Hadrat Maulawi Nur-ud-Dinra Khalifatul Masih I by ra Muhammad Zafrulla Khan 2006 ISLAM INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATINS LIMITED Hadrat Maulawi Nur-ud-Dinra Khalifatul Masih I by Muhammad Zafrulla Khanra First Published in UK by: The London Mosque (Hazrat Maulvi Nooruddeen Khalifatul Masih 1) Second Edition published in UK in 2006 © Islam International Publications Ltd Published by Islam International Publications Ltd Islamabad Sheephatch Lane Tilford, Surrey United Kingdom GU10 2AQ Printed in UK at Raqeem Press Tilford, Surrey ISBN: 1 85372 848 9 About the Author Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khanra (1893-1985) a companion of the Promised Messiahas; a man of phenomenal intelligence and memory; a great orator; a prolific writer and a great scholar of comparative studies of religion was born to Ch. Nasrullah Khan at Sialkot. He initiated into Ahmadiyyat, alongwith his parents, at the most blessed hands of the Promised Messiahas in 1904. He was educated primarily at Municipal Board School, and then American Mission High School. Though indisposed, he secured first position in the school in matriculation examination when he was only fourteen years of age. He graduated (in first grade) from Govt. College Lahore in 1911 and was the first Indian student who topped London University in LLB final in 1914. He started his career as a lawyer at Sialkot in 1915. Though young for his age and experience, he was elected as a lecturer at Law College Lahore in 1919. He started his political career with selection as a member in Punjab Legislative Assembly in 1926. He successfully pleaded the cause of Muslims with the Indian Round Table Conference held in London in 1930, 1931 and 1932. He was elected as the President of The Indian Muslim League in 1931. For six years he remained member of the Governor- General’s Executive Council of British India and served in various fields such as health commerce, archaeology, railways and law etc. During this period he represented undivided India in numerous conferences abroad and had the opportunity to put forth the Two-Nation theory to numerous heads of iii states. It was owing to this that he always remained among the reliable associates of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinah. He became Foreign Minister of Pakistan in 1947, and for many years led the Pakistan delegation to the General Assembly of the United Nations. He was President of the Seventeenth Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. He crowned his already remarkable career by sitting as judge of the International Court of Justice at the Hague, Holland (1954-1961) first as the Vice President (1958-1961) and then the President from 1970 to 1973. Among the corpus of Sir Zafrulla Khanra include Translation of the Holy Quran, Riyad-us- Salihin [a book of Ahadith] and Tadhkira [collection of the revelations, dreams and kushuf i.e. Divine visions of the Promised Messiahas]. He also authored more than a dozen of books on various topics of religious and political interest. iv CONTENTS PUBLISHER'S NOTE ...............................................V FOREWORD BY THE AUTHOR ...........................IX BACKGROUND.........................................................1 IN QUEST OF KNOWLEDGE..................................8 SOJOURN AT BHOPAL .........................................19 HIJAZ INTERLUDE ................................................30 PHYSICIAN AT BHERA ........................................43 MAHARAJA’S PHYSICIAN...................................54 SEEKER AND SOUGHT.........................................70 MIGRATION............................................................85 IDEAL DISCIPLE ....................................................93 EMINENT DIVINE................................................102 WISE COUNSELLOR ...........................................122 KHALIFATUL MASIH .........................................143 STATUS OF KHALIFA.........................................160 KHILAFAT.............................................................185 ILLNESS.................................................................215 FINAL ADMONITIONS........................................235 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES ...........................268 CLOSING SCENE..................................................291 GLOSSARY............................................................316 INDEX ....................................................................318 REFERENCES........................................................335 v Publisher's Note The biography of Hadrat Maulawi Nur-ud-Dinra, the companion and the first successor, Khalifa, of the Promised Messiahas was written by Sir Muhammad Zafrullah Khanra and was published sometimes in the eighties (no date of publication was given) in England by the London Mosque, 16 Gressonhall Road, London SW18. We are publishing the second edition of the biography with a new typeset. The first eidition did not have index and references (except those of the Holy Quran). This edition is published with index and most of the references have also been given. We found some spelling and other minor mistakes which have been corrected. However, the text has not been altered and strictly follow the original edition. Another feature of this edition is the transliteration of unfamiliar Arabic, Persian or Urdu words. In this we have followed the system of transliteration of Royal Asiatic Society, which is given below. The name of Muhammadsa, the Holy Prophet of Islam, has been followed by the symbol sa, which is an abbreviation for the salutation 'may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.' The names of other prophets and messengers are followed by the symbol as, an abbreviation for 'on whom be peace.' The actual salutations have not generally been set out in full, but they should nevertheless, be understood as being repeated in full in each case. The symbol ra is used with the name of the Disciples of the Holy Prophetsa and those of the Promised Messiahas. It stands for Radi Allahu ‘anhu/‘anha/‘anhum (May Allah be pleased with him/with her/with them). vi FOREWORD BY THE AUTHOR Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiahas and Mahdi, Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movementas died, after an illness extending over a few hours, at Lahore, on May 26, 1908. He had received repeated warnings of his fast approaching end, in the divine revelations vouchsafed to him, over a period of weeks. Nevertheless, the impact of the event, when it happened, on the members of the Movement, was shattering. His bitter opponents breathed a sigh of relief, and the more virulent ones expressed unseemly jubilation, that a grave threat to some of their cherished beliefs and doctrines, and the way of life to which they had become addicted, had at last been removed. They conceived that the Movement founded by him would soon pass into the limbo of history, and would be forgotten as an inconsequent ripple on the surface of orthodox Islam. The sober minded among the Muslims, though not endorsing his claims, felt bereaved of a great champion of Islam, whose death was an irreparable loss. Even non-Muslims acknowledged and paid tribute to his high scholarship, utter sincerity, and the purity and righteousness of his life. At that fateful hour in the history of the Movement, of Islam, of religion and of mankind, before his sacred remains were reverently committed to the earth at Qadian, on May 27, his foremost and most devoted disciple, Hadrat Maulawi Nur-ud-Dinra, an ix eminent divine, a great lover of the Holy Quran, an outstanding and reputed physician, was acclaimed as his spiritual Successor, and the members of the Movement swore allegiance to him in his capacity of Khalifatul Masih. In that capacity, as ordained by the divine will, he was destined to perform the same role as Hadrat Abu Bakrra, the first Successor of the Holy Prophetsa of Islam, had been similarly destined to perform at the time of a far graver crisis in the fortunes of Islam and of mankind, thirteen hundred years earlier. Divine grace enabled Hadrat Maulawi Nur-ud-Dinra to perform that role so well, that by the time of his death, in March 1914, the Movement, which completed its first quarter century about then, had been fully safeguarded against disruption and disintegration. The test came immediately in the shape of a challenge to the very institution of the Khilafat, by a number of well-known prominent members of the Movement, who claimed that they had the support of ninety five percent of the members of the Movement. They were soon undeceived. The bulk of the Movement withstood and defied the challenge firmly, and the Movement has since marched forward from triumph to triumph under the wise and inspiring leadership and fostering care of Hadrat Khalifatul Masih II (1914- 1965) and Hadrat Khalifatul Masih III. By now its branches are strung around the globe, and its membership, which is increasing daily, exceeds ten million. It is being widely recognised as the divinely promised renaissance of Islam (9:33). The place of Hadrat Maulawi Nur-ud-Din, Khalifatul Masih Ira, is securely established in the history of the Ahmadiyya Movement and of Islam. Little is, however, known of his life and character, to those members of the Movement and other seekers after truth who are not familiar with Urdu. This is a x humble effort to furnish a concise account of both in English. The author thereby seeks to discharge a minute fraction of the heavy debt of gratitude that he owes to that august, revered, gracious and deeply loved personage from whom he had received numerous personal