Lahore Ahmadiyya support for Pakistan
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The Lahore Ahmadiyya Anjuman under the leadership of Maulana Muhammad
Ali (d. 1951) gave full, active and vigorous support to the movement
for the creation of Pakistan throughout the years preceding its
creation in 1947, as shown below.
In its English organ, The Light, for 8 February 1946,
on page 4, a short item appears as follows:
Lahore Ahmadis to vote for
League
Maulana Muhammad Ali issues instructions
“In the course of his Friday Khutba on February
1, Maulana Muhammad Ali, Head of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement,
has called upon the members of this Movement that throughout India
in the forthcoming elections to the Provincial legislatures, they
must vote for the Muslim League candidate. Muslim League, he emphasized,
has at the present time become a symbol of Islamic unity and solidarity.
All members of the Lahore Ahmadiyya community must therefore stand
by the League in this momentous struggle which involves the very
survival of Islam in this country. Anyone failing to abide by this
verdict of the community will be guilty of a betrayal of the community.”
In The Light of 8 May 1946, the main item on the front
page is headed:
Maulana
Muhammad Ali Urges Special Prayers Every Friday
For the last three weeks Maulana
Muhammad Ali, Head of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement, has been offering
special prayers at the Friday congregational prayer for the success
of Mr. Jinnah’s talks with the Cabinet Mission.
The following are some extracts from this item:
“Exhorting the congregation last Friday, May 3,
to humbly beseech the Almighty to protect the Muslims of India at
this critical juncture in the history of Islam in this country,
the Maulana made it plain that Pakistan is a life and death issue,
not only for the existence of Muslims but at the same time for the
survival of Islam itself as a faith and culture. Of all the world
of Islam, said the Maulana, the Indian Muslims were the only people
who yet believed in the possibilities of Islam as a religion to
play a role in the re-shaping of the world. In every other Muslim
land, including Egypt, the cultural centre of Islam, and Turkey
and Afghanistan, the politically independent States of Islam, the
very idea of tabligh or the propagation of faith was extinct.
“ ‘Pakistan or Perish’
was no mere political slogan, observed the Maulana. It was a real
and grave danger. If the Muslims failed to survive as a free people,
they perish and along with them perishes the idea of Islam as
a vital force of life.”
Maulana’s
message at creation of Pakistan
On the day after the creation of Pakistan, a special Pakistan number
of The Light was issued (15 August 1947) which carried on the
front page a message of congratulations by Maulana Muhammad Ali around
a central photograph of Mr. Jinnah. In his message, the Maulana said:
“I offer my felicitations, first of all, to Quaid-i-Azam
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, for whose trust in God, untiring efforts, unwavering
resolution, far-sightedness, unbending power of resistance and breadth
of vision, God Almighty has blessed the Muslims with a magnificent
boon and has vouchsafed them rulership over a part of India. May
God grant this soldier of Islam a long lease of life and sustain
him in health and energy, and may He enable him and us all to be
grateful servants of His, our heads always bowing before His will!
I offer my felicitations to the whole of the Muslim nation,
especially the masses of the Muslims whose sacrifices have won
Pakistan, the greatest of these sacrifices being the united front
which they displayed in the struggle. It is my humble prayer that
God may sustain their hearts in unity, free from all kinds of
mutual jealousies and ill-will. May God grant all Muslims the
sense to realize that in this unity and solidarity lies the secret
of their strength, especially to those of them who are yet outside
this Islamic solidarity.
I offer felicitations to those unknown Muslims whose nightly
supplications before God to save the bark of Islam at this critical
hour have been the cause of bringing us His blessings and mercy,
and who keep the torch of this Heavenly light, which is the soul
of Pakistan, aflame.
In this hour, my fervent prayers also go out towards those saintly
personages who sowed the seeds of tabligh in this land
of ours, the fruit of which we are enjoying today in the shape
of Pakistan. In grateful memory let us recall that but for their
efforts to propagate the light of Islam in India, far from achieving
any sovereign status for Islam in this country today, millions
of our people now constituting the Muslim nation would have themselves
been wallowing in polytheism, idol-worship and darkness. May He
bless their souls with His unbounded mercy and exalt their ranks
in their heavenly abode! May He enable us of this age to follow
in their footsteps and try in our own humble way to disseminate
the light of the last message of God, the Holy Quran, not only
in this subcontinent but over the length and breadth of the whole
world; and, while departing from this world, may we leave behind
to the coming generations the same heritage that these saintly
souls left to us, so that just as we today are reaping the harvest
of their sacrifices and labours in the form of Pakistan, our coming
generations may be blessed with the reward of our efforts and
sacrifices in the shape of converting the whole of India, nay,
the whole of the world, into a Pakistan in which man may be reunited
to man, in which fellow-feeling may bind man to man, irrespective
of caste or creed, a Pakistan free from injustice, tyranny and
oppression, in which the whole of mankind may dwell as a single
family.
In the end, it is my humble prayer to God Almighty that now
that He has blessed us with rulership, He may also fill our hearts
with the passion to serve fellow-men and enable us to walk in
the footsteps of those who, while wielding regal sceptre, lived
the lives of darweshes, those who looked upon themselves, not
as rulers, but as servants of the people. O Almighty Allah! Make
this Islamic state an ideal State which may serve other nations
of the world as an object lesson in equity and justice, in mutual
goodwill and toleration, in honesty and integrity and above all
in a passion for the service of fellowmen. O God, grant that the
heads of the officials of this State may ever remain bowed before
Thy commandments and their hearts filled with compassion for Thy
creatures!”
Incident related by Mr N.A. Faruqui about the
British Cabinet Mission’s rejection of Pakistan and Maulana
Muhammad Ali’s prayers and his revelation
Behind at least some of the prayers of Maulana Muhammad
Ali mentioned above “for the success of Mr. Jinnah’s
talks with the Cabinet Mission” lies a story which was recounted
by Mr N.A. Faruqui, a leading Lahore Ahmadi and a high officer first
in the British Indian Civil Service and then in the Pakistan Civil
Service. He first gave a brief account which was published in 1962
in the biography of Maulana Muhammad Ali in Urdu, Mujahid-i
Kabir. Later he related a more detailed version in our Urdu
organ Paigham Sulh, dated 6–13 October 1982. His
earlier account may have been brief because it was too close to
the time when the events had taken place. When the English translation
of Mujahid-i Kabir, was published under the name A
Mighty Striving, the details found in Mr Faruqui’s Paigham
Sulh article were added to it. His statement is as below.
‘
In 1946 I was Deputy Commissioner of Karachi. The Governor of the
Sindh was Sir Francis Mudie, one of the few British who, being fully
aware of the machinations of the Hindus, was a great sympathiser
of the Muslims and supporter of the Pakistan cause. As I had previously
served as his secretary, he used to tell me his inner feelings,
especially as he found me to agree with his views. Even after I
became Deputy Commissioner of Karachi, he used to have discussions
with me in favour of the creation of Pakistan. His support of the
Muslims being no secret, the Hindu press used to refer to his name
sarcastically, from his initials F.M., as “Fateh Muhammad”,
and send telegrams against him to the Viceroy Lord Wavell and the
Secretary of State for India Lord Pethick-Lawrence. But Sir Francis
Mudie, instead of being overawed or intimidated, was undeterred
and used to fight these complaints.
A British cabinet mission came to India in 1946, headed
by Lord Pethick-Lawrence, to discuss the question of Indian independence,
and on their way from London to New Delhi they stayed in Karachi
for one night as guests of the Governor of the Sindh. The following
morning it was my official duty, as District Magistrate, to be present
at Karachi airport for their departure. After they left, the Governor
beckoned me to accompany him in his car. As soon as the car moved
off, he said to me: “Faruqui, they are not going to give us
Pakistan”. This appeared to be the final, irrevocable decision
of the British government. Naturally, I was filled with sadness
and gloom, but due to the confidential nature of this news I could
not mention it to anyone. Prayer to God was needed, but I myself
was far from having closeness to the Almighty. Maulana Muhammad
Ali was in Dalhousie at the time, and I knew full well how much
his prayers were accepted by God. The matter being confidential,
I wrote to him only these lines:
“The cabinet mission stayed the night in Karachi
and proceeded to New Delhi: ‘What the eye can see, cannot
be brought to the lips; I am in bewilderment as to what the world
will become’.[Note 1]
Sir, please pray specially for the future and welfare of the Muslims.”
The Hazrat Amir replied by return post as follows:
“I am always praying for the welfare and the
religious and worldly success of the Muslims. But on receiving
your letter I was praying specially during the night when I heard
the voice: Pakistan Zindabad.[Note
2] Although there appears to be despondency everywhere,
it seems that it has been decided in heaven that Pakistan will
come into being. I will continue to pray to God in this matter.”
I became satisfied upon hearing this prophecy but
my tranquillity soon vanished when the cabinet mission proposed
a kind of united India and the Muslim League accepted it and joined
the future government to be headed by Nehru. Not only did the dream
of Pakistan appeared to come to an end with that, but I became uncertain
about the fulfilment of Hazrat Amir’s prophecy. However, events
changed their course when that plan failed because of the obstacles
placed by the Congress party. At last Pakistan came into existence
the following year, and towns and cities echoed with the chant Pakistan
Zindabad, fulfilling the Divine revelation received by that
man of faith.
’
Notes:
1. This is a poetic verse by
Iqbal quoted by Mr. Faruqui.
2. This is the very well-known
slogan meaning ‘Long live Pakistan’. |
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