Abdul Masih: Icon of Indian Indigeneity Graham Kings ho is this sea ted In­ its subject.7 This famous, early, W dian so sere ne an d dignified convert from Islam calm ? What is he reading, wi th became a medical missionary concentrated med itation, that and evangelist amonghis own is so eviden tly precio us? What people.He was the firs t Indian are those books and bottles in to be employed as a catechis t the background? Why was he (evangelist) bythe Church Mis­ celebrated wi th sucha comm is­ sionary Society and in 1825 be­ sioned portrait?Wh o is this man came the second Indian or­ whospans the centuries, speaks dained Anglican clergyman," to us in his silence, and draws The portrai t directs atten tion us into studying w ha t he him­ to the particular items that re­ self is reading? , late to Masih's significa nce as The re is no written clue on an icon of Indian indigene ity: th e front of the pai nting, buton his turban,his open Scriptures, tu rn ing it over the wordscanbe his books, and his medicine seen in ink: "The Revd. Abd ul bottles. Masseeh. Henr y Martyn's one convert- orda ine d by Bish op The Turban: A Heber. Revd. G. E.Corrie,Jesus Muslim Convert Coli : Cambridge. Luggage Train." Shaikh Salih cho se the name I first saw this portrait in '" , Abdul Masih, Servan t of the 1993. Graha m Cray, the princi­ Mes siah, at his baptism in the palof Ridley Ha ll, the evangeli­ Old Church, Calcutta, on the cal Ang lican theological college d ay of Pen tecost, 1811. He was in Cambridge, di scovered it in conv er ted to Christ th rough a cupboard in the principal's the preaching and life of Henry lodge. Next to it he also found Marty n (17 81- 18 12) a t fra m ed p rints of C harles / Cawnpore (Kanpur) in north­ Simeon and Henry Martyn. I ern India. In a fascinating criti­ had previously seen the mag­ calstu dy,MuslimsandMiss ion­ nificent oil painting of Abdul "Tile Revd. A bdul Masseeh. Henru Martyn's one convert. " aries in Pre-Mutiny India, Avril Masih' in th e headqua rters of A. Powell comments: "He is the Churc h Mission Society? in London and recognized his face signi ficant to thi s study beca use he became the agent, in turn, for in this fading watercolor, which is set in a w alnut frame w ith gilt th e conv ers ions, th ough in many cases very short-lived, of some edgings. Bishop Heber I knew to have been the second Anglican fifty Muslims and Hind us living in the vicini ty of Agra, an d bishop of Calcutta and great h ymnw riter."G. E. Corrie was new because of th e steps he took, altho ug h largely unsuccessful in his to me, and I ass umed that he must have been re lated to Daniel own lifetime, to en gage the attention of Muslim scholars in both Corrie, Martyn's friend, who had enco uraged Abdul Masih as a De lhi and Lucknow."? new discipl e and evangelist. Salih was born in Delhi abou t the yea r 1776 into a well­ The portrait, kindly on loan fro m Ridl ey Hall, now hangs resp ected Mu slim family, became zea lous in devotion , and was above the mantelpiece in my study at the Henry Martyn Cen tre recognized as a scho larly religious teacher in Luc know. When in Cambridge. It is a wa tercolor and (opaque) body color over working for an officer of the East India Compa ny, he even graphite on medium-weight, wove pap er.' its painter, date, induced a Hind u servant to become a Muslim." In considering proven an ce, history, and acquisition by Ridl ey Hall are all cur­ Salih for or di na tion in 1825, Bish op Heber remarked :"His rank, rently fascinating mysteries." Next to it han gs the p rint of his previously to his conversion, was rather elevated, since he was spiritual father, Martyn, and opposite is the print of Ma rtyn's Master of the Jewels to the Court of Oude, an appoin tment of father-in-God, Simeo n." It is a continua l inspiration to me be­ higher estimation in Eastern Pa laces than in th ose of Europe, and cause students and visito rs regularl y ask questions about it and th e holder of which has always a high salary ."!' In 1810 Salih was at Cawnpore, where he heard Martyn Graham Kings, a contributing editor, is thefounding Director of the Henry preach to the poor w ho asse mb led at h is door on Sunday after­ Martyn Centre, Cambridge, England, Lecturer in Mission Studies in the noons to receive alms." Salih, in his own words, we nt "to see th e Cambridge Theological Federation, and affiliated lecturer in the university. sport." He was struck by Martyn 's exposition of the Ten Com­ From 1985 to1991 hewasaCMS mission partnerin Kenyaandheisalsoa Vice mandments and wa nted to hear mo re.In the end he wasengaged President of the CMS . To view a colorversion of the Abdul Masih portrait, see to work w ith Martyn's cantankerous and erra tic assistant, Saba t, the Henry Martyn web page at www.martynmission.cam .ac.uk as copyist of the Persian New Tes tament tran slation . 66 INTERNATIONAL B ULLETIN OF M ISSIONARY R ESEARCH --- - - -- The Open New Testament boat with him, whom he teaches, as we go along, to read, and to learn passages of the Scripture by heart: and when the Natives When Martyn had finished his Hindustani New Testament argue with him about Caste, he sometimes asks the Children if translation, the book was given to Salih to bind.13 In the words of they remember any passage of Scripture in answer; which one or the MissionaryPapers: "Thishe considered as a fine opportunity; otherof themusually does, to the admirationof the poorignorant nor did he let it slip. On reading the Word of God, he discovered people. He has composed many Hymns to Native measures, his state, and perceived therein a true description of his own which he sings with the Christian Children and Servants, after heart. He soon decided in favour of the Christian religion."!' we come-to for the night; and often, during the darkness and It is probably an edition of Martyn's Hindustani New Testa­ stillness of the evening, he and his little Church in the boat make ment that is being held so reverently by Masih in the portrait and these sandy plains and lonely wilds echo with the Beloved that forms its, and his, ultimate focus. Masih is not looking out at Name."19 us (as in the oil painting in Partnership House), but down at the InAgrawithCorrie,Masihwrotecommentarieson Matthew's Scriptures that convicted him, translated by the man who con­ gospel, Romans, and Hebrews, and many copies in manuscript vinced him. Our eyes are also drawn to that point, as we perceive form were soughtbyChristians in North India. During the years ourselves to be witnesses of the biblical devotion of one bound to 1813-14 their joint work led to the baptism of about fifty adults, Christ, and so ultimately Christ-bound, by his binding of the half of them Muslim, among whom "six were Mahomedans of Scriptures. He seems to have taken to heart the words of the the first respectability."20 Avril Powell has perceptively shown Anglican collect for the second Sunday in Advent-to "read, that althoughnone of them made any long-term impact, and two mark, learn and inwardly digest" the Holy Scriptures. key converts had returned to Islam by 1816, nevertheless "this However, disappointment was lurking in the timing of his first and short lived conversion phenomenon opens up the early baptism. When Martyn was about to leave Cawnpore for his interface between Muslims and evangelical Christians in this health's sake, Salih openly declared his faith and asked for region."21 Masih became a focus of curiosity, partly from the baptism. Martyn hesitated but agreed that Salih could go with respectability of his own family. His journals give evidence that him to Calcutta together with Sabat. Even there, Martyn was not Martyn'sHindustaniNewTestament(andparticularlyMatthew's yet convinced of his change of heart. It seems to me that in this gospel) was being requested and studied by leading Muslims in hesitancy he was probably influenced by the volatility and the Gangetic core region. The departure of Corrie in 1814 meant instability of Sabat's conversion experience.IS Martyn left for Masih was alone in Agra, and no new baptisms from among the "respectable" class of Muslims were recorded. Masih has also beendescribed as a pioneer medical mission­ Martyn left for Persia and ary of the CMS/2 and the bottles in the background may symbol­ Arabia and an untimely ize this concurrent calling. On his own responsibility, and with a limited knowledge of medicine,he set up a dispensaryat Agra on death, never being sure of which he spent a considerable amount of his own money. Soon his convert's conversion. he was attracting large numbers of patients and became known as the Christian doctor. After eight years of employment as a catechist, it seemed Persia, Arabia, and eventually an untimely death in Tokat, never appropriate that Masih should be ordained. Unfortunately the being sure of his convert's conversion." He handed him over to first bishop of Calcutta, Thomas Middleton (1769-1822), a strong two friends and fellow Cambridge missionaries in Calcutta.