Public
Meeting in Lahore as Lord Headley accepts Islam
In 1913 Lord Headley, a British nobleman, embraced Islam
in England through the work of Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din, the famous
Ahmadiyya missionary to the West. To celebrate this, a big gathering of
the Muslims of Lahore was held at Ahmadiyya Buildings, the centre of
the Movement in Lahore. We reproduce below the report of this meeting
as published at the time (Paigham Sulh, Lahore, 25
November 1913):
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In accordance with the announcement, a meeting of
the Muslims of Lahore was held on 23rd November 1913 at 3:30 p.m. in
Ahmadiyya Buildings, Lahore. Even before the appointed time, Muslim
brethren started arriving in crowds, and by the time of the opening of
the proceedings the Ahmadiyya mosque and the adjoining marquee were
entirely full. Besides Muslims of all sections of society, followers of
other religions were also present in large numbers. Khan sahib Shaikh
Khair-ud-Din, pensioner, District Traffic Superintendent of the
Railways Department, who takes a keen interest in Muslim national
affairs, was chosen as President of the meeting. First of all, Dr.
Mirza Yaqub Baig (a prominent Lahore Ahmadi and friend of Iqbal)
recited the Holy Quran. He was followed by Sufi Ghulam Muhammad who
recited the poetry of the Promised Messiah in praise of the Holy
Prophet Muhammad. After this, Dr. Sayyid Muhammad Husain Shah (another
prominent Lahore Ahmadi and friend of Iqbal) delivered a speech for
nearly an hour, which derived its force from his sincerity.
After him, Dr. Shaikh Muhammad Iqbal, whose heart
is full of love for the Muslim nation, made a profound and meaningful
speech on the propagation of Islam. He said:
“The allegation against Islam that it was propagated by the
sword is proved to be utterly baseless when we look at world history.
Taking India as an example, history shows that Muslims never
established any permanent or lengthy rule in Bengal, yet the proportion
of Muslims there is greater than in other provinces. Similarly, in the
Balkan states, Islam first spread from a Muslim prisoner to his
Christian fellow-inmates, and then further afield. In Java Islam spread
at a time when Muslim political power in Asia was declining fast. At
the present time, the downfall of Muslim political power is complete
but the progress of Islam is such that in the island of Madagascar
Christian clergymen have held a conference which passed the resolution
that, as the daily advance of Islam on the island poses a threat to the
French government, it should take measures to stop the spread of Islam.
The same is the situation in Africa where Islam is expanding rapidly
even though Muslims have no political power worth mentioning in those
countries, and that too is due solely to individual efforts. The
biggest cause of the decline of the Muslims is the neglect of the task
of the propagation of Islam. Thank God that the man who first
recognised this shortcoming is Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din, who has sacrificed
all worldly interests to take this great work upon himself. It is,
therefore, our duty not to neglect to help him in any way, and we must
not let the question of Ahmadiyyat stand in the way of this noble work,
for our God, our Prophet and our Scripture is the same.”
In short, his speech was praiseworthy from every
angle, and was full of concern for Islam from beginning to end.
Afterwards, the following resolutions were passed unanimously:
Resolution no. 1, moved by Dr. Shaikh Muhammad
Iqbal:
"A telegram of congratulations should be sent on behalf of the Muslims
of Lahore to the Right Honourable Lord Headley, through Khwaja
Kamal-ud-Din of the Woking Mosque, England, on his acceptance of Islam.
This resolution was passed unanimously by all present."
Resolution no. 3, presented by Nawab Muhammad
Salim Khan, Raees of Taitri:
"This meeting proposes that a campaign for funds be launched
among the
Indian Muslim population for the Islamic mission of Khwaja
Kamal-ud-Din. A trust should be created, having Ahmadis and other
Muslims as members, to receive the contributions, and the
funds should
be spent to support Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din. This resolution was seconded
by Dr. Mirza Yaqub Baig and Mr. Abdul Majid, and passed unanimously by
those present."
Resolution no. 4: At the proposal of the President
of the meeting, and with the unanimous agreement of those present, the
following persons were elected as members of the trust:
1. Dr. Shaikh Muhammad Iqbal, M.A., Ph.D.,
Barrister at law.
2. Khan Bahadur Mirza Sultan Ahmad Khan, E.A.C.,
Member of the Council of Regency, Bahawalpur.
3. Shaikh Rahmat-ullah, proprietor, English Ware
House, Lahore.
4. Nawab Muhammad Salim Khan, Raees of Taitri, the
Frontier.
5. Dr. Sayyid Muhammad Husain Shah, L.M.S., Lahore.
6. Dr. Mirza Yaqub Baig, L.M.S., Lahore.
7. Mian Charagh-ud-Din, Raees,
Government Pensioner.
The Joint Secretaries were declared to be Shaikh
Rahmat-ullah and Dr. Mirza Yaqub Baig. The meeting closed with a prayer.
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Lord
Headley’s visit to Lahore and Iqbal’s speech at the
Lahore Ahmadiyya annual gathering.
In 1927 Lord Headley, the famous British convert to Islam who had
embraced Islam in 1913 at the hand of Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din, came to
India. During his visit he presided over one of the sessions of the
annual conference of the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha'at Islam in Lahore.
Large numbers of the general Muslim public, as well as many famous
Muslim leaders, attended the session. Given below are some extracts
from the report of the proceedings (Paigham Sulh,
Lahore, 4 January 1928):
| Proceedings on 28th December 1927. The venue for
the annual Jalsa [conference] was, as usual, the Ahmadiyya Buildings
mosque. However, as today an address was to be presented to Lord
Headley, and such large numbers of people were expected to attend to
hear his reply that the space in the conference marque would not have
sufficed, it was deemed suitable to hold today’s proceedings
in the grounds of the Islamia College.
His Lordship arrived at about 3.30 p.m. and took
his seat on the podium amidst resounding cries of Allahu
Akbar. As soon as he sat down, the Hazrat Amir Maulana
Muhammad Ali gave a short address, proposing him for the chair, in
which he said …. After Hazrat Amir, Sir Mian Muhammad Shafi
rose to support the motion, and said …. He was followed by
Maulvi Zafar Ali Khan, who said …. Then Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din
spoke …. After him, Dr. Shaikh Sir Muhammad Iqbal rose and
said:
“Sometime ago I wrote the following verse about Europe:
Europe has polluted the fountains of knowledge. They say that poetry is
a part of prophethood. It may be that God, by means of the efforts of
our friend Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din and his supporters, will cause Europe to
make these fountains pure and clean again through Islam. At least the
time has come when Europe is starting to feel that its salvation lies
in Islam, and only in Islam. The movement which began in 1400 c.e., and
which led Europe to make many advances in so-called civilization, has
been shown to be unsuitable by the people of Europe themselves. Western
civilization has been shaken to its foundations. For the last two
centuries, it has striven to establish peace in the world, but has met
with utter failure. Its well-being now depends on Islam only, and it is
our good fortune that we see among us today a member of the British
nobility. On the one side, there is a British nobleman, and
on the
other (pointing towards Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din) a commoner from among
us.”
Dr. Iqbal continued:
“Muslims must be united in the face of their enemies who are
on the attack from all sides. In our own country, on the one hand the
Hindus are our enemies, bent on extirpating Muslims from India, and
believing that they have no right to live in India as Muslims. Those
who think thus are foolish. They are under a misconception: Islam can
never be driven out of India. It has ruled India for centuries, and
shall rule the hearts of the Indians forever.
“Besides this, the Muslims face an
internal danger at this time. A party has arisen among us, asserting
that Muslims are not a separate entity in India. Such people are
destroying Islam with their own hands. Islam is a distinct entity in
this country, and Islam has resolved to maintain its separate identity
in this country. Islam shall never be overcome, it shall triumph in the
end.”
Someone objected at this point, as to how Islam
could triumph while it was under the rule of the British. Sir Muhammad
Iqbal said in reply:
“Do you not know that the example of the Tartars is being
revived today? The very nation to which we are subject shall itself
become Muslim. A living proof of this fact is Lord Headley who is among
us. The powers of Islam are not limited. One age was that of the sword,
today is the age of the pen (applause!). It attacks from within and
without, and compels you to accept it in all ways.”
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