2. From 1914 to 1917:
Completion and publication of the English translation of the Holy
Quran
Early stay in Lahore
Following the death of Maulana Nur-ud-Din when conditions had deteriorated
in Qadian, Maulana Muhammad Ali had sent his wife and children to
her father Dr. Basharat Ahmad who lived in Rawalpindi at that time.
On 20 April 1914 Maulana Muhammad Ali migrated to Lahore all by
himself. It was decided that he would live in a house adjacent to
the mosque in Ahmadiyya Buildings belonging to Dr. Syed Muhammad
Husain Shah which was still under construction. Two rooms had already
been built on the ground storey but still needed plastering and
laying of the floor. In one of these rooms he had a door fixed and
made it his office, and the other room was for receiving guests.
On the second storey there were two rooms for his family; these
did not yet have doors so they managed by hanging sack cloth curtains
in place of doors. A hearth in the courtyard was used for cooking.
He sent for his family to stay in this house and they managed to
live there under these difficult conditions.
Two initial tasks
Though the Lahore Anjuman had been formed in name but it was in
a state of the utmost destitution. There was no office, no funds
and no missionaries. Under those circumstances, in addition to building
a community, they faced two principal tasks of the propagation of
Islam. One was to support the Woking Mission in England and the
other was the completion and publication of the English translation
of the Holy Quran. The translation of 26 parts of the Quran and
their commentary had already been read to Maulana Nur-ud-Din; four
more parts remained to be completed. There was revision of the manuscript,
getting it typed, writing the introduction, and other aspects of
the work still to be done which Maulana Muhammad Ali had mentioned
to the Sadr Anjuman Qadian in the beginning in June 1909. Consequently
he buried himself in this work day and night.
On the other side in England Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din was working
with great energy and the Woking Mission was progressing daily. The
Khwaja sahib was sending letters stressing that the English translation
of the Holy Quran should be completed as soon as possible because
there was an urgent demand for it among converts to Islam as well
as Christians and there was no translation available to present the
true picture of Islam. For Maulana Muhammad Ali this was the most
urgent task, in addition to organisational matters. For the next four
years he spent three or four months in the summer in Abbottabad where
he could work undisturbed, devoting as much attention as possible
to this task.
Before the Split, the Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya, Qadian, had
decided to send Maulvi Sher Ali, assistant editor of the Review
of Religions, to help the Khwaja sahib in Woking, but when Mirza
Mahmud Ahmad became khalifa one of his first actions was to
cancel this decision. So when the Lahore Anjuman was formed it was
decided to send Maulana Sadr-ud-Din to Woking, and he left in August
1914. After his arrival Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din came back to India temporarily
in November 1914 and stayed here till August 1916.
To organise the Lahore Ahmadiyya community, Shaikh Rahmatullah,
Dr. Mirza Yaqub Baig and Dr. Syed Muhammad Husain Shah toured districts
of the Punjab and Maulana Muhammad Ali himself visited many places.
Due to their efforts branches of the Anjuman were set up, regular
monthly subscriptions began to be received and the Anjuman’s budget
steadily increased.
Teaching Quran classes (Dars-i Quran)
As soon as he came to Lahore in April 1914 Maulana Muhammad Ali
started daily classes at Ahmadiyya Buildings in explaining the meanings
of the Quran. When he lived in Qadian, the Maulana had for many
years listened to Maulana Nur-ud-Din’s teaching of the Quran and
gained knowledge of the Holy Book from there. Then he had also read
out to Maulana Nur-ud-Din his own English translation and commentary
of the Quran. Now the time had come for him to impart this knowledge
so that others could benefit by it. Therefore, he made it a rule
for himself to give regular classes in the Quran. His teaching had
such an attraction that a large number of educated people of Lahore,
both Ahmadis and other Muslims, used to attend. Maulana Zafar Ali
Khan, editor of the newspaper Zamindar, who used to attend
these meetings, wrote on one occasion:
“Respected Maulvi Muhammad Ali sahib, M.A., is one of
those esteemed persons who devote every single moment of their scholarly
lives, without exception, in serving Islam. Daily he holds classes
in the Quran, and in explaining each and every verse he lets flow
rivers of knowledge and fine and deep points. Recently he himself
has written and published the most important extracts from his teaching.
This commentary (tafsir) is of such high merit that one may
not be able to find similar precious gems anywhere within the treasure
of Urdu literature even after making the hardest search.”
(Zamindar, 15 April 1915)
Afterwards circumstances changed and Maulana Zafar Ali Khan
found it expedient to turn against the Ahmadiyya Movement. But his
tribute of that time is even now an evidence of the grandeur of those
classes.
In addition to non-Ahmadi Muslims, people who had taken the
bai‘at of Mirza Mahmud Ahmad or those who had not yet decided
which side was right, used to attend his classes in great number.
This was very worrying for Mirza Mahmud Ahmad because he feared that
Maulana Muhammad Ali’s teaching as well as his arguments about the
Split were so strongly effective that it would damage his khilafat.
So he issued announcements from Qadian again and again declaring that
Maulana Muhammad Ali and others who had not taken the bai‘at
at his hand were transgressors (fasiq) and that Maulana Muhammad
Ali was not capable of translating or teaching the Quran. In connection
with these announcements, Maulana Muhammad Ali wrote an article addressing
Mirza Mahmud Ahmad, published in Paigham Sulh in December 1914,
in which he said:
“Did not your whole community, your council of trustees,
and that unique commentator of the Quran the late Hazrat Maulana
Nur-ud-Din, finding me capable not only of translating the Quran
into English but also into Urdu, entrust me with this work? So much
so that when the Quran was being translated in English and Mir Nasir
Nawab tried to get work started on an Urdu translation, the late
Hazrat Khalifat-ul-Masih said very clearly that the Urdu
translation would also be done by me. So why are those Ahmadis who
have taken the bai‘at with Mirza Mahmud Ahmad being forbidden
from listening to my teaching of the Quran? I am not saying this
because I am worried about the publication of my translation. In
that matter Maulvi Sher Ali has already been raising hue and cry
in all the Muslim newspapers. You people’s writings have also appeared
in the Paisa Akhbar. Do as much as you possibly can, so that
you don’t have any regrets that you did not try your hardest. According
to you, we are only a few men and no one else is on our side. We
left all the funds and property with you. Be patient and wait; if
you are right then we will fail by ourselves and all the activities
we have started will come to nothing. But if the help of Allah is
with us then He Himself will solve our lack of men and means…”
(Paigham Sulh, 29 December 1914)
In addition to the Holy Quran classes, Maulana Muhammad Ali
had also started teaching Sahih Bukhari in Lahore three times
a week, and continued it in subsequent years from time to time. In
the summer months when he went to Abbottabad he held the Holy Quran
classes daily there and these were attended by both Ahmadis and non-Ahmadis
of Abbottabad. Then during every month of Ramadan he would teach one
part (para) of the Quran everyday so as to finish it in the
month, and many members of the Lahore Ahmadiyya community who could
take leave used to spend Ramadan in Abbottabad. In short, teaching
the Quran held a prominent place in his life. For many years in Ahmadiyya
Buildings Lahore and wherever he went in the summer to a mountainous
place, he gave these classes himself. Later on, Dr. Basharat Ahmad
and other elders of the Movement continued this institution at Lahore.
Teaching the meanings of the Quran was a distinctive feature of the
Ahmadiyya community, and it continued in Lahore just as it existed
during the time of the Promised Messiah and Maulana Nur-ud-Din in
Qadian.
Completion and publication of the English Translation of the Holy
Quran
At last, after a labour of about seven years, in April 1916 Maulana
Muhammad Ali completed work on the English translation and commentary
of the Holy Quran. In his Friday khutba on 28 April he gave
the good news to the community. After reading Sura Al-Fatiha,
Sura Al-Falaq and Sura An-Nas, he said:
“A human being can only take on a task by Allah’s help
and it is only with Allah’s help that he can complete it. Today
is a day of happiness for me. For years I have been busy in the
work of translating the Holy Quran into English and by the grace
of Allah I have completed it today. I am not happy like a student
who, at the end of his examination, feels that now he will have
free time and can rest for a few days. I am happy because all the
time that I was involved in this work the worry was always at the
back of my mind that life is so fickle and it may be that this work
would be left incomplete. Of course, Allah is not short of men and
it was His work which would have been completed somehow; if He has
given strength to a weak person like me to start this work, there
is no reason why He could not get it done by someone else. But it
gives great pleasure to a person to complete by his own hand in
his own life the work that he had started.”
After this he explained the meanings of Sura Al-Falaq and Al-Nas,
as to how a person can seek God’s protection and the purpose of every
work of a human being should be to seek that Divine protection. He
told how God caused all the stages of this work to be completed, lifted
all darkness and as to those who were trying to lay obstacles in the
way, God brought them to failure.
It was decided to have the English translation printed in
England because the printing machines that were required for the high
quality, fine paper that was to be used were not available in India.
So Maulana Sadr-ud-Din at Woking was entrusted with the arrangements
for its printing, a task which he fulfilled extremely well. Later
on, Mian Ghulam Rasul’s son Mian Ghulam Abbas also went to Woking
for the same work. The instructions that Maulana Muhammad Ali gave
to Maulana Sadr-ud-Din in connection with this work can be seen in
the following letter which he wrote to him at the end of 1915 when
the translation itself was ready but some other work remained to be
done:
Respected Maulvi Sadr-ud-Din sahib, Imam Woking Mosque. Assalamu
alaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatu.
As your letters show that the English translation
of the Quran is urgently needed for your mission of the propagation
of Islam, and without it you as well as the new converts are facing
great problems, and as the translation part of my work is ready,
while some work remains to be done on the footnotes, and because
of difficulties with Arabic type there could be a further delay,
so I give you authority to get the first edition printed consisting
of the translation only, to arrange for the finance as you think
fit and to publish it as you wish. However, no change, alteration
or amendment whatsoever should be made in the translation except
for corrections required during proof reading. You do not even
have to send me the proofs.
Wassalam. Humbly, Muhammad Ali, 29 October 1915.
But this translation without Arabic text was not printed
at that time. Later on, in 1928, a smaller edition consisting of the
translation without Arabic text and with brief footnotes was published
by Maulana Muhammad Ali for the first time.
He spent the whole of the year 1916 preparing the index and
the preface for the English translation, and at the same time going
through the first proofs which came printed from England. These proofs
were initially read by Maulana Sadr-ud-Din in England, and then read
and corrected by Maulana Muhammad Ali in his own hand here. After
that stage, the reading of the second proofs, the correction of the
Arabic text, and all the other tasks in connection with the printing
were done by Maulana Sadr-ud-Din. As mentioned above, Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din
returned from England to India in November 1914, and then on 25 August
1916 he left again for England. After his arrival in England at the
end of September, Maulana Sadr-ud-Din came back to Lahore in January
1917.
By the end of 1917 the printing had been completed and the
publication of the book had started in England. Its first copies reached
India at the end of November 1917. Thus was this great work accomplished
which he had undertaken according to the wishes of the Promised Messiah
and begun during Maulana Nur-ud-Din’s time, on which he had laboured
hard, day and night, for seven years, in spite of his other religious
work and engagements. So was fulfilled the vision of Hazrat Mirza
sahib which he had recorded as follows:
“After that a book was given to me, about which I was
told that this was the commentary of the Holy Quran written by Ali
and now Ali is giving that commentary to you. Allah be praised for
this!”
(Tazkira, p. 21; Barahin Ahmadiyya, p. 503, subnote
3 on footnote 11)
After its publication, this translation became exceedingly
popular. All its reviews in Indian and British journals were highly
favourable and appreciative. Besides the English and Christian world,
it spread among the educated classes of India in abundance, and brought
to the right path many well known, Western-educated Muslims who had
come under the misguiding influence of Christianity or modern godlessness.
The glad tidings mentioned by Hazrat Maulana Nur-ud-Din, that ‘our
translation has been accepted by Allah’, can be seen to be fulfilled
by reading the newspapers of the time and those countless letters
received about this translation which were then published.
This translation is resplendent with the light of the truth of Islam
as it contains that unique religious thought and knowledge which was
produced by the Promised Messiah and which Maulana Muhammad Ali gained
from him and from Maulana Nur-ud-Din. It also has the following chief
features. The translation is in plain, fluent and idiomatic English,
containing very few extra explanatory words and these are given within
parenthesis. The footnotes have been written keeping in view the objections
raised against Islam by the Christian and other religions. These notes
contain an invaluable treasure of information from dictionaries, commentaries
of the Holy Quran, collections of Hadith and works of history, with
full references. All the chapters (surah), sections (ruku‘)
and verses (ayat) are numbered, and there are plenty
of cross references given so that the meaning of a passage in the
Quran can be explained in the light of other places in the Holy Book.
Every chapter carries an introductory note in which the subject matter
of its sections is summarised and the connection between its sections
and between that chapter and its neighbouring chapters is indicated.
The introduction is so comprehensive as to be a book in itself, and
throws light on the essentials of Islam, the compilation and collection
of the Quran, and other questions. The introduction in the first edition
(and its reprint editions) also presented details of the Muslim prayers,
the words of prayers being given in Arabic text, Roman transliteration
and English translation. In short, this work has many unique features.
Its popularity can be judged by the fact that its first three editions
(the 1917 original edition and its two reprint editions of 1920 and
1935) and the various printings of the version without Arabic text
totalled forty-two thousand copies. The fourth edition, which was
thoroughly revised by Maulana Muhammad Ali with many changes, was
first published in 1951 in a quantity of twenty thousand. As that
has been exhausted, the fifth edition with many print corrections
is being produced in a quantity of ten thousand.{footnote
1}
Another distinction of this translation is that Maulana Muhammad
Ali did not have before him any previous example of such a translation.
The translations done by Christians reflected their deep hostility
and prejudice against Islam. So he had to embark upon very difficult
and laborious research from scratch, like having to dig a well to
find water. For this translation and commentary the Maulana went through
the previous commentaries of the Quran, works of Hadith and dictionaries,
and having extracted the gist of their knowledge and opinions he provided
thousands of references to them in his explanatory notes. The translations
of the Quran done by Muslims after this, for example Hafiz Ghulam
Sarwar, Abdullah Yusuf Ali and Marmaduke Pickthall, derived much benefit
from Maulana Muhammad Ali’s work.
English translation of the Quran and the Qadian community
After the migration of Maulana Muhammad Ali to Lahore, the Qadian
community carried out much false propaganda about many matters including
the English translation of the Quran. Announcements were made by
Maulvi Sher Ali that this English translation was the property of
the Qadiani Jama‘at, so no one must help the Ahmadiyya Anjuman
Isha‘at Islam Lahore in its printing or publication. When this translation
was ready Maulana Muhammad Ali wrote a letter to the Anjuman at
Qadian on 28 October 1915 which began as follows:
“To the Secretary, Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya, Qadian,
Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah wa barkatuhhu.
When I took leave at the beginning of April 1914
the work of the English translation of the Holy Quran was far
from complete. Since then I have been completing it and now, purely
by the grace of Allah, thanks to Allah, it has reached the finishing
stage and within a month it will be ready to give to the press
for printing. Last year your deputation which came refused to
discuss the translation. So I had to remain silent till its completion.
You are aware that it was from my own proposal
that this translation was started, and at that time whether the
Anjuman had encouraged me or not, I was going to do this work
in any event. However, the Anjuman of that time not only approved
of my idea but encouraged me to succeed in what was my own objective.
So now may I enquire of you whether you would undertake to publish
the first edition of my translation? If you are agreeable then
you may participate in this noble venture subject to the following
conditions.”
Among the conditions which the Maulana then specified, the
first one is:
“No alteration or amendment whatsoever shall be made to
my translation. What I have written shall be printed exactly word
for word. The final printed proofs shall be approved by me and it
is those which will be printed.”
The rest of the conditions were regarding the expenses. The
printing costs were to be shared by the two Anjumans and each would
take a number of printed copies in proportion to its share of the
costs. It was also proposed that as the estimated cost was 30,000
Rupees, each Anjuman should deposit 15,000 Rupees in the bank. However,
the response from Qadian was a flat rejection of the proposal. The
leaders of the Qadiani community turned it down in a most deplorable
way. Mirza Mahmud Ahmad in one of his Friday sermons, which was printed
in their newspaper Al-Fazl, used highly offensive language
about Maulana Muhammad Ali and his translation. He not only charged
the Maulana with deceitfulness but declared that he was unfit to do
this work, and went so far as to say:
“Why should we take this paper trash just to set fire
to it? Tell them: keep this translation yourselves.”
Regarding these bitter comments, Maulana Muhammad Ali said in his
Friday khutba which was published in Paigham Sulh of
6 June 1916:
“This is what is called being blinded by rage. He has
not even seen my translation and unseen branded it as trash. Along
with that he has called me dishonest. Can a person be dishonest
who has only taken worthless trash? Those people can be called dishonest
who knew, as they now claim, that I was utterly devoid of the knowledge
of the Quran and in spite of that they remained silent. Was it not
the duty of the Mian sahib [Mirza Mahmud Ahmad] to put it before
the Anjuman that I was unfit for the task of translation? Ask your
khalifa when did he come to know that Muhammad Ali was not
capable of translating. Did he not know this after reading articles
in the Review of Religions for years? Did he not know this
when Hazrat Maulvi sahib [Maulana Nur-ud-Din] was getting the Urdu
translation of the first few parts also done by me and when he told
Mir Nasir Nawab that only Muhammad Ali’s Urdu translation will be
published, and not that by anyone else? Did he not know this when
I had left Qadian and he used to get the Anjuman to pass resolutions
whose aim was that I should continue the translation? … Some eight
or ten days before the death of Hazrat Maulvi Nur-ud-Din when he
said that glad tidings had come from God that ‘this translation
has been accepted’ all the community present there with me went
into sajda (prostration). …
What is my dishonesty in this? I put the proposal of translating
the Quran before the Anjuman and wrote in it that if the Anjuman
cannot bear the expenses then Allah will provide some other means
for me. I did not say to the Anjuman I am your employee so give
me some work, but I said I want to translate the Quran and if
the Anjuman cannot bear the expenses then God will provide some
other means. Allah brought that about as well, that the Anjuman
declined to pay the expenses and the generous Lord gave me other
means.”
In these circumstances the Qadian community was deprived of this important
service of the Quran. They proclaimed boldly and arrogantly that this
translation was useless and that they were starting their own English
translation and would publish one part every month, completing the
entire work in thirty months. A little later the first part was even
published. Then God knows what happened, that for the next thirty
years nothing more was done.
To cover up this weakness they even said that this was not an important
service to the religion and that translating the Quran was not the
duty of an Imam sent by God, otherwise Hazrat Mirza sahib would himself
have done it. Referring to this many years later, Maulana Muhammad
Ali said:
“Someone should ask them that if it was not an
important service then why did Hazrat Mirza sahib, when making
his claim [to be Promised Messiah], express this wish in these
words:
‘I would advise that, instead of these missionaries,
writings of an excellent and high standard should be sent into
these countries. If my people help me heart and soul I wish to
prepare a commentary of the Quran which should be sent to them
after it has been rendered into the English language. I cannot
refrain from stating clearly that this is my work, and that no
one else can do it as well as I or he who is an offshoot of mine
and thus is included in me.’
If spreading the Quran in the world was not Hazrat Mirza sahib’s
mission then for what other purpose did he come? To propagate the
Quran in the world is the duty of every Muslim and Hazrat Mirza
sahib specifically came so that this light could be spread to all
the nations of the world, especially the Western nations. They say
that if it had been an important task Hazrat Mirza sahib would have
done it himself. I say that this translation that has been done,
it is the work of the Promised Messiah and has been done by his
spiritual power. The Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace and the blessings
of Allah be upon him, had prophesied that the keys to the treasures
of the Caesar and the Chosroes had been handed to him, but those
keys were handed during the time of Hazrat Umar. So the truth is
that the works that are done by a follower are included in the works
of the Imam. This is his work, the man who infused into our hearts
the urge to translate the Quran into English and who induced us
to take up this work. Remember it well that this work has not been
done by our community nor by me. It is surely the work of Hazrat
Mirza sahib. We are only the tools.”
(Friday khutba on 23 December 1938, on the occasion of the
silver jubilee of the Lahore Anjuman)
Other writings of the Maulana during 1914 to 1917
In March 1915 the Urdu translation and commentary of the first
part (para) of the Holy Quran was published under
the title Nukat-ul-Quran, Volume 1. Many newspapers
of the time published appreciative reviews of it, including Maulana
Zafar Ali Khan’s newspaper Zamindar. In the educated circles,
this translation and notes became immensely popular.
Among smaller writings, the first book is Hudoos-i Madah (‘Creation
of Matter’) in which is reproduced the debate between Maulana Muhammad
Ali and a follower of Swami Dayanand, which took place in September
1913 at Murree. In 1914 he wrote a booklet Al-Muslih al-Mau‘ud
(‘The Promised Reformer’) after a Qadiani wrote an article in May
1914 in the magazine Tashhiz-ul-Azhan, published from Qadian,
trying to prove that Mirza Mahmud Ahmad was the Reformer whose coming
had been prophesied by the Promised Messiah. In this booklet Maulana
Muhammad Ali proved that none of the then living sons of Hazrat Mirza
sahib fulfilled the prophecy of being Muslih Mau‘ud. In 1915
his book Ayatullah was published, in which the events of the
fleeing of Maulvi Sanaullah of Amritsar from a mubahila with
the Promised Messiah are described. At the end of the year 1915, two
booklets ‘Asmat-i Anbiya (‘Sinlessness of the Prophets’)
and Ghulami (‘Slavery’) were published.
In December 1915, the Urdu translation of Sura Al-Baqara with
explanatory notes was completed and published as Nukat-ul-Quran,
Volume 2. As with the first volume, this turned out to be very popular.
Also in December 1915 there appeared one of his most monumental works,
An-Nubuwwat fil-Islam (‘Prophethood in Islam’). Mirza Mahmud
Ahmad, having established his khilafat and having branded as
kafir all those Muslims who did not believe in the Promised
Messiah, had alleged that the Promised Messiah claimed to be a prophet
and wrote a book on this subject entitled Haqiqat-un-Nubuwwat.
Although Maulana Muhammad Ali and other leaders of the community had
from time to time written articles in Paigham Sulh to refute
this allegation of Mirza Mahmud Ahmad, there was no permanent, comprehensive
book dealing with this. An-Nubuwwat fil-Islam was not only
a shattering reply to Mirza Mahmud Ahmad’s book Haqiqat-un-Nubuwwat
but it also throws full light on issues such as the aim and purpose
of the institution of prophethood, the distinctive attributes of wahy
nubuwwat (the type of revelation which only comes to prophets
and distinguishes prophets from saints), reasons for the ending of
prophethood with the Holy Prophet Muhammad, the true position of visions
and revelations of saints, and the status of the Promised Messiah.
This book consists of about 575 pages, out of which about 200 pages
are an appendix containing all the extracts and references from the
writings of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad on the issue of prophethood.
In May 1916 he published the pamphlet Jihad-i Kabir
(‘The Greatest Jihad’), in which the need and importance of the propagation
of Islam was highlighted, and Muslims in general who were completely
neglectful of this obligation were reminded of their duty.
At the end of 1916, Nukat-ul-Quran Volumes 3 and 4 were published,
being the Urdu translation and notes on Sura Al-i Imran and
Sura Al-Nisa, and became as popular as the previous volumes.
In July 1917, his book Jama‘-ul-Quran (‘Collection of the Quran’)
was published in which the history of the revelation of the Holy Quran,
its preservation, writing down, collection and arrangement etc. are
discussed and the objections of the critics of Islam are answered.
In September 1917, his book Ahmad Mujtaba was
published, in which it is proved from the Quran, Hadith reports and
the writings of the Promised Messiah that ‘Ahmad’ was the name of
the Holy Prophet Muhammad and the prophecy referred to in the words
ismu-hu Ahmad, “his name being Ahmad”, in the Quran (chapter
61, verse 6) referred to him. This book was written to refute Mirza
Mahmud Ahmad’s wrong belief that this prophecy applied to Hazrat Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad. To counter this erroneous belief Maulana Muhammad Ali
and other scholars of the community had already written many articles
in Paigham Sulh, and the Maulana had invited Mirza Mahmud Ahmad
several times to a decisive debate on the matter, but he did not accept
the invitation.
Some other events from 1914 to 1917
The first annual gathering (jalsa) of the Ahmadiyya Anjuman
Isha‘at Islam Lahore was held from 25 to 27 December 1914 at Ahmadiyya
Buildings, Lahore. The institution of the annual gathering was founded
by the Promised Messiah for his Movement and he used strongly to
urge members to attend this occasion so that they could get together
at least once a year, strengthen their ties of love and brotherhood,
review the past year’s work, plan for the coming year and consider
new proposals for the propagation of Islam. So from 1914 onwards
such a gathering of the Lahore Ahmadiyya community was held every
December at Ahmadiyya Buildings. The community was very small at
the time of this first gathering and donations of Rupees 3,846 were
collected on appeal for the propagation of Islam. After a few years
God made this Jama‘at to progress so much, and He infused
in it such a strong spirit of sacrifice, that on appeals by Maulana
Muhammad Ali for different plans that he put forward, not only thousands
but hundreds of thousands of Rupees were raised.
At the end of 1914 a college by the name of the Isha‘at-i-Islam
(‘Propagation of Islam’) College was opened in Lahore to train missionaries
and impart education to those who intended to do research. This was
located in a house on Mcleod Road, and from the beginning of December
1914 Maulana Muhammad Ali took up his residence in the same building.
The official opening ceremony of this college was performed on 28
December 1914 by Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din who had returned from England
in November. Maulana Muhammad Ali was its honorary principal and used
to teach in the college as well as hold his Quran classes there. The
Khwaja sahib also lectured there during his stay in Lahore (from January
1915 to August 1916). Maulvi Fazl Ilahi, a convert from Christianity,
delivered lectures on the Christian religion and Maulvi Mubarak Ali
of Sialkot taught Arabic. The students lived in a part of the college
building and one of those students was Maulana Abdul Haq Vidyarthi
who had started learning Sanskrit at that time.
In July 1915 Maulana Muhammad Ali went to Abbottabad for
the second time for three months. In Lahore he had so many commitments
that it was only during his stay in Abbottabad that he had available
sufficient time to devote to the English translation of the Quran
and other writing work. That year Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din had arranged
to stay in the residence of Shahzada Bukhara and he invited Maulana
Muhammad Ali to join him in the same house. The Maulana took two rooms
while the Khwaja sahib occupied the rest of the residence. In Abbottabad
the Maulana continued giving daily classes in the Quran, as he did
on his previous visit, and in the month of Ramadan he taught one part
(para) of the Quran every day. Many members of the Jama‘at
used to take leave from their work to go to Abbottabad for a month
to attend these classes.
In November 1915 Abdul Hayy, son of the late Maulana Nur-ud-Din,
died in his youth. So on 14 November Maulana Muhammad Ali along with
some friends went to Qadian, but they stayed there for a few hours
only and after paying their condolences to Maulana Nur-ud-Din’s wife
and visiting the grave of the Promised Messiah to offer prayers they
returned to Lahore.
In December 1915, the second annual gathering of the Anjuman
was held. The annual budget had now risen to 22,000 Rupees. Before
and after the annual gatherings Maulana Muhammad Ali, apart from his
other engagements, used also to tour the community in various towns
and cities of the Punjab.
He again spent the summer of 1916 in Abbottabad. During his
stay the previous year, Shaikh Nur Ahmad, a lawyer and a highly respected
member of the Lahore Ahmadiyya community, who was also a relation
of the Maulana’s wife, and many other members made him promise to
come again the following year. As the accommodation where he was staying
was too small, so Deputy Muzaffar-ud-Din offered a room in his residence
to be used as office. Consequently, the Maulana would go to this office
immediately after breakfast and return home after the zuhr
prayer, and then he would go back before the asr prayer and
return home at night after the isha prayer. At the residence
of Deputy Muzaffar-ud-Din the Quran classes were held and congregational
prayers were said. Then when it was proposed that during Ramadan the
Quran classes would cover one part (para) of the Quran everyday,
two more residences were taken and Dr. Mirza Yaqub Baig, Dr. Basharat
Ahmad and many other members spent Ramadan there. At that time proofs
of the English translation of the Quran were coming and the Maulana
was busy in reading them and in doing other writing work. In August
of that year Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din left for England for the second time
and Maulana Muhammad Ali came to Lahore for two days from Abbottabad
to keep him company. At Lahore railway station a large crowd consisting
of both Ahmadis and non-Ahmadis was present to bid him farewell. Among
them was Mian Muhammad Shafi, who afterwards became Sir Muhammad Shafi.
From 27 to 30 October 1916 Maulana Muhammad Ali along with
Dr. Mirza Yaqub Baig and Shaikh Rahmatullah went to visit Syed Muhammad
Ahsan in Amroha as he was ailing. After the third annual gathering
the Maulana toured different branches of the community for organizational
purposes and attended the annual meetings of local branches in many
places.
At the beginning of 1916, the Isha‘at-i-Islam College was
shifted from Mcleod Road to Ahmadiyya Buildings, and Maulana Muhammad
Ali also shifted his residence to the house at Ahmadiyya Buildings.
In April 1917 the Muslim High School was inaugurated in a house on
Mcleod Road and Maulana Sadr-ud-Din was appointed its Headmaster.
The first three and a half years of the Anjuman’s life
These, then, were the first three and a half years of this Anjuman
and of the life of Maulana Muhammad Ali in Lahore. During this period
the community (Jama‘at) began its life, took shape, and its
branches were established in different towns and cities. Right from
the beginning the history of the Anjuman opened with great achievements
in the field of the propagation of Islam. In the annual reports
presented at the annual gatherings of 1916 and 1917 by Dr. Mirza
Yaqub Baig as secretary of the Anjuman, he described the events
and impressions of that time as follows:
“Many members of our Jama‘at were confused
and bewildered about what would be the fate of the community.
But it is the favour of Allah that the efforts of the head of
the community Maulana Muhammad Ali over two and a half years have
been made to prosper by the Almighty. The community has been organised
anew and raised to the stage of being devout and God fearing.
A new life and freshness has been infused into the Jama‘at.
The world is a witness to the service Hazrat
Maulana Muhammad Ali has rendered to Islam and Ahmadiyyat at this
time through his powerful writings and speeches, and by his personal
example and dedication. Nobody could imagine that a reclusive
and quiet man like Hazrat Maulana sahib will perform such magnificent
service to defeat this heresy and false innovation and keep the
community established on the path of worship of one God.”
(From the Annual Report for 1915–16)
In the next annual report in 1917, when the English translation
of the Holy Quran had been published, he writes:
“As long as the world remains, it is hoped that
this service to the Holy Quran will be remembered, a large part
of which was the contribution of Maulana Nur-ud-Din, namely that
he listened to the notes of the translation of almost 28 parts
from Maulana Muhammad Ali and gave the benefit of his guidance
and improvement. Most of all, he prayed with whole-hearted feeling
and urge for this translation to be popular and useful for mankind.
This was his last service to the Holy Word, which he performed
during his fatal illness.
No one is a better witness than my humble self
to how during this most painful ailment he taught Maulana Muhammad
Ali the Holy Quran when he could not even turn in bed or feed
himself, and yet that spiritual being fed his spiritual son with
the spiritual diet of the Holy Quran through his own pure nature.
Nearly four years ago Allah gave the glad tidings to Hazrat Maulana
sahib that this translation had been approved in the court of
Allah, and this was the happiest news which he received a few
days before his departing from this world. So he straightaway
called for Maulvi Muhammad Ali sahib and related this good news
to him and to the entire community which he had received through
Mir Abid Ali Shah, and he went into prostration of thanksgiving
along with Hazrat Maulvi Muhammad Ali sahib, myself and others
present. He said: ‘It is the benevolence of Allah that He has
bestowed this favour upon a dying man like me, and given this
good news; all thanks be to Allah that He kept me alive till this
moment’.”
(Annual Report of the Anjuman, 1916–17)
Opinions and reviews about the English translation of the Holy
Quran
The special features of the English translation have already been
mentioned. Some of the opinions expressed about this work from time
to time are given below.
The famous Indian Muslim leader Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar,
editor of Comrade, wrote in his autobiography:
“It was about this time [December 1918] that a kind friend
sent to us a gift than which nothing could be more acceptable, a
copy of the Quran for my brother and one for myself … with an austerely
faithful translation in English and copious footnotes based on a
close study of commentaries of the Quran and of such Biblical literature
as could throw light upon the latest Holy Writ. This was the work
of my learned namesake, Maulvi Muhammad Ali of Lahore, leader of
a fairly numerous religious community, some of whose members were
doing missionary work in England. … The translation and the notes
which supplied the antidote so greatly needed for the poison squirted
in the footnotes of English translators of the Quran like Sale,
Rodwell and Palmer, the fine printing, both English and Arabic,
the India paper and the exquisite binding in green limp Morocco
with characteristic Oriental Tughra or ornamental calligraphy in
gold, all demonstrated the labour of love and devoted zeal that
so many willing workers had obviously contributed. This beautiful
book acted like the maddening music of the Sarod, according to the
Persian proverb, on the mentally deranged, and in the frame of mind
in which I then was I wrote back to my friend who had sent these
copies of the Quran that nothing would please me better than to
go to Europe as soon as I could get out of the ‘bounds’ prescribed
by my internment and preach to these war maniacs from every park
and at every street corner, if not within the dubious precincts
of every public house, about a faith that was meant to silence all
this clamour of warring nations in the one unifying peace of Islam.”{footnote
2}
The same Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar once met Maulana Muhammad
Ali before going to England and said by way of joke: “Please allow
me to tell one lie, that when I go to England I can say there that
I am the author of this translation”. On this Maulana Muhammad Ali,
the author, smiled and remarked: “No doubt it is Muhammad Ali who
has translated it.”
Maulana Abdul Majid Daryabadi wrote:
“To deny the excellence of Maulana Muhammad Ali’s translation,
the influence it has exercised and its proselytising utility, would
be to deny the light of the sun. The translation certainly helped
in bringing thousands of non-Muslims to the Muslim fold and hundreds
of thousands of unbelievers much nearer Islam. Speaking of my own
self, I gladly admit that this translation was one of the few books
which brought me towards Islam fifteen or sixteen years ago when
I was groping in darkness, atheism and scepticism. Even Maulana
Mohamed Ali of the Comrade was greatly enthralled by this
translation and had nothing but praise for it.”{footnote
3}
Hafiz Ghulam Sarwar, who later himself translated the Quran
into English, wrote:
“The English translation of the Holy Quran is not the
only book he has written, but it is the one by which he will perhaps
become an immortal amongst those who have written about the Holy
Quran. … The English of the Preface and the notes is unimpeachable,
and Maulvi Muhammad Ali has corrected the mistakes of the previous
translators in scores of passages; and wherever he differs from
them his rendering is either the correct and most authoritative
one or has at the back of it full support to be found in the standard
dictionaries of Arabic. … There is no other translation or commentary
of the Holy Quran in the English language to compete with Maulvi
Muhammad Ali’s masterpiece. … It was reprinted in 1920, and both
editions have had phenomenal success and popularity amongst all
classes of Muslims.”{footnote 4}
S. H. Leeder, a well known author of England, wrote:
“I have received the copy of the Holy Quran, and hasten
to congratulate you on the appearance your Scripture, in such a
truly beautiful and chaste form. It is pure delight to handle such
a book, but when one turns to its treasures of light and learning,
one is filled with thankfulness and gratitude for all the labour
… I rejoice to see the Holy Quran in my own language and explained
by a deeply learned and pious Muslim, and I believe that the work
will be found to mark a new epoch in the religious life of the world.”
The reviews of some newspapers and periodicals over the years
are now given.
1. The Quest, London:
“It is certainly a work, of which any scholar might legitimately
be proud.”
2. The Madras Mail, 15 October 1929:“Maulvi Muhammad Ali’s name is a guarantee that the translation
is as accurate as it could be … few translations into English have
reached such a high standard.”
3. The Hindu, Madras, 15 October 1929:
“As a translator, he always had the reputation of being
accurate and reliable … The wealth of material put into the introduction
and explanatory footnotes is impressive.”
4. United India and Indian States, Delhi, 21 December
1929:
“Among human productions of literary masterpieces, the
English translation of the Holy Book by Maulvi Muhammad Ali undoubtedly
claims a position of distinction and pre-eminence.”
5. The Advocate, Lucknow, 24 October 1935:
“Maulana Muhammad Ali, M.A., Ll.B., is a well-known personality,
a great scholar, and as a translator he has the good reputation
of being accurate and reliable, and his translation in English is
of high standard … We congratulate Maulana Muhammad Ali for this
production which has surpassed other English translations.”
6. The Hindustan Times, Delhi, 6 May 1935:
“Maulana Muhammad Ali’s name is known to every lover of
the holy literature of Islam. … Very illuminating notes are provided
by the translator which will be of great use to students. Maulana
Muhammad Ali’s language is restrained and eminently suitable for
the purpose.”{footnote
5}
Two opinions from recent years may also be added here.
1. In the Atlas of the Islamic World since 1500 by
Francis Robinson (Time-Life Books, 1991 reprint), it is stated in
the bibliography about translations of the Quran:
“Notable for its precision is that of Muhammad Ali of
Lahore, the version used with one exception throughout this book.”
(page 229, column 2)
2. In the Urdu monthly Islami Digest of Karachi, Pakistan,
March 1996, in its series Tashrih-ul-Quran, the following comment
appears:
“This commentary of Maulana Muhammad Ali appeared
in 1917, seventeen years before the commentary of Allama Abdullah
Yusuf Ali. This is why the Allama, in the Preface of his commentary,
besides mentioning other English commentaries, has also appreciated
this commentary and written as follows:
‘Its Lahore Anjuman has published Maulvi Muhammad Ali’s
translation (first edition in 1917), which has passed through
more than one edition. It is a scholarly work, and is equipped
with adequate explanatory matter in the notes and the Preface,
and a fairly full Index’.”
In the same way the Reverend Zwemer, in his well-known Christian magazine
The Muslim World for July 1931 (pages 289 to 297), comparing
the translations of Maulana Muhammad Ali, Marmaduke Pickthall and
Hafiz Ghulam Sarwar, plainly writes that “both Mr. Sarwar and Mr.
Pickthall have followed Muhammad Ali very closely” and that “in the
passages which we have examined carefully … the translation of Pickthall
follows Muhammad Ali so closely that one finds very few evidences
of original work”.{footnote
6} The reason is that the Maulana’s translation and footnotes
are based on an extensive study of sources and deep research work.
In this sense the later translations cannot be called original works.
There are many other instances of such opinions expressed
from time to time, most of which have been published in the Anjuman’s
journals Paigham Sulh and The Light. In addition
to these, numerous letters have been received from many countries
of the world in which English speaking people have acknowledged the
merits and qualities of this translation and admitted receiving guidance
from it.
Footnotes
(To return to the referring text for any footnote,
click on the footnote number.)
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