William Shakespeare, the famous playwright, once wrote about the nature of human greatness: “Some people are born great, some people achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them.”1
Dear Reader, this book is about a rare individual who fits into all three of these categories. It is a book about Hazrat Sayyedah Nusrat Jahan Begum (ra) (1865-1952), the virtuous wife of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian—the Promised Messiah (as). She was affectionately known as Hazrat Amman Jan (ra). Indeed, her birth name, the literal meaning of which is “helper of the world,” was to be a Divine intimation of the profound impact this pious lady was to have upon the world as the devoted life companion of our most recent prophet.
Also regarded as Hazrat Ummul-Mo’minin (the mother of the faithful), she was a spiritual and physical mother, a mentor, a carer of orphans and a guardian of the vulnerable and the sick. She was a personification of Islamic values, a pillar of support for the Promised Messiah (as) and faithful to the institution of Khilafat from its early inception. Her influence has rippled through the blessed progeny of the Promised Messiah (as) like a strong but imperceptible undercurrent. Her values and moral training influence the Jama’at even today, as she was the matriarch of a blessed progeny, that includes 4 of 5 of the khulafa of the Ahmadiyyah Muslim Community to date.
Hazrat Amman Jan (ra) is the best modern-day example of a Mo’minah (a true believer), because her every act was motivated to win the pleasure of Allah Almighty. Performing good deeds was the principal occupation of her life, and as Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih V (aba) highlighted in his Khilafat Centenary speech: “… faith and good deeds are an integral part of one another. Without faith, deeds are nothing and without good deeds, faith is incomplete.”2 Hazrat Amman Jan (ra) most clearly understood this. That is why it is imperative that her inspirational life—a life filled with worship and sacrifices, as well as great honour (as a prophet’s wife) and joy—becomes available to the English-speaking sectors of our ever-expanding community.
Her exemplary conduct is an inspiration for us all, particularly for us ladies burdened with the difficult but most rewarding task—the moral training of our children. Hazrat Amman Jan (ra) shared our responsibilities and concerns and demonstrated how to effectively raise a righteous progeny, primarily by her own excellent example.
Her moral conduct was influenced by two fundamental factors in her life: firstly, her complete obedience and devotion to her Creator—Allah Almighty, and secondly her firm faith in the truth of the Promised Messiah (as) as the Messiah of the Age.
Learning about Hazrat Amman Jan (ra) has personally affected me. It has raised my own standards of personal conduct albeit in small ways, such as aspiring to remember Allah Almighty more during my daily routine, exhibiting greater self-control, striving to help others, and making greater financial sacrifices. I now better appreciate the gateways to paradise that have been reopened for us by the advent of the Promised Messiah (as), an individual with such a pure soul that it spectacularly cleansed the souls in its vicinity, like that of Hazrat Amman Jan (ra). If, like I, the reader is inspired by this pious lady to make even one small improvement in their character, then an important object of this book has been fulfilled.
I would like to thank Begum Amatus Sabuh Sahibah for her guidance and her address to the Lajna at a Tarbiyyat class in April 2007, (London). Begum Sahibah related some wonderful memories of the pious elders of the Promised Messiah’s family. She reflected that their righteous behaviour had an automatic influence upon the younger generation of the family. Her accounts filled me both with joy and sorrow. Learning of these virtuous individuals was enjoyable and inspirational, yet my heartfelt acute regret that these righteous people were now historical figures that neither I nor my children would have the opportunity to know and learn from. This was one factor that led me to express to Huzoor (aba) that I felt a need in the Jama’at for English biographies of members of the Promised Messiah’s family.
I must thus thank Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih V (aba) for allowing me the privilege of writing this tribute to the distinguished and virtuous wife of our most recent prophet. I am fully aware that it is Allah Almighty’s Mercy and Huzoor’s prayers (which I often requested), that are largely responsible for my completion of this project.
I would like to acknowledge the primary source of this book, Sirato Sawaneh Hazrat Amman Jan (ra), by Professor Syeda Naseem Saeed, published by Lajnah Ima’illah, Lahore. Her extensive research has been the foundation for this tribute, so may Allah Almighty reward her. I would also like to thank those close family members who have provided me with invaluable help and support. They are Mrs. Amtul Shakoor Tayyaba Ahmed, Dr. Saboor Ghauri, Tahira Siddiqua Nasir Begum and Mrs. Anisa Ghauri. Alongside Allah’s Grace, it is they who have made it possible to complete what was for me a mammoth task! Finally, I must thank Munir-ud-Din Shams Sahib (Addl.Vakil-ut-Tasnif), Ayyaz Mahmood Khan, Prof. Amatul Majid Chaudhary and Hamidah Farooqi Sanori Sahibah for their guidance and expertise. May Allah the Almighty give the best reward to all those who helped me in any way to produce this book. Amin!
I would like to first dedicate this book to my late parents, Dr. Hameed A. Khan and Sajida Hameed of Hartlepool, England. Their lives showed me that although our bodies depart this world our good deeds remain. They also taught me an essential lesson: the power of prayers. May Allah Almighty continue to exalt their status in the Hereafter.
I would also like to dedicate this book to all our Ahmadi daughters within the Jama‘at. It is our collective duty to guide and care for them as the future of Ahmadiyyat. I believe that all mothers have some shortcomings. Consequently, the best example of a model Ahmadi lady to present to our children is that of Hazrat Amman Jan (ra).
Munavara (Nabbo) D. K. Ghauri
October 2010
1 Twelfth Night—Act II, Scene V, W. Shakespeare.
2 The Review of Religions, May 2008, Vol. 103, Issue 05, p. 74.