Intro
The first official Ahmadiyya temple was opened in 1934, in Chicago, on 4448 S. Wabash Ave (See Moslem Sunrise, Nov-1934). However, it was acquired by Mufti Muhammad Sadiq and his team in 1922. In 1922, Mufti Muhammad Sadiq bought a 2-storey house at 4448 Wabash Ave, Chicago, iLL. It’s unclear as to where he got the money from. He then had some weird looking minarets erected and called it “Al-Masjid” (The Masjid)(the Moslem Sunrise (Oct-1922). The Moslem Sunrise of Jan-1923 mentions how this alleged mosque was also a library and housing for Ahmadiyya missionaries and their wives/mistresses. Even the ROR of Jan-Feb-March-1923 tells the world that only a portion of this house on Wabash is considered a mosque. The Jan-1924 edition of the ROR has the 4448 Wabash Ave, Chicago, iLL address listed as the headquarters of Ahmadiyya in America. Maulvi Muhammad Din was the Ahmadi Maulvi in-charge from 1923-1924, he seems to have been forcibly exiled by the U.S. government, he lived at Wabash for one year. Maulvi Muhammad Yusuf seems to have been in-charge in the USA from 1924-1928. In 1926, Mary Caroline Holmes alleges that only negroes have converted to Ahmadiyya, 900 of them and that the newspaper “The Moslem Sunrise” has ceased to exist. She says that Mohemmad Yusuf Khan is working as the “Missionary-in-Charge”. She claims that a few negroes are converting to Islam as a result of their persecution by whites in America.
It seems that in April-May of 1927, a Professor named Andrew T. Hoffert (who was working at Chicago University) wrote about the Ahmadiyya Movement and its operations. Andrew T. Hoffert claims to have visited the Mission house on 4448 Wabash Ave and even entered several homes of the Negro’s that had converted to Qadianism. He claimed that Ahmadiyya was a product of Western culture, Christian missionaries and Islamic reform and many other things. Hoffert visited the Ahmadiyya headquarters in 1927 and revealed that there were 60-70 active members of the Ahmadiyya Community, the vast majority Negroes. Hoffert claims that Ahmadiyya has spread to Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis and St. Louis. He claims that in NY there was some membership too, but it dwindled over the years. He visited the Chicago mission on Wabash and observed barely 25-40 active members attending the various meetings (See Andrew T. Hoffert, “The Moslem Movement in America,” The Moslem World, 20 (1930): 309). His essay on Ahmadiyya was published verbatim in the ROR of Dec-1927. It was initially published in the “The Messenger”, dated 9 (May 1927): 141, 160; John Van Ess, “A Moslem Mosque in Chicago,” Neglected Arabia 141 (1927): 13-15. The title of the article was “Moslem Propaganda”. He also wrote about the Ahmadiyya in 1930, via the Muslim World Magazine (See scans in the below). This was reproduced in ROR of Aug-Sep-1930.
Sufi Muti-ur-Rahman Bengali showed up in the USA in 1928. He rented a new location as his office (See the Moslem Sunrise of July-1930). The new location was at 56 E. Congress St., Suite-1307, Chicago, ILL. This remained the Ahmadiyya headquarters until 1941 wherein it changed to 220 South State St., Suite-1010.
By 1950, Ahmadiyya in the USA had totally failed, barely 200 members remained, 5 mission houses, NO MOSQUES (the temple on Wabash Ave being the only pseudo mission house). Later on in 1950, the Ahmadiyya Movement seems to have moved its headquarters to Washington D.C., in a house which they were calling a Mosque (See the Muslim Sunrise-1950, 2nd Q). In 1952, the Ahmadiyya Movement was again calling the lot at 4448 Wabash Ave as their mission house (not a mosque)(See the Muslim Sunrise-1952, 3rd Quarter). In 1994 (Oct-23), a purpose-built mosque was built on an adjacent lot, however, they seem to have kept the address at 4448 Wabash Ave (See page 85).
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