My protest note on Wikipedia entry about Maulana Zafar Ali Khan
Needing some information about Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, journalist, editor of Zamindar, one-time admirer and in 1930s opponent of the Ahmadiyya Movement, I came across the Wikipedia entry about him. Someone had written in it:
He was against the Ahmadiyya Movement and waged a campaign against it in his daily Zamindar. In, 1934 when the British government banned Zamindar, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, sued and got the government orders revoked by the court. He stood firm against Mirza Ghulam Ahmed and tried to falsify his claim of Prophethood through his rational columns. Essentially all Muslims consider Mirza Ghulam Ahmed a liar and his claim false.
I have added a protest note after this as follows:
To Wikipedia: I strongly protest at the inclusion of the ridiculous and obviously false propaganda statement that *all* Muslims consider Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as "a liar". Many eminent Muslims considered him a Muslim and servant of Islam. Maulana Zafar Ali Khan himself supported the Ahmadiyya movement as an Islamic movement before the 1930s. Maulana Zafar Ali Khan's maternal uncle Maulana Muhammad Abdullah Khan (d. 26th April 1935) was a scholar of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Jamaat. This uncle's two sons, Maulana Mustafa Hasan Khan and Maulana Murtaza Hasan Khan were prominent Lahore Ahmadiyya missionaries and writers.
You can read my protest note in this Wikipedia entry just under the objectionable words.
From Saad:
Is there any source showing that Maulana Zafar Ali Khan had Ahmadi relatives? Also is there a reason why he was anti Ahmadi in the 30s?
From Zahid Aziz:
First please note that in my post above of five years ago the Wikipedia entry which I mentioned does not now contain the comment that I objected to, nor my response to it.
In answer to the question from Saad, I give here links to page images from two issues of the Lahore Ahmadiyya journal Paigham Sulh, reporting on the death of Maulana Muhammad Abdullah Khan.
Page 4 from the issue 27 April 1935. The death news is in column 3. By coincidence in column 1 there is an item about Maulana Zafar Ali Khan’s opposition campaign against Ahmadiyyat.
Pages 1 and 6 from the issue 7 May 1935. This is an obituary. It mentions on page 6 in column 1 (see red line) that the deceased was the “real phopha” of Maulana Zafar Ali Khan. That means husband of the sister of Maulana Zafar Ali Khan’s father (uncle by marriage). As mentioned in these reports, the deceased was father of Maulana Murtaza Khan and Maulana Mustafa Khan, both of whom were missionaries and authors of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement. These two were first cousins of Maulana Zafar Ali Khan.
As to why he turned against the Ahmadiyya Movement, this was part of the phase of opposition which arose in the 1930s due to the clash between Dr Sir Muhammad Iqbal and Mirza Mahmud Ahmad, the Qadiani Khalifa, who were both on the Kashmir Committee of the time.
From Saad:
JazkAllah Zahid sb. I was asking for references because I wanted to cite this valuable information on wikipedia to highlight that Zafar Ali Khan's relation with the Ahmadiyya movement was not one dimensional. May Allah bless your efforts! I have added this excerpt on Wikipedia:
Relation with the Ahmadiyya Movement
Zafar Ali Khan's relationship with the Ahmadiyya movement was complex. His father had been an ardent admirer of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and other leading Ahmadis such as Maulana Hakeem Noor-ud-Din.[9] His maternal uncle Maulana Hassan Khan and his cousins were also prominet Lahori Ahmadis.[10]He worked on multiple collaborative projects with Ahmadis such as Khwaja Kamaluddin and even praised the movement. However, in the 1930s published Anti Ahmadi vitrol in the Zamindar, and even wrote some anti Ahmadi poetry.[11]Close to the time of death there was still some socail interaction and amicability as the the second Ahmadi Khalifa, Mirza Bashir ud din Mahmood, personally paid for his medical care untill his passing in 1956.[12]
From Zahid Aziz:
Thank you for adding this note, Saad sahib. I should point out a couple of corrections. His maternal uncle was Maulana Abdullah Khan, not Maulana Hasan Khan. This maternal uncle’s sons were Maulana Murtaza Khan and Maulana Mustafa Khan.
(Note: In my previous comments, my adding “Hasan” to the names of the sons was a mistake.)
It may be worth clarifying what “maternal uncle” he was, i.e., uncle by marriage on his father’s side.
The biographies of the three of them are included in the Lahore Ahmadiyya Urdu publication, Yaad-i Raftigan, vol. 2, at this link. Please see p. 102-114.
Also in your Wikipedia note 10, there is a typing error: “Adullah”.
From amjad pervez:
تو جناب آپ دونوں کی فائنل رائے کیا ہےکہ مولانا ظفر علی خان صاحب کے بارے میں کہ وہ قادیانی تھے یا نہیں شکریہ
From Zahid Aziz:
Dear Mr Amjad Pervez:
We were discussing the relatives of Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, and also the his relationship with the Ahmadiyya Movement. No one was saying that he himself was an Ahmadi.