In the Blessed Memory of Late Maulana Sadr-ud-Din
by Lt. Col. (Retd.) Hanif Akhtar Malhi
The Light (Pakistan), 8th/24th December Issue (Sadr-ud-Din Number) (Vol. 61, Nos. 23–24, pp. 36–37)
Hazrat Maulana Sadr-ud-Din of blessed memory was the last star from the galaxy of companions of the “Promised Messiah”, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam that disappeared in the early morning of 15th November 1981. He attained a ripe age of 101 years and lived a full life. Like the late Maulana Muhammad Ali he also had a bright worldly career ahead of him in the Education Department when he harkened to the call of the “Promised Messiah” and forsook this career for the sake of propagation of Islam.
He was an accomplished speaker and was an extremely captivating conversationalist. His speeches (and by God what a magical style he had!) on the life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (may peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and Maulana Muhammad Ali’s writings were the twin pillars on which Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat-i-Islam stood for a long, long time.
I still cherish the memories of childhood when the late Maulana visited Baddomalhi [India, now Pakistan] in the early Forties [1940s] (I was only 12 or 13 years at the time) as the head of a delegation of religious dignitaries who had come from Lahore to grace our Local Jalsa [Conference]. Since the delegation stayed in our late Uncle Sultan Ali’s bungalow near G.H. Muslim High School, Baddomalhi, I among other boys, had the special good fortune of serving on the late Maulana and others. His radiant personality oozed awe and dignity.
At the successful conclusion of one-day Jalsa, a party of 12–13 persons from a nearby village Jewan Goraya [Geven Goraya] pledged to join our Jamaat [Movement] at the hands of’ the late Maulana. Spontaneously, under the inspiring and undaunted leadership of late Muzaffar Beg Sati [Muzaffar Baig Sateh], we boys raised slogans “Islam Zindabad” and “Ahmadiyyat Zindabad”. The late Maulana specially thanked the young volunteers and gave us special attention by offering encouraging and endearing words. At least I owe it to this early attention and subsequent patronage that I hold the cause of Ahmadiyyat so dear to my heart.
As a speaker, he was never a bore and somehow knew how to reach the hearts of the audience consisting of the most educated and the illiterate.
As a planner and organiser he was matchless. He was dauntless and showed courage of conviction worth emulation during the crises that overtook the Jamaat. Whatever job he tackled, he brought to bear on it his characteristic courage, efficiency and a method and style becoming of a great personage. Personality, somebody defined, consists of “Physique, Chimique, and Psychique.” The late Maulana was blessed by God Almighty with a happy blend of all these three elements of personality. His achievements have left a deep impression on the history of Ahmadiyyat. He will be missed by his followers and disciples spread throughout the country and world. May his soul rest in peace. Ameen.