Review of Religions: The Mystery of the Prince

Why Prince Faisal declined to open the mosque, and pulled out only a few hours before the official inauguration, is a mystery. Although the Prince later on disclosed the fact that he had been instructed by his father, the King of Hedjaz, not to go ahead with the opening,^[1] he never explained why he had been instructed to do so.^[2] Therefore, despite much speculation around the incident, the reason behind this sudden change of plan, which led to the Prince dishonouring his commitment, was never disclosed. The speculation was intense – the absence of the Prince from the inauguration, which had supposedly been the main purpose for his long journey, made headlines in local and national newspapers. “Emir and a Mosque”, “Mystery of the Mosque”, “Emir Faisal Stays Away at Last Moment”, “Forbidden from Mecca”, “First London Mosque And Sect Dispute; Emir Forbidden to Open It” and “Prince Feisul Mystery” were some of the headlines given to the story by the mainstream press. As no explanation was given for the Prince’s absence in his memorandum, the press naturally turned to the authorities of the London Mosque to get their impressions on the incident. Hadhrat G F Malik^(ra), Secretary of the Fazl Mosque’s administrative body, expressed his opinion that the King of Hedjaz had been pressurised by orthodox Muslims not to let his son proceed with the opening of a mosque that was being established by the Ahmadiyya sect.^[3]

Hadhrat A R Dard^(ra), the Imam of the Fazl Mosque, who was responsible for the arrangements of the opening by the Prince, stated that the King had accepted his request in August and had happily agreed to send his son, Prince Faisal, the Viceroy of Makkah, to inaugurate the mosque. Plans had been made accordingly, but on the very morning of the day the mosque was to be opened, he was suddenly informed by the Prince’s staff that King Ibn Saud had cabled the Prince, prohibiting his participation in the ceremony.^[4] The Imam went on to say that both he and the Emir himself—and indeed, everybody else as well—were completely in the dark as to the real cause of the problem. Several suggestions were floated for the abrupt cancellation. It had been suggested that King Ibn Saud had been informed that this was not a real Muslim mosque. The Imam said that such a statement was nothing more than absurdity.^[5] The Honourable Khan Bahadur Shaikh Abdul Qadir, also believed that the fact that orthodox Muslims disapprove of Ahmadis as Muslims could have been a factor behind this unpleasant situation, and that perhaps their “machinations have been responsible for preventing the presence of Prince Feisal.”^[6]

Another suggestion, which the Imam was also informed of, was that Al-Ehram, a Cairo-based newspaper, had reported, with reference to the Morning Post London, that the mosque would be open to all religions for all types of worship, which meant it could not be classified as a mosque.^[7] Another possible reason for the cancellation might have been the political significance of the Prince’s visit to England. Yet close scrutiny of India Office Records file of the Political and Secret Department reveal that political motives were negligible. Correspondence from then Foreign Secretary, Sir Austen Chamberlain, states in as many words that the Prince’s visit was taken to be untimely, and that it was tactfully communicated to the King, Ibn Saud, that the Prince could come to England but the visit would be classed as unofficial and incognito.^[8] That the King accepted this condition makes it less likely that the Prince’s visit to England was undertaken for other political reasons, leaving the inauguration of the mosque as the prime reason of his visit.

Indeed, the absence of the Prince was notable in that even non-Muslims had anticipated the importance of the inauguration. For example, the Maharaja of Burdwan, who was also amongst the dignitaries attending the ceremony, said that he had taken the event so seriously that even though he was not a Muslim, he thought it was his responsibility to attend.^[9] In short, while the opening of the London Mosque was laying the foundations of a culture of tolerance in Great Britain, it was also accompanied with a whiff of intolerance—not from predominantly Christian Londoners, but rather, ironically, from other Muslims themselves.

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