The Memoir of Hazrat Babu Atta Mohammud North West Railways, British India. Translated and annotated from Urdu by his great-grandson, Rehan Qayoom

13th November 1882 – 4 th November 1954, (Photograph taken in 1928). i

In the name of Allah the Gracious the Merciful We praise Him and invoke His blessings upon His Noble Messenger. Also upon his servant the Promised Messiah Babu Atta Mohammud Sahib Ahmadi Warraich clan resident of Dinga Province of Gujrat Disciple of His Holiness the Promised Messiah peace be upon him Date of birth – 1 st Muharram 1300H Travelled to Qadian on foot and offered allegiance Promised Messiah 1900* Date of passing – 4 November 1954 Thursday We belong to Allah and return to Him * The date inscribed in the notebook is that of 1898 which is correct. ii

iii

We praise Him and invoke His blessings upon His Noble Messenger. Also upon his servant the Promised Messiah With His help In the name of Allah the Gracious the Merciful Amina Bibi Ahmadi wife of Babu Atta Mohammud Sahib Ahmadiyya Association Warraich clan resident of Dinga [in the] Gujrat district. [The rest of the inscription is illegible]. iv

I will be leading some funeral services following the Friday prayers … 3 – Babu Atta Mohammud Sahib of Dinga [in the] Gujrat District – Has passed away on 4th November. He was a Disciple of the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) and a devout Ahmadi. Very few people attended his funeral prayer. Hazrat al-Hajj Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad – Khalifatul Masih II. Friday Sermon 19 th November 1954. Khutbat e Mahmood: xxxv. 354, 355. My father Babu Atta Mohammud Sahib Ahmadi Disciple of His Holiness the Promised Messiah peace be upon him departed and met with his true maker on Thursday 4th November at 7.30am. ‘To Allah we belong and to Him do we return.’ Friends are requested to pray for the elevation of his rank – Abdul Hayy Ahmadi exDervish. Mandir Arya Samaj Street Dinga Gujrat District. Al Fazl, 11th November 1954. 6. v

1898 Initiated Disciple Atta Mohammad Ahmadi Tailor of Dinga vi

1 My Lineage I have heard the following – The name of my deceased great-grandfather was Hafiz Mian Khan, he was a godly personage. Allah the Almighty was pleased with him and provided for him, he was a caretaker of the gardens of the Sikhs during their era, 1 he would sew meshes to protect their fruits [from pests] - He had three or four sons, one of them was my grandfather, he was also a Hafiz of The Holy Quran. 2 The story of his memorizing The Holy Quran is that he memorized the entire Holy Quran in one month. This came about one night when our deceased great-grandfather woke my great-grandmother a little before dawn. It was not the month of Ramadan. He said that ‘A reverend is coming – Hurry up, quickly cook two chapattis for him – The saag3 prepared last night would do as curry to go with it. I will replenish the pipe with tobacco. When my great-grandmother placed the second chapatti on the pan - He said ‘He is by the mosque’. When she had cooked it - The holy man called out ‘Hafiz Mian Khan Assalamo alaikum’. So my great-grandfather came out a few [1] steps into the courtyard to greet [him]. Here there was a charpoi, he sat on it and the food prepared was placed before him. The holy man only ate one of the flatbread rotis. He returned the second one and began smoking the pipe (there were no hookas et cetera in those days). My great-grandfather said ‘You have eaten half the meal, eat the rest too’, whereupon the holy man said ‘What would you eat in the morning?’ My great-grandfather said ‘Allah the Almighty is our Provider and He would provide for us. Take it with you. Eat it on the way. Take some saag too’. After much persuading the holy man took it and packed it. Then my great-grandfather said ‘I received the news of your arrival about an hour ago. I was awake’. When the holy man arose, he said ‘Call Qutbuddin’. He was my grandfather [and] he came too. The holy man said ‘Your 1 1799 – 1849. 2 A man who has memorized the entire Quran. 3 Indian leaf-based curry dish.

2 father is a Hafiz so you should memorize The Noble Quran as well. Come forward’. This holy man embraced him and said ‘Memorise it in one month’. Thereafter the holy man departed. Our late grandfather would memorize one part from morning till evening and would recite it to his father in the evening [2] just before the Isha4 prayer. Our family were always in a state of mystical poverty.5 At the approach of death. Our grandmother entreated [him] that ‘Mian Ji! Your end is nigh! So pray for me as well – And leave something behind for us from your Almighty God’. By this she meant – A male heir. For [many] were born before our father who died one after the other. A short while later our great-grandmother woke up.6 She said ‘Bholan (Bholan Bibi)! A boy [?] has been born. Name him Fakhruddin. He will also have a sign - In his throat’. So our late father had a lump in his throat. It caused him neither pain nor irritation. Then the companions entreated [him] that ‘O Holy man! Pray for us too so that our end be a righteous one’. He then closed his eyes. A little while later he opened them. Saying: ‘Firstly no thief would come to this street. If he does - He will not pass the mosque. Secondly anyone who is a reprobate in this street. His home would go to ruin - Even if they be among our relatives’. [3] Then he told all the ladies: ‘No woman should cry at my passing’. That was all. He went to his God. Whilst reciting the Kalima. 7 Then as my father related: When he passed away, the women began weeping and wailing, a kind of fly was born, even though it was morning time, it stung all the ladies and all their faces became swollen. I myself saw his second and third statement come to pass and it is 4 The last of the five daily prayers of Islam, to be performed at nightfall. 5 A Sufi concept denoting a path of poverty and austerity with special focus on the values of love and service, it is closely related to the teachings of such mystical paths as Rumi’s Mevlevi Order (whose adherents are known in the west as the Whirling Dervishes) and also the teachings of St Francis of Assisi. See Idries Shah. The Sufis. (1964). 228 – 234. ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ (The Holy Bible. 2 Corinthians 12: 9). 6 Literally ‘opened her eyes’. 7 The fundamental article of the Muslim faith هللا ل ُسو ُار اَل هللا ُم اح امدٌ ِ ها إ ٰ ل ِ إ لَا] There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger’].

3 still the case. It so happened that once [some] thieves came to burgle by passing over the rooftops. When they were facing the street - They were struck blind. The people in their houses found out. They began crying out ‘Thief! Thief!’ Our late father woke in the earlier part of the night and began chanting and reciting the Wazifas. 8 When he heard the noise he called out ‘Who is this?’ [Punjabi]. Recognising his voice I said ‘Are you Jewana Gehnduwalia?’ - (He was a well-known thief) - He said ‘Yes’. Then told my respected father he cannot see anything so my respected father woke me up and told me to take him to the bazar past the mosque. I arose and took him to the bazar. [4] The second thing that whoever is a rake [I saw] that our entire street was very lively and populous and was known to be crowded. Now all of it lies desolate. One of our paternal cousins married twice but was not blessed with any offspring. He is now practically impotent. He had two other brothers who were drunkards. Their homes are bolted up. Like them he too is a depraved drunkard. The rest of the Hindu ladies in the street were widowed and turned into bawds and defiled. [Their houses were] locked and bolted and some were struck by the plague. The ones who shifted to another village – They also fell prey to the same catastrophe. Now there are only a couple of stories famous about our late grandfather. One is that Shaykh Ali Muhammad converted to Ahmadiyya who was the father in-law of Bhai Abdul Rehman Qadiani and the father of Shaykh Ahmad-uddin. He was our late father’s age-fellow and for this reason was very dear to our late grandfather. One day he that is the Shaykh appealed to him ‘Hafiz Sahib! Pray that our earning should increase a little’. The Shaykh worked at our late father’s tannery. That is the grandfather of Shaykh Ahmad-uddin [5] was called Shahnawaz.9 Thereupon our grandfather wrote something on a piece of paper and wrote ‘One’ underneath. He said ‘Put this in the chest box’. This he did. Then his earning increases a little. 8 Evocation of the Divine attributes and other religious prayers in the form of devotional liturgies. 9 This sentence is out of place and makes no sense but it is how it appears in the original.

4 About a week later Shaykh Ali Muhammad felt something – He drew a [vertical] line to the right of it. He then received even more income and more customers. Then the Shaykh drew another line to its left. Thereafter the Shaykh became acquainted with a butcher’s daughter. He intended to fornicate with her. Here Allah the Almighty showed the butcher’s daughter and the revered Shaykh to our late grandfather in a vision. When the Shaykh went to the shop, he addressed Ali Muhammad saying ‘Bring the piece of paper’, he quickly brought it from the shop, my grandfather did not say anything, only that ‘[?] forgive me, I have been mistaken’. Then when the Shaykh passed by the street where the Qaza Board is the butchers seriously assaulted him and he was penalised for a whole week. Thereafter because there was much notoriety and opposition of the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) he became interested in it. [6] In short he offered the Bayat [oath of allegiance]. He was among the 313 Disciples. 10 He wrote the following verse in the form of a prayer on the shop door for he would sometimes write poetry: When he was about to die he summoned our father.11 And spat into his mouth. For the end was nigh [saying] ‘Your charms and invocations would continue’. He did this and then met with his Lord. 10 Circa 1894. There is a Mian Ali Muhammad of Jhelum listed as Disciple number 184 in Anjam e Atham, (Zia al-Islam, 1897). 11 Shaykh Ali Muhammad was born circa 1853 and passed away on 17th December 1915 and was buried in Bahishti Maqbarah, Qadian.

5 Hazrat Shaykh Ali Muhammad. © makhzan.org The second issue is this: Dinga is [the home of] a clan of Gujars, who populated it. At that time their ruler was a lady. Her name was Biwi Nek Bibi. As our plot was quite constricted - The Biwi came to our house and said to our forefathers ‘Hafiz Mian Khan Sahib! Extend your house to include the shop next door, because your house is very constricted and small’. He replied ‘This much is enough to leave behind’. At that time the niches were daubed with millet stalks or wood stalks, [7] or the doors and entrances were not built from wood. I have myself seen the niche in [that] house of mine. Now I shall write about myself. I was born in Chillianwala village, my maternal grandparents had lived there and our clan is Warraich. It was common custom that, the first child should be born in the home of the maternal grandparents, whenever my birth was mentioned my respected maternal grandmother and mother would say that ‘You were born on the first Monday of this the fourteenth century’.12 12 13th November 1882.

6 So presently I am writing this in 1373 Hijri.13 My childhood has passed, what came to pass in my childhood: - When I approached maturity I faced many days of starvation. As our father lived the life of a Dervish. He would work in the bazar, but only for as much as would suffice. His wages were in Koris and only for sewing a chador of two or ¼ handbreadths (four Koris would count as one [?]). Everybody was happy and gratified. Hindus and Muslims lived together as if children of the same mother and father. There was not much regard for touchable/untouchable. Gradually in the course of time, every [thing] changed. Until the present age – [8] When Hindus and Muslims do not even wish to look at one another. They would kill each other for it. In short as I advanced in age, I was sent to the mosque to be educated. I was still there, when a relative of ours passed away in the village of Maghuwal. I went along with my parents to offer condolences. There lived a divine named Sain Nattudarey. The men reached first. The ladies were a bit delayed, upon which the revered divine said ‘The people from Dinga should bring their child’. My father took me to the revered divine who burst out laughing, saying ‘He would partake of wisdom. He would see a noble person’. Then he said ‘Take him back, and come back quick’, so my father left me [with the ladies] and made a fast return. The aforementioned divine said ‘This Ascot [?] is a dish, place it above the smoke, then all who will return from the funeral, it is cold, they would drink tea. Fill it up with water’. He then rose and put his [?] into it. Whatever was in it, pieces, flour, salt and turmeric all of it - So that was how the tea was brewed. The people returned from the burial and sat down one by one. The divine said ‘Give it to everyone to drink’. In those days there were no saucers and suchlike, the pots and bowls were made from clay. They all drank the same tea with no distinction between [9] Hindu and Muslim. They drank their fill of it. My father would say that it was so delicious, that to this day I have not had the fortune to drink such tea. I was sent 13 1952/1953.

7 to the mosque there where the Imam was one Ibrahim – He earned a living by binding books. All the boys and girls studied Arabic together. Sain Muhammad Din, father of Hazrat Babu Atta Mohammud. The authenticity of this photograph is disputed pending further investigation. It is more likely one of his brothers.

8 II After reading [only] one part [of the Quran] I was transferred to a cleric named Hakim Khan and studied under him. There was only one school in our town - The Scotch Mission School.1 After six months I was transferred from there to the School in the second grade. That was in 1898. There was a Kashmiri Principle who taught there. He was a resident of Jalalpur Jattan. He had converted to Christianity. Here Sheikh Muhammad Ahsan (brother in-law of Sheikh Abdul Haq, who was his maternal uncle) who was from Kalanaur – His father was an office caretaker at the Jhelum court. When Sheikh Muhammad Ahsan completed his Training College examinations he was dispatched to Gujrat in the employ of Rev. Paterson2 – [Where] He was posted as Headmaster. One day the Gospel Master uttered some crude words about the Holy Master of the Universe. [10]3 Master Muhammad Ahsan Khan heard what he said and entered into his room through the window, grabbed him by the neck and threw him down, and began to beat him. Thereupon everybody made much fun of the Gospel Master. After that Master Muhammad Ahsan founded a new School - So that whoever quarrelled – Would be entered into the higher grade. Thus – Whoever came from the second grade – Would go into third – Third into fourth – So that [?] was done. Moreover he asked a Sikh gentleman for his townhouse – So a School was then opened up. On the third day Rev. Paterson came with Didar Singh the Missionary – They begged and pleaded plenty. But Master Muhammad Ahsan gave them only one reply. Namely ‘I will never serve the Mission [School] again.’ Also ‘I will stay here until the Mission School is uprooted.’ Then Sardar Hakim Singh ruler of Dinga placed that School under his jurisdiction because no Muslim ruler would care for it – That is for the 1 Established in 1889, it is still functioning to this day as Murray College. 2 Rev. Robert McCheyne Paterson. Born in Sialkot in 1864, went to Scotland in 1869 to study at the University of Glasgow: MA 1883, BD 1885, arrived in Sialkot in 1885. OBE 1926. Died 1942, (Rev. B. H. Badley, Indian Missionary Directory. 110). 3 Referring to Muhammad, the Holy Prophet of Islam.

9 Public School of Dinga. The overgrown townhouse was cleared and its Grant accepted and when that became a Middle School the Mission School became a Primary – When it became [an] Entrance [school] the Mission School was totally cleared out – That is to say it closed down. Master Muhammad Ahsan also resigned and departed. Saying ‘That is all my work done.’ [11] Our Fees were waived. Rev. Paterson is seated in the middle row second from right, circa 1920. © National Library of Scotland.

10 III It was in 1897 that I first heard of His Holiness the Mahdi (peace be on him), the Promised Messiah (peace be on him). I was in seventh grade at the time. Thereafter Hafiz Ahmad-uddin, Hazrat Hafiz Karam Din and Hazrat Sheikh Ali Muhammad and Sheikh Mawla Bakhsh and Karam Din Junjua [all] went to Qadian. All of these people are among the 313 Disciples.1 Now they have all passed away. Ahmadiyya was founded here [in Dinga] by Hazrat Syed Khasilat Ali Shah2 and he led the Friday Service before which no Friday Service was ever held here. Now the Jumma service is offered here in three mosques. In short this tale is very lengthy. Hazrat Syed Khasilat Ali Shah. © makhzan.org 1 Hafiz Ahmad-uddin:, Hafiz Karam Din:, Sheikh Ali Muhammad: 184, Sheikh Mawla Bakhsh: 78, Karam Din Junjua: (Anjam e Atham). Ruhani Khazain: xi. 326, 327. 2 Disciple 226. (Ibid).

11 I first found employment in the post office. Then I was a teacher in Lahore. Then a Reserve Clerk in Peshawar. Our employment thereafter lasted until 9th Jetth 962 Bikrami that is 29th May 1905. That is how the time passed. Now to go slightly back in time. In 1898 I would read and give a reading of His Holiness’ book Aina Kamalat [Islam] 3 at night. One day I requested Hafiz Ahmad-uddin to write a letter of Bayat [allegiance] on my behalf. As it is already well-known – That I have offered the Bayat – And have become a ‘Mirzai’. I am already taunted on all fronts [12] about it. I had the honour to perform the Bayat in 1898. Why did I offer the Bayat? I had heard from my elders: The Imam Mahdi would come in the fourteenth century. It is a mark of the heavenly and the hallowed instruction of the Noble Messengerصلى الله عليه وسلم to ‘Convey my greetings to him’. It was imperative. I completed my Middle [grade] in 1898, and with the grace of God I reached Lahore in 1900. It was then that I had the opportunity to go to Qadian. It was at no cost as the fare was covered by Munshi Tajuddin. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad with some of his Disciples. Munshi Tajuddin is standing second from right. 3 Published in 1893.

12 I set out on foot by the road. I knew nobody. At long last I found Sheikh Ahmad-uddin. He had arranged accommodation for everyone arriving from Dinga. That is where I stayed the night. We were able to see His Holiness as he was about to go for a walk. Then as he returned perhaps it was a Friday. His Holiness entered the Aqsa Mosque when it was time for Jumma and His Holiness delivered The Revealed Sermon.4 When His Holiness spoke - It was as if it was coming from heaven piecemeal. His Holiness stood where there is a roof of iron sheets. When the Jumma Prayers were offered – It was said that there would be [an oath of allegiance] Bayat in the Gol Kamra [Circular Room] whoever wished to offer the Bayat [should go there]. There used to be a Pathan at the door. Others would ask his permission before entering. I was the first to enter without having sought permission – The first to present myself to His Holiness. As soon as I entered I bowed and offered the greeting of ‘Assalamo alaikum.’ Followed by the Bayat [13]. His Holiness [?] looked towards this humble one – He requested me to be seated. I knelt facing His Holiness. He then benevolently positioned his right hand before this humble one. I had just placed my hand upon his when I know not how many other hands fell upon mine. Then the person right at the end of the hand placed his on the turban and the Bayat began: I swear this day at the hand of Ahmad. Then I repeated exactly whatever he spoke. After having performed the Bayat and having got up to go out I recalled the command of the Master of Universeصلى الله عليه وسلم .I was standing there in the courtyard.5 So I went [back] inside. I sat in the small space to the right of His Holiness. When the second group of initiates arrived - His Holiness looked to me and said ‘You have already performed the Bayat.’ So I said ‘Your Holiness! I had forgotten one thing and that is to convey to your holiness the [greetings of] Assalamo Alaikum of the Holy Prophetصلى الله عليه وسلم and that when I had read your holiness’ book Kashti 4 The Revealed Sermon was delivered on the occasion of Eid-ul Adha, Wednesday 11th April 1900. It was subsequently published as a book in 1902. Ruhani Khazain: xvi. 1 – 334. 5 When you hear the advent of the Mahdi then enter into his fold even if you have to walk on snow by crawling and creeping to reach him. Ali ibn Abdul Malik al-Hindi. Kanz al-Amal.

13 Nuh [Noah’s Ark] to Syed Jivan Shah who is the spiritual master of our family he had instructed to convey [greetings of] Assalamo Alaikum to you.6 That I am presenting before you’. After this he granted me the honour of shaking his hand again. Then I came out. Moreover the effect of the prayers of our great-grandfather yet remains. There is a graveyard here – That began with our [14] deceased great-grandfather. It is now known as the Tailors’ Graveyard. Its story is as follows – One day he came to the well and the landowner saw that it is the Hafiz and ran to him and greeted him with Assalamo Alaikum and shook his hand. He stood in a crop of aubergines. The landowner requested him ‘Please pray because there is no crop and the season is approaching its end’. He replied ‘Give me space for a grave – I will pray and then it shall be as Allah wills.’ He said ‘Here is the ground - Wherever you wish. I give over the entire plot for a graveyard. He [dug?] a space in the shade of an acacia tree and said to him ‘This place is appropriate.’ The landowner gave those three or four [?] of space for the graveyard. Moreover whatever is sown in the area of land where he had prayed – It bears fruit in abundance. Then he planted many aubergines, which would grow even after the season had passed. [15] 6 The narrative is somewhat anachronistic here as Kashti Nuh was not published until 1902. This may have been later. His name appears as an initiate in the newspaper Al Badr of 9th May 1907, page 7.

14 IV We faced severe opposition in the days of the Jalsa Lahore.1 We were targeting by the people. They would say that he has been bayten. 2 Many men said this to me. But I made nothing of it. When I returned home to Dinga. My father only said that ‘For this reason alone nobody will marry you.’ Thus I wrote to His Holiness with all the details. His Holiness replied ‘Recite much Durood and Istaghfar. We will pray.’ Then after four or five months a person from Rasool Nagar (also known as Ram Nagar) in the province of Gujranwala comes and reaches Dinga in the evening and as soon as he arrives he says ‘Abdullah marry Amina into the Sain House’ - My father’s name was Muhammad-uddin but he was commonly known as Sain Muhammad-uddin. Allah the Almighty sent my fiancé to my house to Go and fetch your maternal uncle. She [her mother] who used to say ‘He has become an infidel I would rather poison my daughter than give her over to them.’ [16] In short she escorted her herself. As soon as they went Abdullah said ‘Uncle! I give you Amina to wed for Allah’s sake. So eat this kedgeree.’ My father first offered a prayer then ate of the kedgeree. Abdullah was the son of my paternal aunt. Then as soon we stepped outside. All that could be heard from every direction was ‘Congratulations Sain!’ This is the miracle of the power of God who is besought by all. 1 The annual convention of the Ahmadiyya Muslims was held outside the headquarters for the first time in Lahore due to the partition of India. 2 Pun on the word to be beaten with the bayat [initiation] which also meant ‘cane’.

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32 © Rehan Qayoom, 2019.

33