From Dar-us-Saeed to Dar-us-Salam

وَ اللّٰهُ یَدْعُوْۤا اِلٰی دَارِ السَّلٰمِ ؕ وَ یَهْدِیْ مَنْ یَّشَآءُ اِلٰی صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِیْمٍ۝

And Allah invites to the abode of peace—Dar-us-Salam—and guides whom He pleases to the right path (Holy Quran—10:25)

Following Doctor Saeed Ahmad’s migration from Dar-us-Saeed, his stay in Kakul—where he and his companions were taking refuge in the residence of his son Abdulla Saeed—was not a permanent one. The Pakistan army had designated Abdulla Saeed to relocate from Kakul to another location, and as such he was expecting orders to move at a minute’s notice. The Quranic words

اِنِّیْ ذَاهِبٌ اِلٰی رَبِّیْ سَیَهْدِیْنِ

being the ones which had spontaneously moved on Doctor Saeed Ahmad’s lips at the time of departing from Dar-us-Saeed, became the guide for his decisions. As such, he entrusted the decisions of his life to Allah the Most High in that, having walked on the path shown to him by Allah, He surely would continue to guide him.

Following the tragic crisis of June 11, 1974, Doctor Saeed Ahmad found his heart and his mind rejecting and spurning the region: He did not find any inclination whatsoever within himself to continue residing in Abbottabad, or for that matter, in any other location within Hazara. Moreover, it was the heartfelt wish of his relatives in Lahore that he should move there to take up permanent residence. Several members of the Ahmadiyya Movement were also requesting him to do the same. 

Doctor Saeed Ahmad was receiving offers from various directions for the restoration of his medical clinic in Abbottabad, including an offer from the Siemens company, which was keen to install a new X-Ray plant as part of its offer. He also received an offer for the set up of a clinic in Lahore. However, his heart was not inclined in that direction. He wished to devote every moment of his remaining life to the service of the Ahmadiyya Movement. A majority of his time had already been devoted to that service and—in the past and for some time—he had intended to reduce the hours spent in the clinic to devote even more time by redirecting it in the service of religion. As such, he had been awaiting an opportune time: His son Abdul Karim Saeed was abroad, and in the final stages of completing his training as a medical doctor. It was Doctor Saeed Ahmad’s wish that, after returning from abroad, Abdul Karim Saeed would take care of the day to day running of his clinic and thereby ensure that humanity—the creation of God which was benefiting from Doctor Saeed Ahmad’s medical attention to them—would not get deprived of that vital service.

Doctor Saeed Ahmads’ health had taken a downturn: He had been unwell during the month of February in 1974. Naseer Ahmad Faruqui had advised him to reduce his clinic hours, and to give more attention to his own health. In fact, he had told Naseer Ahmad Faruqui much the same, how he earnestly wished to save the people at large from getting deprived of the medical services they were used to receiving in his clinic until the return of his son, Abdul Karim. On hearing that, Naseer Ahmad Faruqui said: “I will also write to Pasha to return as soon as possible.”

As for the people for whom Doctor Saeed Ahmad had selflessly devoted his days and his nights, and in the process wanted to continue running his medical clinic—not even caring for the toll it was taking on his health—it was at their very hands that his clinic was destroyed. It was those people’s misfortune, and one which they brought upon themselves: He was, in effect, forced to leave his homeland. Doctor Saeed Ahmad was acutely aggrieved by the demonstration of disloyalty, unfaithfulness, and ingratitude toward him—their benefactor—by the residents of Hazara during those moments of tribulation. As such, he had neither the wish nor the motivation any longer to spend the rest of his life in their midst.

Having been compelled to spurn his homeland, the natural choice of Doctor Saeed Ahmad’s selection was Lahore, which was home to the headquarters of the Ahmadiyya Movement. But he had thus far not been able to decide as to who would have the honor of hosting him. In those days, his son Ikram Saeed came to visit him and family in connection with the precarious situation. He expressed his wish that Doctor Saeed Ahmad should take up residence with him, and furthermore, that Ikram Saeed would get himself transferred to Lahore: In his opinion, too, Lahore was the most suitable place for Doctor Saeed Ahmad to relocate to. Doctor Saeed Ahmad was pleased by Ikram Saeed’s offer and accepted it. So Ikram Saeed began efforts in earnest to get himself transferred to Lahore, efforts which were soon rewarded with success.

Arrival in Lahore for a meeting of the Executive Committee—September 12, 1974

The Ahmadiyya Movement had received an especially severe jolt from the decision made by the national assembly of Pakistan on September 7, 1974—the Ahmadis now finding themselves relegated to the ranks of the religious minorities in the country—and the entire Ahmadi community was in the grip of unease and turmoil. Moreover, a constant stream of threats was being issued from religious leaders of Pakistan to the effect that anyone still professing affiliation with the Ahmadiyya Movement would face social boycott and the loss of property and life: These kinds of dangers were looming around the clock, and in many parts of the country. The property and honor, and indeed, the very lives of Ahmadis were no longer safe. Several individuals of the community had—though with great repugnance and aversion—even announced the severance of their ties with the Ahmadiyya Movement. 

It was the opinion of many notable members of the Ahmadiyya Movement—in light of the prevailing situation in the country—that maintaining the current status (as an organization named the Ahmadiyya Movement would be equivalent to inviting trouble. To that end, they opined, the name Ahmadi should be declared defunct, and the organization then ought to be reorganized under a new name; and until then, the central headquarters must halt all work.

Therefore, a meeting was scheduled for September 13, 1974 for mutual consultation to take place, and for deciding on a future course of action. To participate in it, Doctor Saeed Ahmad traveled to Lahore by the railways on September 12, 1974, and stayed with his son-in-law, Mohammad Ahmad, at his residence in the Mayo Gardens area.

On the evening of the same day, Mian Fazl-e-Ahmad summoned a few individuals for a consultation meeting at his residence at 5:30 PM. Everyone was given the opportunity to express their opinions, but in the end, no definitive course of action came to the front. Masud Akhtar was one of those who participated in their meeting. In referring to that consultation meeting, he captured his thoughts in an article, entitled “The Late and Honorable Doctor Saeed Ahmad,” which was published in the November, December 1998 issue of Paigham-e-Sulah.

The things that Doctor Saeed Ahmad said in that meeting became the vital, spiritual treasure and investment of my life.

In Doctor Saeed Ahmad’s own words:

How can I say that falsehood is the truth? How could I call Hazrat Mirza Sahib a falsifier and a liar? If I were to do so, how could I ever bring myself to stand face-to-face with Hazrat Mirza Sahib and my spiritual elders? As far as this worldly life is concerned—its gains and its losses—my house has already been burned down to the ground. If Allah were to wish for me to sacrifice my life in his way, I am prepared for it. I had pledged to prefer the service of religion over my worldly affairs when I took the religious pledge at the hands of the spiritual leader of our time. Even if everyone were to spurn me, I would fulfill my promise.

Doctor Saeed Ahmad expressed those words from the depths of his heart. It were those words—reflecting his strength of faith and wherein were evident his sincere and unalloyed resolve—wherefore, and much like me, others present, too, realized that we had found that leader for whom our eyes had longed and searched high and low.

Many opinions came forward during the executive meeting on September 13, 1974. And a productive and detailed discussion took place among the members with the prevailing circumstances at the forefront of their minds. Following the meeting, Major Abdul Latif and Masud Akhtar met with Doctor Saeed Ahmad and inquired into the proceedings at the meeting. What follows is an excerpt from the aforementioned article by Masud Akhtar, and reflects his thoughts in this matter:

Our late brother, Brigadier Abdul Latif, was a major in the army at that time, and it was in his company that I met Doctor Saeed Ahmad, peace be upon him, personally and for the first time. I felt during our conversation that he conversed with great informality, not only in the matters of the Ahmadiyya Movement, but also his personal and unofficial life, and without any artifice or affectation. He spoke with plainness. We inquired into his opinion regarding the meeting. He replied: “While I have clarified my own position in the matter, every member has the right to formulate their own position. There should be no compulsion whatsoever in the matter of religion. Insha’Allah, a self-standing and strong organization will thereby emerge. This is a time of great trial, so you should pray to Allah that He grants us steadfastness.“

In referring to this intensely exacting time of tribulation for the Ahmadiyya Movement, Zahid Aziz wrote as follows in his article entitled Our Affectionate Leader, and a Shining Example,” which was published in the November, December 1997 issue of the magazine Paigham-e-Sulah:

Members of our community had been threatened by the religious leaders of Pakistan by way of inflicting loss of property and life, as well as social boycott if they did not spurn and distance themselves from the Ahmadiyya Movement. As a result, naturally, we were all mired in despondency regarding the future of our community, by conjectures, by lack of resolve, and, in sum, by all kinds of doubts and misgivings. It was in those circumstances that the demonstration of the resolve to remain steadfast and fearlessly pursue our true goals, achievement, and overcome all difficulties and dangers, and is leading by personal example through his strong character and level headedness was not only immeasurably, helpful in strengthening our resolve, it further strengthen our faith in the mission of our Ahmadiyya Movement.

Zahid Aziz further writes:

In those very days, Doctor Saeed Ahmad expressed the following thoughts to me: “If Allah has decided to end this organization [the Ahmadiyya Movement], then we cannot save it no matter what we wish or what we do. But I think that it is not the case that Allah has decided to end this organization [the Ahmadiyya Movement].“

Following the meeting of the Executive Committee, a gathering of the General Members Committee was also convened. A great deal of anxiety was found among the members, and they all sought comfort in the matter of the future of the Ahmadiyya Movement. All members gathered in the mosque. Doctor Saeed Ahmad addressed them with great gentleness, and spoke using comforting words. That same day, the residents of Dar-us-Salam—in particular the women and the children—appeared exceptionally enthused. They carried in their hands flags that were emblazoned with the words, “Ahmadiyyat is True Islam.” Doctor Saeed Ahmad lauded their zeal, but also cautioned them to realize that those days were not ones for the public display of such messages. Rather, the times called for rising to the challenges of the situation, and to demonstrate steadfastness.

Meetings of the Executive Committee and the General Council — November 2, 1974, and November 3, 1974

Doctor Saeed Ahmad arrived in Lahore again to take part in some critical meetings of the Ahmadiyya Movement. On November 2, 1974, he went in the company of Chaudhry Fateh Muhammad Aziz—a member of the Ahmadiyya Movement and an advocate of law—to take part in a consultation meeting with Pakistan’s Supreme Court’s Chief Justice Mohamed Mounir. (The reader may remember that Chief Justice Mounir had been appointed by the Government of the Punjab to lead an investigative commission in 1953 in the aftermath of the turmoil, the convening of brash public gatherings as a form of intimidating Ahmadis, and various other troubles afflicting Ahmadis.) The results of the commission led by Justice Mounir were published as an investigative report, and came to be popularly known as the Mounir Report. On that basis, Chief Justice Mounir was intimately familiar with the beliefs of the two distinct groups of Ahmadis, the two being decidedly independent of each other: The Lahore-based Ahmadiyya branch—aka the Ahmadiyya Movement—and the Rabwah Jamaat, which is the Rabwah-based Ahmadiyya branch. In referring to that consultation meeting, Doctor Saeed Ahmad wrote as follows in his personal diary:

We had a meeting with the former Chief Justice of Pakistan, Muhammad Mounir. I, too, went. Chief Justice Mounir was unable to provide a better opinion than that which Chaudhry Fateh Muhammad Aziz advocate had offered earlier. Nonetheless, certain points became clear through the exchange of ideas in that nothing was to be gained by changing the name of our organization. We can do our work only if we want to keep our Ahmadiyyat and our beliefs intact. The restriction whereby we can no longer call ourselves Muslims is merely at the legal level and part of the country’s constitutional aims. Otherwise, as far as being called Muslims is concerned—along with expressing ourselves in writing as such—there is no obstruction or hindrance or impediment until such a time that rules and regulations and laws are promulgated which might further abridge our religious rights.

The suggestion had been made during the meeting by certain members that the name of the Ahmadiyya Movement should be changed. But Doctor Saeed Ahmad and Chaudhry Fateh Muhammad Aziz were of the same opinion in the matter that doing so would be unnecessary at the time, and Chief Justice Mounir had supported the same approach: Until such a time that additional laws had been passed—laws which would further impose restrictions on our religious work—the Ahmadiyya Movement could continue its work according to its tradition.

After participating in the meetings on November 2, and November 3, 1974, having met many members of the community and exchanged ideas with them, Doctor Saeed Ahmad returned to Kakul on November 4, 1974. He stayed there for another week in order to take care of certain personal matters. On returning to Dar-us-Saeed, he saw that the police were still stationed there, and the repair work was still in progress. In addition, he arranged for the sale of a tract of land which belonged to him, one which was located in the Supply area of Abbottabad. He had purchased that tract of land a few years earlier with the intention of facilitating his sons’ building their own residences there. But in light of the prevailing circumstances—his own means of earning had itself been rendered defunct—the goal of facilitating his sons’ building their own residences there, in turn, had become pointless.

On November 11, 1974, his son Abdulla Saeed traveled to Rawalpindi to participate in a lunch with the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Doctor Saeed Ahmad decided that he, too, would travel to Rawalpindi along with his family. So he traveled to Rawalpindi, and thereafter to Lahore via an express train with the intention of taking up permanent residence there. Mansur Ahmad—his son-in-law—had the honor of hosting him. That same night, Doctor Saeed Ahmad received the good news that his son Abdulla Saeed had been promoted from Brigadier to Major General, whereupon he fell into prostration before Allah.

He wrote as follows in his personal diary to express his thanks for that blessing:

Thursday, November 12, 1974

Abdulla [Saeed] called me via telephone at night [to tell me] that the late afternoon meeting with the Prime Minister was an auspicious one: Nine brigadiers—their promotion was under consideration—all got promoted. The Prime Minister congratulated us.

الحمدﷲ۔ ۔ ثم الحمدﷲ۔

Alhumdulillah, alhumdulillah again.

Offer to Take up Residence in Dar-us-Salam

Not much time has passed since the colony of Dar-us-Salam had begun getting populated, and a large area of it was under construction. Nonetheless, a residence for the president had already been constructed. The second president, Maulana Sadr-ud-Din, had preferred to remain in his Ahmadiyya Buildings residence instead. Therefore, the President’s House in Dar-us-Salam had not yet been inhabited. Therefore, the Ahmadiyya Movement headquarters (based in Lahore) offered Doctor Saeed Ahmad to take up residence there. Several members of the Ahmadiyya Movement requested the General Secretary—both verbally, and through written means—that Doctor Saeed Ahmad should be requested to take up residence in Dar-us-Saeed.

The delegation in the leadership of Mian Fazl-e-Ahmad met with Doctor Saeed Ahmad. And Naseer Ahmad Faruqui strongly insisted that his gracing the colony of Dar-us-Saeed with his presence would be a source of blessings and goodness for the Ahmadiyya Movement.

The residents of Dar-us-Salam themselves came to meet Doctor Saeed Ahmad in the shape of a deputation. In referring to that, Shaikh Hafiz-ur-Rahman had expressed his thoughts during a gathering in 1975. That gathering had been convened to commemorate Doctor Saeed Ahmad’s first tour abroad in connection with the Ahmadiyya Movement. Shaikh Hafiz-ur-Rahman said:

Respected members! It has been a long-standing wish of the residents of Dar-us-Salam for a distinguished religious elder to come and live here, one who would educate them in the distinguishing characteristics of the Ahmadiyya Movement and its noble views, and moreover serve as a role model and serve as their guide and leader in religious matters. Whenever these people met, they would discuss among themselves the acute absence of a distinguished leader, one who comprehensively embodied these qualities. Finally, God answered our prayers, and created means for Doctor Saeed Ahmad to come to Lahore. When Doctor Saeed Ahmad came to Lahore, we went to meet him in the form of a deputation. We earnestly requested him to come and take up residence in Dar-us-Salam, and to thereby fill the acute gap that existed and which was manifesting itself through the shortage of activities available to the residents of the colony. It is our good fortune that Doctor Saeed Ahmad has blessed our request with his acceptance. Today, his presence—one that is a source of blessings—within us will continue to enrich and enlighten us. And the series of regularly performing the daily prayers as well as a series of sermons has become established in Dar-us-Salam.

Doctor Saeed Ahmad had been offered to take up residence in the President’s House during the meeting of the Executive Committee on September 13, 1974. Doctor Saeed Ahmad had expressed a certain hesitation and said that he would respond after performing an istikhara [a prayer to be guided by Allah when undertaking an important matter.]

During the meeting of the Executive Committee on September 17, 1974, that request was again made to Doctor Saeed Ahmad, whereupon he expressed his thanks to the members of the Ahmadiyya Movement, and said that it was purely for seeking the pleasure of Allah the Most High that he was agreeing to take up residence in Dar-us-Salam to devote the rest of his life to the service of the Ahmadiyya Movement. The members present, in expressing their gladness at Doctor Saeed Ahmad’s setting aside his hesitation and taking up the offer, formally approved his taking up residence in the President’s House.

What follows is an excerpt from the personal diary of Doctor Saeed Ahmad:

A meeting of the Executive Committee took place. The surgery of Hazrat Amir’s eye had taken place two or three days ago in the Gangaram hospital. I was instructed to conduct the meeting. The agenda was extensive. Nonetheless, most of it was covered by 2:00 PM. One resolution pertained to the offer made to me for taking up residence in Dar-us-Salam. I accepted it in the hopes of gaining the pleasure of Allah, in that members of the Ahmadiyya Movement in great numbers had been expressing this request, and that, too, on multiple occasions. Following the discussion during the meeting, I felt the concern that rejecting the offer might incur the displeasure of Allah the Most High. I am, at this time—experimentally and temporarily—taking this step. May Allah always keep me on the right path.

And what follows next is another excerpt from the article by Masud Akhtar:

An oil lamp can be lit only through another oil lamp that is itself already aglow [to use a metaphor.] I personally believe that Doctor Saeed Ahmad is such an individual; that if he were to take on the leadership of the Ahmadiyya Movement, it could emerge from its immense crisis. After consulting with a few other individuals, Major Abdul Latif and I went to meet Doctor Saeed Ahmad. We requested him to step forward and take the helm of the Ahmadiyya Movement: He replied that Mian Umar Farooq had offered to set up a clinic for him in Lahore. A famed German company had offered to provide him a free X-Ray machine. Mian Fazl-e-Ahmad had also extended a similar offer. But I thought to myself that perhaps Allah the Most High had decided that I should devote the remaining days of my life to the service of religion; perhaps that was why my clinic had gotten burned down. Now that Allah the Most High has given me this opportunity, it behooves me to avail it. So I have decided that I will stay in Dar-us-Salam and carry out the work according to the wishes of the Ahmadis. I said to Doctor Saeed Ahmad that his mere presence here will become a new source of strength for the Ahmadiyya Movement. It was an especially auspicious decision. It was the opinion of Mian Fazl-e-Ahmad [figuratively expressed] that a lit candle will invariably and unfailingly attract toward itself a host of moths that seek light. Mian Fazl-e-Ahmad, with the cooperation of Naseer Ahmad Faruqui, got a resolution passed in an Executive Committee meeting whereby a request was made to Doctor Saeed Ahmad to take up residence in Dar-us-Salam.