Present-day Woking Mosque website’s tribute to Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din

The website representing the present-day controllers of the Woking Mosque, www.shahjahanmosque.org.uk, has paid the following tribute to Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din in its history section:

“Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din was a learned, charismatic and an inspired leader. He set up residence in the Imam’s house, established daily prayers in the mosque and with helpers brought from India, founded the Muslim Mission Woking to spread the message of Islam to the people of Great Britain. At home in India they considered him to be completely foolish, giving up a lucrative legal practice, to embark on a project that they were certain was doomed to failure.”

“One of the things that is impressive about this early movement, and for this the Khwaja must take the credit, was the simplicity of the message. It is evident that this is one of the things that were most influential in persuading converts to adopt Islam. He preached a message that was free of cultural baggage, a pure message based on faith and belief that encompassed the spirit of Islam. He was always positive, always gentle and always good-natured. It was obvious that he embodied many of the qualities that believers would expect in a man of faith: peacefulness, kindness and a quiet certainty, but failed to witness in the clergy, where dogma and the ecclesiastical hierarchy were the dominant features.

Within a few years, through the work of Kamal-ud-Din and his Muslim Mission Islam had established a definite foothold within England and from this point onwards it grew steadily in significance. The Woking Mission was a focal point for meetings of influential Muslims in this country, where they discussed and planned the future growth and development of Islam in England, including the establishment of a central mosque in London.”

Reference: Go to History section of www.shahjahanmosque.org.uk, and click on page 2 and page 3.