Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen – Khalifatul Masih I – The Way of the Righteous — Page 24
CHAPTER FOUR Pilgrimage to Mecca He came to Bhopal in quest of knowledge and left Bhopal in 1866, and embarked upon the journey to see the city of his beloved, Muhammad sa. This was a greater quest than the quest for education. At the age of 25, Maulana Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen set upon a mission that was dear to him. At every step of the journey, he saw and experienced numerous instances of Divine help, probably, the direct outcome of the complete and total trust that Maulana Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen reposed in his Creator and in his Lord. On departure from Bhopal on his way to the Holy Land, he arrived at Burhanpur station where he met with Maulavi Abdullah (an old friend of his father). Finding the son of his old friend, Maulavi Abdullah gave him a very affectionate welcome, treated him generously, and at the time of his departure, gave him a basket of fruits and sweets. When Maulana Hakeem Noor-ud- Deen opened the basket, he found a cheque of one thousand rupees (a huge amount in those days). In addition to the cheque, there was some cash. He was the same man who once visited the father of Maulana Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen and brought large quantities of copies of the Holy Qur'an, and in exchange of these he got thirty thousand rupees from his father. His father (passionately dedicated to the spreading of Islam and its teachings and the knowledge of the Holy Qur'an) paid full amount to Maulavi Abdullah (a resident of Bombay originally hailing from Sahiwal City). With that amount, he prospered so well that he started a new business in clothes. Later, he shifted to Burhanpur and built his own bungalow and became a resident of Burhanpur. He believed that there were a lot of blessings if one was engaged in the distribution and sale of copies of the Holy Qur'an. Later, Maulana Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen arrived in Bombay from Burhanpur. Bombay was the only port city from where ships, bound for pilgrimage, used to leave. In Bombay, Maulana