About the Author

Sheikh ‘Abdul-Qadir (Formerly Saudagarmal)

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Ever Merciful
We praise Him and invoke His blessings upon His Noble Messenger

(Written by Maulana Abul-‘Ata’ Jalandhari and published at the end of Hayat-e-Tayyibah written by Sheikh ‘Abdul-Qadir, formerly Saudagarmal. Translated by the translator)

With heartfelt joy and pleasure, I congratulate my learned and dear friend, Sheikh ‘Abdul-Qadir, (Maulawi Fadil)1 on successfully completing Hayat-e-Tayyibah, and feel pleasure in introducing the readers to his life history.

In my view, Sheikh ‘Abdul-Qadir is one of the best missionaries of Islam. He possesses a profound devotion for Ahmadiyyat, has a heart that yearns for the service of Islam, and leads a simple life of a true believer. I have known him, or more appropriately, have had a close friendship and affection for him since the time when he was a student. Right from the beginning, he possessed an exemplary nature and was always full of the desire to serve religion. Since his life history can be a source of motivation for righteousness for many a youth, I consider it essential to include the account of his life in this book. This is my only intention behind writing these passages.

Sheikh ‘Abdul-Qadir was born on August 15th, 1909 in the territory of Gorna Pathana, Tehsil Bhalwal, District Sargodha in a Hindu Khatri family. His parents chose the name Saudagarmal for him. His father, Lala Wazirchand, did not have the faintest idea that his child, whom he named Saudagarmal2 because of his trading business, would become a spiritual trader by serving Islam in the future, and a source of guidance for many.

Saudagarmal received his primary education in his village, Gorna Pathana, and passed the middle school from Middle School Lalian, District Jhang. Proposals for further education were under review when Allah decreed to bring him in the fold of Islam. He started helping his family in business, which, by then had moved from District Sargodha to Zakhira Beranwala, Tahsil Hafizabad, District Gujranwala. In the village of Tahsil Hafizabad, where Saudagarmal lived as a bright Khatri youth, a sincere Ahmadi and a compassionate Muslim by the name of Mian Muhammad Murad also had a cloth store.  Mian Sahib’s piety and righteousness were well known in a vast area. Our dear friend, Saudagarmal, (now Sheikh ‘Abdul-Qadir) somehow was introduced to Mian Muhammad Murad. He, seeing signs of piety and auspiciousness in this young man, started preaching him Islam. The logical teachings of Islam started to have a profound impact on him.

Mian Murad visited Qadian in 1924 to attend the Jalsa Salana (the Annual Convention). He also took a local resident, Allah Jawaya Musalli, with him for the sake of introducing him to Islam. Allah Jawaya returned from Qadian greatly impressed with Qadian and its spiritual environment. However, when people asked him about Qadian, he said that Qadian was a materialistic marketplace and thugs lived there. This greatly puzzled Saudagarmal. He observed that the local representative of Qadian, Mian Muhamamd Murad, lived an admirable and chaste life, and people praised his morals but Allah Jawaya said that Qadian was a materialistic marketplace and thugs lived there. In order to find the truth, Saudagarmal decided to privately meet Allah Jawaya. He called Allah Jawaya to come alone to his brother’s shop at night and, after seating him on the cotton pile, asked him, “You say that Qadian is a marketplace and thugs live there, but Miam Muhammad Murad is miles away from being a thug, and lives a life of piety. Tell me the truth?” Allah Jawaya without hesitation said, “I was lying. I am an ordinary worker of the village. The landlords of the village are against the people of Qadian; therefore, I cannot openly speak the truth. I say what they want to hear to please them. In reality, the truth is that if Islam exists anywhere in the world, it is only in Qadian. I am telling you the truth. If I say this to the other people of the village, the landlords of the village will throw me out of the village hitting me with shoes. Therefore, I will continue saying to them what I have been telling them. But the real truth is what I just told you.”

Talking with Allah Jawaya not only resolved the puzzle of Saudagarmal’s heart, but he also left with the determination of going to Qadian to see and study the situation. Though, Saudagarmal was outwardly weary of the decadence, lack of education, corrupted morals, and financial abyss of the Muslims, the heart-rending plain talk and excellent example of Mian Muhammad Murad was luring him to Qadian. He was in a strange predicament. He would outwardly say that he would never become a Muslim even if the entire world converted, but his heart was eagerly drawing in that direction.

The next morning, after talking to Allah Jawaya, Saudagarmal was ready to go to Qadian. He also confided with Mian Muhammad Murad. Mian Muhammad Murad told him that he had overheard his previous night’s conversation with Allah Jawaya, and had made up his mind to accompany Saudargarmal to Qadian, if he decided to go.

In a little while, both were on their way to Qadian. They boarded the train from Sangla Hill train station and instead of getting off at the Batala Station, they got off at the next station of Chena, as they feared that Saudagarmal’s relatives might chase them on the road from Batala to Qadian.

On his arrival at Qadian, Saudagarmal immediately announced in the guest house that he was a Hindu and would not eat food cooked by any Muslim. Our teacher, late Mir Muhammad Ishaq was overseeing the guest house in those days. God had gifted him a special sense of hospitality. He made arrangements for his food to be delivered from the houses of local Hindus. This arrangement continued for a full week. In this period, Mian Muhammad Murad introduced Saudagarmal to the newly converted Muslim devout who had converted from Hindus or Sikhs. Meeting with Chaudhry Bhai ‘Abdul-Rahim (ra), Bhai ‘Abdul-Rahman Qadiani (ra), Master Sardar ‘Abdul-Rahman B.A. (ra), Sheikh Ghulam Ahmad Wa’iz (ra) and Sheikh Muhammad Yusuf (ra) (Editor of the newspaper Nur, Qadian) had a profound impact on Saudagarmal since they came from Hinduism and Sikhism and had attained an unusual enlightenment and spiritual vitality after accepting Islam. In addition, Mian Murad also introduced Saudagarmal to some of those devout Muslim elders, who were special recipients of the blessings of Ahmadiyyat.  The heartfelt conversations and the blessed models of Maulawi Rajeki (ra), Hafiz Roshan ‘Ali (ra), Khalifa Rashiduddin (ra), Maulawi Zulfiqar ‘Ali Khan (ra), and Maulawi ‘Abdul-Ghani (ra) convinced the heart of Saudagarmal to become Sheikh ‘Abdul-Qadir.

It had been only a week since Saudagarmal came to Qadian, when a seven-member delegation of his family came to Qadian to take him back. The delegation met with Chaudhry Nasrullah Khan, who in those days was the acting Nazir A‘la, and insisted on taking Saudagarmal back with them. Chaudhry Nasrullah Khan said, “According to the Islamic teachings of:

لَاۤ اِکۡرَاہَ فِی الدِّیۡنِ

“There is no compulsion in religion,” and compulsion is neither permissible. If dear Saudagarmal wants to go back with you, he is free to go.

The relatives asked Saudagarmal to go back with them, but he, in his heart had already transformed to ‘Abdul-Qadir. He refused to go back with them and stayed at Qadian, the centre of the propagation of Islam.

Three or four days later, Saudagarmal requested Khalifatul-Masih II (ra) to accept his pledge to initiate him in the Ahmadiyya Community. Huzoor said that there was no need to hurry, and that he should wait for another two to three months. But Saudagarmal insisted saying that he had attained full conviction about the truthfulness of Islam. Thereupon, Huzoor asked Maulana Sayyid Muhammad Sarwar Shah (ra) to have him repeat the pledge. So the next day, Huzoor took his Bai‘at and Lala Saudagarmal became Sheikh ‘Abdul-Qadir. All praise belongs to Allah!

There was such a deep influence of the Hindu culture on Sheikh ‘Abdul-Qadir that in the beginning, in spite of accepting Islam, ‘Abdul-Qadir found it hard to swallow food cooked by Muslims. But after a few days, he integrated so well that it was hard to tell if this young man became Muslim from Hindus or he was a born Muslim. Actually, this transformation was a result of the sincerity that existed in the heart of Saudagarmal for religion. Islam greatly enhanced that unblemished sincerity.

It had been only a few months since his spiritual birth when a famous Pundit of Sanatan Dharm, Raj Nara’in, came to Qadian. Sheikh ‘Abdul-Qadir was enrolled in the Ahmadiyya School. A few Hindu Pundits of Qadian brought Raj Nara’in to show him the Ahmadiyya School, as the Ahmadiyya School was producing such young missionaries who were everywhere challenging the arya Samaj and Christianity. Incidentally, Sheikh ‘Abdul-Qadir, the new convert was standing in the courtyard and the Hindus of Qadian knew about his recent conversion.  A Hindu pointing towards ‘Abdul-Qadir said to the Pundit that this young man was also a Hindu and had converted to Islam. The Pundit went straight to ‘Abdul-Qadir and asked him, “What quality did you see in Islam that is not found in the Hindu religion?” After a pause, young ‘Abdul-Qadir said to the Pundit, “Tell me; what is the objective of religion?” The Pundit said, “Meeting with the Permeshewar.” ‘Abdul-Qadir said, “Have you met Permeshewar?” The Pundit replied, “No.” ‘Abdul-Qadir said, “Do you know of any living Hindu who has met Permeshewar?” The Pundit answered in negative, but also said, “But I could say that about Ramchandar Ji and Karishan Ji.” ‘Abdul-Qadir said that he wanted to see a Hindu of the current times. Thereupon, the Pundit said, “Can you tell me of such a Muslim who has met the Permeshewar?” ‘Abdul-Qadir immediately mentioned the name of Promised Messiah (as) and mentioned the revelation:

یَاْتُوْنَ مِنْ کُلِّ فَجٍّ عَمِیْقٍ

People will come to you in large numbers from all directions in support of his truthfulness.

At this point, the Hindus called the Pundit, and he went the other way.

This simple conversation that Sheikh ‘Abdul-Qadir had in his initial days as a Muslim with a great Sanatan debator shows how serious ‘Abdul-Qadir was about his beliefs, and how focused he was on his mission.

‘Abdul-Qadir was now a bright student of the Ahmadiyya School, very well behaved and hard-working. He graduated from Punjab University in 1931 with a Maulawi Fadil Degree and after getting missionary training for some time, started his missionary work in 1934 under the supervision of Maulawi Rajeki for the first few months. Thereafter, he has been continuously in the service of religion until now. For a long time, he served as the missionary for the entire Karachi region. He has also served in Lyallpur, Sheikhupura, Sargodha, and Lahore. These days, he is serving as the missionary for the Lahore region.

Sheikh ‘Abdul-Qadir always had a dignified and impressive demeanor. Once he mentioned to me that in the early days after we were first introduced, once on the way to the mosque I told him about a Hadith of the Prophet that if you love someone, you should let him know. He said that according to that Hadith, he was telling me that he loved me. When ‘Abdul-Qadir mentioned this to me, his entire past life flashed across my mind.

Sheikh ‘Abdul-Qadir’s speech is effective, but he tries to avoid speeches as much as possible because of his shy nature. In debates, he speaks with great passion and effective voice. He has a great grip on his opponent. He is also fond of writing, but his inclination is mostly towards historical matters. He contributed significantly to the initial chronological ordering of the events of Tadhkirah. He also served for a long time as Director of Publications in the Office of Propagation.

Muhammad (sas) said:

اَلْاَرْوَاحُ جُنُوْدٌ مُّجَنَّدَةٌ

The souls of human beings are attracted to each other according to their mutual harmony.

Therefore, it is natural for the harmonious souls to develop love and affection for each other. Our teacher, Maulana Muhammad Isma‘il Halalpuri and Maulawi ‘Abdul-Ghani Khan, Director, the Office of Propagation (Nazir Da’wat-o-Tabligh) had special affection for Sheikh ‘Abdul-Qadir. This is also a well-known and established fact that Sahibzadah Mirza Bashir Ahmad (ra) had a special attachment with Sheikh ‘Abdul-Qadir because of his piety and God-fearing nature. I am mentioning this because of my personal knowledge. Sheikh ‘Abdul-Qadir also got a fair share of the kindness and mercy of Khalifatul-Masih II (ra).

My close relationship and love for Sheikh ‘Abdul-Qadir spans a quarter century. I have never seen Sheikh ‘Abdul-Qadir arguing with anyone except perhaps once. This speaks of his peaceful nature. Sheikh ‘Abdul-Qadir married the daughter of Sheikh ‘Abdur-Rabb (a convert). By the blessings of God the Exalted, Sheikh ‘Abdul-Qadir is blessed in terms of family. His financial condition has always been weak, but because of his patience and serene nature, he has been able to endure it with courage, and never uttered a word of discontent.

At this time, Sheikh ‘Abdul-Qadir is about 50 years old. I pray that Allah the Exalted blesses his life, and enables him to abundantly serve religion, and blesses this book, Hayat-e-Tayyibah with His special acceptance. Ameen.

I congratulate him with a heart full of love.

Humbly,
Abul-‘Ata’ Jalandhari
17th Ramadan Mubarak, 1379
March 16th, 1960
Rabwah, Pakistan