Hakeem Noor-ud-Din

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Maulana Hakeem Noor-ud-Din (* 1841 in Bhera/Punjab, † 13th March 1914 in Qadian) was Khalifatul Masih I., Head of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. He was elected as the successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad on 27nd May 1908, a day after his death. He was a famous physician, writer and theologian of ahmadiyya community.

Royal Physician to Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir for many years. His extensive travels included a long stay in cities of Mecca and Medina in pursuit of religious knowledge. His knowledge of Quran and Hadith is said to be unmatched by any other Islamic scholar of his time. His lectures on Quranic exegesis and Hadith were one of main attractions for visitors to Qadian. He also wrote rebuttals to Christian and Arya Samaj allegations on Islam. He was first person to swear a pledge of allegiance (baiat) to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad when he claimed to be Promised Messiah on 23 March 1889. After Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's demise, Hakeem Noor-ud-Din was unanimously voted as his successor, in his capacity as such he is credited mostly for maintaining unity within the Ahmadiyya community after the death of its founder.

He was youngest of seven brothers and two sisters. He was 34th in direct lineal descent from Umar Ibn al-Khattab, the Second Caliph of Islam. His family had a tradition of memorzing Quran (Hifz). His mother, Noor Bakht belonged to Awan clan who are said to have descended from Ali bin Abu Talib, fourth Caliph of Islam.^[1]

[edit] Early years and Education

Noor Deen considered his mother to be his first teacher. He used to say that he was fed love of Quran through his mother's milk. He went to a local school for his early education. His father Hafiz Ghulam Rasul, being a devoted Muslim and an affectionate parent stressed a lot on his children's education. Noor Deen recalled his fathers love for knowledge to someone, which is recorded in his biography, by Abdul Qadir Saudagar Mal.^[2]

My father had great interest in education of his children. There was a Hindu scholar named Madan Chand who contracted leprosy. People made him a home away from town. My father sent my brother to him to study. People asked, why are you destroying life of such a handsome boy? My father replied, If after gaining as much knowledge as Madan Chand, he bacomes a leper, I will not mind that. You should be such a father to your children. If he (my father) was alive today, he would have sent me to America (for studies).

He spoke Punjabi as his mother tongue, but once hearing a soldier speaking Urdu, he fell in love with language and learnt it by reading Shah Waliullah's books.^[3]

Noor Deen's eldest brother, Sultan Ahmad, was a learned person who owned a printing press in Lahore. Once when Nooruddeen was 12 years old, he accompanied his brother to Lahore, where he fell ill and was successfully treated by Hakeem Ghulam Dastgir of Said Mitha. Impressed by his manner and his rerenown, Nooruddeen became eager to study medicine; but his brother persuaded him to study Persian and arranged for him to be taught by a famous Persian teacher, Munshi Muhammad Qasim Kashmiri.

Noor-ud-Deen learnt his Persian in Lahore, where he stayed for two years. His brother then taught him basic Arabic. In 1857 a travelling bookseller come to Bhera from Calcutta. He urged Noordudeen to learn the translation of the Quran and presented him with a printed copy of five of the principal chanpters of the Book together with their Urdu translation. Shortly after, a merchant from Bombay urged him to read two Urdu books, Taqviatul Iman and Mashariqul Anwar, which were commentaries (Tafsir) on the Quran.

After a few years, he went back to Lahore and started studying medicine with famous Hakeem Allah Deen of Gumti Bazaar. This turned out to be a short stay and the study was postponed.^[4]

Noor Deen was then sent to Rawalpindi to study at Normal School in Rawalpindi. He was 17 when he joined the school. He graduated with a Diploma at the age of 21. He was a brilliant pupil and due to his qualities he was appointed the headmaster to a school in Pind Dadan Khan at the young age of 21.

When I was in Rawalpindi, there was a bungalow belonging to an Englishman, Alexander, next to our house. Once someone took me there and he gave me two beautifully printed books, Meezanul Haq and Tareeqatul Hayat. I read them intently. Although I was still a child, I had great love of Quran even then. I found both those books vile. In those days, I did not even know what the Holy Spirit was.

[edit] Further learning and travels

Noor Deen travelled extensively throughout India for next 4-5 years and went to Rampur, Muradabad, Lucknow and Bhopal to learn Arabic with the renowned teachers of that time. He learnt Mishkaat from Syed Hasan Shah, Fiqh (Jursprudence)from Azizullah Afghani, Philosophy from Maulvi Irshad Hussain Mujaddadi, Arabic Poetry from Saadullah Uryall, and Logic from Maulvi Abdul Ali and Mullah Hassan.

In Lucknow, Noor Deen went in the hope of learning Eastern Medicine from the renowned Hakeem Ali Hussain Lucknowi. The Hakeem had taken a vow of not teaching anyone. It is narrated by biographers that he went to his house for an interview and the discussion between them impressed the Hakeem so much that he eventually agreed to take Noor Deen as his disciple.

The next city he visited was Bhopal, where he praciticed medicine and was introduced to the Nawab of Bhopal during this time.

[edit] Mecca and Medina

In 1865-66, at the age of 25, he traveled to the cities of Mecca and Medina. He stayed there for nearly one and a half years to acquire religious knowledge. He learnt Hadith from famous Sheikh Hasan Khizraji and Maulvi Rahmatullah Kiraynalwi.^[7]

[edit] Return to Bhera

On his way back to his hometown, Noor Deen stayed in Delhi for a few days. Here, he had the opportunity to attend a session of lessons by the leader and founder of Deoband Seminary, Qasim Nanotuwi and had a very good impression of him.^[8]

In 1871 he returned to Bhera, his home town, and started a religious school where he taught the Quran and the Hadith. He also started practice in the Eastern medicine. In a short time he became well known for his healing skills and his fame came to the notice of the Maharaja of Kashmir, who appointed him his court physician in 1867.

[edit] Introduction to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

Noor Deen was constantly involved in religious debates with Christians and Hindus during his stay at Jammu. Once he was confronted by an atheist who asked him that if the concept of God was true, then how in this day and age of reason and knowledge, no one claims to be the recipient of Divine revelations. This was a question to which the Hakeem did not find an answer immediately .^[9]. During the same period, he came across a torn page from a book Braheen e Ahmadiyya. The book was written by one Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, who would later claim to be the Promised Messiah and Mahdi. Noor Deen was surprised to see that the writer of the page was a claimant of receiving Wahi (revelation). He purchased the book and read it with great interest. He was so impressed by the book that he decided to meet the writer. Noor Deen later recalled his first meeting with Ahmad in his own words.^[10]

As I arrived in a nearby place of Qadian, I got excited and was also trembling with anxiety and prayed feverishly....

The meeting took place after the Asr prayer on the day of his arrival in Qadian. It was early March, 1885. Zafrulla Khan wrote about this meeting in his book.^[11]

As soon as he beheld him his heart testified that this was the Mirza and I would lay down my life for him. It was the end of the search. He had found that which he was seeking. He was then forty-three years old.

During his stay in Qadian, Noor Deen became a close friend of Ahmad and it is apparent in the writings of both persons that they held each other in highest esteem. Although this relationship soon became that of a Master and disciple and Noor Deen devoted himself as a student to Ahmad.

Noor Deen once asked Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to assign him a task by the way of Mujahida (Jihad). Ahmad asked him to write a book answering the Christian allegations against Islam. As a result, Noor Deen wrote two volumes of Faslul Khitab, Muqaddimah Ahlul Kitaab^[12]

After completing this, he again asked Ghulam Ahmad the same question. This time, Ahmad assigned him to write a rebuttal to Arya Samaj. Noor Deen wrote Tasdeeq e Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya.^[13]

[edit] Views of Ubaidulla Sindhi

Maulana Obaidullah Sindhi was a great admirer of the Hakeem, and often used to visit Qadian to see him. He states:^[14]

Maulavi Noor-ud-Deen is an unmatched scholar and has a commanding personality. He has the deepest attachment to the Holy Qur'an. He was ever thinking how best the message of the Holy Qur'an could be taken and how best the people could be familiarized with the beauties and the excellences of the Holy Qur'an. He was also thinking of how to invite people to the Holy Qur'an and how their lives could be moulded in the ideal mould of the Holy Book.

[edit] References

1. ^ Hakeem Noor ud Deen (Khalifatul Masih I) The Way of the Righteous By: Syed Hasnat Ahmad Islam international Publications
2. ^ Hyaat e Noor
3. ^ Hyaat e Noor
4. ^ Hakeem Noor ud Deen (Khalifatul Masih I) The Way of the Righteous By: Syed Hasnat Ahmad Islam international Publications
5. ^ Hyaat e Noor
6. ^ Hyaat e Noor, by Abdul Qadir Saudagar Mal page 14.
7. ^ Hakeem Noor ud Deen (Khalifatul Masih I) The Way of the Righteous By: Syed Hasnat Ahmad Islam international Publications
8. ^ Hakeem Noor ud Deen (Khalifatul Masih I) The Way of the Righteous By: Syed Hasnat Ahmad Islam international Publications
9. ^ [1]Hakeem Noor ud Deen (Khalifatul Masih I) The Way of the Righteous By: Syed Hasnat Ahmad Islam international Publications page. 67
10. ^ Al-Hakam (April 22, 1908)
11. ^ [2] Hadhrat Maulavi Noor-ud-Deen—Khalifatul Masih I (p. 53)
12. ^ [3]
13. ^ [4]Malfoozat, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Vol 1, page. 303-304
14. ^ [5]Ifadat o Malfuzate Hazrat Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi, Prof. M. Sarvar. Sindh Sagar Akademi. 1972

[edit] External links

• Life Sketch of Maulana Hakeem Noor-ud-Din
• Quotes fram Hakeem Noor-ud-Din

[edit] External links

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*[8] Mullah,s Truth Videoz

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