He served under four Khulafa, from Hazrat Musleh Maud (ra), (ra), who accepted his in 1947, to Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V (aba), who led his funeral prayer in 2017. He was born in the town of the first: , District Shahpur, where Hazrat Hakeem Maulvi Noor-ud-Din (ra) was also born. Both men left Bhera for .
Key Moments
Farewell Audience with Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (ra)
Before departing for Arabic studies in Damascus (1955-1956), he received a farewell audience with Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (ra) in .
Office of the Private Secretary to Hazrat Khalifatul Masih III (rh) (from 1977)
Worker in the office of the Private Secretary to Hazrat Khalifatul Masih III (rh), from 1977, handling correspondence from abroad.
Historic Photograph
Recognition from Khalifatul Masih V (aba)
At a Germany meeting at Bait us Sabuh, Frankfurt, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V (aba) greeted Maulana Anweri with special recognition as the first enrolled student (Roll No. 1) of when it was instituted in Qadian in 1944.
Roll number one, sixty-seven years later
Talim-ul-Islam College opened at Qadian in 1944 under Hazrat Sahibzada Mirza Nasir Ahmad as Principal. Maulana Anweri enrolled as its first student, roll number one, given that number for standing first in his matriculation.
Twenty-one years later, in 1965, that same Principal was elected Khalifatul Masih III (rh). Taking his leave of the college, he said, as the Old Students Association records it: "I have reared this college as my own child and the college will always remain dear to my heart."
Sixty-seven years after he enrolled, at the association's dinner at Bait us Sabuh in Frankfurt, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V (aba) named him among those seated as the oldest of them and said that by God's grace he remained mentally alert. He was 84 and still writing: Volume 5 Part 2 of had been printed the year before, in 2010. Volume 4 and Aalmi Taghayyurat went to press in February 2012, and Volume 6 followed in April 2013.
Talim-ul-Islam College Old Students Association, introduction
Frankfurt, 24 September 2011
Speaking to the Talim-ul-Islam College Old Students Association at Frankfurt, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V (aba) told the association that after six years it ought to have progressed further, joking that this was the early period of an organisation of old people, or the childhood of old people. He then said that among those seated was Fazal Ilahi Anweri Sahib, that he was the oldest of them, and that by the grace of Allah he was mentally completely alert. It was exactly that point he pressed on the room: they had not reached the age the Holy Quran calls ardhal al-umur, the age at which a person begins returning towards childhood. What was being said of him was not that he was old, but that his mind stood undiminished.
His work bore that out. He was eighty-four that September, and in the middle of his most productive stretch as an author. Volume 5 Part 2 of -e-Ahmadiyyat had been printed the year before, in 2010. Volume 4 and Aalmi Taghayyurat went to press five months later, in February 2012, and Volume 6 followed in April 2013. Three more of his books reached the press in the two years that followed this address. Publications
Watch from the moment he is named (31:40)
Timeline Overview
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih I (ra)
A connection of birth, not of service
He was born in 1927 at Bhera, District Shahpur, the town in which Hazrat Hakeem Maulvi Noor-ud-Din (ra) was born. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih I (ra) had passed away in 1914, thirteen years before, so the two never met. Both men left Bhera for Qadian.
Hazrat Hakeem Maulvi Noor-ud-Din (ra), Khalifatul Masih I (ra), profile
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (ra)
1914-1965
In 1947, after Hazrat Musleh Maud (ra)’s appeal in for young men to devote their lives, he sent in his application with his parents’ permission and was called to Qadian at once. Before leaving for Arabic study in Damascus he was received in a farewell audience.
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih III (rh)
1965-1982
Worker in the office of the Private Secretary to Hazrat Khalifatul Masih III (rh), from 1977, handling correspondence from abroad. Met during London delegation regarding Ahmadi asylum work. Also present during West Africa service (Lagos, 1970).
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IV (rh)
1982-2003
Extensive service overlap. Maulana Anweri resident in Germany from 1988. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IV (rh) frequently visited Europe for and community events.
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V (aba)
2003-2017
Final years of service. Passing on 4 March 2017. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V (aba) personally greeted him at TICOSA Germany meetings, recognizing him as Roll No. 1 of T.I. College. Mentioned in of 17 March 2017.
"The bond between a true servant and Khilafat is eternal."
His Urdu translation of Das Haus in Mekka carries a letter written to him on 14 January 1982 by Mirza Tahir Ahmad, later Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IV (rh), before his Khilafat. Publications