Hakeem Noor-ud-Din

Hakeem Noor-ud-Din (also spelt: Hakim Nur-ud-Din) ( ar, حکیم نور الدین) (8 January 1834 – 13 March 1914) was a close companion of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement, and was chosen as his first successor on 27 May 1908, a day after his death, becoming the first caliph ( ar, خليفة المسيح الأول, ''khalīfatul masīh al-awwal'') and leader of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

Royal Physician to the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir for many years, his extensive travels included a long stay in the cities of Mecca and Medina in pursuit of religious learning. Noor-ud-Din was the first person to give bay'ah (pledge of allegiance) to Ghulam Ahmad in 1889 and remained his closest associate and confidant, leaving his home in Bhera and setting up permanent residence at Qadian in 1892. He assisted Ghulam Ahmad throughout the course of his religious vocation, himself authored several volumes of rebuttals in response to criticisms raised by Christian and Hindu polemicists against Islam and was instrumental in arranging some of the public debates between Ghulam Ahmad and his adversaries. After Ghulam Ahmad's death, he was unanimously chosen as his successor. Under Noor-ud-Din's leadership, the Ahmadiyya movement began to organise missionary activity with small groups of Ahmadis emerging in southern India, Bengal and Afghanistan, the first Islamic mission in England was established in 1913, and work began on the English translation of the Quran. His lectures on Quranic exegesis and Hadith were one of the main attractions for visitors to Qadian after Ghulam Ahmad. Many prominent scholars and leaders were his students, including Muhammad Ali and Sher Ali, who were themselves Quranic commentators and among the earliest translators of the Quran into English, and Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud who succeeded him as caliph.

Family

Hakeem Noor-ud-Din was the youngest of seven brothers and two sisters and the 34th direct lineal male descent of Umar Ibn al-Khattab, the second caliph of Islam. The forebears of Maulana Noor-ud-Deen, on migration from Medina settled down in Balkh and became rulers of Kabul and Ghazni. During the attack of Genghis Khan, his ancestors migrated from Kabul and first settled near Multan and then finally at Bhera. Among his forefathers were a number of individuals who taught Islam and claimed a proud privilege of heading a chain of descendants who had memorized the Qur'an; His earlier eleven generations shared this distinction. Among the ancestors of Maulana Noor-ud-Deen, there were saints and scholars of high repute. Sultans, ''Sufiis'', '' Qazi''s and martyrs were all among his ancestors who once enjoyed an important place in the Muslim World. The family members of his tribe are still known as ''Sahibzada''. In Bhera (his birthplace), his family was accorded a high degree of respect from the beginning.

Early years and education

Noor-ud-Din considered his mother, Noor Bakht, to be his first teacher. He used to say that he was fed the love of the Quran through his mother's milk. He went to a local school for his early education. His father Hafiz Ghulam Rasul, a devoted Muslim and parent placed great emphasis on his children's education. Noor-ud-Din spoke Punjabi as his mother tongue, but after hearing a soldier speaking Urdu