[Picture] Hazrat Maulana Muhammad Ali

This was the first photograph taken of Hazrat Maulana Muhammad Ali. He describes the events leading up to the photo being taken in his Friday Khutbah on 14th January, 1944, as follows:

“It was perhaps 1901 or 1902. I was living in Qadian and probably The Review of Religions had already started. The Promised Messiah called a photographer to have his photograph taken for inclusion in his books. … I cannot remember if any other group photo was taken but what I do recall is that by his bidding my photograph was also taken…. This is an ordinary event, but the strange thing, or what we can call God’s work, is that in the photo on the left side there is a hand holding a book, upon which is written, Quran Sharif. Where did it come from? At that time no one had in mind translating the Holy Qur’an. Hazrat Miza Sahib had entertained this desire for long …”

The photo and quote are courtesy of ‘The Hope Bulletin’ (Vol. 6:7), edited by Akbar Ibn Abdullah.