Hakeem Noor-ud-Din

Who was Hakeem Noor-ud-Din?

Al-Hājj Mawlāna Hāfiz Hakīm Noor-ud-Din was a close companion of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement, and was elected as his first successor on May 27, 1908, a day after his death, becoming Khalifatul Masih I, head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. He was a renowned physician, and was also an active writer, theologian, and scholar of Arabic and Hebrew.

Royal Physician to the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir for many years, his extensive travels included a long stay in the cities of Mecca and Medina in pursuit of religious knowledge. His lectures on Quranic exegesis and Hadith were one of the main attractions for visitors to Qadian. He also wrote rebuttals to objections and criticisms raised by Christians and the Arya Samaj against Islam. Mawlana Noor-ud-Din was the first person to take bay'ah to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad when he claimed to be divinely appointed to take the pledge and establish a community on March 23, 1889. After Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's death, Hakeem Noor-ud-Din was unanimously voted as his successor and is credited for maintaining unity within the Ahmadiyya Community after the death of its founder.