Intro
Maulana Muhammad Abdullah was born in 1905 and grew up in a small village in the South Punjab called Ahsanpur, Pakistan (See Seifullah in the Bilalian news of Aug-12, 1977)(See also Finding W.D. Fard: Unveiling the Identity of the Founder of the Nation of Islam by John Morrow). He died in the SF Bay Area on June 18, 1992 as a Lahori-Ahmadi (See page 5).

His father, Gauhar Ali, descended from Punjab’s rural landowning class while his mother, Amana Bibi traced her lineage to Mogul-era Afghan spiritual healers. In his youth, Abdullah attended Lahore’s Central Training College for Teachers where he came into contact with aaiil members. Initially, Gauhar Ali resented his son’s rapprochement with the aaiil due to the movement’s controversial embrace of Ghulam Mirza as a mujaddid (reformer) and mahdi (messiah) that raised eyebrows from conservative Muslims. But his father’s anger mollified as Ahmadiyya networks clinched teaching stints in the Lahore-Ahmadi affiliated schools in the late 1920s (“Master Muhammed Abdullah Passes Away: Legacy Lives On”, Paigham-E-Haqq (Fiji), Jul/Sep 1992, No. 61, pp. 3).

By 1930, he was working as a school teacher in Baddomalhi, Sialkot, Pakistan (a famous Ahmadi only town, Lahori and Qadiani mix). In the same year he married Begum Hamida Abdullah. They both lived in Fiji in the early 1930’s. She died on 9 February 2004 at Fremont, Ca. Fanusie alleges that her husband (Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah) was in Fiji by 1928 (see her dissertation).

In Sep-1931, Muhammad Abdullah was published in the famous Lahori-Ahmadi newspapers, “The Light” (See “The Light”, Sep 16, 1931, p. 10 & 11, Muhammad Abdullah, “Letters to the Editor: Muslims in Fiji Islands”). Apart from spearheading Indo-Fijian Islamic youth education, Abdullah emerged as a fiery religious defender of Islam desperately struggling to shield the Fiji Muslim community from the pernicious threats posed by Arya Samaj and Sanatan Dharm Sabha Hindu missionaries in the 1930s. On behalf of the nation-wide Fiji Muslim League (fml) in 1931, Abdullah publicly lambasted Hindu missionaries in Fiji who were “hard at work to crush the Muslims” through operations “of a clandestine nature but to the observant eye, they are vivid and clear”.

Muzaffar Baig Sateh (aka Mirza Muzaffar Beg Sateh) was a Lahori-Ahmadi was sent to the Fiji islands in 1932 to help the famous Muhammad Abdullah run Sunni Muslim schools and defend Islam. While Abdullah earnestly tried propping up Fijian Islam, he unintentionally unleashed a chain of forces that irrevocably ruptured the FML. Initially, events started on a positive note as the AAIIL, Abdullah’s former employers based in Lahore, swiftly acted on his appeals by handpicking Mirza Muzaffar Beg Sateh, a highly skilled debater, polyglot linguist and missionary—for the task in Fiji. The FML gratefully endorsed Abdullah’s recommendation and accelerated plans to bring Sateh over. Nonetheless, the FML board members seemed unaware of Sateh’s Lahore Ahmadiyya affiliation until just a few days prior to the missionary’s scheduled embarkation (See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136).

When the FML finally caught wind of it, this generated a political maelstrom as the anti-Ahmadi FML faction threatened to stop his landing in Fiji whereas the pro-Ahmadi FML faction were equally pugnacious in demanding his presence in Fiji (See Shams-ud-dean, “Ahmadiyyat in Fiji”, Khitaab (Fiji), Vol. 3, No. 4, Oct–Dec. 1996, p. 10). Amidst the heated impasse, arrangements for Sateh’s accommodation had been overlooked such that on the eve of his arrival, the pro-Ahmadi faction within the FML scrambled at the last minute to raise the £60.00 needed to establish his residence, including a contribution of £30.00 by Mr. Sahu Khan (See “Master Muhammed Abdullah Passes Away”, Paigham-e-Haqq, Jul/Sep. 1992, No. 61, p. 3)(See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136).

When Sateh finally arrived in Fiji in 1933, he tenaciously locked horns with the Arya Samaj missionaries in highly polemical debates by harnessing his erudite knowledge on comparative religious systems—between Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism and Jainism—and rhetorical flourishes in Urdu, Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit. As a result of his prowess, Hindu-Muslim tensions simmered such that the colonial authorities dissuaded him from participating in public debates while the Arya Samajis entirely avoided him (See Ahmed Ali, “Fiji and the Franchise: A History of Political Representation, 1900-1937”, Ph.D. Thesis, Australian National University, Oct. 30, 2007, p. 202). (See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136).

Despite acting as a vanguard of Islam in Fiji, accusations over his heretical authenticity snowballed such that the FML banned AAIIL members, prohibiting them from performing salat in the Jame Masjid in Amy Street, Suva, and subsequently voted Lahori Ahmadiyyas out of the FML board. In response on 3 October 1934, the Lahore Ahmadis severed their cords from the FML and instead formally registered the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha’at-i-Islam Lahore, Fiji (AAIIL-F) in Suva, marking the starting point of the movement in the Pacific. (See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136).

By 1934 he was totally ousted and wasn’t allowed into Muslim schools or mosques ever again. His name is also written as Mirza Muzaffar Beg Sateh. Despite not holding any formal leadership role in the newly formed AAIIL-F, Abdullah retained his Lahore-Ahmadi sympathies by serving as an informal client. Between 1934 and 1935, Abdullah operated as a freelance, ad-hoc correspondent for Young Islam, a bi-weekly English language magazine that reported on the AAIIL’s global outreach activities in Europe, Africa, the Middle-East and Asia-Pacific nations including Fiji. In August 1934, Abdullah penned a column “The Ahmadiyya Movement Day by Day” announcing that the “regular branch of the AAAIL (held a) very successful conference” on 1 July 1934 in Suva amidst the backdrop of their ignominious expulsion from the FML (See Manzur Ilahi, “The Ahmadiyya Movement Day by Day”, The Young Islam, Vol. 1, No. 6, Aug. 15, 1934)(See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136).

As early as the 1934 Annual Report, Abdullah’s work has been symbiotically intertwined with Beg Sateh’s subsequent missionary drive in the 1930s. Lahore headquarters marvelled that by the end of 1934, the AAIIL-F had recovered from their setback, outlining that both “Master Muhammad Abdullah and Mirza Muzaffar are doing very useful work in Fiji” in transforming the initial hostility of the islands’ inhabitants into a friendlier disposition towards the Lahore-Ahmadis as reflected by 500 Fijians who joined the nascent movement (The Annual Report of the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha’at-i-Islam Lahore: A Digest, Lahore, 1934, p. 4)(See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136).

For a few years after 1934 the controversy between the Ahmadiyya’s and the orthodox Muslims died down, but rows within the Muslim community continued over personalities and political ambitions rather than doctrines. The Punjabi brothers, Said Hasan and Muhammad Hasan, both lawyers and Sunnis, won for themselves positions of leadership in the Muslim community and respect from the government. But they were unable to control the Suva branch of the Muslim League, and their political ambitions were challenged by the Sahu Khan family, who formed the Muslim Association in 1938, with other Ahmadiyya’s and some Sunnis as well. There was further trouble after the arrival of an orthodox teacher, Aziz Ahmed, in 1938, and there were quarrels over the possession of the Lautoka mosque in 1939, but the details need not detain us here. Enough has been said to indicate the pattern of sectarian conflict, exacerbated by personal and political rivalries and the activities of preachers and teachers from India, as the Indian community in Fiji struggled to educate its children and find dignity and acceptance in its new land and links with its past in India. (See, Fiji Times and Herald of Nov 21-22-24-26, 1938, Via K.L. Gillion, “The Fiji Indians: Challenge to European Dominance, 1920-1946″).

In April 1935, Abdullah wrote another article entitled “Voice from Fiji Islands” commending Young Islam for rendering “yeomen service for the cause of true Islam Ahmadiyyat” and in support of the cause, widened the newspaper’s circulation by registering another five subscribers. Nevertheless, Young Islam ceased operations by 1938 (See Muhammad Abdullah, “Voice from the Fiji Islands”, The Young Islam, Vol. 1, No. 21, Apr. 1, 1935, p. 6)(See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136).

In 1951, M. Khalid Abdullah, who was the son of Maulana Muhammad Abdullah and was mentioned in the Pacific Islands Monthly, Vol. XXI, No. 11, Jun. 1951, p. 39. Under the title, “Fiji-Indian Student for California”. Per the newspaper, M. Khalid Abdullah is 18 years old in 1951 (born in 1931) and had won a Government Scholarship in 1947. He is one of the oldest of 10 siblings (all born in Fiji). Khalid’s brother is already in California and studying at San Francisco City College of Engineering in his 2nd year. In this photo, 8 kids can be seen. The newspaper alleges that M. Khalid Abdullah boarded the SS Lakemba from Suba in March of 1951, headed to Vancouver. For some reason, he didn’t have a proper educational visa and planned to enter the USA via Vancouver, which took 16 days (See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136).

In 1951, Abdullah wrote a letter to the Fiji Times proposing the convening of an inter-religious conference to be convened in Suva Town Hall to be presided by J. L. Shuler of the Seventh Day Adventist Church at which different denominations’ representatives would present their papers. Abdullah declared, “unless representatives of different religions come together, religion cannot succeed. It is therefore essential for missionaries to present a united front to the anti-God movements which are threatening the peace of the world”. A complex man of contradictions, Abdullah emerged as a liberal advocate for inter-faith ecumenical efforts in 1940s and 1950s despite his fundamental disdain for Hindu and Christian proselytizers (See “New Indian School-House Opened at Nausori Fiji”, Pacific Islands Monthly, Vol xii, No. 3, Oct 19941, p. 18; “Opening of Muslim Education Centre”, Pacific Islands Monthly, April 1951, p. 85)(See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136).

In 1953, it was highly likely that Akbar and Khaled Abdullah, his California-based sons, lobbied outgoing MSUSA officials to consider their father for the posting. In September 1953, Akbar Abdullah, who served as secretary of MSUSA while studying in California, wrote to the editor of the Islamic Review, a renowned magazine operated by the Woking Literary Trust Mission that boasted one of the largest print circulation of Islamic thought in the West. In the “What Our Readers Say” segment, Akbar lauded his father who “no doubt served the cause of Muslim education in Fiji, as a pioneer”, successfully erected four Islamic centres in Fiji and manoeuvred his students to an international post-primary education (See Akbar Abdullah, “Muslims in Fiji Islands”, Islamic Review, Sep. 1953, p. 40)(See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136). Clearly, this was designed to vastly enhance Abdullah’s profile in both Lahore-Ahmadi and Islamic circles as a transnational figure.

Just prior to leaving for America in July 1955, Abdullah hastily cobbled together a fundraising event in Fiji for Bashir Minto, the outgoing MSUSA’s imam’s appeal for building a San Francisco masjid (See Akbar Abdullah, “Muslims in Fiji Islands”, Islamic Review, Sep. 1953, p. 40)(See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136). Partly, Abdullah took this up to reciprocate the MSUSA’s welfare assistance for Fiji Indian Muslim students who studied in several American colleges and universities as part of the relaxed immigration regulations that allowed entry to 100 students. The finale of the project was held in Vunomino Muslim School that was graced by important officials in Fiji, cutting across religious creeds and professions, including Devi Dayal Bhatiya, Commissioner for Government of India in Fiji, Mr. C. Elliot, General Manager of Colonial Sugar Refining Company Ltd and Mr. K.B. Singh, principal of various schools. Abdullah secured donations of £1,675.90 from the residents in several islands including Suva, Nausori and Labasa. As the evening’s programme wrapped up, Abdullah’s former student handed him a leather brief case to prepare him for his journey to San Francisco, California.

In 1955, the AAIIL formally named Muhammad Abdullah as the incoming imam of the
Muslim Society of the United States of America (MSUSA) (See Muhammad Abdullah, “Islam in Fiji Islands”, The Light, Aug. 16, 1955, pp. 6–7)(See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136). In 1955, Abdullah’s open-minded advocacy of inter-religious debates clinched him the vacant position as imam of the Muslim Society of the USA (msusa), a Lahore-Ahmadi satellite organisation first established at 870 Castro Street, San Francisco, California in October 1947. Prior to leaving for America, Abdullah organised a fund-raising event for the proposed construction of a Lahore-Ahmadi masjid in San Francisco that secured £1675.90 of donations from Suva, Nausori and Labasa. On 21st July 1955, Abdullah with two other Fiji Moslems boarded the British luxury liner, S.S. Oronsay at Port Suva for two weeks before debarking on 4 August 1955 at Port Francisco. Almost immediately, the trio’s arrival aroused the attention of The Modesto Bee and New Herald newspaper that announced, “Three Moslems Plan to Build a Mosque”. (See Imam Abdullah and American Islamic Movements, “Three Moslems Plan to Build sf Mosque”, The Modesto Bee and News-Herald, Aug 5, 1955, p. 5).

After seventeen months in America, Abdullah returned to Fiji on 12 January 1957, leaving the MSUSA leadership temporarily in the hands of Muharrem Nadji, an Albanian-American Muslim steelworker based in Mansfield, Ohio (See “Our Representatives”, The Light, Jul. 1, 1958, p. 9). While AAIIL literature remains tight-lipped on Abdullah’s departure, several reasons plausibly accounted for this. From an organizational viewpoint, Abdullah’s services might have been terminated having failed to reinvigorate the MSUSA; with the unfulfilled vision of erecting a San Francisco masjid as well as seeing the number of American converts dwindling according to The Light’s statistics. From a personal perspective, Abdullah was keen to return to care for his younger children who remained in Fiji owing to exorbitant costs of living in San Francisco. (See “Master Muhammed Abdullah Passes Away”, Paigham-e-Haqq, Jul/Sep. 1992, No. 61, p. 3).  Moreover, Abdullah needed some time and breathing space to resolve complexities surrounding his son, Akbar’s knotty marriage with Zakia Butt, the daughter of West Pakistan’s Superintendent of Schools. The mysterious circumstances of Akbar’s Lahore-San Francisco “proxy marriage” even found its way into the San Francisco Examiner with the headlines: “S.F. Moslem Awaits Word of His Proxy Wedding in Pakistan” (See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136).

In 1957, allegedly, W.D. Muhammad met Maulana Muhammad Abdullah in 1958-1959 at the house of Elijah Muhammad. W.D. Muhammad never mentioned anything about Muhammad Abdullah being in Chicago in 1930, in any of his public statements, he did openly question his father on meeting Master Fard and his origin and how this was a bone of contention between them. Strangely, in 1957-1958, after Maulvi Muhammad Abdullah was in Chicago at the house of Elijah Muhammad. After this, he directly taught Elijah Muhammad and his son (W.D. Muhammad), and oddly enough, both Elijah Muhammad and W.D. Muhammad began alleging that Master Fard Muhammad had reappeared (See page 116). His last few years were spent in the Oakland/Hayward, he was an imam at an old Nation of Islam temple which was transitioning into a mosque (1970’s)(this essay was written on March 26th, 2023 by Dr. Bashir Ahmad Shah). It seems that Muhammad Abdullah’s son (Zafar Abdullah) told Michael Muhammad Knight that his father was sending letters to Chicago while in Fiji (the year is unknown)(See Finding W.D. Fard: Unveiling the Identity of the Founder of the Nation of Islam by John Morrow, page 125).

In 1957, back in Nausori, Abdullah retained his role as a fervent defender of the American
Lahore Ahmadi movement albeit in a new capacity. Throughout 1957, Abdullah
emerged as a regular contributor for The Light (Pakistan), the AAIIL’s main newspaper
organ in both its English and Urdu editions. In March 1957, Abdullah published a
lengthy expository in The Light on the shifting vicissitudes of Islam’s trajectory (Muhammad Abdullah, “Islam in the World Today”, The Light, Mar. 8, 1957, pp. 5–6). Two
months later in May 1957, Abdullah regaled listeners of a Fijian radio talk show with
tales of his Western adventure, sharing his impressions of America’s scientific, religious
and educational landscape (Muhammad Abdullah, “Some Impressions about the United States”, The Light, May 24, 1957, pp. 5–6)(See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136).

In 1958, Abdullah started a fundraising campaign for Miss Prakash Mati, a physically disabled Fiji Indian girl who lost her right-arm, aged 13, during a horrendous bus accident as she returned home from Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation Day celebrations in Suva in 1953.74 While Abdullah successfully raised funds to pay for Mati’s airfare to California, Friesen persuaded her family members to sponsor the struggling girl’s education at Tamalpais High School and then, Yoruba College, California. Eventually, the Friesens took Mati into their family home, adopting her as their daughter and lovingly named her “Parky”. The Friesens subsequently opened doors to US for other young Fiji Islands students and from other foreign lands. While Abdullah successfully raised funds to pay for Mati’s airfare to California, Friesen persuaded her family members to sponsor the struggling girl’s education at Tamalpais High School and then, Yoruba College, California. Eventually, the Friesens took Mati into their family home, adopting her as their daughter and lovingly named her “Parky” (See “Letter from Muhammad Abdullah to Editor”, The Light (Pakistan), Aug. 24, 1958, page 8)(See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136). At this juncture, Abdullah demonstrated a feverish commitment to duty to both the AHI Vunimono School in Nausori, Fiji and to AAIIL. By the end of the 1950s, these responsibilities became symbiotically intertwined such that boundaries between the two movements blurred. On 3 May 1958, A. Rasul Baksh, a fellow colleague from Vunimono High School wrote a missive to The Light asking for the astronomical-religious symbolic significance of crescents and stars employed by Muslim countries in their state emblems, bringing AHI staff closer into the AAIIL fold. By July 1958, The Light publication listed their AAIIL representative in Fiji to be “Master Muhammad Abdullah, Vunimono Muslim School, Nausori”, effectively converting the school into the AAIIL’s de facto contact point in Fiji (“Crescent Sign: Letter to Editor”, The Light (Pakistan), May 16, 1958, p. 12)(“Our Representatives”, The Light, Jul. 1, 1958, p. 9)((See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136).

In 1970, Muhammad Abdullah writes in the Lahori-Ahmadi newspaper about his Ameer visiting South America. Muhammad Abdullah also travelled to South America and the carribean.
(See The Light (8 September 1970) — www.alahmadiyya.org and The Light (24 July 1970) — www.alahmadiyya.org).

In 1975, Elijah Mohammed died.

In 1976, A photograph of Maulana Muhammad Ali, signed by all his sons and daughters, was presented to Mr. Wallace Deen Muhammad during his visit to the Lahore Ahmadiyya Centre in Lahore, Pakistan in April 1976. View that photo with the signatures at this link. (There is another thread in this blog where this visit by W.D. Muhammad has been discussed. See this link.) (See also, “News from Abroad: Maulana Muhammad Abdullah in Holland”, The Light, Aug 1, 1976,
p. 20.

In 1977, Maulvi Muhammad Abdullah was living in Oakland/Hayward and leading prayers at a Nation of Islam temple which was transitioning into an Islamic mosque. In this interview, he mentions Elijah Muhammad and Master Fard Muhammad and why Elijah lied about Fard. He had just moved to Oakland. In 1977, News Broadcaster Johnny Barnes Selvin did an in-depth report on Black American Muslims in Oakland, California in 1977. At this time Masjidul Waritheen in Oakland was called Mosque #77. This is some rare film footage of that time.

In the 1980’s, while Maulana Muhammad Abdullah (was living in California), he visited Mexico many times as he worked with the son of the leader of the Lahori-Ahmadi’s, Major General Abdul Saeed Khan and worked on the Spanish translation of the Quran (Published in 1986)(See page 5) and the “Life of Muhammad” (Saw) in Spanish. Major General Abdul Saeed Khan died in 1988, Maulana Muhammad Abdullah flew to Texas from California to lead the funeral prayer.

Late Abdul Mannan Omar (son of Maulana Noor ud Din) and his son Prof. Khalid Omar have been person guests of Imam Warith Deen Muhammad at his home and in Chicago and they stayed there. Imam WD Muhammad also use to visit them in their home in Delaware. Imam remembered many years later in California that Abdul Mannan Omar sahib asked him question in Lahore, “what can be done to propagate Islam in USA?”. According to Abdul Mannan Omar sahib, in USA he asked Imam WD Muhammad about his beliefs. And his answers were Lahore Ahmadiyya Jamaat beliefs i.e. HMGA was Mujaddid, Isa (AS) is dead, etc.

On page 195, Richard Brent Turner mentioned how when he met Muhammad Abdullah in 1987 (June-30), he told him that Elijah Mohammed told him in 1961 as follows:

“Don’t think I’m against prayer 5 times a day, making the Hajj or fasting during Ramadhan. Don’t think I’m against following Islamic teachings. If I overload my followers, they will run away, so I’m teaching them bit by bit”. 

In 1989, on page 158, Richard Brent Turner alleges to have met Muhammad Abdullah before he died in Sep-1989, in Hayward, California. Turner alleges that Muhammad Abdullah told him that Elijah Muhammad believed in Islam, however, he purposely told lies. Richard Brent Turner called Muhammad Abdullah as the leader of the Lahori-Ahmadi’s in California and a close friend and confidant. This was published in 1997.

On June 18, 1992, his father, Maulana Muhammad Abdullah died as a Lahori-Ahmadi (See page 5) in the SF Bay Area.

In 2008-2012 era, Fatima Fanusie alleges (5:27 timestamp) that the arrival of Ahmadiyya on the Fiji islands was documented in various local newspapers in 1927 (these newspapers have never been found). Fatima Fanusie alleges that Lahori-Ahmadi’s (specifically Maulana Muhammad Abdullah) were in Chicago in 1930, at 2:40 seconds, Fanusie says that Master Fard Muhammad (aka Maulana Muhammad Abdullah was sent to America on a secret underground Lahori-Ahmadi assignment in 1930. Fanusie also alleges that the Lahori-Ahmadi’s were silent about Maulana Muhammad Abdullah and his missionary work after his tour in Fiji. However, the Lahori-Ahmadi’s have never admitted to any of this, nor have they even thought about it.

In this video Dr. Fanusie explains how Ahmadiyya directly inspired the creation of the Nation of Islam. In another video she talks about the same thing, that Lahori-Ahmadis created Elijah Muhammad, at the 4:41 mark. Check out Yasir Qadhi explaining how Ahmadiyya infiltrated the USA in the 1930’s herein (17:35 timestamp). Check out my essay on Malcolm X and the Ahmadiyya Movement herein. Check out my tiktok with combined clips herein. His wife’s name was Begum Hamida Abdullah. She died on 9 February 2004 at Fremont, Ca. They both lived in Fiji in the early 1930’s. Fanusie alleges that her husband (Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah) was in Fiji by 1928.

Photos of Warith Deen Muhammad with Lahore Ahmadiyya leaders in Lahore, during his visit of 1976 to pay tribute to the work of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement

Maulana Sadr-ud-Din was Head of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement at that time (Source: Paigham-e-Haqq, Fiji, July-December 1980).

Above: Warith Deen Muhamamd is emerging from car, with Muhammad Abdullah (wearing glasses). Gentleman wearing hat is Mian Fazl-i Ahmad, leading Lahore Ahmadiyya official who hosted his stay.

Above: On stage, Warith Deen Muhammad, seated centre. On right is Dr Saeed Ahmad Khan, then Vice-President and later Head of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement from 1981 to 1996. Muhammad Abdullah is making speech.

(Source of last two photos: The HOPE Bulletin, July 2007, Supplement)

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His wife
The Message (March 2004) — www.alahmadiyya.org
the-message-200403

His wife’s name was Begum Hamida Abdullah. She died on 9 February 2004 at Fremont, Ca. They both lived in Fiji in the early 1930’s. Fanusie alleges that her husband (Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah) was in Fiji by 1928.

“””Born at Rawalpindi in 1912, Hamida Begum had lost her parents at quite an early age. Her maternal uncle took her to Abbotabad in the Frontier Province of Pakistan where she was brought up in his home. In early 1930, Hamida Begum was married to Master Maulana Muhammad Abdullah who at that time was a teacher in the Ahmadiyya Muslim High School BaddoMalhi in Sialkot District of Punjab Province in Pakistan. The nikah was performed by the late Hakim Muhammad Yahya Sahib who was a saintly person and was the father of our late Ameer Hazrat Dr Saeed Ahmad Khan Sahib (may Allah be pleased with him) and grandfather of our present Ameer, Dr Abdul Karim Saeed Pasha Sahib.

After marriage in 1930, the late Master Maulana Muhammad Abdullah Sahib went to Fiji Islands in response to a request for a Muslim teacher by the Muslim Community of Fiji addressed to the Lahore office of the Anjuman Himayatu/- lslam which was forwarded to the
Ahmadiyya Anjuman lshaat-i-lslam, Lahore. Begum Hamida Abdullah accompanied her husband. They stayed in Fiji for nearly 30 years when, towards the end of 1959, the late Master Sahib migrated to the U.S.A. from Fiji.

During their stay in Fiji, the late Master Sahib had a large number of admirers who included amongst others his students and their parents, members of the Ahmadiyya Community, civil servants and people from almost all walks of life. These social contacts very often visited Master Sahib at home where they were cordially welcomed by Begum Hamida Abdullah and they enjoyed her hospitality. She thus earned love and respect from the social circle of the late
Master Sahib and had established herself as an influential religious person in her own right in the Muslim Community of Fiji……………”””
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His sons
Paigham-e-Haqq (July/August/September 1992) — www.aaiil.org
Who is Zafar Iqbal Abdullah? – ahmadiyyafactcheckblog

We have counted 8 sons and 2 daughters.

—Jalal ud Din Muhammed Akbar
—Khalid Abdullah
—Zafar Iqbal Abdullah
—Saeed

In the 1980’s, a son of Muhammad Abdullah, Zafar Iqbal Abdullah was working as the editor of the Islamic Review and lived at 36911 Walnut St, Newark, Ca (See the Islamic Review of April-May-1989). Zafar Iqbal Abdullah was an editor since at least Oct-1980.

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1920’s
Sheikh Muhammad Din Jan, “Annual Report for Year 1928–1929 of the Ahmadiyya Anjuman-i-Isha’at-i-Islam,” Lahore (n.d.), pp. 20–21.

After graduating from teachers’ college in the mid-1920s, Abdullah took advantage of
his nascent Lahore-Ahmadi networking to clinch a teaching stint in the Muslim High
School in Lahore.5 Nevertheless, following a disagreement with the Lahore-Ahmadis,
Abdullah was forced to resign and instead taught in Taunsa High School in Dera
Ghazi Khan districts. A few months later, the misunderstanding was cleared and the
AAIIL revoked their earlier expulsion to offer him another teaching position at Baddomalhi
Ahmadiyya Muslim High School in Sialkot district. The transfer to Baddomalhi
must have seemed a downgrade for Abdullah since the school was an unassuming one;
manned by fewer than 10 trained teachers who were responsible for preparing 200 students
for their secondary school education and clearing university matriculation exams.
Aside from teaching English language, Abdullah and his fellow colleagues at Baddomalhi
helped alleviate the distress of local denizens by travelling to neighbouring villages in
1928 and 1929 to lecture on the principles of sanitation and hygiene against the outbreak
of cholera.
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1931

In 1931, the Lahori-Ahmadi’s (Per the order of Muhammad Ali) sent Maulana Muhammad Abdullah to Fiji to help the lost Indian Muslims who had went there many years earlier as indentured servants. However, Maulana Muhammad Abdullah was not a qualified Imam, he was a simple school-teacher in Lahore, his wife (Hameeda) also went with him, maybe he had a basic understanding of Islam and the prayers. Maulana Muhammad Abdullah and Hameeda (his wife) started a school in the Nausori area of Fiji and were allegedly successful. They built the Vunimono Islamia School and it’s masjid.

In Sep-1931, Muhammad Abdullah was published in the famous Lahori-Ahmadi newspapers, “The Light” (See “The Light”, Sep 16, 1931, p. 10 & 11, Muhammad Abdullah, “Letters to the Editor: Muslims in Fiji Islands”). Apart from spearheading Indo-Fijian Islamic youth education, Abdullah emerged as a fiery religious defender of Islam desperately struggling to shield the Fiji Muslim community from the pernicious threats posed by Arya Samaj and Sanatan Dharm Sabha Hindu missionaries in the 1930s. On behalf of the nation-wide Fiji Muslim League (fml) in 1931, Abdullah publicly lambasted Hindu missionaries in Fiji who were “hard at work to crush the Muslims” through operations “of a clandestine nature but to the observant eye, they are vivid and clear”.

Scans in English

Scans in Urdu

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1932

Muzaffar Baig Sateh (aka Mirza Muzaffar Beg Sateh) was a Lahori-Ahmadi was sent to the Fiji islands in 1932 to help the famous Muhammad Abdullah run Sunni Muslim schools and defend Islam. While Abdullah earnestly tried propping up Fijian Islam, he unintentionally unleashed a chain of forces that irrevocably ruptured the FML. Initially, events started on a positive note as the AAIIL, Abdullah’s former employers based in Lahore, swiftly acted on his appeals by handpicking Mirza Muzaffar Beg Sateh, a highly skilled debater, polyglot linguist and missionary—for the task in Fiji. The FML gratefully endorsed Abdullah’s recommendation and accelerated plans to bring Sateh over. Nonetheless, the FML board members seemed unaware of Sateh’s Lahore Ahmadiyya affiliation until just a few days prior to the missionary’s scheduled embarkation (See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136).

When the FML finally caught wind of it, this generated a political maelstrom as the anti-Ahmadi FML faction threatened to stop his landing in Fiji whereas the pro-Ahmadi FML faction were equally pugnacious in demanding his presence in Fiji (See Shams-ud-dean, “Ahmadiyyat in Fiji”, Khitaab (Fiji), Vol. 3, No. 4, Oct–Dec. 1996, p. 10). Amidst the heated impasse, arrangements for Sateh’s accommodation had been overlooked such that on the eve of his arrival, the pro-Ahmadi faction within the FML scrambled at the last minute to raise the £60.00 needed to establish his residence, including a contribution of £30.00 by Mr. Sahu Khan (See “Master Muhammed Abdullah Passes Away”, Paigham-e-Haqq, Jul/Sep. 1992, No. 61, p. 3)(See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136).
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1933

In 1933, the Lahori-Ahmadi’s sent another missionary. Maulana Mirza Muzaffar Baig Sateh and his family arrived in Fiji by steamer ship to help the Indian Muslims of Fiji. Allegedly, Maulana Mirza Muzaffar Baig Sateh was well-versed in Hindi, Sanskrit, Urdu, Arabic and English, that nobody in Fiji was able to rival his debater’s leadership. The Fiji Muslim League soon came to realisation that Maulana Mirza Muzaffar Baig Sateh was from the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat-i-Islam (Lahore) and the Fiji Muslim League then placed a ban on all members of the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat-i-Islam (Lahore) from performing their prayers in the Jame Masjid in Amy Street (Toorak) in Suva. This deadlock situation was then relayed by letter to Maulana Muhammad Ali at Lahore, in British India. Upon express instructions from Maulana Muhammad Ali (who was also a lawyer) to Maulana Mirza Muzaffar Baig Sateh, the Muslims of Fiji proceeded to register the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat-i-Islam (Lahore), as a collective religious body for Muslims, and which also had the capacity to sue and get sued. Consequently, on 3rd October 1934, the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha’at-i-Islam (Lahore) Fiji was registered in Fiji, at the office of the Registrar General in Suva.

When Sateh finally arrived in Fiji in 1933, he tenaciously locked horns with the Arya Samaj missionaries in highly polemical debates by harnessing his erudite knowledge on comparative religious systems—between Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism and Jainism—and rhetorical flourishes in Urdu, Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit. As a result of his prowess, Hindu-Muslim tensions simmered such that the colonial authorities dissuaded him from participating in public debates while the Arya Samajis entirely avoided him (See Ahmed Ali, “Fiji and the Franchise: A History of Political Representation, 1900-1937”, Ph.D. Thesis, Australian National University, Oct. 30, 2007, p. 202). (See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136).
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1934
Muhammad Abdullah, “Voice from the Fiji Islands”, The Young Islam, Vol 1, No. 21, Apr 1, 1934, https://www.aaiil.org/Files/Literatures/Magazines/35/1934/youngislam%20Aug.pdf

“”Fiji Islands

Maulana Muhammad Abdullah writes—A regular Branch of the Ahmadia Anjuman Ishaat Islam Lahore has been established here and its first Conference was held on 1st July 1934, which was very successful. The great need of the Muslims here is modern education along with religious training. We are trying to start schools for boys and girls and collecting subscriptions. Mr. N.B. is leaving for India in August 1934 and will collect funds for the schools. Rs. five thousands will suffice for both schools. We are sending one boy for religious training to India and to India and two girls to Aligarh Girls School”‘ 

In the summer of 1934, the Lahori-Ahmadi’s were now ousted from the Muslim League and thus formed their own organization (See Mohd Manzur Ilahi, The Ahmadiyya Movement Day by Day, The Young Islam, Vol 1, No. 6, Aug 15, 1934, p. 1;). In August 1934, Abdullah wrote to readers of Young Islam, an AAIIL fortnightly publication, pleading for Rs.5000 in funds to start a pair of schools for Muslim boys and girls that would provide a hybrid “modern education” along with religious training. By August 1934, Abdullah tapped on his vast AAIIL networks in British India and proposed sending one Fijian male student to India and two female students to Aligarh Girl School in Aligarh, India (See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136).

Despite acting as a vanguard of Islam in Fiji, accusations over his heretical authenticity snowballed such that the FML banned AAIIL members, prohibiting them from performing salat in the Jame Masjid in Amy Street, Suva, and subsequently voted Lahori Ahmadiyyas out of the FML board. In response on 3 October 1934, the Lahore Ahmadis severed their cords from the FML and instead formally registered the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha’at-i-Islam Lahore, Fiji (AAIIL-F) in Suva, marking the starting point of the movement in the Pacific. (See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136).

By 1934 he was totally ousted and wasn’t allowed into Muslim schools or mosques ever again. His name is also written as Mirza Muzaffar Beg Sateh. Despite not holding any formal leadership role in the newly formed AAIIL-F, Abdullah retained his Lahore-Ahmadi sympathies by serving as an informal client. Between 1934 and 1935, Abdullah operated as a freelance, ad-hoc correspondent for Young Islam, a bi-weekly English language magazine that reported on the AAIIL’s global outreach activities in Europe, Africa, the Middle-East and Asia-Pacific nations including Fiji. In August 1934, Abdullah penned a column “The Ahmadiyya Movement Day by Day” announcing that the “regular branch of the AAAIL (held a) very successful conference” on 1 July 1934 in Suva amidst the backdrop of their ignominious expulsion from the FML (See Manzur Ilahi, “The Ahmadiyya Movement Day by Day”, The Young Islam, Vol. 1, No. 6, Aug. 15, 1934)(See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136).

As early as the 1934 Annual Report, Abdullah’s work has been symbiotically intertwined with Beg Sateh’s subsequent missionary drive in the 1930s. Lahore headquarters marvelled that by the end of 1934, the AAIIL-F had recovered from their setback, outlining that both “Master Muhammad Abdullah and Mirza Muzaffar are doing very useful work in Fiji” in transforming the initial hostility of the islands’ inhabitants into a friendlier disposition towards the Lahore-Ahmadis as reflected by 500 Fijians who joined the nascent movement (The Annual Report of the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha’at-i-Islam Lahore: A Digest, Lahore, 1934, p. 4)(See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136).

For a few years after 1934 the controversy between the Ahmadiyya’s and the orthodox Muslims died down, but rows within the Muslim community continued over personalities and political ambitions rather than doctrines. The Punjabi brothers, Said Hasan and Muhammad Hasan, both lawyers and Sunnis, won for themselves positions of leadership in the Muslim community and respect from the government. But they were unable to control the Suva branch of the Muslim League, and their political ambitions were challenged by the Sahu Khan family, who formed the Muslim Association in 1938, with other Ahmadiyya’s and some Sunnis as well. There was further trouble after the arrival of an orthodox teacher, Aziz Ahmed, in 1938, and there were quarrels over the possession of the Lautoka mosque in 1939, but the details need not detain us here. Enough has been said to indicate the pattern of sectarian conflict, exacerbated by personal and political rivalries and the activities of preachers and teachers from India, as the Indian community in Fiji struggled to educate its children and find dignity and acceptance in its new land and links with its past in India. (See, Fiji Times and Herald of Nov 21-22-24-26, 1938, Via K.L. Gillion, “The Fiji Indians: Challenge to European Dominance, 1920-1946″).
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1935
Muhammad Abdullah, “Voice from the Fiji Islands”, The Young Islam, Vol. 1, No. 21, Apr. 1, 1935, p. 6.
(See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136).

In April 1935, Abdullah wrote another article entitled “Voice from Fiji Islands” commending Young Islam for rendering “yeomen service for the cause of true Islam Ahmadiyyat” and in support of the cause, widened the newspaper’s circulation by registering another five subscribers. Nevertheless, Young Islam ceased operations by 1938 (See Muhammad Abdullah, “Voice from the Fiji Islands”, The Young Islam, Vol. 1, No. 21, Apr. 1, 1935, p. 6)(See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136).
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1951
Jan

This photo was taken on Dec-13-1949. Maulana Muhammad Abdullah, his wife and his son, Khalid Abdullah are mentioned and can be seen.

Scans

FAREWELL TO FIJI-MUSLIM SCHOOL TEACHER  

THIS interesting group photograph was  

taken on December 13, when Mr.  

Shamser Ali, assistant teacher at  

the Muslim School at Nausori, Fiji, was  

the guest at a formal farewell ceremony.  

Mr. Shamser Ali proceeded to Australia  

in January to become a student at the  

University of Melbourne.  

In the front row, sitting, left to right,  

are Mrs. Abdullah, Shamser Ali, Mr. F.  

W. Reid (Education Officer, who pre-  

sided) , Mr. F. R, Brown (assistant  

manager of CSR Co., Nausori), and Mr.  

A. R. Sahu (manager of the Muslim  

School). Standing are Miss C. W.  

Maniram, Mr. Khalid Abdullah, Mr. M.  

Abdullah (headmaster) and Mr. IV,  

Ishaak All (teacher).  

It is not generally recognised that th  

128,000 Indians in Fiji include a viril  

Community of ‘25,000 Muslims. Th  

Muslims, who are regarded as very loys  

to the British Commonwealth, are eage  

for education, but have very few school  

under their own management.  

Outward passengers in the Januar  

Morinda from Honiara included th  

Treasurer of the British Solomon Island  

Proctectorate, Mr. R. F. Rankin, with Mr  

Rankin and three children, and Mr. IV’  

J. Bernhardt. All are going on leave.  

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1951
“New Indian School-House Opened at Nausori Fiji”, Pacific Islands Monthly, Vol xii, No. 3,
Oct 19941, p. 18; “Opening of Muslim Education Centre”, Pacific Islands Monthly, April 1951,
p. 85.
Imam Abdullah and American Islamic Movements

A complex man of contradictions, Abdullah emerged as a liberal advocate for inter-faith ecumenical efforts in 1940s and 1950s despite his fundamental disdain for Hindu and Christian proselytizers. In 1951, Abdullah wrote a letter to the Fiji Times proposing the convening of an inter-religious conference to be convened in Suva Town Hall to be presided by J. L. Shuler of the Seventh Day Adventist Church at which different denominations’ representatives would present their papers. Abdullah declared, “unless representatives of different religions come together, religion cannot succeed. It is therefore essential for missionaries to present a united front to the anti-God movements which are threatening the peace of the world”.

Scans, Pacific Islands Monthly, April 1951, p. 85.

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Pacific Islands Monthly, Vol. XXI, No. 11, Jun. 1951, p. 39. Under the title, “Fiji-Indian Student for California”.

M. Khalid Abdullah was the son of Maulana Muhammad Abdullah and was mentioned in the Pacific Islands Monthly, Vol. XXI, No. 11, Jun. 1951, p. 39. Under the title, “Fiji-Indian Student for California”.

Per the newspaper, M. Khalid Abdullah is 18 years old in 1951 (born in 1931) and had won a Government Scholarship in 1947. He is one of the oldest of 10 siblings (all born in Fiji). Khalid’s brother is already in California and studying at San Francisco City College of Engineering in his 2nd year. In this photo, 8 kids can be seen. The newspaper alleges that M. Khalid Abdullah boarded the SS Lakemba from Suba in March of 1951, headed to Vancouver. For some reason, he didn’t have a proper educational visa and planned to enter the USA via Vancouver, which took 16 days.

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1951
“Shuler Mission”, Australasian Record, Vol 55, No. 35, Aug 27, 1951, p.5.

Muhammad Abdullah is mentioned as the headmaster of the Vunimono Muslim school.

Scan

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1953

In 1953, it was highly likely that Akbar and Khaled Abdullah, his California-based sons, lobbied outgoing MSUSA officials to consider their father for the posting. In September 1953, Akbar Abdullah, who served as secretary of MSUSA while studying in California, wrote to the editor of the Islamic Review, a renowned magazine operated by the Woking Literary Trust Mission that boasted one of the largest print circulation of Islamic thought in the West. In the “What Our Readers Say” segment, Akbar lauded his father who “no doubt served the cause of Muslim education in Fiji, as a pioneer”, successfully erected four Islamic centres in Fiji and manoeuvred his students to an international post-primary education (See Akbar Abdullah, “Muslims in Fiji Islands”, Islamic Review, Sep. 1953, p. 40)(See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136). Clearly, this was designed to vastly enhance Abdullah’s profile in both Lahore-Ahmadi and Islamic circles as a transnational figure.
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1955
Imam Abdullah and American Islamic Movements
“Three Moslems Plan to Build sf Mosque”, The Modesto Bee and News-Herald, Aug 5, 1955,
p. 5.

By 1955, Abdullah’s open-minded advocacy of inter-religious debates clinched him the vacant position as imam of the Muslim Society of the USA (msusa), a Lahore-Ahmadi satellite organisation first established at 870 Castro Street, San Francisco, California in October 1947.

Prior to leaving for America, Abdullah organised a fund-raising event for the proposed construction of a Lahore-Ahmadi masjid in San Francisco that secured £1675.90 of donations from Suva, Nausori and Labasa. On 21st July 1955, Abdullah with two other Fiji Moslems boarded the British luxury liner, S.S. Oronsay at Port Suva for two weeks before debarking on 4 August 1955 at Port Francisco. Almost immediately, the trio’s arrival aroused the attention of The Modesto Bee and New Herald newspaper that announced “Three Moslems Plan to Build a Mosque”.

Scans


In 1955, the AAIIL formally named Muhammad Abdullah as the incoming imam of the
Muslim Society of the United States of America (MSUSA) (See Muhammad Abdullah, “Islam in Fiji Islands”, The Light, Aug. 16, 1955, pp. 6–7)(See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136).

Just prior to leaving for America in July 1955, Abdullah hastily cobbled together a fundraising event in Fiji for Bashir Minto, the outgoing MSUSA’s imam’s appeal for building a San Francisco masjid (See Akbar Abdullah, “Muslims in Fiji Islands”, Islamic Review, Sep. 1953, p. 40)(See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136). Partly, Abdullah took this up to reciprocate the MSUSA’s welfare assistance for Fiji Indian Muslim students who studied in several American colleges and universities as part of the relaxed immigration regulations that allowed entry to 100 students. The finale of the project was held in Vunomino Muslim School that was graced by important officials in Fiji, cutting across religious creeds and professions, including Devi Dayal Bhatiya, Commissioner for Government of India in Fiji, Mr. C. Elliot, General Manager of Colonial Sugar Refining Company Ltd and Mr. K.B. Singh, principal of various schools. Abdullah secured donations of £1,675.90 from the residents in several islands including Suva, Nausori and Labasa. As the evening’s programme wrapped up, Abdullah’s former student handed him a leather brief case to prepare him for his journey to San Francisco, California.
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1956
The Tribune
Wed, Oct 24, 1956 ·Page 3

Mohammed Abdullah (officer in-charge of the Moslem Society, U.S.A.) is scheduled to give a featured address at Cal Poly on Nov.5th at 8pm. The topic is “Religion in the Pakistan-India struggle” and another one “Does Science and Religion Harmonize”.

Scans

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1956
Nov. 4
The San Francisco Examiner
Sun, Nov 04, 1956 ·Page 68

“‘Moslem Asks Books for Fiji Youth”

Muhammad Abdullah is the director of the Moslem Society at 870 Castro St, SF, Ca, USA and is looking to collect books.

Scans

_____________________________________________________________________________________________ 1957
The San Francisco Examiner
Tue, Jan 01, 1957 ·Page 15
Jan 01, 1957, page 15 – The San Francisco Examiner at Newspapers.com

In 1957, via the San Francisco Examiner of Tue, Jan-1-1957, Akbar Abdullah (25 years old)(A student at San Luis Obispo College) who lives at 870 Castro St, SF, Ca, USA, has been married to Zakia Butt (21 years old and living in Pakistan). Zakia Butt’s father is working as the superintendent of schools in all of West Pakistan. 

Scans

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1957
“Vunimono Muslim School, Fiji Islands”, The Light, Jul. 1, 1957, p. 10.

Abdullah’s Fijian homecoming rekindled his love affair with Vunimono School. Reprising
his role as headmaster, he expanded the library’s collections further by tapping on
his San Francisco connections. In 1957, Abdullah embarked on a letter-writing campaign
to San Francisco City Library and Winsfield Scott School, requesting material
support to open a new children’s section. Mr. Miller, the Principal of Winsfield Scott
willingly obliged, not only shipping over the required 500 books, he even personally
flew over to Nausori to grace the opening ceremony where he addressed the gathering
of 220 schoolchildren and complimented Abdullah as “quiet man with a peaceful disposition.
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1957
Petaluma Argus-Courier
Tue, Nov 05, 1957 ·Page 2

Muhammad Abdullah and his wife are in the USA and collecting books.

Scans

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1957

In 1957-1963, According to the Bay Area’s famous Sufi, Samuel Lewis, DiCaprio’s Center was primarily made up of converts who rejected both William Lutz and the Ahmadis, although by 1964, a Lahori missionary named Muhammad Abdullah had become the group’s imam (See Bowen, A History of Conversion to Islam in the United States, Volume 1, White American Muslims before 1975).

In 1957, allegedly, W.D. Muhammad met Maulana Muhammad Abdullah in 1958-1959 at the house of Elijah Muhammad. W.D. Muhammad never mentioned anything about Muhammad Abdullah being in Chicago in 1930, in any of his public statements, he did openly question his father on meeting Master Fard and his origin and how this was a bone of contention between them. Strangely, in 1957-1958, after Maulvi Muhammad Abdullah was in Chicago at the house of Elijah Muhammad. After this, he directly taught Elijah Muhammad and his son (W.D. Muhammad), and oddly enough, both Elijah Muhammad and W.D. Muhammad began alleging that Master Fard Muhammad had reappeared (See page 116). His last few years were spent in the Oakland/Hayward, he was an imam at an old Nation of Islam temple which was transitioning into a mosque (1970’s)(this essay was written on March 26th, 2023 by Dr. Bashir Ahmad Shah). It seems that Muhammad Abdullah’s son (Zafar Abdullah) told Michael Muhammad Knight that his father was sending letters to Chicago while in Fiji (the year is unknown)(See Finding W.D. Fard: Unveiling the Identity of the Founder of the Nation of Islam by John Morrow, page 125).

After seventeen months in America, Abdullah returned to Fiji on 12 January 1957, leaving the MSUSA leadership temporarily in the hands of Muharrem Nadji, an Albanian-American Muslim steelworker based in Mansfield, Ohio (See “Our Representatives”, The Light, Jul. 1, 1958, p. 9). While AAIIL literature remains tight-lipped on Abdullah’s departure, several reasons plausibly accounted for this. From an organizational viewpoint, Abdullah’s services might have been terminated having failed to reinvigorate the MSUSA; with the unfulfilled vision of erecting a San Francisco masjid as well as seeing the number of American converts dwindling according to The Light’s statistics. From a personal perspective, Abdullah was keen to return to care for his younger children who remained in Fiji owing to exorbitant costs of living in San Francisco. (See “Master Muhammed Abdullah Passes Away”, Paigham-e-Haqq, Jul/Sep. 1992, No. 61, p. 3).  Moreover, Abdullah needed some time and breathing space to resolve complexities surrounding his son, Akbar’s knotty marriage with Zakia Butt, the daughter of West Pakistan’s Superintendent of Schools. The mysterious circumstances of Akbar’s Lahore-San Francisco “proxy marriage” even found its way into the San Francisco Examiner with the headlines: “S.F. Moslem Awaits Word of His Proxy Wedding in Pakistan” (See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136).

In 1957, back in Nausori, Abdullah retained his role as a fervent defender of the American
Lahore Ahmadi movement albeit in a new capacity. Throughout 1957, Abdullah
emerged as a regular contributor for The Light (Pakistan), the AAIIL’s main newspaper
organ in both its English and Urdu editions. In March 1957, Abdullah published a
lengthy expository in The Light on the shifting vicissitudes of Islam’s trajectory (Muhammad Abdullah, “Islam in the World Today”, The Light, Mar. 8, 1957, pp. 5–6). Two
months later in May 1957, Abdullah regaled listeners of a Fijian radio talk show with
tales of his Western adventure, sharing his impressions of America’s scientific, religious
and educational landscape (Muhammad Abdullah, “Some Impressions about the United States”, The Light, May 24, 1957, pp. 5–6)(See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136).
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1958
“Fiji School Seeking More Books”, Petaluma Argus-Courier, Petaluma, California, January 27, 1958, p. 7

In January 1958, Abdullah liaised with Dr. Dwight E. Twist, Superintendent of Schools, who also agreed to transport more books to beef up the collection.

In 1958, Abdullah started a fundraising campaign for Miss Prakash Mati, a physically disabled Fiji Indian girl who lost her right-arm, aged 13, during a horrendous bus accident as she returned home from Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation Day celebrations in Suva in 1953.74 While Abdullah successfully raised funds to pay for Mati’s airfare to California, Friesen persuaded her family members to sponsor the struggling girl’s education at Tamalpais High School and then, Yoruba College, California. Eventually, the Friesens took Mati into their family home, adopting her as their daughter and lovingly named her “Parky”. The Friesens subsequently opened doors to US for other young Fiji Islands students and from other foreign lands. While Abdullah successfully raised funds to pay for Mati’s airfare to California, Friesen persuaded her family members to sponsor the struggling girl’s education at Tamalpais High School and then, Yoruba College, California. Eventually, the Friesens took Mati into their family home, adopting her as their daughter and lovingly named her “Parky” (See “Letter from Muhammad Abdullah to Editor”, The Light (Pakistan), Aug. 24, 1958, page 8)(See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136).

At this juncture, Abdullah demonstrated a feverish commitment to duty to both the AHI Vunimono School in Nausori, Fiji and to AAIIL. By the end of the 1950s, these responsibilities became symbiotically intertwined such that boundaries between the two movements blurred. On 3 May 1958, A. Rasul Baksh, a fellow colleague from Vunimono High School wrote a missive to The Light asking for the astronomical-religious symbolic significance of crescents and stars employed by Muslim countries in their state emblems, bringing AHI staff closer into the AAIIL fold. By July 1958, The Light publication listed their AAIIL representative in Fiji to be “Master Muhammad Abdullah, Vunimono Muslim School, Nausori”, effectively converting the school into the AAIIL’s de facto contact point in Fiji (“Crescent Sign: Letter to Editor”, The Light (Pakistan), May 16, 1958, p. 12)(“Our Representatives”, The Light, Jul. 1, 1958, p. 9)((See also Muhammad Abdullah: Reformer of Indo-Fijian Islam, 1930–1960 by Fathie Ali Abdat, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2025.2476136).
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1958

W.D. Muhammad met Maulana Muhammad Abdullah in 1958-1959 at the house of Elijah Muhammad. W.D. Muhammad never mentioned anything about Muhammad Abdullah being in Chicago in 1930, in any of his public statements, he did openly question his father on meeting Master Fard and his origin and how this was a bone of contention between them.

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1959
Talib Ahmad Dawood (aka Alfonso Nelson Rainey) and his connections to Ahmadiyya – ahmadiyyafactcheckblog
(See “Muhammad Abdullah, Lahore-Ahmadi Americans and the Black Muslims of America” by  Fathie Bin Ali Abdat). 

He famously met with Talib Ahmad Dawood (aka Alfonso Nelson Rainey) in SF, who was also a pseudo-Ahmadi of sorts (See “Muhammad Abdullah, Lahore-Ahmadi Americans and the Black Muslims of America” by  Fathie Bin Ali Abdat).

Dawud promised to print a new edition of Vidyarthi’s magnum opus, Muhammad and World Scriptures for American readers. The msusa jumped on the offer, hoping to associate themselves with Dawud and Staton- both boasting impressive credentials in the fluid, overlapping universe of Ahmadiyya-American Islam, black bebop musicians and African nationalism. But Dawud merely paid lip service to the project and Abdullah tried recovering the manuscripts by visiting Dawud’s three-storey residential apartment and headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood of the USA (mbusa) movement at 5312 West Girard Avenue, Philadelphia. Despite failing to retrieve the manuscripts, Abdullah spent the next three years in the City of Brotherly Love. Abdullah ’s history in Philadelphia between 1960 and 1963 has traditionally been glossed over as a brief, unimportant phase but on closer scrutiny, Abdullah was no mere innocent missionary but in fact dabbled in skullduggery and underhanded politicking amidst the erratically shifting terrain of black Islamic movements in Philadelphia.

Left in the dark by Dawud, Abdullah reached out to Elijah Muhammad’s noi. Ever since Dawud returned in July 1959 from pilgrimage to Mecca, both mbusa and noi were embroiled in a fiery and well-publicized lawsuit over Elijah’s Islamic authenticity. As Dawud posed as a common enemy, Abdullah rang up Wallace Delaney Mohammad, newly minted Minister of noi Temple # 12 at 4218–20 West Lancaster Avenue, Philadelphia. After several spurned efforts, Abdullah’s patience made headway in 1960 when Wallace invited Abdullah for dinner. Right from the outset, Abdullah sought to clear the misunderstanding between their movements. Towards the end of 1958, Rabbani Khan, Imam of Woking Mosque, an aaiil-affiliated institution abandoned their earlier friendly disposition to the noi by castigating Elijah for preaching a “most fantastic … caricature of Islam” and extricated all links with the noi. Thus, Abdullah reassured Wallace that the Lahore-Ahmadi’s stance towards black Islam fundamentally differed from the Woking Mission’s.
______________________________________________________________________________________________1963
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Mon, Feb 04, 1963 ·Page 2

Muhammad Abdullah is in Richmond, California. He used to be the editor of the Muslim Herald, which covers Canada.

Scans

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1964

According to the Bay Area’s famous Sufi, Samuel Lewis, DiCaprio’s Center was primarily made up of converts who rejected both William Lutz and the Ahmadis. In 1964, Muhammad Abdullah became the Imam of the Islamic Center of San Francisco (See Bowen, A History of Conversion to Islam in the United States, Volume 1, White American Muslims before 1975).

Via Bowen:

“”The earliest mention I have found of Abdullah leading the icsf is “Israeli Officer Speaks
Tomorrow,” San Mateo Times, November 7, 1964, 7. After that date, Abdullah was frequently
mentioned as a leading member of the organization through the early 1970s in
both the secular press and the Islamic press. This was the same Muhammad Abdullah
who had briefly worked with the San Francisco Lahoris in the mid-1950s, Nasir Ahmad’s
IMB in Philadelphia in the early 1960s, and the noi in the 1950s and early 1960s; see “Some
Impressions about the United States,” Light, May 24, 1957, 5–6; Turner, Islam in the, 194–95;
Muhammad Abdullah, ed. Religion and Society (Hayward, ca: Muslim Society of u.s.a.,
Inc., [1972]), 4.””(San Mateo Times, November 7, 1964, 7). 

Scans

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1970
The Light (8 September 1970) — www.alahmadiyya.org
The Light (24 July 1970) — www.alahmadiyya.org

Muhammad Abdullah writes in the Lahori-Ahmadi newspaper about his Ameer visiting South America. Muhammad Abdullah also travelled to South America and the carribean.
______________________________________________________________________________________________1976

A photograph of Maulana Muhammad Ali, signed by all his sons and daughters, was presented to Mr Wallace Deen Muhammad during his visit to the Lahore Ahmadiyya Centre in Lahore, Pakistan in April 1976.

View that photo with the signatures at this link.

(There is another thread in this blog where this visit by W.D. Muhammad has been discussed. See this link.)

“News from Abroad: Maulana Muhammad Abdullah in Holland”, The Light, Aug 1, 1976,
p. 20.

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1977
https://youtu.be/Cgu33pkLsis?si=D6wvfVd-yBWv6d0w

Maulvi Muhammad Abdullah was living in Oakland/Hayward and leading prayers at a Nation of Islam temple which was transitioning into an Islamic mosque. In this interview, he mentions Elijah Muhammad and Master Fard Muhammad and why Elijah lied about Fard. He had just moved to Oakland. In 1977, News Broadcaster Johnny Barnes Selvin did an in-depth report on Black American Muslims in Oakland, California in 1977. At this time Masjidul Waritheen in Oakland was called Mosque #77. This is some rare film footage of that time.

muhammadabdullah

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1980-ish
Khalilah Ali alleges that Maulana Muhammad Abdullah was introduced to her as Master Fard Muhammad in the mid-1960’s – ahmadiyyafactcheckblog

Khalilah Ali states that she saw Maulana Muhammad Abdullah (aka “Master Fard Muhammad”) sometime later (probably in the 1980’s) and he had totally dropped the “Master Fard Muhammad” and was only Maulana Muhammad Abdullah (she was divorced from Muhammad Ali) at this point)(See the photo in the below)(her daughter Maryum Ali and her adopted daughter from Malaysia). In the photo, it was the birthday of Maulana Muhammad Abdullah and Khalilah Ali made him a carrot cake.

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1981

Click to access light-1981-july-8-bilalian-speech.pdf

See this link

In addition, Mr. Saad may also read a speech by a member of Imam Warith Deen Muhammad’s group given in Lahore at the centre of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement in May 1981. Read in particular the last paragraph starting in column 1 of p. 17 (within which are the words: “We salute Mirza Ghulam Ahmad…”).
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1984
Paigham-e-Haqq (July/August/September 1992) — www.aaiil.org
Head of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement Dr. Saeed Ahmad Khan

Muhammad Abdullah officially becomes a Lahori-Ahmadi. He takes Bait at the hand of the Lahori-Ahmadi leader, Dr. Saeed Ahmad Khan (who was in the USA).
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1984-1985
Paigham-e-Haqq (July/August/September 1992) — www.aaiil.org

Maulana Muhammad Abdullah (was living in California) visited Mexico many times as he worked with the son of the leader of the Lahori-Ahmadi’s, Major General Abdul Saeed Khan and worked on the Spanish translation of the Quran (See page 5).
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1987

On page 195, Richard Brent Turner mentioned how when he met Muhammad Abdullah in 1987 (June-30), he told him that Elijah Mohammed told him in 1961 as follows:

“Don’t think I’m against prayer 5 times a day, making the Hajj or fasting during Ramadhan. Don’t think I’m against following Islamic teachings. If I overload my followers, they will run away, so I’m teaching them bit by bit”.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
1989
(Article entitled ‘Last glimpse of Hazrat Amir Maulana Muhammad Ali’, Paigham Sulh, 1 October 1989, p. 24.) A Mighty Striving, 2020 edition, see page 482, https://ahmadiyya.org/bookspdf/muj-kabir-uk-online.pdf.

“It was 1931, probably August, when I and my wife left Lahore to go to the Fiji Islands. Before departure I was an English teacher in the Muslim High School Baddomalhi, District Sialkot. The man responsible for my migration to Fiji to serve the educational and religious needs of the Muslims of those Islands was the late Babu Manzur Ilahi, Joint-Secretary of the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha‘at Islam Lahore in those days, who used to be in correspondence with Islamic organisations all over the world as well as with individual Muslims. He received a request through the Anjuman Himayat-i Islam for a teacher and missionary for Fiji.

Whenever any missionaries had previously been sent abroad by the Ahmadiyya Anjuman, a farewell meeting had been held for them, but in my case it so happened that no such meeting was announced. … We reached the platform at Lahore railway station fifteen minutes before the departure of our train to Bombay, and my wife and our baggage having boarded, I was standing on the platform talking to friends. Suddenly I saw Maulana Muhammad Ali running towards me at great speed. I quickly leapt to greet him, with only five minutes left before the departure of the train. He gripped my hands most firmly and started saying prayers. I could not hear the prayers but I could certainly feel their effects. It seemed as if my hands were connected to an electrical battery and its current was penetrating the fibres of my being. The train whistled and I quickly boarded it. While thanking God for the privilege of feeling the spiritual power of the late Hazrat Amir, I realised that there was Divine purpose in the farewell meeting not being held for me. Had it been held, there would have been speeches and comments of praise to encourage me, tea and refreshments served for the audience, and a reply address by me. A man attends many such functions in his honour during his life and their effect is only temporary. But the sight of a great man like the late Hazrat Amir running to say farewell to me, reaching the platform just in time, grasping my hands and saying prayers for me, and the effect of those prayers being felt by me there and then — that memory is unforgettable.

I felt that the success I attained [in Fiji] was the result of the prayers of that Godly saint whom the world of Islam knows by the name Maulana Muhammad Ali. … To him, religion was not limited to the formalities of worship and prayer, but his style of living and his actions were in accordance with the teachings of the Quran and the Sunna.” 
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1992

______________________________________________________________________________________________
https://alahmadiyya.org/articles-magazines-islam-ahmadiyya/light-islamic-review-us-1991-official-magazine-ahmadiyya-anjuman-ishaat-e-islam-lahore-usa/199209and10/obituary-of-maulana-muhammad-abdullah/

 

Obituary of Maulana Muhammad Abdullah

The Light & Islamic Review (US), September/October 1992 Issue (Vol. 69, No. 5, p. 7)

It is with deep regret that we record the death, on June 18^th 1992, of Maulana Muhammad Abdullah in California, at the age of 87 years — inna li-llahi wa inna ilai-hi rajiun. The Marhum [ deceased] left India for Fiji in 1930 and served the Muslims there in the field of education. He also arranged for a Lahore Ahmadiyya missionary to come to Fiji to repulse the Arya Samaj’s virulent attacks on Islam.

Since 1959 Mr. Abdullah had lived in the U.S.A. and was active in the propagation of Islam. He helped Warith Deen Muhammad, son of Elijah Muhammad, to steer the Black Muslims towards main-stream Islam. He also nobly participated in the work of our Jamaat in the U.S.A. May Allah admit him to His Mercy and Protection – Ameen!
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Books by Muhammad Abdullah

ulamafatwaymirzaghulamahmad

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Links and Related Essay’s

https://alahmadiyya.org/articles-magazines-islam-ahmadiyya/light-islamic-review-us-1991-official-magazine-ahmadiyya-anjuman-ishaat-e-islam-lahore-usa/199209and10/obituary-of-maulana-muhammad-abdullah/

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTR74NrMu/

Malcolm X and Ahmadiyya mullahs?

I am to Ahmadiyya what Malcolm X was to the Nation of Islam

The history of Ahmadiyya in Mexico – ahmadiyyafactcheckblog

The history of Ahmadiyya in Mexico

Who is Zafar Iqbal Abdullah? – ahmadiyyafactcheckblog

Who is Muzaffar Baig Sateh (Died in 1980)? – ahmadiyyafactcheckblog

Who is Muzaffar Baig Sateh (Died in 1980)?

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