Abdur Rahim Dard, known as A. R. Dard (19 June 1894 – 7 December 1955) was an Ahmadi Muslim writer,

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

, and political activist for the

Pakistan Movement The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the per ...

, who served as the Imam of the historic Fazl Mosque, the premier gathering place for

Indian Muslims Islam is India's second-largest religion, with 14.2% of the country's population, approximately 172.2 million people identifying as adherents of Islam in 2011 Census. India is also the country with the second or third largest number of Muslim ...

regardless of denomination in London. He is known for convincing Muhammad Ali Jinnah to return to

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

and fight for the Pakistan Movement.

Career

Dard was a speaker,

Ahmadiyya Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...

and a writer. He addressed many large audiences, most notably during the events of Jalsa Salanas, Interfaith Events, and Political Debates on Pakistan. He wrote many books both in English and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Mirzā Ghulām Ahmad (13 February 1835 – 26 May 1908) was an Indian religious leader and the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement in Islam. He claimed to have been divinely appointed as the promised Messiah and Mahdi—which is the metaphori ...

up to 1901, however, he was unable to complete the work. He also wrote a book ''The Islamic Caliphate'' (1938). Dard met Muhammad Ali Jinnah in March 1933, (who getting utterly disappointed from Indian Politics had returned to England and started his legal practice there), and tried to convince him to return to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

being direly needed by the

. Dard told Jinnah that Jinnah's To symbolize Jinnah's return to the political scene, Dard arranged at the Fazl Mosque in London in April 1933, a lecture titled ''The Future of India'' which was presided over by Sir Nairne Sandeman in which Jinnah criticized the recent White Paper on the Indian Constitutional Reform and argued for self-government by Indians. With the consensus of the

All India Kashmir Committee All India Kashmir Committee was set up by Muslim leaders of British India, mainly British Punjab, to fight for the rights of Muslims in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. a number of other leaders were invited by Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmood ...

, Dard became its Secretary. He served the Jama'at as ''Nazir Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya'' for many years, and accompanied Khalifatul Masih II.

Religion

Dard was the Private Secretary to Khalifatul Masih II from 1920 to 1924 and accompanying him to Damascus, Palestine, Egypt, Italy and France ultimately reaching England on 22 August 1924 for the

Wembley's Conference of Living Religions 1924 Wembley's Parliament of Living Religions was part of the British Empire Exhibition of 1924, inviting famous representatives of important living religions within the British Empire. Although the exhibition was held at Wembley Park in north-west Lon ...

, and was appointed as the missionary in Charge of the London Mission. He served as an

in England for a total of 10 years in two terms. The Fazl Mosque in London, was built in 1926 under his supervision. He finally returned to

Qadian Qadian (; ; ) is a city and a municipal council in Gurdaspur district, north-east of Amritsar, situated north-east of Batala city in the state of Punjab, India. Qadian is the birthplace of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya m ...

in 1938. Dard was Imam of the Fazl Mosque in London twice, from 1924 to 1928 and then again from 1931 till 1938.

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dard, Abdul Rahim 1894 births 1955 deaths Ahmadiyya literature Pakistan Movement activists Pakistani Ahmadis Pakistani imams People from Ludhiana