Mawlana ‘Abd al-‘Alim asw-Swiddiq ibn ‘Abd al-Hakim al-Qadri (q.s.) in Brief
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
Mawlana ‘Abd al-‘Alim
asw-Swiddiq ibn ‘Abd al-Hakim al-Qadri (q.s.)
was one of the scholars who always came to Singapore. He travelled around the world promoting Islam,
peace and love of humanity. He also built
one of the mosques Singapore, Masjid Abdul Aleem Siddique, at Lorong K, Telok
Kurau. Mawlana ‘Abd al-‘Alim
asw-Swiddiqi (q.s.) was born in Ramadhan,
on the 03rd April 1892; 15th Ramadhan 1310; in Meerut,
India. He was raised in a family that
was pious. He was a direct descendant of
Sayyidina Abu Bakr ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Utsman asw-Swiddiq (r.a.), the first caliph of Islam.
From a young age, his
father, Shaykh Muhammad ‘Abd al-Hakim (r.a.)
and his mother, were his inspiration and source of guidance and education in
the teachings of Islam. He was an
exceptionally intelligent child, and possessed an intellectual capacity beyond
his years. He committed the Qur’an to
memory when he was only 4 years old. He
also had remarkable oratory skill, and at the age of 9, he delivered his first
public speech at the Jamma Mosque of Meerut, mesmerising the audience with his
eloquence.
He had a remarkable love
and thirst for knowledge. At the age of
16, he graduated with a degree and distinction in Islamic Theology. He then pursued non-theological studies in
modern sciences and law. He also
acquired advanced knowledge in Qur’anic sciences, ahadits, taswawwuf, and Islamic jurisprudence of the
four main madzahib. His teachers included Shaykh Ahmad ash-Shams (r.a.) of Morocco, Shaykh as-Sannuwsi (q.s.) of Libya, Mawlana ‘Abd al-Bari (r.a.) of Faranghi Mahal, and Mawlana
Ahmad Mukhtar asw-Swiddiq ibn ‘Abd al-Hakim al-Qadri (r.a.), his brother.
Mawlana ‘Abd al-‘Alim
asw-Swiddiq (q.s.) travelled
continuously for 40 years to all parts of the globe until his labours of love
for the spiritual reform and enlightenment of humanity covered a major part of
the world. The countries he visited
include the Hejaz, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Burma, Vietnam,
Ceylon, China, Japan, Philippines, Mauritius, Madagascar, South Africa, Kenya,
Tanzania, Belgium, Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, France, England, West
Indies, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Suriname, the United States of America,
and Canada.
He was a great writer,
poet, orator and scholar of Islam and modern sciences, and was renowned the
world over for his spiritual guidance and promulgation of the message of hope
and peace. His contribution to literary
and academic discourses was also astounding. In 1935, in Mombassa, Kenya, Mawlana ‘Abd
al-‘Alim asw-Swiddiq (q.s.) met with
the famous European intellectual, Sir George Bernard Shaw, and they enjoyed a
wonderful exchange of thoughts in which Sir George Bernard Shaw called Mawlana
‘Abd al-‘Alim asw-Swiddiq (q.s.), a “learned
sage”. He delivered hundreds of lectures
and also found time to write several Islamic books and poetry, in Urdu and
English.
He came to Singapore in
1930 to spread the message and beauty of Islam. He laboured intensively in the cause of Islam,
and delivered numerous lectures in Singapore, and attracted many people to
Islam. He pioneered the establishment of
the All Malaya Muslim Missionary Society, now known as Jamiyah, in 1932. He also pioneered the establishment of the
Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO) to foster greater understanding between the
faiths and to promote the spirit and message of peace amongst the people of
Singapore.
In the IRO’s inauguration
ceremony, on the 18th March 1949 at Victoria Memorial Hall, Mawlana
‘Abd al-‘Alim asw-Swiddiq (q.s.) gave
an inspiring speech, in which he said, “As far as the common evils and accepted
moral principles were concerned, no religion could have any difference, and in
the spirit of tolerance and sympathy and the desire to establish peace, all of
them were as one. The task of the
religious leaders was to let the followers of each and every religion know the
teachings of other religions, so that a spirit of fellowship could work
together to spread the accepted moral principles and to fight the common
evils.”
Mawlana ‘Abd al-‘Alim
asw-Swiddiq (q.s.) worked with
single-minded devotion for the cause of Islam and humanity. Hundreds of thousands of people belonging to
diverse races and nationalities in Asia, Africa, Europe, and America received
spiritual blessings through his dynamic and refulgent personality. Numerous mosques, Islamic missionary
societies, schools, hospitals, libraries, infirmaries, orphanages and Islamic
periodicals sprang up in the wake of his immortal missionary work.
Mawlana ‘Abd al-‘Alim
asw-Swiddiq (q.s.) was an
extraordinary exponent who personified, in a distinguished manner, the causes
he cherished and upheld, and his labours for the cause form a landmark in human
history. His noble soul soared beyond
the limitations of territory and race. The most distinctive aspect of his personality
was the spiritual magnetism that he radiated which captivated the minds and hearts
of all who crossed his path.
On the 22nd August
1954; 22nd Dzu al-Hijjah, at the age of 63, after a last visit to
the grave of the beloved Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.),
Mawlana ‘Abd al-‘Alim asw-Swiddiq (q.s.)
passed away. His body rests at Jannat al-Baqi’
in Madinah. May Allah (s.w.t.) Bless him and be Well Pleased
with His servant, Mawlana ‘Abd al-‘Alim asw-Swiddiq (q.s.).
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