Amjadi Begum, Wife of Mohammed Ali Jauhar
Call it chance or my good fortune, I came across this wonderful article on the UMM (Urdu Media Monitor) website on Amjadi Begum: Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar’s Wife and her untiring efforts in supporting the movement to ensure the territorial integrity of Turkey and thereby protect the office of the Khalifa in Turkey.
The following are a few excerpts:
- After her marriage with Muhammad Ali Jauhar, she supported her husband in all his activities. In one of his discourses Maulana Majid Daryabadi writes, ‘Amjadi Begum always remained appended with Maulana in every journey and attended every session of Khilafat Conference’.
- Begum Sahiba’s greatest achievement, in association with Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar’s mother Bi Amma, was to create political consciousness among Indian women. In 1917 she attended the annual session of All India Muslim League. In 1920 she was appointed as Secretary (women’s wing) of All India Khilafat Committee. During this time, Begum Sahiba and Bi Amma collected a contribution of Rs. 40 lakhs for the Khilafat Movement.
- While Maulana Mohammad Ali was languishing in jail, all of his affairs outside the jail were managed by his mother and his wife. In 1930 Amjadi Begum attended the Round Table Conference along with her husband in London.
Apart from the above, Maulana Abdul Majid Daryabadi in his nearly 200-page tribute to Maulana Mohammed Ali Jauhar, mentions of the great love and affection Mohammed Ali had for his wife. Daryabadi, who had a close acquaintance with Mohammed Ali, writes that, over time, as they aged, the affection grew into romance (for want of a better word for Ishq in Urdu). Mohammed Ali would tell his wife that, “I cannot now seem to be able to go anywhere without you”. Daryabadi adds that Amjadi Begum would always observe the complete hijab wherever she went, and this did not come in the way of her active participation in conferences, public talks, travels and other community events. (page 145)
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