May 2013

Editors:

Shahid Aziz Mustaq Ali

Contents: Page The Inspiration for the 1 Propagation of Islam

The Woking Muslim Mission 2

The Mission’s Role in the 7 Creation of Pakistan The Mission’s Work in South Africa 11 ‘Id-ul-Adha at Woking, 1932 13

Khilafat Delegation at Woking 15 Qaid-i-Azam Prays Behind 16 Lahori Ahmadi Imam

حیم حمن الر بسم ہللا الرEditor’s acknowledgement: the material, text

and photographs printed in this issue have

been reproduced almost entirely from that

available at www.wokingmuslim.org. The

au thor of the text is Dr Zahid Aziz, who is

also the creator of the said website and is

responsible for updating it. However, in

some places explanatory notes have been

added for clarification or minor corrections

implemented.

How Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Inspired the Woking

Muslim Mission

Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din was one of the leading

followers of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the

Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement in India

(d. 1908), and was inspired to undertake the

work of propagation of Islam through his influ-

ence. Many other missionaries and scholars of

the Lahore Ahmadiyya Anjuman also served in

the Woking Muslim Mission as its Imams and

Heads. A Muslim scholar associated with the

Woking Mission, Shaikh Mushir Hosain Kidwai

of Gadia, wrote in a booklet Islam in England, in

1929:

“I am far from being a follower of Mirza

Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, but I cannot but give

him credit for having fired English educated

Muslims with a missionary zeal for Islam.

Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din is one of those men who

were, so to say, reclaimed to Islam by the Mirza

sahib, and that to this extent that he gave up his

flourishing practice at the Bar and voluntarily

May

2013

Webcasting on the world’s first real-time Islamic service at

www.virtualmosque.co.uk

Hazrat Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din, founder of the Woking Muslim Mission and a prominent

foll ower of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, who sat at the feet of his spiritual master to learn Islam

2

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accepted to be an exile and came to England

with the sole object of preaching Islam.”

Maulana Muhammad Ali

Maulana Muhammad Ali (d. 1951), the first

Head of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement, was

a close, life-long friend of Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din,

and indeed was introduced to Hazrat Mirza

Ghulam Ahmad in 1897 through the influence of

the Khwaja. Near the end of his life he wrote a

booklet in 1949 explaining what prompted him

to devote his life to the cause of the propagation

of Islam. He wrote:

“Whoever went to him [Hazrat Mirza Ghu-

lam Ahmad] he put a spark of the fire of the love

of God in the heart of that disciple. Just like me,

the late Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din too, by sitting at

the feet of the Imam of the age, was blessed with

opening the first Islamic mission to Europe at

Woking, shedding such light on the teachings of

Islam and the life of the Holy Prophet Muham-

mad that the entire attitude of Europeans to-

wards Islam changed.

“To those people who harbour ill-feeling

against the honoured Mujaddid [Hazrat Mirza

Ghulam Ahmad], or who fail to give him the re-

spect and love due to such a servant of the faith,

I say: Has there ever been in the world a liar and

imposter who filled the hearts of his followers

with such an urge for the propagation of Islam,

and to whom Almighty Allah gave so much help

as to continue fulfilling his dreams and aspira-

tions long after his death?”

Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din himself wrote in

1914:

“It was through him [Hazrat Mirza Ghulam

Ahmad] that in 1892 I became a Muslim anew.

Not only did I become a Muslim, but through his

guidance and prayers I was able to

make amends for the sin which

had been taking me towards

Christianity by showing Christians

the right path today. It was the

most auspicious and blessed day

of my life in 1893 when I took the

pledge, at the hand of the Messiah

sent by God, to hold religion above

the world. I would give anything

for those times which I spent in

the company and service of this

spiritually perfect man, which en-

abled me to fulfill my pledge as

best as I could. How can I forget

those favours and that love which

he bestowed on me, especially on me! Even if I

spent my whole life working for the aims and

objects of the Divine mission of this Muslim

Messiah, it would be little recompense for the

continuous prayers he said for me.”

The Woking Muslim Mission

24th September 2012 is the centenary of an

event which was to place the town of Woking on

the world map, in particular the map of the

Muslim world. It would lead to Woking being

visited for the next fifty years or more by kings,

statesmen, ambassadors, generals, intellectuals,

students, business men, and other leading fig-

ures from all over the Muslim world, as well as

British aristocrats, scholars, linguists, writers

and soldiers who had embraced Islam. Woking

came to be described as “a miniature of Mecca”

in the West.

On that day in 1912, there arrived in Eng-

land from Lahore, a city in British India, a man

called Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din (1870–1932). He

was by profession a lawyer and by vocation a

lecturer and orator on the religion of Islam and

comparative religion. He came to plead a civil

HRH Prince Amir Saud at a meeting organised by the Wok ing Mus lim Mission at the Shah Jehan Mosque, Woking

May 2013

3

as a mosque open for the use of all Muslims. He

moved to the mosque as Imam in mid-August 1913

during the month of Ramadan, and opened it for

regular use for the first time, with the call to

prayer being sounded five times a day. In the house

next to the mosque, he established the Woking

Muslim Mission.

The purpose of opening the mosque was not

merely to provide a prayer venue for Muslims in

Britain. The Khwaja considered his most important

work as being to place an accurate image of Islam

before the British people, as the religion which

best fulfilled the needs of the modern times.

Lead ing Muslims in the Indian subcontinent

con sidered this as an utterly mad and foolhardy

venture, doomed to failure. How could Islam be

acceptable in Britain, the country which domi-

nated the world with its most advanced civiliza-

tion, based on Christianity and science, while Mus-

lims were con sidered to be mere barbarians fol-

lowing a primitive faith unacceptable by any mod-

ern standards? How could the British, with their

mighty rule over a large part of the Muslim world,

including the country from where the Khwaja

came, take spiritual guidance from someone

be longing to their subject races who was promot-

ing his inferior religion? Yet the Khwaja was con-

vinced that, if the real and true Islam was pre-

sented in Britain, refuting its prevalent, distorted

image, people would become sympathetic to it,

and many of them would succumb to its appeal

and attraction. He derived this conviction, drive

and energy from his contact with his spiritual

mentor, the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement,

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (d. 1908).

Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din launched the monthly

Islamic Review in February 1913, which remained

in publication till around 1970. Besides contain-

ing articles on religious issues, it published news

relating to Muslims in Britain and thus its archives

are a unique chronicle of the history of Islam and

Muslims in this country during those years.

With Woking as his base, Khwaja Kamal-ud-

Din went around Britain giving lectures on Islam.

His activities were reported in national news-

pa pers as well as local papers such as the Surrey

Advertiser and the Woking News and Mail. The Brit-

ish Pathe news organisation filmed more than a

case before the Privy Council in London, the high-

est court of appeal for Indian cases at the time.

However, his plan beyond that was to present

Is lam in this country on public platforms and

cor rect the very serious misconceptions about

Is lam and Muslims, under which the people of

Britain and its religious and political leaders were

labouring. He soon came to know of the existence

of the mosque at Woking. It had been built in 1889

by Dr G.W. Leitner, a European scholar and linguist

who had helped in India in the establishment of

the University of the Punjab. The mosque was part

of his proposed Oriental Institute, which never

came to fruition. The cost of the construction of

the mosque was largely donated by Begum Shah

Jehan, the Muslim lady ruler of the state of Bhopal

in India, and the cost of the land by the ruler of the

Muslim state of Hyderabad Deccan.

From 1889, past the death of Dr Leitner in

1899, to the year 1913, the mosque was opened

only on special occasions and was generally

dere lict and disused. Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din, while

considering where to base his missionary activi-

ties, first visited the mosque in January 1913. In

the summer of 1913, with the help of two promi-

nent Indian Muslims who held high official posi-

tions (Sir Abbas Ali Baig and the Right Honourable

Syed Ameer Ali), the Khwaja had a trust created to

take charge of the property and its status declared

Maulana Aftab-ud-Din (l, in turban) and HRH

Prince Faisal of Saudi Arabia at a meeting

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dozen occasions at the mosque between 1914

and 1958, which can be viewed on its website.

Soon the Khwaja gained many British con-

verts to his faith, among them people of high

education and some titled persons. The most

famous of them was a peer of the realm and dis-

tinguished civil engineer, Lord Headley, who,

after accepting Islam in November 1913,

worked tirelessly to help the cause of the

Wok ing Mission till his death in 1935.

Numerous books on Islam were published

from Woking, many of them written by Khwaja

Kamal-ud-Din himself. In 1917 the monumental

and voluminous English translation of the Quran

with extensive commentary, by Maulana Mu-

hammad Ali of Lahore, the first such work by a

Muslim available in the West, was published

from the Woking Mosque.

The Woking Mosque and Mission became

the national centre of Islamic activity in Britain.

Its Imam was regarded by the government as

the de facto head of the Muslim community of

the UK. The Eid prayers at Woking were, till the

mid-1960s, a national event for Muslims of

Brit ain. It became commonplace for visiting

dig nitaries of international fame from the

Mus lim world to call at the Woking Mosque.

Kings, princes, presidents, sultans, generals,

statesmen, political leaders, ambassadors, high

govern- ment officials, writers and intellectuals

from Muslim countries came to Woking to visit

the mosque and attend functions organised by

the Mission.

A Muslim, observing the Eid-ul-Adha gather-

ing at Woking, a festival which takes place on the

occasion of the great Pilgrimage to Mecca, wrote

in 1930: “Almost all Muslim nations in the world

are represented in the gardens of the Mosque,

prostrating themselves before their God and

magnifying the Most High, even as they magnify

Him at Mecca on this sacred occasion. Woking is

the only town in the world which becomes on

such days a replica in miniature of the Ancient

House of God in Arabia.”

Initially working with the barest of help,

Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din arranged for staffing of

the mission from India. The missionary and ad-

ministrative staff which came from the Indian

subcontinent had, like the Khwaja, to make great

sacrifices. The journey to England took at least

three weeks by sea and rail. Here they were

faced with an entirely unfamiliar environment,

May 2013

5

suffering hardships and deprived of all the

cul tural and social facilities for Muslims which

only started becoming available here in the

1960s. They left families behind, and the normal

means of communication with home was by let-

ter. Peo ple today cannot conceive that coming to

the UK in those days was not an alluring pros-

pect. It was the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement

which made the sacrifices to provide the staff

and the finances for the running of the Woking

Muslim Mission.

Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din concluded his first

visit to Britain in August 1914, returning again

in 1916. He made four or five visits in all. At the

end of his third visit, in June 1923, he

accompa nied Lord Headley to the pilgrimage at

Mecca, a journey widely covered in the press

here and in the Middle East. On the way, they

passed through Egypt, where public meetings

were held in Lord Headley’s honour. They paid a

call upon Field-Marshall Lord Allenby, the Brit-

ish representative in Egypt, who sent a report

about their visit to the Foreign Secretary in Lon-

don, Lord Curzon, these two men being famous

in British history.

During the two World Wars, the Woking

Muslim Mission extended its support to Britain,

in the same way as the British public did. During

the First World War, Kitchener’s famous appeal

“Your King & Country Need You” was published

in The Islamic Review. In 1914, the Imam of the

Woking Mosque was invited by the War Office to

approve a site for a Muslim cemetery for the

burial of soldiers who died here after being

wounded in the battlefields of France and

Bel gium. The Imam suggested that the cemetery

should be better located in Woking. The War

Office accepted his suggestion, and as a result a

cemetery was established within Brookwood,

which also came to be used as a general Muslim

cemetery.

When the Second World War began, the

Imam of the Woking Mosque declared in his Eid

sermon in November 1939: “Muslims are or-

dered [in the Quran] to sacrifice their lives not

only to save their own mosques but the religious

houses of other peoples as well. … [T]he very

fact that synagogues have been pulled down in

Ger many upon the slightest pretext makes it

obligatory upon us Muslims to throw our weight

into the cause of the Allies.”

A Muslim convert, First World War veteran

and Woking resident by the name of Major J.W.B.

Farmer (1897–1966), MBE, MC, who was also a

trustee of the Woking Mosque, was awarded the

MBE after the Second World War “in recognition

of Meritorious Service in the Home Guard” in

Surrey.

The Woking Mission also supported various

just Muslim causes around the world and

brought them to the notice of the public and

press in this country. As early as 1917 it publi-

cised the case for justice in Palestine. The best

minds from all over the Muslim world used to

meet at the Woking Mosque, where they used to

hold discussions on problems facing their

coun tries. The campaign for an independent

Muslim homeland on the Indian subcontinent,

with the proposed name of Pakistan, started

from a meeting of students at the Woking

Mosque in 1932.

Lord Headley (r) and Hazrat Khwaja

Kamal-ud-Din

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May 2013

Various Muslim UK national organisations

also either had their birth at the Woking Mission

or sought assistance from the Mission in their

early days. The first public meeting of the

‘British Muslim Society’ was held at the Woking

Mosque on 20th December 1914. The first ever

‘Congress of Muslims living in the UK’ was a

gathering called by the Woking Mission, and it

was held as a two-day event on 25–26 June

1952 at the Woking Mosque.

The Central London Mosque in Regent’s

Park owes its origin to the Woking Muslim Mis-

sion. The plan to build a mosque in Central Lon-

don was proposed by Lord Headley during the

First World War. This was followed up in the

1930s by the creation of a Trust, collection of

funds, purchase of land, and even laying of the

foundation stone in West Kensington, near

Olympia. This Trust, whose original members

were headed by Lord Headley and Khwaja

Ka mal-ud-Din, was later incorporated into the

Trust that controls the Central London Mosque

in Regent’s Park today.

In this article, we must also note the general

picture of Islam as presented from the Woking

Muslim Mission. The distinctive features of

Is lam as emphasised through this Mission’s

work are that:

The beliefs and practices of Islam are sim-

ple and rational, and to be understood in the

light of knowledge and reason. There are no dog-

mas, mysteries or rituals imposed upon a believer.

The teachings of Islam are broadminded and

tolerant. Islam accepts others’ religions as being

originally revealed by God, acknowledges good in

people of other faiths, grants complete freedom of

religion to all, and urges friendship between faiths.

In Islam there is no priesthood which con-

trols the way to God.

Islam creates a universal brotherhood of peo-

ple of all countries, races, colours, classes and cul-

tures, disregarding all such distinctions.

Islam is not tied to the local culture of any

Muslim country.

It is a religion of unity, whose followers

should be united by its fundamental teachings, but

who respect one another’s differences.

Legacy of the Woking Muslim Mission

During the 1960s Muslim migrants, mostly from

Pakistan, arrived in the UK and settled in various

towns and cities, forming communities of increas-

ing size. Muslim religious centres and mosques be-

gan to spring up around the country, catering to the

religious and cultural needs of their local Muslim

communities. The Woking Mosque too went into

the hands of other management who turned it to

the use of the local Muslim population. From

around 1968 onwards, Woking ceased to be the

national centre for Muslims of the UK and to serve

its international role for the Muslim world. The

Woking Muslim Mission no longer operated.

The passage of time since then, however, has

proved that the picture of Islam as presented by the

Woking Mission is needed more than ever before in

order to solve the problems of the Muslims in the

UK and to improve their standing in the country

and their relationship with the wider community.

Islam as preached from the Woking Mission was

the very opposite of the religious extremism, isola-

tion and separatism from general society, and

wholesale rejection of all modern ideas, which are

the attitudes, rightly or wrongly, associated with

Muslims living in the UK today. The Woking Mission

did not teach that Muslims should become an in-

ward-looking community, living in isolation and

regarding the outside society as a threat. Instead of

this, Muslims must communicate and interact with

Dr Abdullah (front row, in turban) and Maulana S M Tufail (next to him) with a group

of Muslims and non-Muslims

May 2013

7

the wider society, explain their faith to others

sympathetically, respond to criticism in a digni-

fied manner, present to others the best they can

offer from their values, and accept from others

the best they have to offer. In responding to

of fence or grievances, whether real or per-

ceived, Muslims must be temperate and abstain

from violence.

The Woking Mission also showed how

Mus lims could be true to Islam and yet fit into

British society and life. For this they must cor-

rect some of their own religious notions which

are not justified by Islam, and they must bring

about reform of certain Muslim cultural and so-

cial practices which are not part of the religion

of Islam but merely local customs in some

places in the Muslim world which are now prov-

ing harmful.

The website www.wokingmuslim.org, man-

aged by the writer of this article, is devoted to

compiling all the available information and re-

cords, in the form of printed material, photo-

graphs, newsreel film clips, about the history

and activities of the Woking Muslim Mission.

The Woking Muslim Mis sion’s Role in the Creation of Pakistan

by Khwaja Salahuddin Ahmad

(Editor’s note: Most people in India and

Paki stan believe that the Muslim League, a

politi cal party of the Muslims of the Indian sub-

continent was established to win freedom for the

Muslims living there. In fact, it was created to

make the Mus lims of India loyal to their British

rulers. It was the Congress, a secular political

party, which first demanded independence for

India. There were some Muslims who were

wor ried that, once the British left, the Muslims

would be overwhelmed by the Hindu majority

and wanted a separate homeland to be created

for Muslims. Chaudhry Rehmat Ali was one such

person. This article shows that he got his spark of

inspiration about how to put his idea into prac-

tice in the Drawing Room of the Mission House.

The following article originally appeared in The

Light & Islamic Review, vol. 74, no. 4, July–

August 1997, pages 5–8,on the occasion of the

50th anniversary of the birth of Pakistan.)

(Introduction: The writer [Khwaja Salahuddin

Ahmad] is the son of the late Khwaja Kamal-ud-

din, Founder of the Woking Muslim Mission, and

was a student in England at the time when

Ch. Rehmat Ali reached those shores in connec-

tion with his studies, brimming over with the

idea of an independent homeland of Muslims in

Northern In dia, that was put before the nation

by Allama Iqbal in his famous Allahabad address

before the All-India Muslim League in 1930. He

was, however, just toying with this big idea,

which took the first concrete shape accidentally

at one of the Sunday meetings of the Muslims at

the Woking Mosque, which Ch. Rehmat Ali, like

so many other Muslim students in England,

came to attend. In the following article Mr Sala-

huddin Ahmad, a personal participant in how

the Paki stan idea took definite shape, throws

light on some of the missing links in the story.

Footnote by the Editor of the website (1997):

Khwaja Ka mal-ud-Din, as he himself has acknowl-

edged, received all his inspiration, urge and faith to

do this work from Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.

Maulana Yakub Khan (sitting, first left); Hazrat Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din (sitting, centre);

Mr Marmaduke Pickthall, the famous translator of the Holy Quran into English (next to the Khwaja)

8

May 2013

His purpose, as he explains, is to put the record

straight while most of those who collaborated

with Ch. Rehmat Ali are still alive and would be

in a position to endorse his story.)

AN ARTICLE under the caption The Forgotten

Hero appeared in the Pakistan Day Supplement

of the Pakistan Times last August [1965]. The

writer Mr M. Anwar, writing about Ch. Rehmat

Ali, recorded therein some important facts

which will no doubt be most useful for future

generations when records of events which led

up to the establishment of

Pakistan are placed in their

proper and true perspec-

tive. …

Some controversy in the

correspondence columns of

the Pakistan Times ensued

after the publication of Mr.

Anwar’s article referred to

above. In one of the letters

someone even said that the

people who originally

worked with Ch. Rehmat Ali

in England were dead long ago. I felt like contra-

dicting that at that time but refrained from do-

ing so. Since then a number of my friends who

also know the actual facts, but themselves lack

the authority of one who was present at those

meetings have insisted that a record of those

meetings should be made and that it was neces-

sary that this should be recorded in the lifetime

of those who took part in one or more of those

meetings.

I, because of my particular connection with

the Woking Muslim Mission, was an active

par ticipant in all the meetings that finally re-

sulted in Ch. Rehmat Ali taking up the difficult

task of fulfilling the Mission that he was des-

tined for. Fortunately, by the grace of Allah,

seven of us are still alive. All of the seven are

well established in their own fields. Those

peo ple fill the gap in the sequence of events and

answer the question why Ch. Rehmat Ali, an

ar dent follower of Allama Iqbal, should have

begun this movement in 1933 after a sojourn in

Cambridge and not earlier, particularly when he

was in his own country?

First meeting at Woking It was in the summer of 1932, it may have been

June or July, that Ch. Rehmat Ali, who was then at

Cambridge, came to Woking on a Sunday. Sunday at

Woking is a day on which a small gathering of Brit-

ish Muslims come into contact with their brothers

in Islam from other parts of the world. There is al-

ways a lecture in the afternoon by the Imam in the

Mosque and this is followed by prayers and then a

sojourn to the Woking Muslim Centre adjoining the

Mosque, where discussions on

religion continue till late in the

evening. Ch. Rehmat Ali had on

one such Sunday come earlier

to lunch by invitation from the

Imam Maulana Abdul Majid so

as to spend the day with us.

With Ch. Rehmat Ali, even be-

fore we sat down to lunch, the

only topic of conversation was

Allama Iqbal. He certainly had

intimate contact with the Al-

lama and as a true disciple he

had nothing but love and veneration for that great

scholar. It was during these all-absorbing talks

about the great poet that he began to lay great

stress on the Allama’s one ardent wish that the ar-

eas predominantly populated by Muslims in India

should become the homelands of the Muslims and

Ch. Rehmat Ali repeatedly stressed that in this

alone lay the solution for the future of the Muslims

in India.

It appeared, however, that no Muslim luminar-

ies had given much thought to the practical imple-

mentation of the dream, and therefore so far it was

only an idea, a topic for discussion, and the danger

now was that having remained an idea for so long it

might remain just an idea. It seemed to all of us

quite tragic that one of the greatest thinkers of the

world had given expression to his feelings and so

far it had not gone beyond the stage of being a topic

for a drawing-room discussion, particularly when

the destiny of a hundred million Muslims in the

subcontinent was at stake. The danger was that it

might only remain an idea.

At this stage Maulana Abdul Majid said: “Why

Hazrat Maulana Sadr-ud-Din with a group

May 2013

9

do our people only talk, why don’t they do

something? If Allama Iqbal has a message for his

people, so far as he is concerned he has done his

duty and if you are convinced that therein alone

lies the solution, then why not do something

about it?”

On Ch. Rehmat Ali’s query as to

what could be done, Maulana Majid

pointed to the photo of my father,

Khwaja Kamal-ud-din, on one of

the walls, adding:

“Do what he did. He had an idea

in which he believed. He had seen

with sorrow the 600 million Mus-

lims of the world in restless slum-

ber, seeping with Western influ-

ence, submerging under a defeated

outlook and gradually losing sight

of their own past heritage. With his

faith abounding in the supreme

teachings of the Holy Quran and the

Holy Prophet, he decided to unfurl

the standard of Islam in the heart

of Christendom, and challenge Trinity on its

own soil. He was convinced that the supreme

message of Islam had to be revived from the

West. He opened this centre and started The

Islamic Review which he sent to the Muslim in-

telligentsia of the world.”

Continuing the story as to how one man’s

dream and determined effort led to the unfold-

ing on British soil of the flag of Islam at Woking,

the Imam Abdul Majid went on to say:

“Maulana Mohammad Ali Johar came here to

see him on one such Sunday with a number of

friends. During their talk Maulana Mohammad

Ali suddenly got up and said: ‘Khwaja, I want to

see your library, your Islamic Review is so full of

Islamic theology that it must be very extensive, I

am interested to see it.’ Khwaja Sahib could only

smile and followed him to the next room. But

there was no library and the Maulana enquired

where was the library? To this Khwaja Sahib

replied by removing from the shelf a copy of the

Holy Quran, saying, ‘This is my library.’ The

Khwaja worked relentlessly, like a reaper, sow-

ing seeds as fast as he could and to let the seed-

lings flourish on soils all ready in crying need of

revival. There is no doubt the seeds did take root,

people from all parts of the Muslim world wherever

he went, wanted to hear him personally and re-

ceived him with open hearts. So, why don’t you fol-

low his example and if there is something vital in

this idea for the Muslims, it would take

root, shall we say, in about ten years

time?”

Ch. Rehmat Ali was visibly impressed and

silently reflected within his mind. His

feelings were stirred. After a while he

spoke out: “Something definite must in-

deed be done.” But to give it shape, he

added, and for him to take the initiative,

he would need the help of workers. This

part of the work was not for the Imam

and I therefore volunteered to take this

on myself. I suggested another meeting

the following Sunday at Woking, to which

I promised to invite some friends of

mine.

Shaikh Mohammad Jamil, Bar-at-Law, son

of the late K.B. Shaikh Noor Illahi Sahib,

with Khan Mohammad Aslam Khattak,

son of the late Khan Bahadar Kuli Khan, both of

them studying for their MA (Hons) at Oxford, were

then staying at 4 Hook Road, Surbiton, a town 20

miles from Wok ing. Both were affectionately dis-

posed towards me and by their nature could be de-

pended upon to stand for anything worthy of a sup-

port. Before Ch. Rehmat Ali left Woking that day it

was settled by phone that both of them would come

the following Sunday at lunch time. Ch. Rehmat Ali

went back from Woking by the evening train, a de-

termined and dedicated man, to give the idea a

practical shape. On this particular Sunday there

was also present a professor from Kashmir with his

family. I do not recollect his name. It was his first

visit to the Mosque. So intense was his interest in

this matter that he came again the following Sun-

day and then again to the third and final meeting at

Surbiton.

Second meeting at Woking The second meeting which took place on the fol-

lowing Sunday again at the Woking Mosque was an

important one because we were now assembled

not to consider the feasibility of the idea but to give

it an immediate and practical shape. At this second

The first issue of The Islamic Review

10

May 2013

meeting, the people present were: Maulana Ab-

dul Majid, Ch. Rehmat Ali, a gentleman who was

later also associated with him in his work,

whose name I do not remember, Shaikh

Mohammad Jamil, Khan Mohammad Aslam

Khattak, the professor from Kashmir and myself.

There was one other gentleman known to all of

us, but whose name need not to be mentioned.

Both Shaikh Jamil and Aslam Khattak were

very happy that some initiative to propel such a

movement was being taken and were prepared

to give their full support. They pointed out how-

ever that Muslim students in England, although

full of fervour and generosity for anything of

national interest, being in a foreign country,

were not only dispersed all over but also had

very limited time and means for anything else

but their studies. They felt that the mantle for

carrying this movement through to the end

must fall on Ch. Rehmat Ali himself.

The following decisions were taken at this

meeting:

(1) That the movement should be begun by

Ch. Rehmat Ali from Cambridge.

(2) That he should start issuing a monthly

pamphlet to give publicity and projection to this

movement whenever possible. I had shown the

meeting a copy of our Woking Muslim Mission

Gazette which had a map of the world on top of

the opening page with a minaret at Woking in

England and suggested that the pamphlet could

similarly have only a map of India in white,

while the areas that were to be separated for

Muslims were to be green. This illustration on

top would speak for itself and convey the mes-

sage pointedly.

(3) That it was agreed that I would give him

the addresses of the subscribers of The Islamic

Review, who consisting as they did largely of the

Muslim intelligentsia throughout India, would

be the appropriate people to send this pamphlet

to.

(4) That large quantities of the pamphlet

should be in readiness for distribution at our

Eid Festival and Milad-un-Nabi functions ar-

ranged at Woking.

(5) That it was agreed that I would give the

addresses of Muslims in England, whose contact is

maintained by the Mission for purposes of invita-

tion to religious functions.

The meeting continued till late in the evening,

the last trains for their journeys back to their

homes had to be caught by some of the partici-

pants. It was therefore thought that a third meeting

was again necessary (1) to evolve a name for the

Muslim areas, (2) to give it a formal shape, (3) that

since the matter was now a political issue and had

already reached the stage of political party we

should hold the next meeting the following Sunday

at 4, Hook Road, Surbiton, with Shaikh Mohammad

Jamil and K. M. Aslam Khan as hosts.

Third meeting in Surbiton

At this third meeting, the people in the previous

meetings with the exception of Maulana Abdul

Ma jid were present but with the addition of Khwaja

Abdur Rahim, Bar-at-Law, and Mr Inayaullah.

Khwaja Rahim suggests the name At this meeting Ch. Rehmat Ali was formally en-

trusted with the work of the movement. This

meet ing is important because it was at this meeting

that after a great deal of discussion, Khwaja Abdul

Ra him suggested the name of Pakistan. This was

accepted by all of us spontaneously instead of

His Highness Prince Azam Jan Bahadur

of Berar laying the foundation stone of the

London Nizamiah Mosque at Mornington

Avenue, West Kensington, London on Friday,

June 4th 1937. The mosque was never built and

the project was replaced by the current

mosque at Regent’s Park.

May 2013

11

alter natives such as Muslimabad, Islamabad, etc.

The name was not chosen because it contained

the first letters of names of areas that were to be

in Pakistan. The name was accepted because

pak, meaning pakeesgi or purity, is a first neces-

sity before our approach to God. In Islam, pak is

cleanliness in its purest form. It is cleanliness

distinct from the ‘Non-pak’ cleanliness under-

stood by the Hindus with their cow worship

ma nia. The name Pakistan had an invitation to

be free from all un-Godliness and a place where

they could humble themselves before Allah in all

humility, should He bless us with such a place,

and try their best to contribute a better practice

in fulfilment of their faith.

The meeting ended. Thereafter the burden,

the work and its success were all the achieve-

ments of Ch. Rehmat Ali. Wherever it was possi-

ble to send that pamphlet, he sent it. Wherever

it was possible to distribute it, he was there with

his friend and assistant to do it. He little knew

that like John the Baptist he was heralding the

coming of another, who finally in all his gran-

deur came, took up the standard and planted it

in the soil which he with his clarion call claimed

as Pakistan and succeeded where others had

failed to give Solidarity, Unity and Faith to a peo-

ple clamouring for a place which they could call

their own Pak homeland.

Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din and Lord Headley Visit South Africa in 1926: Reports in The Moslem

Outlook, Cape Town

The Moslem Outlook, describing itself as “The only

Weekly Mouthpiece of the Muslim community in

South Africa”, published the following news item

about the forthcoming arrival of Khwaja Kamal-ud-

Din and Lord Headley in its issue for February 20th,

1926 (vol. II, No. 55) on the front page.

Muslims of Africa Welcome

Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din and

Lord Headley

A RED-LETTER DAY IN MUSLIM AFRICAN HISTORY

GREAT RECEPTION PREPARED FOR

MONDAY NEXT

Monday 22nd February, 1926 will ever be remem-

bered by Muslims of South Africa. That day will wit-

ness the landing on South African shores of Al-Haj

El Farooq (Lord Headley) and Al-Haj the Khwaja

Kamal-ud-Din, B.A., Ll.B., world renowned Imam of

the Woking Mosque, England. Great and sincere

will be the welcome extended to our distinguished

guests by Muslims of this country. From far and

near have we received messages from our brethren

expressing their joy that the first Muslim Mission to

The Muslim Society of Great Britain celebrating the Birthday of the Holy Prophet Muhammad

at the Hotel Metropole, London WC2. Sir Muhammad Akbar Hydari was in the Chair.

12

May 2013

South Africa has become a reality. From all cen-

tres in the Union – and even from far across our

South African borders – have we received com-

munications from representative Muslim com-

munities expressing the wish that our distin-

guished guests pay them a visit, and thus reveal

once more the real and loving brotherhood that

exists among Muslims. Islam is not a dormant

force in Africa, it is pulsating with life in its most

intensive form. That spirit will, we are sure, be

evidenced on Monday next.

RADIO MESSAGE TO MOSLEM OUTLOOK READERS

Just as we went to press we received from Al-

Haj Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din and Lord Headley a

radio message to the effect that they heartily

desired to thank their co-religionists for the

welcome that will be extended to them on their

arrival in South Africa on Monday next.

WHAT MUSLIMS IN EAST AFRICA DESIRE

“The Moslem Outlook, the excellent Muslim or-

gan of Africa issued from Cape Town gives us to

understand that a Mission consisting of Khwaja

Kamal-ud-Din of Woking fame and Al-Haj Lord

Headley is expected to visit South Africa for reli-

gious preaching. Some local enthusiasts insist

that they should also visit Tanganyika on their

way back just as other Indian missionaries did

sometime ago, notably Mr. Chamupati of Guru-

kul. The Anjuman Islamia of this place is in cor-

respondence with Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din’s mis-

sion.” — The African Comrade.

S.A. PRESS ON THE MUSLIM MISSION

The majority of South African newspapers have

informed their readers concerning the forth-

coming visit of our distinguished guests. Several of

our contemporaries commented on the fact and

here we reproduce the opinion of the leading Jo-

hannesburg daily The Star:

“South Africa is a long way behind America in

receiving public lecturers from the rest of the

world, but the latest announcement in this respect

is very interesting indeed. A telegram from Cape

Town published yesterday says that Lord Headley,

‘the well-known British Muslim peer’ (the only one

as a matter of fact) is coming out on the Balmoral,

accompanied by a Muslim dignitary from Woking

Mosque, to speak at various places in the Union.

“Lord Headley is a firm believer in immor tality.

Apart from a claim he makes to have seen his own

father after the latter’s death, he rea sons from the

scientific view that matter is indestructible, going

on to say that: ‘This being the case, is it conceivable

that the human mind, heart, soul and intelligence –

which together form the grandest creation we

know anything about, and which control and direct

matter – should alone be singled out for total

de struction? Is it at all likely that indestructibility

should be confined to the grosser forms of

crea tion?’”

On page 2 of the same issue of The Moslem Outlook,

the text of the welcome addresses to be presented to

Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din and Lord Headley are pub-

lished as follows.

South African Muslims’ Appreciation of Notable Service

ELOQUENT ADDRESSES TO

AL-HAJ KHWAJA KA MAL-UD-DIN

& LORD HEADLEY

The following are the draft copies of the addresses,

which we are privileged to publish, and which will

be presented to Al-Haj El Farooq (Lord Headley)

and Al-Haj Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din on Monday next,

at 8 p.m., in the City Hall, Cape Town.

To AL-HAJ KHWAJA KAMAL-UD-DIN, B.A., LL.B.

DEAR SIR AND RESPECTED BROTHER IN ISLAM

On behalf of the Muslim community in South Africa,

we, the undersigned, desire to extend to you a

hearty welcome on this your first visit to South

Hazrat Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din with early converts

May 2013

13

Af rica.

We are deeply conscious, as indeed is the

whole Muslim World, of the untiring energy and

zeal with which you have laboured in the cause

of Islam particularly as head of the Islamic Mis-

sion at Woking, in England.

Your erudition and genial disposition, com-

bined with a deep sense of modesty and sincer-

ity of purpose, have contributed in no small

measure to the spread of enlightenment con-

cerning the fundamental truth of Islam in the

West. Your lucid writings have indeed borne

good fruit, and it is our earnest prayer that Allah

may bless you abundantly as you continue your

labours in the noble cause. Happy indeed are we

to bear testimony to the fact that, as a worthy

son of Islam, you have dedicated your life to the

propagation of Islam in the West.

May your ministrations continue with

Al lah’s blessing, to be productive of good.

In conclusion we express the hope that your

sojourn in this land may be a happy one and

that you will return to Woking with renewed

energy to labour for the noble cause you have at

heart.

To THE RT. HON. LORD HEADLEY (AL-HAJ EL FAROOQ)

May it please Your Lordship, as a respected

Brother in Islam, to accept this address as a to-

ken of esteem and goodwill from the Muslim

community of South Africa.

We, the undersigned, desire to extend to

Your Lordship a hearty welcome on this your

first visit to South Africa.

We have learnt to recognise in you a Muslim

imbued with the spirit of high ideals. As President

of the British Muslim Society you have rendered, at

great personal sacrifice, glowing service to Islam in

the West. The whole Islamic world appreciates

highly your valuable writings that so truly breathe

the spirit of toleration.

It is our earnest prayer that your life may prove

an enduring testimony that Islam, contrary to West-

ern opinion, is an elevating and ennobling force

that seeks to manifest the potentiality of brother-

hood founded on lasting and triumphant religious

ideals. May you long be spared to serve the cause

which we know you have at heart.

We hope that your sojourn in this country will

prove a pleasant one and that you will carry away

with you a firmer conviction of the unity that ob-

tains in Islam.

Report of ‘Id-ul-Adha at Wok ing,16th April 1932

Published in The Sunday Times

Prayers led by English Muslim, William

Bashyr-Pickard

From The Islamic Review, August 1932

The report of this ‘Id-ul-Adha was published in The

Sunday Times, 17th April 1932, and is reproduced

below from The Islamic Review, August 1932, pages

248–249.

THE EID-UL-AZHA AT WOKING

It is raining hard, and brightness pierces through

heavy leaden skies, and from the sloping top of a

large marquee, pegged out on a sodden field, to-day

drip rivulets of water.

And yet inside are over four hundred of the

most happy and contented people I have ever seen.

Indians, Malayans, Persians, Arabs, Afghans and

Moroccans mingle with French and English, their

racial differences forgotten in their common faith of

Islam.

The marquee is erected near the blue and gold

Shah Jehan Mosque, whose whited dome can be

seen from the railway line, and has been needed

The children of the L And SW Railway orphanage

(Woking) entertained by the Woking Muslim Mission

14

May 2013

because the Mosque is far too small for the cele-

bration of Eid-ul-Azha. One of the most sacred

Muslim festivals, it is held yearly to commemo-

rate God’s restraining of Abraham when he at-

tempted to make a sacrifice of his son Ishmael.

Coverings had been spread over the grass

under the marquee, and stoves were dotted

about to bring a little physical warmth to the

damp atmosphere, which had no effect on the

good spirits and fellowship of the worshippers.

Before and after the service they laughed

and chatted together, often breaking off to give

the double heart embrace of their faith. Young

students kept darting about, eager to meet and

embrace each other, and older members, to

whom they showed a respect that was marked

by affection but not awe.

The officiating Imam, Aftab-ud-din Ahmad,

had issued the invitations, but he smilingly

stood aside for an English Muslim, Mr. William B.

Bashyr-Pickard, B.A. (Cantab), and who is the

li brarian of Hertford, to conduct the prayers.

The portion of the Koran relating to Abra-

ham’s sacrifice was read, and Mr. Bashyr-Pickard

told of the brotherhood of man, without antago-

nism of race or class, which is the basis of the

Muslim relig ion.

Mr. Bashyr-Pickard (the Arabic prefix means

“one who brings good news”) is the first English

Moslem to conduct the prayers at the festival of Eid

-ul-Azha.

Many of the congregations were seated on the

ground, and some, feeling that the marquee was a

veritable mosque, had removed their shoes. Most of

the men wore European clothes, with fezes and tur-

bans. A few Eastern women, wearing saris, sat in

chairs at the back, near the many English women.

Lord Headley, who is president of the British

Maulana S M Tufail, Imam of the Woking Mosque, speaking to

Her Majesty, Queeen Elizabeth II after the Commonwealth Day service

May 2013

15

Muslim Society, wore a red fez almost as impres-

sive as the white headdress of Sir Umar Hayat

Khan, who, in a yellow tunic and white trousers,

stood near him.

Lunch was served in the marquee after the

service, and a number of young students acted

as stewards. There was no “top table” and no

place-names.

Among those present were their Excel-

lencies The Egyptian Minister, The Hedjaz

Minister and the Charge d’Affaires of Af-

ghanistan, Colonel Nawab Sir Umar Hayat

Khan, Al-Hajj EI-Farooq Lord Headley, Rt.

Rev. Bishop James, Prof. Haroun Mustafa

Leon, the merchant prince Zainul Ali Raza,

Mr. Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Mrs. Buchanan Ham-

ilton, Nawabzada F. M. Khan, Sir Bramwell

and Miss Thomas, and Mr. Habibullah Love-

grove. The members of the spiritualist com-

munity attended the function in a number

never witnessed before.

(The Sunday Times, 17th April 1932, reproduced

from The Islamic Review, August 1932, pages

248–249.)

Indian Khilafat Delegation Attends ‘Id-ul-Fitr at Woking

(Editor’s note: Towards the end of WWI the Turks

found themselves in a very difficult position because

the Allied Powers gave Greece greater importance.

The Turks appealed to other Muslims for help and in

India a movement called The Khilafat Movement

was started by Muslims. It was joined by many

prominent Hindus such as Mahatma Gandhi. The

movement also wanted to preserve what remained of

the khilafat. Eventu ally, the Turks themselves abol-

ished the khilafat and established a modern secular

state, thereby ending the system under which all

Mus lim rulers ruled in the name and with the per-

mission of the Khalifa.)

A delegation from the Khilafat Movement attended

‘Id-ul-Fitr at the Woking Mosque on Thursday, 17th

June 1920. A report of the function in The Islamic

Review states:

“There were, roughly speaking, about three

hundred people of various nationalities, including

the press representatives and photographers, who

came to take down the proceedings and photos of

the festival for the various periodicals. There were

Indian Muslims in turbans of different colours,

Sir Abdul Qadir, a leading Sunni Muslim, conducting the ‘Id-ul-Fitr service at the Woking Muslim

Mission, which was mostly financed by the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement

16

May 2013

there were Muslims from Egypt and Arabia in

red turbouches, there were Muslims from the

heart of Africa in long-flowing robes, and above

all, there were British Muslims in their English

dresses. … The most important guests were: the

Hon. Sahibzada Aftab Ahmad Khan, member of

India Council; Mr. Mohammad Ali, Head of the

Indian Khilafat Delegation, with his colleagues;

the Paramount Chief of Lagos (Africa), with his

devoted son who held the gorgeous umbrella

over his father’s head; Nawab Sarwar Ali Khan,

Chief of Kurwai, with his nephew Faiz

Mohammad Khan, Chief of Maler Kotla; Dr. H. M.

Leon, M.A., Ph.D.; Mr. Marmaduke Pickthall; Mr.

Habib-Ullah Lovegrove; Mr. Abdul Karim Lofts,

Magnetic Healer; Dr. Charles Garnett, M.A., D.D.;

and other British Muslim brothers and sisters.”

(The Islamic Review, June–July 1920, pp. 224–

225.)

After the prayers and the khutba, delivered

by the Imam, Maulvi Mustapha Khan, and the

conclusion of the religious ceremony, there was

a short speech by Mohammad Ali Jauhar:

“Mr. Mohammad Ali of the Khilafat Delega-

tion then delivered a short informal address in

keeping with the subject of the sermon. The

feelings of Muslim brotherhood, he said, were

deeply ingrained in our nature. A Muslim cannot

but feel for and sympathize with his Muslim

brother whether they be coming from the ends

of the earth. A message of prayer and devotion

was then decided upon to be sent to the Sultan

of Turkey as Khalifa of Islam, and a telegram to

be sent to the King-Emperor praying His Maj-

esty that in the revised treaty of Turkey no dis-

memberment of Turkish Empire and Jazirat-ul-

Arab may be allowed. ”

(Ibid., p. 226.)

Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha‘at Islam Lahore (UK)

The first Islamic Mission in the UK, established 1913 as the Woking Muslim Mission

Dar-us-Salaam, 15 Stanley Avenue, Wembley, UK, HA0 4JQ

Centre: 020 8903 2689 President: 020 8529 0898 Secretary: 01753 575313 E-mail: aaiiLahore@gmail.com

Websites: www.aaiil.org/uk | www.ahmadiyya.org | www.virtualmosque.co.uk

Donations: www.virtualmosque.co.uk/donations

The Qaid-i-Azam, M.A. Jinnah Prays

Behind an Ahmadi Imam