CENTENARY OF THE DEATH OF HAZRAT MAULANA NUR-UD-DIN
Hazrat Maulana Nur-ud-Din passed away on 13th March 1914 — may Allah raise his grades to the highest level!
To mark this centenary I have collected some articles about his life. Please see this link.
Three of these are news published in Ahmadiyya organs at the time (one English, two Urdu). The image above is the head of one of these.
Maulana Muhammad Ali recounted in later years:
“It was my good fortune that I had the opportunity to learn the Quran from him even in those days when he was on his death bed. I used to read out to him notes from my English translation of the Holy Quran. He was seriously ill, but even in that state he used to be waiting for when Muhammad Ali would come. And when I came to his presence, that same critically ailing Nur-ud-Din would turn into a young man. The service of the Quran that I have done is just the result of his love for the Holy Quran.”
What must have been Maulana Nur-ud-Din’s last letter to Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din (who was then in England) is translated below:
“Qadian. 21 January 1914.
Respected and honoured Khwaja sahib, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu-hu.
I am now old and have lived long. Whenever I placed reliance on people, I suffered. I don’t need to explain the details to you. When you have the money, only then expand the magazine. Do not start some venture based on hope, and then find yourself ridiculed. God has many assistants. When someone does worthwhile work, it will be a sincere person who does it. Those who do it for payment don’t work successfully. All those who worked for the Holy Prophet Muhammad were honorary. That is how the work was done. As soon as honorary work was replaced by paid work, everything perished. Do not work beyond your strength. … There are very few who are willing to sacrifice themselves. These days I don’t order anyone. Self-sacrifice is a very great quality, which a person only possesses through the grace of God.”
— Paigham Sulh, 3 March 1914, p. 1.
From ikram:
A poignant explanation by Hazrat Nooruddin sahib of a verse in Persian by HMGA sahib that reflects the pain of the master as felt by his closest disciple:
From Rashid Jahangiri:
Mention of HMGA in lectures of Maulana Noor-ud-Din sahib.
Some years ago a Qadiani physician, living in Fremont, California, USA, on an internet forum discussion criticised Holy Quran translation by Allama Noor-ud-Din rendered into English by his son and daughter in-law. His objection was that HMGA name is not mentioned in translation by Abdul Manan Omar and Amtul Manan Omar. I gave him an answer. I wish i had read the Badr April 22, 1909. He would have got answer from Allama.
From Zaki Ghulam:
Is an authentic copy of, or information about, the Will/Wassiyat of Maulvi Hakkim Nur-ud-Din Sahib (ra) publicly available? Did he give any guidance on how the Community should go on, after his time?
From Zahid Aziz:
Sudden death of Prof. Jamil Umar, grandson of Hazrat Maulana Nur-ud-Din, the day after he delivered a speech about the Hazrat Maulana
On Sunday last, 16th March, I watched live the webcast from Darus Salaam, Lahore (Centre of Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement), of the meeting held to commemorate the centenary of the death of Hazrat Maulana Nur-ud-Din. There was one speaker unfamiliar to me, by the name of Professor Jamil Umar, paternal grandson of Hazrat Maulana Nur-ud-Din, who delivered a detailed speech about the Hazrat Maulana's life. It was most impressive and informative.
Sadly, news has been received that the next day, while at his office, Prof. Jamil Umar died suddenly. Inna lillahi wa inna ilai-hi rajooon. May Allah have mercy on him and join him with His righteous servants, ameen.
Aged 62 years, he had been suffering from heart problems for the last two years. His janaza was conducted at Darus Salaam, Lahore.
Here is a link to a national newspaper in Pakistan reporting his death:
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-5-238867-Prof-Jamil-Umar-passes-away
A tribute to Prof Jamil Umar (also spelt Omar) has been written by the famous Pakistani Physicist Prof Pervez Hoodbhoy. It appears in two places (it is the same article):
The Daily Times
and
Viewpoint Online
From Rashid Jahangiri:
Prof. Jamil Umar speech on his grandfather Maulana Noor-ud-Din.
Prof. Omar delivered 45 minutes speech on different aspects of life of his grandfather.
It can be watched at following link at 1:00:00 http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/44950931
From Amanullah:
I knew Jamil at QAU Islamabad. We were in same computer science diploma. Jamil I knew of that time was a happy, fun, innovative, taking all kinds of initiatives – good and mischievous. That was I think 1976.
After that we went our separate ways – I to bank, he to continue as MSc student and later as prof. Our paths crossed several times and he always remained a friend.
i feel that there are large swaths of his life that remained unmentioned. I am sure the leftist political hacks shall keep writing and talking for at least years to come.
I am interested more in his private life, his parents, brothers, sisters etc.
Without crossing anyone's privacy, I shall deeply greatful if I could contact his family members, friends, etc. And I will totally understand if for personal reasons they want to refrain from doing so.
He was a good friend. And an extraordinary human being, dedicated to those less fortunate. I am sure these human traits he inherited from his grandfather and other family members
From ikram:
Dear Dr. Zahid Aziz: In your Collection of Articles about Hazrat Maulana Nur-ud-din sahib (link), may be you can also add the following esteemed opinion of HMGA about him in "Victory of Islam" (link) – and the corresponding footnote (link).
From Zafar Ahsan Khan:
It was year 1975-76 P.G.Diploma course conducted Qauid e Azam University, in Islamabad, Jamil Omar was my classmate. He was really a good & intelligent student in our class. He was a decent, simple person. Since I was from Karachi, we had good relation during that session. It is very sad we lost a good person. Allah unki maghfirat Kareen. Ameen