely to
the will of Allah just like an animal is subservi-
ent to the will of his master. Only and only then
we can truly stay true to the greatness of Allah.
This is also the significance of reciting Allah-o
Akbar while putting knife to the throat of an an-
imal. In this state when we are reciting Allah-o
Akbar (exalting His Glory) while slaughtering
the animal we should be fully conscious of Al-
lah’s total over-lordship just as the animal is en-
tirely at the mercy of his master. To proclaim Al-
lah’s greatness is committing ourselves to sub-
mit entirely to the will of Allah and cut off all ties
to the worldly desires as sacrifice is to cut ani-
mal physical relationship. In the struggle be-
tween animal and angelic instincts Divine guid-
ance helps in overcoming animal instinct and
attaining moral victory. The Kaabah is a contin-
uous source of physical and spiritual blessings.
Its blessings do not end with the annual Pil-
grimage; it continues in the form of Umrah for
the rest of the year. Even celebration of Eid-ul-
Adha, sacrificing an animal, reciting takbirs af-
ter daily prayers for three days is partaking in
the acts of devotions being performed at the
Kaabah and other sites such as Muzdalifa, Mina
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I Shall Love All Mankind.
January 2017
and Arafaat. It is not just a visit to the House of
Allah. It is presenting oneself before Allah and
renewing one’s pledge to obey His command-
ments and submit to His will. Pilgrimage pro-
vides both an inclusive and an exclusive spir-
itual exercise for moral and spiritual elevation.
During this time, the pilgrim feels a compelling
urge to bring a change in his life and to seek for-
giveness and repentance. The continuous reci-
tation of being present in Allah’s August Pres-
ence and acknowledging Allah’s blessings and
bounties, the pilgrim aspires to a life of bliss and
contentment in this world for himself and for
his family and the near and dear ones. These
moments of self-realisation and outpouring be-
fore the Lord of the worlds, is an opportunity to
achieve tremendous bliss and spiritual eleva-
tion. There is subtle Divine wisdom underlying
the three practices in Islam, prayer, fasting and
pilgrimage. These can be regarded as three
practical steps towards attaining purity and
sublimity in the eyes of Allah. It starts with self-
realisation in ritual prayers, then goes a step
further when we undergo physical hardship
during the month of Ramadan to perform noble
acts and inculcate feelings of fellowship, and to-
wards the last ten days when we enter into par-
tial seclusion – itikaaf – to make more vigorous
strides towards our spiritual development and
character- building. Then, if we have the means,
we move to the step of complete seclusion and
submission in Hajj, in which state we become
oblivious to our normal worldly routine and re-
lations and we devote ourselves completely to
the worship of the One and Only God. Hazrat
Maulana Muhammad Ali has beautifully sum-
med up the benefits of this spiritual journey in
these words: “Islam lays the greatest stress
upon the spiritual development of man, and in
its four main institutions – prayer, zakat, fasting
and Hajj . The five daily prayers require the sac-
rifice of a small part of his time and, without in
any way interfering with the everyday life, ena-
ble him to realise the Divine that is within him.
The institution of zakat demands the giving up
of a small portion of his wealth without inter-
fering with his right to property. Fasting re-
quires the giving up of food and drink but not in
such a manner as to make him unfit for carrying
on his regular work or business. It is only in Hajj
that asceticism assumes a marked form, for the
pilgrim is required not only to give up his regu-
lar work for a number of days for the journey to
Makkah, but he must, in addition, give up many
other amenities of life.” Sacrifice in the case of
Eid-ul-Adha is to remind us that sacrifice
strengthens bond of love whether it is with Al-
lah, or individuals or a country or any noble
cause. It helps us to achieve the objective. When
we claim that we love Allah, it means we love to
obey commandments of Allah and to serve His
creatures. In other words, love and obedience
are like body and soul. Success and failure of
one, is dependent on the other. In other words,
both body and soul enjoy the bliss and endure
punishment of good or bad deeds. Spirit of sac-
rifice lies in humility, kindness and good gesture
shown at any place, time and moment which
brings peace, happiness and comfort. It is a
spirit which works irrespective of cast, creed,
colour, race, nationality and religion. It needs no
language, a simple nodding, a smile, a helping
hand and sharing food or anything generates
such a great feeling of friendship and love. Hajj
provides a marvellous occasion to experience
this spirit of sacrifice. Thus, spirit of sacrifice is
a key to developing all individual and social re-
lationships which Divine guidance intends to in-
culcate in a society. The Holy Quran regards
such acts of sacrifice as maoon or small acts of
kindness. It reprimands a believer for not doing
small acts of kindness: “So woe to the praying
ones, who are unmindful of their prayer; who
do good to be seen and refrain from acts of kind-
ness” (107:4-7). The Holy Quran explains beau-
tifully the purpose of mentioning the stories of
old. It is to remind the believers to learn lessons
from the past. But in the case of Pilgrimage, re-
minding is of a different kind. Every pilgrim re-
enacts those events and takes an oath in the
presence of Allah to glorify Him and obey His
commandments. The Holy Quran says: “And re-
mind, for reminding profits the believers. And I
have not created the jinn and the men except
that they should serve me” (51:55,56).
Let us try to practise the spirit of sacrifice in
our daily lives and make our lives individually
and collectively a haven of peace and happiness.
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I Shall Love All Mankind.
January 2017
The Early Legacies of Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad and the
Lahore Ahmadiyya
Movement in America
Patrick Bowen Ph.D.
(Editor’s note: A paper delivered at the Annual Confer-
ence of the Worldwide Ahmadiyya Anjumans Ishaat Is-
lam of Lahore, December 22, 2016. Emphasis in bold at
various places is by the editor.)
One of the reasons I am so pleased to be
here this morning is that as a scholar who spe-
cializes in the history of conversion to Islam in
America, I have come to see that there are few
figures and movements as significant in
American Muslim history as Mirza Ghulam
Ahmad and the Ahmadiyya Movement. Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad appears to have personally
played a crucial role in the creation of some of
America’s first Muslim convert and Sufi com-
munities and the later Lahore Ahmadi move-
ment influenced several other important Is-
lamic currents in the United States as well. So,
to be able to be with you here and speak with
members of a movement that has had such a
prominent place in American Islamic history is indeed a privilege.
This morning I would like to outline the
early impacts of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and the
Ahmadiyya Anjuman of Lahore in the United
States by looking at these impacts as having oc-
curred over the course of five distinct periods. I
am going to be focusing on a ninety-year time
frame, 1886 to 1975, not only because this is the
area of my specialization but also because this
time frame encapsulates a history that has
shaped the direction of American Islam ever
since. In each of these five periods, influen-
tial figures and Islamic organizations
emerged with important ties to either Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad himself or to the Lahore Ah-
madiyya Movement. These figures and organ-
izations would go on to shape important early
contours of the American Muslim community in
both relatively well-known ways and lesser-
known, but still significant, ways. Each of these
periods, then, offer key insights into the role of
the Ahmadiyya movement in the development
of the Muslim community in the United States
and how Islam in America - especially that of
American converts to Islam - was uniquely shaped by the Ahmadiyya movement.
The first period of Ahmadi influence on the
American community encompasses the years
during which Mirza Ghulam Ahmad himself was
in direct contact with Americans. Most scholars
of both Islam in America and Ahmadi history
are aware that the first prominent white
American Muslim convert, a man named Al-
exander Russell Webb, initially began taking
a serious interest in Islam after starting a
correspondence with Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
in late 1886. In this correspondence, which
lasted several months, Webb showed enthusi-
asm for spreading Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’s ideas
and was invited to Qadian to study under the
teacher. Having no means to provide for his fam-
ily in his absence, Webb was forced to decline
the offer, yet it seems to have been this very in-
vitation that motivated Webb to obtain later
that year a job that would permit him to move
his entire family to Southeast Asia, which he
hoped would eventually allow him to visit India.
During his five-year stay in Asia, although Webb
lost contact with Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, he re-
tained his passion for Islam and had embraced
the religion by the summer of 1889. Soon after
this, he met with various Muslim funders who
helped Webb develop a mission to spread Islam
in the United States, and between 1893 and
1897, Webb led the first major Islamic move-
ment in America. Because of infighting and pos-
sibly, as Webb argued, a widespread fear of the
Dr Patrick Bowen addressing the jalsa over Skype.
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I Shall Love All Mankind.
January 2017
potential repercussions if Americans converted
to Islam, Webb’s Islamic movement never
gained mass popularity. Webb, therefore, re-
tired to a quiet life in America, although he
maintained his connections with Muslims
throughout the world, including the Ahmad-
iyya, for whom, in 1910, he helped with the re-
vision of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’s book The
Teachings of Islam.
As I have stated, Webb’s connections
with the Ahmadi community are fairly well
known to scholars, but there are also a few less
well-known ties between Americans and Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad during this same period. One of
the most fascinating possible connections ap-
peared during the same time and at nearly the
same location that Webb first took an interest in
Islam. It seems that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’s
first exposure to Americans came by way of
an article published in 1886 in a journal for
members of the Theosophical Society, a lib-
eral spiritual organization that was devoted to
studying the various religions of the world.
Webb was a member of this organization at the
time, and it seems to have served as the intellec-
tual and organizational model for his later Is-
lamic movement. Interestingly, though, an ac-
quaintance of Webb who was also in the Theo-
sophical Society - a man named Thomas John-
son - may have similarly been inspired by the
article about Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, for in early
1887 he established his own organization de-
voted to studying Sufism, or Islamic mysticism -
which had been precisely one of the key ele-
ments of Islam Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was pro-
moting at the time. Johnson’s group, known as
the Sufic Circle, was the first Sufi organization
in the United States, and it may have influenced
later Sufi movements that were to spread in
America and throughout Europe.
A small number of other Americans seem to
have been linked with the Ahmadiyya move-
ment during these early years as well. Accord-
ing to Ahmadi sources, a physician and follower
of Webb, Dr. Anthony George Baker, em-
braced Islam directly through correspond-
ence with Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. In addition,
a man from New York named F.L. Andersen,
who began corresponding with Mirza Ghu-
lam Ahmad in 1901, was soon being pro-
moted as the first true Ahmadi convert in
America. Andersen remained committed to the
Ahmadiyya cause for the next thirty years;
however he became devoted to the Qadian fac-
tion, which made a strong effort to promote Is-
lam to Americans during the 1920s.
The Lahore-based Ahmadiyya Movement,
however, does not seem to have made clear in-
roads in the United States until the early 1930s,
and this represents the second period of links
between the Americans and Ahmadis. Like in
the previous era, this period’s Ahmadi influence
came not from Ahmadiyya representatives who
were physically present in the country, but ra-
ther from overseas missionaries. At the time,
the Muslim mission in Woking, England was be-
ing significantly influenced by the Ahmadiyya
Movement of Lahore, and it was that commu-
nity that was publishing one of the first widely
popular English-language Islamic journals to be
read in the United States. In fact, the editors of
the Islamic Review appear to have made a strong
push to promote both their magazine and Islam
itself during the early 1930s. Letters published
in the journal reveal that it was being sent to li-
braries and schools across the country and, in
the process, was stimulating American interest
in the religion.
Perhaps one of the most surprising, if little-
known, outcomes of this particular Ahmadi ef-
fort is that the magazine’s tendency to publish
letters from Americans made other Americans
aware of their presence, which in turn helped
bring together various American Muslim
convert-focused organizations. The earliest
example of this is the case of the white converts
in Los Angeles, California, who read about each
other in the magazine’s 1931 and 1932 issues.
By the summer of the latter year, white Muslims
in the region who had met each other through
the journal began to organize. Then, in the
following year, a small, but nationally-focused
Muslim organization named the American
Islamic Association used the Islamic Review
to recruit the West Coast converts into its
East Coast-based network. The American
Islamic Association had been indirectly linked
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to the Woking mosque since the former’s
founding in 1930, and its members even had
their own articles appear in Woking’s journal;
but were it not for the Woking mission
connecting the Americans who were
scattered across the country, the American
Islamic Association probably would never
have become the first truly national convert-
based Muslim organization in the United
States. And, as we will now see, this
accomplishment helped lay a foundation for
future generations of American Muslims.
It was in the third period that the Lahore
Ahmadiyya connections finally became direct in
America, and in the process they helped
establish a strong multiracial, convert-focused
Muslim community in the United States.
Members of the American Islamic Association,
first of all, appear to have come into contact
with the Lahore movement’s leaders in India;
Lahore’s joint secretary K.S. Chaudhri Manzur
Ilahi announced in 1936 that he had been in
communication with the group’s leaders.
However, what was perhaps more important for
Mr. Ilahi was the actual Ahmadi mission in
America that was founded in 1935. Although
the extant evidence is somewhat unclear about
the issue, it appears that the person responsible
for starting the American mission was an
African American convert named Saeed Ahmad.
Mr. Ahmad seems to have been from the
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania region and more than
likely had previously been involved in one of the
several different Islamic sects that had been
popular in the region over the previous ten
years. According to various accounts, in 1934
the region’s Muslim community, which had
recently unified under the Qadiani movement,
underwent a major schism, and, due to the
effors of Mr. Ahmad and others, the Lahore
Ahmadiyya movement gained a significant
following in the region. As a result, over the next
dozen years the Lahore-influenced region
became one of the main centers of mainstream
Islam among African Americans, with its influence spreading across the country.
Meanwhile, white and immigrant Muslims
who were associated with the old American
Islamic Association continued to maintain ties
with Lahore, and new white converts with
Lahore links began appearing. The most notable
of the latter type was a woman from New York,
Nadira Osman, who embraced Islam after
reading the works of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and
learning of his connections with Alexander
Russell Webb. By the 1940s, Miss Osman and
other white converts and immigrants were
connecting with each other and organizing new
Islamic institutions and interacting with
Lahore-influenced African Americans in several
regions of the country. In fact, during the war,
African Americans with Lahori connections
attempted to create the first truly
multiracial and national mainstream
Islamic organization, the Uniting Islamic
Societies of America. Although the institution
had dissolved before 1950, it solidified
connections and left an important model and
organizational legacies for American Muslims
in the ensuing years.
There is some overlap between the third
and fouth period of American contacts with the
Ahmadiyya movement of Lahore. In 1943, as
Ahmadi-influenced Americans were developing
their own institutions, leading Ahmadi figures
in India decided that the time was ripe to
establish a full-fledged mission in America led
by learned Indian Muslim teachers. The mission
was officially launched in 1947 when the
Lahore representative, Bashir Ahmad Minto,
arrived in San Francisco, California and
incorporated the Moslem Society of the USA. Mr.
Minto quickly went to work, sending out
hundreds of advertisements and letters to local
and national periodicals, giving dozens of
lectures across the state, distributing Islamic
publications to all who were interested, raising
money to purchase a building, and corres-
ponding and meeting with hundreds of Muslims
and potential converts. With these efforts, he
had established the first robust Lahore Ahmadi
mission in America, and as a result he had
begun winning over to Islam a new class of
Americans: college-educated whites. In pre-
vious periods, the vast majority of American
converts to Islam had not attended college. In
most cases, although these people tended to be
interested in intellectual subjects like history
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January 2017
and philosophy, they had not formally attended
a post-secondary institution. But Mr. Minto’s
approach to promoting Islam was able to bring
in the college-trained, and at one school, the
well-respected University of Chicago, one of Mr.
Minto’s converts established a college Islamic
association, one of the first of its kind in the
country. Despite these new development,
however, the earlier Lahore connections with
Americans were not forgotten, and after Mr.
Minto left in the mid-1950s, a former member
of the American Islamic Association, Muharrem
Nadji, was appointed to be the new official
representative of the Lahore movement in America.
The final period of American contact with
the Lahore Ahmadiyya movment, like the fourth
period, had some overlap with the previous
period as well as connections with Lahori-
influenced developments from earlier in the
century. The main figure of this era was a
Pakistani named Muhammad Abdullah, a well-
educated representative of the Lahore
movement who first traveled to the United
States in the mid-1950s. During this initial
seventeen-month stay, while Mr. Minto was
focusing his conversion efforts on white
Americans, Mr. Abdullah became interested in
African American Muslims who belonged to the
famous non-orthodox sect, the Nation of Islam.
Soon, Mr. Abdullah began exchanging letters
with the head of the Nation, Elijah Muhammad,
with the hope of eventually bringing him and
his organization to mainstream Islam. After a
brief time working in the Fiji Islands, Mr.
Abdullah returned to the United States and
became a leading Muslim figure in both
California and, after affiliating himself with
African Americans who had been influenced by
the Lahore movement back in the 1930s, in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Although one of Mr. Abdullah’s key
contributions during his American career was
helping enable the Lahore movement better
recruit African Americans in California, it was in
the latter city, Philadelphia, that he was able to
leave his greatest legacy. It remains somewhat
unclear how exactly it occurred, but in the year
1960 Mr. Abdullah came into personal contact
with Wallace Muhammad, the son of Elijah, and
heir-apparent of the Nation of Islam. At the
time, Wallace was working in Philadelphia as a
minister for the Nation, but despite being
regarded by many in his group as the future
national leader of their community, he had
come to question several of the Nation’s non-
orthodox teachings and was beginning to take
an interest in orthodox Islam. Mr. Abdullah
therefore offered to educate Wallace on many
things about Islam, including teaching him
some Urdu and Quran commentary. Wallace
regarded this education as a turning point in his
religious life. He soon would break from his
father and align himself with the famous
Malcolm X when the latter embraced orthodox
Islam. In fact, Malcolm’s orthodox Muslim
organization even formally met with Mr.
Abdullah’s Philadelphia group in late 1964.
However, after Malcolm’s assassination the
following February, Wallace, fearing for his life,
spent the next ten years publicly wavering
between a commitment to his father’s
organization and orthodox Islam. It seems,
though, that in private he was commited to
orthodoxy and had begun making plans to
convert the Nation of Islam - which was by far
the largest and most influential Islamic
organization in the United States at the time -
into an orthodox movement. Then, when Elijah
Muhammad died in February 1975, Wallace, as
predicted, took charge of the organization and
almost immediately began to implement the
massive religious transition of the group’s
doctrines to align with orthodox Islam. Mr.
Abdullah himself was even praised in the
community as an important religious teacher
and was frequently featured in the movement’s
newspaper. Wallace Muhammad’s conversion
of the Nation of Islam brought tens of thousands
of African Americans to orthodox Islam, and
this community, which is now entering its third
generation as an orthodox movement, remains
the largest African American orthodox Muslim
community in the United States. Because few
groups have been able to quickly convert so
many people to a single new religion
without the use of force, this transition was
an event that has few equals in world
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January 2017
history, let alone in the history of religion in
America. Were it not for the work of Mr.
Abdullah, then, this significant event may
have never come to pass.
To conclude my speech this morning, I
would like to not only summarize my main
points, but also point out a few larger themes
that I think we can take away from this history.
To state my main point once again: there were
five distinct periods during which either Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad himself or the Ahmadiyya
movement of Lahore played important roles in
shaping American Islamic life. During these
periods, the impact of the Ahmadiyya move-
ment was felt through not only its teachings
being spread, but, perhaps more significantly, in
the actual organizations that developed with its
influence. Dozens of Islamic movements have
attempted to shape and influence Islam in
America over the past 130 years, but relatively
few have affected the creation of numerous real
institutions. The Ahmadiyya movement of
Lahore not only did that repeatedly, but
played a role in the emergence of some of the
most important and groundbreaking
institutions and transformations in the
history of American religion. There are traces
of Ahmadi influence in the very first organized
American Islamic orthodox and Sufi
movements; the first truly national movement
for converts; the first large national multiracial
orthodox Islamic organization; at least one of
the first Muslim organizations at an American
college; and the largest African American
orthodox Muslim community in the United
States. The efforts of the Ahmadiyya
movement must therefore be looked at as
having played a vital role in the shaping of
Islam in America.
A Message for the Jalsa
Iain Dixon
I greet you all in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I write to you from the land of England,
and wish you all the blessings of Allah Almighty
as you gather together for your convention. The
Lahore Ahmadiyya community may have peo-
ple who despise it, persecute it, misunderstand
it. But you have
friends too. I am a
friend of your Jamaat
and have experienced your love, care and hos-
pitality first hand. I count you my friends.
May this Convention be for you a time of re-
newal, refreshment, renewing of friendships …
and most of all, a time to reconnect with your
creator. At this special time of Jalsa, may you all
be reminded of the words in the Honoured
Quran which say: "Truly my prayer, and my ser-
vice of sacrifice, my life and my death, are all for Allah, the Lord of the worlds." -Surah 6:162.
All that you have, all that you are, and all
that you will become, belongs to Allah. Look for
new ways to express your devotion to Allah.
Rekindle the passion you once had to serve
him wholeheartedly. Let go of the failings of
the past, and take hold of the future with a
new zeal.
We live in a time where the world is full of
hatred. I love the motto of your worldwide Ja-
maat: I Shall Love All Mankind. I am reminded
of a prophecy in the Holy Bible that speaks of the days we are living in now . . .
"In the last days perilous times shall come.
For men shall be lovers of themselves, covetous,
boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy . . . lovers of pleas-
ures rather than lovers of God, having a form
of godliness, but denying its power."- 2 Timo-thy 3:1-5
Many today are quick to profess themselves to be Muslims, but their actions would tell forth a different message. I am thankful to you, the Lahore Ahmadiyya community that you stand out amongst the Muslim crowd. You live out the
values of peace, love and tolerance, and have a desire to serve your communities. In your lives, corporately, and individually, you echo the words of our Lord Jesus, who said we are to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind . . . and to love your
Zahid Aziz Ph.D. ad-
dressing the jalsa us-
ing Skype.
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January 2017
neighbour as yourself."- Mark 12:30-31
Your Jamaat may seem small, but I think of
the great Sequoia trees of America which are
over three hundred feet tall, but start off from a
seed which is only the size of a fingernail! Some-
thing that is seemingly small and insignificant,
can become something amazing. Almighty Allah
can use that which is small, and use it for his
glory.
Some of the most beautiful words in the
Honoured Quran are found in its opening chap-
ter:
“In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most
Merciful. Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and
Sustainer of the Worlds. Most Gracious, Most
Merciful. Master of the Day of Judgement. You
do we worship, and your aid do we seek. Show
us the straight way. The way of those on whom
you have bestowed your grace, those whose
portion is not wrath, and who do not go astray.”
May this chapter be the heartbeat of your
lives. May it be the blood flowing through your
spiritual veins. May you continue to worship Al-
lah alone. May you continue to seek his aid. May
you continue to seek the straight way. As the
needle of a compass always points north, may
the compass point of your heart always point to-
wards Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.
Enjoy Jalsa! Be blessed! Love in Christ.
Readers’ Comments on the
article:
‘Was the Holy Prophet (s)
unlettered?’
Zainib Ahmad (USA)
I have always wondered about the blessed
Prophet being unlettered. I liked the article very
much and have read in Reza Aslan's book, a sim-
ilar view, which I liked. I agree with the points
you have presented so far. I am surprised that
there are alternate hadith on the same topic.
The last time I presented the view in a dars that
the blessed Prophet was literate, I was silenced
with the hadith about Hudaibiya, when he said,
“show me where it is” and he erased it himself.
Now I realize that there are many narrations of
the same hadith, and we do not have to take any
one as being final.
However, mum did not like your points at all
and immediately dismissed them! She prefers
the traditional view that the Quran is a miracle
because the blessed Prophet was unlettered,
and it would be less of a miracle, if he were not.
She feels the Quran clearly says that he was un-
lettered!
Andrea Stanton, PhD. Assistant Professor
(USA)
I would just note that iqra’ historically meant
read in the sense of reciting, and that reading in
general was a far different practice than today’s
notion of individual, silent reading. So, in the
historical context, “iqra’” tells us nothing about
whether someone was wholly or partially lit-
erate. But your argument about the use of ummi
in respect to Muhammad I think is an important
one, and adds a substantial gloss to how he was distinguished from other humans.
A young member reciting a poem of the Pro-mised
Messiah at the jalsa.
Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha‘at Islam Lahore (UK) Founders of the first Islamic Mission in the UK, established 1913 as the Woking Muslim Mission.
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