Loss of a Great Soul [Maulana Sadr-ud-Din]
by Prof. Mirza Habib-ur-Rahman, M.A.
The Light (Pakistan), 8th January 1982 Issue (Vol. 62, No. 1, pp. 8–9)
Maulana Sadr-ud-Din, a man of strongly marked individuality, destined for the nobler life of a true missionary, around whom, after having lived more than hundred years of life, the awful darkness of the shadow of death closed, has left behind him pleasant memories of a great passionate soul. His staunch companions admired him whom the deceased respected.
Abandoned Worldly Riches:
It is one of the most difficult decisions to give up one’s lucrative job, which provides easy chances for intelligent, pains-taking and efficient geniuses to rise to higher and more respectable ranks. Maulana Sadr-ud-Din would have certainly been elevated to the post of Education Secretary or even to a higher rank, if he continued his service in the Education Department. Since he had a spiritual brain, he abandoned riches, ranks and worldly glory in exchange for the life of a missionary on wages which could hardly make both ends meet. He, therefore, died a penniless man, without a bank balance, without any property whatsoever and without any material resources. He had a self-satisfied, peaceful and tranquil end, ready to meet his Lord as a hermit who willingly put up with the narrow circumstances of life for winning Divine good-will and blessings.
An Exceptional Missionary:
Maulana Sadr-ud-Din was a great, self-contented and sincere missionary who, carried on his duties with the fervour and motive of a saint. His end still crowns his deeds, for he converted to Islam several men of high status and intellectual calibre. His ceaseless efforts to lay the foundation of a big mosque at Berlin, speak volumes for his ambition to spread Islam among the citadels of Christian faith. He enrolled before us the alacrity and discernment by virtue of which the difficult task of a missionary could be successfully handled in the midst of those pagans, whose devotion to the pursuit of wealth has become proverbial. Like Maulana Muhammad Ali, he too was a versatile genius and could work out-of-doors remarkably well. With his death the last luminary of the Ahmadiyya Community and a man of exceptional talents has left a vacuum, not easy to be filled up.
Like a pious hermit, he knew all the secret shoals and fatal eddies of the Ocean of Life. His ways of life were marked by austerity, purity, honesty and self-control. He had a great soul in him, which acted as a restorative in his faintness. Having failed to win substantial advantages in his capacity as the President of the Ahmadiyya Community, the heroic spirit in him enabled him to keep up the honour, dignity and reputation of the Community by his masterful personality. No doubt he was a man of sympathetic justice, frank and straightforward ways, but his sympathies were limited. He seldom shirked to stand by the weak, the disowned, the forsaken man in the community.
A Forceful Speaker:
His speeches blended with logical order, struck convincingly to the brain and heart. His verbal pictures, with an abrupt flash, were likely to impress the mental arena for a long period of time. His way of expression and manner of dealing with religious subjects were original and admired, for they were characterized by simplicity and force. His speeches were seldom irksome or unacceptable, for they proceeded through his vivid imagination and clear temperament. On the whole, both the Muslims and the non-Muslims appreciated his eloquence and unique power of expression.
Living Memories:
Good and smart men will be born, but hardly any mother could give birth to spiritual geniuses like Maulana Noor-ud-Din, Maulana Muhammad Ali, Maulana Sadr-ud-Din and Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din, whose golden deeds would lie enshrined in the hearts, while posterity could not help commemorating their achievements with the fidelity of a loving compatriot.