Intro
In 1903 (Dec-1), Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was mentioned in The Argunaut San Francisco of Dec. 1, 1903. This was MGA’s death challenge vs. Alexander Dowie (See the San Francisco Examiner of
Sun, Oct 04, 1903 ·Page 26).
In 1923, the Qadiani-Ahmadi’s were alleging that they had a white convert Abdullah Omar—Denzel Carr (See the Moslem Sunrise” of January 1923, Vol. II, No. 1, p. 163). He disappeared thereafter.
In 1927, there was Lahori-Ahmadi’s (Mirza Daud Baig) living in San Francisco in 1927 (See The Light of Pakistan, 1st August 1925 Issue, Vol. 4, No. 15, p. 1).
In 1947, the Lahori-Ahmadi mission was officially launched in 1947 when the Lahore representative, Bashir Ahmad Minto, arrived in San Francisco, California and incorporated the Moslem Society of the USA. Mr. Minto quickly went to work, sending out hundreds of advertisements and letters to local and national periodicals, giving dozens of lectures across the state, distributing Islamic publications to all who were interested, raising money to purchase a building, and corresponding and meeting with hundreds of Muslims and potential converts.
In 1950, allegedly on April-25-1950 (via a civil ceremony), Princess Fathia of Egypt with a coptic Christian Riyad Ghali at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, California, United States. Imam Bashir Ahmed Minto performed the fake-Nikkah ceremony 24 May 1950. This is strange since he married a Muslim woman to a Christian man, which is not typically allowed in Islam.
In 1951, Imam Bashir Ahmad Minto indirectly admitted to being an Ahmadi when he scheduled a speech on the life of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad at the headquarters of the Moslem Society of the United States, 870 Castro St, San Francisco on July-15-1951 (See the San Francisco Examiner
Sat, Jul 14, 1951 ·Page 6).
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, via the Muslim Sunrise of 3rd Quarter-1951, Khalil Ahmad Nasir is the editor of the Moslem Sunrise, as well as the missionary-in-charge of the USA. Khalil Ahmad Nasir gave 2141 Leroy Place, N.W., Washington D.C., 2532 Center Ave, Pittsburgh, 613 Locust Street, St. Louis, MO and at 115 W. 116th St. Suite-2, NY, NY. Zafrullah Khan was in San Francisco and gave speech on the peace treaty with Japan on 9-21-1951, the speech is reproduced. Part-2 of Dr. Abdus Salam’s essay, “A Short Sketch of Muslim History” is given. Shaikh Nasir Ahmad (Ahmadi missionary in Switzerland) has a book review therein. It is announced that there will be an American edition of “Ahmadiyyat and the True Islam”, the book can be bought via the Ahmadiyya headquarters at 2141 Leroy Place, N.W., Washington D.C. Sufi M.R. Bengalee’s “The Tomb of Jesus” is available for purchase, as well as 2 books by Zafrullah Khan, 1 book by MGA: “The Teachings of Islam” aka “The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam”. 9 books by the 2nd Khalifa and 2 books by J.D. Shams. A Qadiani-Ahmadi english commentary of the Quran (this was very short and never went past Chapter 4 of the Quran) by the 2nd Khalifa and his team, this was started back in 1914 and never fully completed, instead, people in American used the Lahori-Ahmadi’s version of the Quran by Maulvi Muhammad Ali.
In 1952, the last mention of Bashir Ahmad Minto is from the Oakland Tribune of Wed, Jun 04, 1952 ·Page 28. Bashair Ahmed Minto scheduled to give a free public lecture on “Islam and Western Culture”. This is sponsored by the American Academy of Asian Studies” at 8pm, Friday at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. He seems to have totally disappeared thereafter.
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.
In 1955, the famous Lahori-Ahmadi Maulana Muhammad Abdullah was in Fiji and 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. 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 1956, Maulana Muhammad Abdullah is the director of the Moslem Society at 870 Castro St, SF, Ca, USA and is looking to collect books (See the San Francisco Examiner of Sun, Nov 04, 1956 ·Page 68, “‘Moslem Asks Books for Fiji Youth”).
In 1957, 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, 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.
In 1959, Maulana Muhammad Abdullah 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).
In 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).
In 1980, the 3rd Qadiani-Ahmadi Khalifa, Mirza Nasir Ahmad arrived in Canada on September 4, 1980. In Canada, he stayed for 10 days in Toronto and Calgary. On September 11, 1980, he left Calgary by air for San Francisco, he chose the Hotel Amfac (See the Khilafat centenary of 2008). After staying for four days in the West Coast region, on September 15, 1980. Mirza Nasir Ahmad and his team flew to Washington D.C. and met many jamaat members. On September 19, 1980, Mirza Nasir Ahmad gave the Khutbah Juma at the Ahmadiyya American Fazl Mosque in Washington D.C. (See pages 79-80). On this trip, Mirza Nasir Ahmad met Azhar Haneef’s father, Abid Haneef. Azhar Haneef didn’t show up, nor did his siblings. How many did he have anyways? Why are they all missing?
In 1980-1982, Abdul Raqeeb Wali was the President of the SF-jamaat of Qadian’s of which I was a member. My uncle, Sharif Shah (my dad’s sister’s husband) was living in Concord, Ca. In 1982, he organized and chaired the first ever West Coast Jalsa Salana (See page 42). In 1989, Khurram Shah, Shahid Abassi, Raqib Wali, Hidayt Shah, Anwar Shah, Khadim Shah and Shahid Shah can be seen in this photo. Sheikh Mubarak Ahmad must have visited California in 1983. (See The 1989 Khuddam Souvenir, page 39).
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1903
Oct-3
the San Francisco Examiner of Sun, Oct 04, 1903 ·Page 26
In 1903 (Dec-1), Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was mentioned in The Argunaut San Francisco of Dec. 1, 1903. This was MGA’s death challenge vs. Alexander Dowie (See the San Francisco Examiner of Sun, Oct 04, 1903 ·Page 26).
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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
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Links and Related Essay’s
Who is Abdullah Omar—Denzel Carr, A zealous American Moslem in San Francisco?
Who is Abdullah Omar—Denzel Carr, A zealous American Moslem in San Francisco?
Who is Mirza Daud Baig? The Lahori-Ahmadi who lived in San Francisco in 1927
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad vs. John Alexander Dowie – ahmadiyyafactcheckblog
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#ahmadiyya #ahmadiyyafactcheckblog #messiahhascome #ahmadiyyat #trueislam
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