Bashir Ahmad Orchard

Bashir Ahmad Orchard (1920-2002)^[1]

Lt James Bryan Orchard, a British soldier, converted to Ahmadiyya Islam in March 1945^[2] and became the first European (British) Ahmadi Muslim missionary. Born in Torquay, he had a conventional upbringing prior to joining the Indian Army. Lt Orchard later joined the Indian Ordnance Corps. in 1942. He was also a member of the Church of England at the time. He had a brother who was a Roman Catholic priest. On one occasion, an Ahmadi Sergeant named Havildar Clerk Abdur Rehman Dehlavi who belonged to Orchard’s unit, asked the Ahmadi Headquarters in Qadian to send him a book by Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (via post) titled: "Islami Usool Ki Philosophy", i.e. ‘The Teachings of Islam’.^[3] He was at Manipur a good 1000 miles away from Qadian. After a few weeks, Orchard was at Qadian. He had a meeting with Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih II - Hadhrat Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad and many important Ahmadi elders. It was at Meiktila^[4] in March 1945, that Lt James Bryan Orchard sent Qadian, the Form of Bay’ah and converted to Islam Ahmadiyya.^[5]

On demobilization in 1946 Orchard offered his services to the London branch of the Ahmadiyya movement:. A letter to the caliph, the spiritual leader of Ahmadiyya, confirmed his appointment as a missionary. He adopted the Muslim name, Bashir. In 1949 he came to Glasgow for three years, then went to the West Indies, only to find himself back in Glasgow in 1966, where he stayed for the next 17 years.^[6] Preaching was a passion with him and he was a familiar figure at The Mound in Edinburgh and on the streets of Glasgow. In his spare time, he would sell used stamps and use the income for community needs. He moved to continue working as a missionary, first in Oxford and later to London, where he edited the monthly Muslim Sunrise.^[7] He was a prolific writer of books and articles, he also appeared on a Muslim Television Ahmadiyya Bashir Ahmad Orchard, died July 8, 2002.^[8]

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