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The third part of our discussion is: What evidence is there that the Promised Messiah who is mentioned in the Quran and the Hadith in various ways is my humble self? I do not think that there is any need to give arguments at length in this regard. We have proved in this book that it is essential that there arise a man among the Muslim people, bearing the name of the Messiah. It is necessary for three reasons.
Firstly, it is required by the perfect and complete likeness between our Prophet, may peace and the blessings of God be upon him, and Moses, which is understood from the words: "as We sent a messenger to Pharoah". The reason is that the verse "Surely We have sent to you a Messenger, a witness against you, as We sent a messenger to Pharoah" (73:15) clearly states that just as Moses was a witness to the good and evil of his people, so is our Prophet a witness. For Moses, this witnessing in the permanent sense was only possible by means of a successorship [khilafat]. That is, for the completion of the argument, God Almighty instituted for Moses for fourteen hundred years a series of successors who, in reality, appeared for the service of the Torah and the support of the law of Moses, so that through these successors God may complete the testimony of Moses, and thus he may be able to testify before God on the Day of Judgment with regard to all the Israelites. Similarly, God Almighty has made our Holy Prophet a witness upon all the people of the Islamic nation; and said: "Surely We have sent to you a Messenger, a witness against you", and "when We bring thee (O Muhammad) as a witness against these people" (4:41). It is obvious, however, that in the physical sense the Holy Prophet remained among his followers for only 23 years. Therefore the question, How can he be a witness upon his people forever, has the only real answer that it is by means of successorship. That is, as with Moses, God has also appointed successors to the Holy Prophet, these being till the Day of Judgment, and the testimony of the khalifas is considered to be precisely the testimony of the Holy Prophet. In this way, the verse "Surely We have sent to you a Messenger, a witness against you" is proved right from every angle. To sum up, the belief relating to the eternal witnessing, which is established repeatedly from conclusive verses of the Quran and is accepted by all Muslims, can only be proved logically and factually if the eternal khilafat is accepted. And this point proves our claim, so ponder!
Secondly, the perfect and complete likeness between the khilafat to the Holy Prophet Muhammad and the successorship to Moses renders imperative the coming of the Promised Messiah, as is understood from the following verse: "God has promised to those of you who believe and do good that He will surely make them successors [khalifas] in the earth as He made those before them to be successors" (24:55). This clearly conveys that a mujaddid must come bearing the name of the Messiah in the fourteenth century (Hijra), because the Muhammadi khilafat can only attain the most complete and total likeness to the Mosaic successorship if the first and the last respective phases have a high degree of mutual conformity. The similarity regarding the last phase is in two points: firstly, the disintegration of the nation, the decline in worldly standing, and the change for the worse in virtue, faith and righteousness; and secondly, the coming of a mujaddid at such a time, who has the name Promised Messiah and who restores the original state of faith. Our Muslim brethren not only acknowledge the first sign, but are witnessing with their own eyes the destruction of the Muslims and the rise of an alien nation which considers their religion to be inferior and degraded in the same manner as the Romans, having over-whelmed the Israelites, thought of the Jews in the time of Jesus. They are also witnessing that the inner condition of the religious and secular leaders of Islam is no less bad than that of the Jews; indeed, it seems to be twice as bad. When we read in the very first part of the Quran passages regarding the Jewish priests, to the effect that "you preach goodness to others, but forget your own souls", "you do not stop short of giving trouble to your own brethren", and "you are involved in all sorts of selfishness, vice, wickedness, evil scheming, and deceit for worldly gain", the heart spontaneously cries out that all these verses apply to most of our own religious leaders. Since our brethren themselves accept that one of these two necessary signs is to be found in this age, to turn away from acknowledging the second sign is exactly like saying that the sun has undoubtedly risen but it is not daytime yet. In any case, a just and wise person will have no recourse but to accept that, looking at the Quranic verses with thought, the very point is proved that the series of successorship to the Holy Prophet Muhammad should correspond completely to the chain of Mosaic successor-ship, as is understood from the word kama. {Note 1} And as it conforms completely, then among the Muslim people too, in their last days which are close to the Day of Judgment, there must come a khalifa like Jesus, who should deliver conclusive proofs of the truth, not by means of the sword, but through spiritual teaching and blessings. Moreover, given that Jesus came fourteen hundred years after Moses, it has also to be conceded that the Promised Messiah must make his appearance in this age, as the promises of God do not fail.
So one should consider as to how many men there are who have claimed to be the Promised Messiah in this age. If it is supposed that, for example, ten men from among the Muslims have made the claim in this age, then one of those ten must be the truthful one, the Promised Messiah, because the appointed signs of God demand the existence of the truthful one. However, considering that out of the two hundred million Muslims living in Syria, Arabia, Iraq, Egypt, India and other such countries, in this age of signs which is the time of the advent of the Promised Messiah according to the Book of God and the Hadith, only one man of the Muslims has claimed to be the Promised Messiah, then to reject this claimant who has appeared at the proper time implies the denial of the prophecy. The coming of the Promised Messiah at the start of the fourteenth century (Hijra) is proved so strongly from Hadith reports, from the Quran, and from visions of the saints, that no explanation of it is necessary. Furthermore, to reject a claim that has been made at its proper place and occasion, makes a righteous person shudder. Briefly, the first proof of the truth of this humble one is the making of the claim at the time which had been specified by the Leader of the Apostles, may peace and the blessings of God be upon him, and the Holy Quran, and the visions of the saints, for the advent of the Promised Messiah. As our Holy Prophet was the Prophet of the latter days, and a further thirteen hundred years have passed of these latter days, consider the hadith in which the seven steps of the pulpit shown in a vision are taken to be the seven millenniums of the life of the world. Ponder deeply as to whether this age, according to this hadith, is the one necessary for the Promised Messiah or not. Think also about the hadith, "The signs shall come after two hundred years", from which the ulama have concluded that the major signs of the end shall commence from the thirteenth century Hijra. {Note 2} For, if by signs are meant minor signs, in that case the condition "after two hundred years" would serve no purpose because the coming of the Holy Prophet himself is one of the signs of the Day of Judgment. And if this hadith is taken as meaning that major signs would start to appear after two hundred years, this is against facts because no sign began to appear after two hundred years. Therefore, the ulama have taken the "two hundred" in this hadith to be that two hundred which comes after a millennium, i.e. twelve hundred years. And in this interpretation the ulama are correct because there is no doubt that great evils did arise in the thirteenth century, the storm of the Dajjal spread in just this century, and the spectacle of the words "they sally forth from every point of vantage" (the Quran, 21:96) was also seen in this century. Hundreds of Islamic states perished, and the Christians attained towering supremacy.
As regards this third point under discussion, i.e. if there is in fact a Promised Messiah to arise among the Muslims, what is the proof that it is my humble self, we have just given some general arguments which need not be repeated. If, however, specific evidence is demanded, the questioner should be a little patient so that God Himself may send proofs in support of His servant. The fact is that such claims cannot be proved comprehensively merely by means of reasoned arguments or documentary evidence, till the blessings of the claimant are established by heavenly assistance. This is the ancient law of God which has constantly applied to the prophets, peace be upon them. For instance, although there were prophecies given in the earlier scriptures regarding our Leader and Master, the Prophet, may peace and the blessings of God be upon him, and then he came in an age which demanded the raising of a glorious Apostle, yet despite all this, Almighty God did not stop at the earlier prophecies to prove the veracity of His true Prophet, nor did He deem the other arguments to be sufficient; rather, He sent numerous heavenly signs in verification of this Holy Prophet, so much so that the Prophet’s truth was openly displayed, and the light of his truthfulness shone like the sun. Hence it should be similarly realised that if this humble one is from God Almighty, and is true in what he says, then God shall manifest his truth through special assistance, and He shall make it clear to the world by His special signs that this humble one is from Him, and it is not his own planning. If a person is proved true in his claim by means of heavenly signs, then after that there cannot remain any reason for denial. For, the heavenly sign is the entity by which great prophethoods have been proved, apostleships have been proved, and books have been proved to be the word of God, so why should not the claim of being the like of the Messiah be established by this means? In brief, the manner in which God Almighty has been establishing the truth of His true servants -- in precisely the same manner shall He also prove the truth of this humble one. It should be noted that the Jews faced many problems in accepting the prophethood of Jesus. It was written in the earlier books that the Messiah would appear as a king, but Jesus came as a poor, destitute man. The earlier books had recorded that the days of the glory of the Jews would return with his advent, and they believed that he would fight the Romans and re-establish the kingdom of Israel. However, the situation turned out to be the reverse, and the Jews faced even more calamities and humiliation. Similarly, it was written in the earlier books that he would not come until the prophet Elijah returned to the world. So the Jews were waiting for Elijah to descend from heaven. But Elijah did not come down, and Jesus claimed that he was the Promised Messiah, adding that John the Baptist was the one who was Elijah. {Note 3} The Jews, however, did not like this interpretation; rather, they were waiting for the descent of Elijah in the same manner as that in which Muslims today are awaiting the descent of Jesus. But despite all these obstacles, which were really very difficult, God did not let his true prophet perish, and proved by many signs that he was the true one. From this it is necessarily concluded that it was the Promised Messiah who was accepted in the end as true. Dear ones, realise with certainty that in the ancient law of God there is only one way of showing the veracity of the truthful one, and that is that God should establish by heavenly signs that He is with him and has chosen him. Now consider that the claim of my humble self to be the Promised Messiah is no greater than the claims of Moses or Jesus. Then think about how all these revered prophets were acknowledged in the world -- was it through heavenly blessings and assistance, or by some other means? So realise that there is no amendment or alteration in God Almighty’s law of old. If this humble one is not from God, and it is mere falsehood and fabrication, then the end shall not be good, and God will destroy him with humiliation, and make him the object of curse and taunt till the end of time. For, there is no sin greater than that a man should say that he has been sent by God while he has not really been sent by Him, and say "I am favoured with communication from God, and His word descends upon my heart and runs off my tongue" whereas God’s communication had never taken place with him, nor had God’s word ever entered his heart or issued forth from his tongue. Now the curse of God be upon the liars who make fabrications against God -- they shall be forsaken in the world and in the Hereafter. If, however, this humble person is from God, and He has sent me, and what I receive as revelation is word from Him, then I shall most certainly not perish nor be destroyed. On the contrary, God will destroy him who rises to oppose me and to obstruct my way. I am surprised why people consider the term Promised Messiah to be strange, and demand proof about it from me, while it is not prohibited, logically speaking, that someone should arise in the manner of Jesus among the Muslims, who are the likes of the followers of Moses. Philosophers accept that the process of replication takes place within the human race, and the law of God and nature has been seen to be that in this world some people are made in the likeness of others. The likes of the good are born, and so also the likes of the wicked. The proof which should be demanded is that of being appointed by God. This proof contains within itself evidence of all other points. Look, when our Holy Prophet, may peace and the blessings of God be upon him, declared to people that he was the like of Moses and the Apostle of God, those to whom his apostleship was proved had no doubt regarding his being the like of Moses either, and just as they reposed belief in the apostleship of the Holy Prophet, so did they believe in him as being the like of Moses. Hence the proof of being from God and being a true recipient of revelation is the basis of all proofs. For instance, no one demands evidence of the truth of every single line of the book revealed to a prophet. It is by the apostleship being proved true that all those things are established by themselves. Dear ones, it is not that God wants to make a novel law in my case. Look at the ancient law of God, and put your questions according to that.
Besides this, up to this day which is 11 Rabi‘-ul-Awwal 1311 A.H., corresponding to 22 September 1893 C.E. and 8 Asvaj 1950, Friday, somewhat more than three thousand signs have been displayed by this humble one which have hundreds of witnesses; indeed, the fulfilment of some prophecies has been witnessed by thousands of Hindus, Christians and other members of opposing faiths. If you investigate the matter, there are some signs which hundreds of thousands of enemies of the religion of Islam have observed with their own eyes. Those people are still alive who have frequently seen signs which are beyond human power, and there are also hundreds alive who were told of the acceptance of prayers beforehand, and then they saw the affair come to pass as it had been predicted. There are nearly sixteen thousand people in India, England, Germany, France, Russia and Italy, from among Hindu pundits, Jewish rabbis, Magian leaders, and Christian clergymen, priests and bishops, who were sent registered letters to the effect that, in reality, Islam is the only true religion in the world, while all other faiths have strayed far from fact and truth. Should any opponent have any doubt, he may come face to face with me and stay for a year to witness signs of the truth of Islam displayed by me. If I turn out to be in error, he may take compensation from me at the rate of Rs. 200 per month for his year; else, I do not demand anything from him, except that he should accept the faith of Islam. If he wishes, he may have this money deposited in a bank for his satisfaction. No one, however, came forward. Now every wise person can realise that if this humble one did not have the kind of perfect faith in help from God which is attained after repeated observations and personal experience, how would it have been possible to stand alone to confront all the opponents of Islam, i.e. those people who are known opponents of the faith and leaders of their respective communities. It is obvious that the frail mortal certainly does not possess such strength in his soul as to confront the whole world. What, then, could it be except perfect faith and personal experiences which gave this humble one the courage to take this line of action? And it was not only with the tongue, but also approximately Rs. 2000 were spent on publishing these leaflets, which were printed in English and Urdu, and on despatching them by registered post to places in India and countries in Europe. But no one had the courage to face the challenge, and the fear which struck the hearts of the opponents was also a sign. By way of a test, ask some Christian preacher of these times whether he did not receive a registered letter inviting to Islam. Then consider if the man who spends many thousands of Rupees merely for the publication and despatch of leaflets, and offers a substantial monetary reward to the opponent in the event of the latter’s victory, can be logically thought to be just relying on falsehood, lies and fabrication? Has such an imposter ever been read about in books, or heard of, or seen in the world? At least give an example. Dear ones, rest assured that unless a person has the backing of God, such firmness, courage and liberality with funds can never be displayed. Has anyone ever seen or heard of a maulavi of the present time sending a letter even to an English assistant commissioner inviting him to Islam? Yet here it is not only this, but leaflets and letters of invitation to Islam have been sent to the Parliament in London, the Crown Prince, the Queen (Victoria), and Chancellor Bismarck, and the receipts of despatch still exist.
In these leaflets, published almost ten years ago, it was also stated that this humble person resembles Jesus, son of Mary, in terms of the Messiah’s qualities. For the thinking man, this is another evidence of the truth of this humble one, because if the claim of being the like of the Messiah was just a human plan, and not revelation from God, it would not have been possible that ten, nay twelve, years before claiming to be the Promised Messiah, I could have published repeated revelations supporting this claim. For every person can realise that, by nature, man does not have such power of pre-planning that he can lay the foundations, in advance, for the claim to be made twelve years later. And then wonder upon wonder, that God should grant this unjust imposter such a long respite which is now more than twelve years. And the imposter should be so bold in his fabrication as to have planned beforehand to make this claim twelve years later, and to have laid its foundation a dozen years earlier by saying that he was definitely the like of the Messiah. Not only this, but he should have referred to Divine revelation to proclaim himself the like of the Messiah, and declared himself to resemble him in terms of attainments, and considered his own self to be a chip off the old block. And not content with this, he should also have published openly and publicly in his book Barahin Ahmadiyya, twelve years before claiming to be the Messiah, that God had named him Jesus, and promised to make him die a natural death, to raise him unto Himself, to absolve him of all the charges of the deniers, and to make his followers dominate his enemies till the Day of Judgment. And God should not only grant respite to such an individual, but succour him with Divine signs and make a community of followers for him, while He Himself says in the Holy Quran that He does not help the imposter, but that he is soon destroyed and his followers are dispersed. Indeed, God told the Chief of the Apostles (Holy Prophet Muhammad) that if he had fabricated anything in the least, his jugular vein would have been cut off. Hence, if it is not true that God Almighty soon destroys the imposter who intends to mislead people by falsely pretending to be an apostle, then in that case the argument regarding the Holy Prophet, i.e. that supposing, God forbid, he had been an imposter, God would have destroyed him, cannot be correct. Then, despite this long respite and the hundreds of instances of God’s help and the hundreds of Divine signs, the opponents said thousands of prayers to bring down chastisement upon my humble self, and in their mubahila prayers, {Note 4} they cried bitterly for the coming down of punishment upon me, but they gained nothing but disgrace and dishonour for themselves. And God Almighty knows that, in none of my mubahila prayers did I wish for punishment to befall any of the opponents. Nor in the case of Abdul Haqq of Ghazni, who entered into a mubahila in Amritsar, did I pray for his death, although he wept and wailed much (in his prayer, for my destruction). My purpose in the mubahila was, and still is, that the heavenly signs in support of my humble self should be widely seen, and it would be sufficient dishonour and disgrace for the opponent in the mubahila for God to grant me victory at every place. To sum up, all these are signs of truthfulness, but for him who ponders. I regret that I am asked again and again as to what proof there is of my claim of being the Promised Messiah. Such people do not understand what proof there was of Jesus being the promised one, or of our Holy Prophet being the promised Last of the Prophets. Was it not that God Almighty had proved them to be true by numerous signs? And although the Jews did not accept Jesus, holding till this day that he was not the Promised Messiah, yet his miracles and signs proved him to be from God. {See author's footnote} The necessary demand is always for proof of being true and being from God; the proof of likeness is included within that. Besides this, all the characteristics of the present age are loudly proclaiming that the mujaddid of this century should be the Promised Messiah because all the signs of his age, as fixed by the holy word of God, have been fulfilled in this time. Do you not see that Christian rule is swallowing up all the sovereign states of the world, and they have supremacy of every kind, and fulfil the words "they shall sally forth from every point of vantage" (21:96)? And the spiritual and temporal condition of Islam has been ruined, as was the condition of the Jews in the time of Jesus. Jesus came at a time when it was totally inexpedient to take up the sword for the cause of the faith, the reason being that the Jews had lost their rule due to their own evil ways, and it was not the fault of the Roman empire that it took over the country; otherwise the sword could be raised against it. The same condition exists today, i.e. the Muslim rulers have lost their country due to their own extravagance and indulgence in unworthy luxuries. They had no competence left to run the country, so God handed it to the British who, having taken it over, did not do any injustice: they did not stop anyone from the performance of prayer or fasting, nor prevent anyone from going to the pilgrimage in Makka; rather, they established public peace and liberty. As they were benefactors, how could God the Merciful order the raising of the word against them? Does He only have the physical sword for the propagation of the faith, and not the spiritual sword? Moreover, at this time faith cannot rely upon the sword. The British have not converted anyone to their religion by means of the sword, in which case the sword would have been the reply; instead, people have been destroyed by means of modern philosophy and science, and the doubts raised (against Islam) by Christian preachers. The response to this should be to prove the truth of Islam, not to use the sword against people. Hence it is that God Almighty, in accordance with the condition of the Muslims, sent for them a reformer like Jesus, without sword or spear, and He gave this reformer only heavenly weapons with which to defeat falsehood. And just as the numerical value of the words `isa `inda minarat Damishq is 1400, so did that Promised Messiah appear at the start of the fourteenth century (hijra); and as the number 1275 comes from the words akharina min-hum lamma yalhaqu bi-him, it was in that period that he was being prepared for the task of reform of mankind. {Note 5} Just as the Holy Quran had prophesied that, at the time of the upsurge of tribulations caused by the Christians, the trumpet shall be blown, so did he make his appearance. Many men of God had given news of his coming beforehand through Divine revelation. Indeed, some told of his name thirty-two years before he appeared, saying that he was the Promised Messiah and that the original Jesus was dead. Many seers of visions had fixed the fourteenth century as the time of the coming of the Promised Messiah, and had left their revelations in writing. Now after all this, what more proof can there be in matters of this kind, where one must leave some room for faith in the unseen?
Besides this, there are some other great signs on behalf of this humble one which are yet to be tested. For instance, there is the prophecy relating to Abdullah Atham of Amritsar, the term of which is fifteen months starting from 5 June 1893, the prophecy regarding the death of Pandit Lekhram of Peshawar, the term being six years from 1893, and the prophecy about the death of the son-in-law of Mirza Ahmad Baig of Hoshiarpur, a resident of Pati in the district of Lahore, the term of which has approximately eleven months to run from today, 21 September 1893. All these affairs, which are utterly beyond human powers, are sufficient to identify a truthful one or a liar. For, life and death are both in the hands of God, and unless a person has a very high rank in His eyes, God does not destroy any of his enemies for him through his prayer, especially in the case when that person declares himself to be from God, and adduces such a miracle as proof of his truth. Prophecies are, therefore, no ordinary matter, not something which is in man’s control, but only in the hands of the God of glorified dignity. If someone is a seeker after truth, he should wait for the term of these prophecies. The three prophecies cover the three great nations of Punjab and India, i.e. one is related to the Muslims, one to the Hindus, and one to the Christians. And of these, the prophecy relating to the Muslim people is very grand because it has the following components: (1) Mirza Ahmad Baig of Hoshiarpur should die within the limit of three years; (2) then his son-in-law, the husband of his elder daughter, should die within two and a half years; (3) Mirza Ahmad Baig should not die before the day of his daughter’s wedding; (4) the daughter too must not die before she is married, and then widowed, and then married a second time; (5) my humble self too should not die till all these events take place; (6) and then she should be married to myself. Obviously these events are not in human control. {Note 6} If all this proof is still not sufficient for Mr Ata Muhammad, then an easy method is that, after carefully reading this book, he should inform me by a published notice that he has not been satisfied by these arguments, and he still believes me to have made a fabrication, and wishes to see some sign with regard to himself. I shall, God willing, turn to God with regard to him, and I am sure that God shall not let me be defeated by an opponent because I am from Him, and I have come for the revival of the religion by His command. However, in this notice he should grant me general permission to publish any revelation, of whatever kind, that I may receive about him. Considering that Muslims ought to have been happy at the time of the appearance of a mujaddid, I wonder why there is this vexation and indignation, and why they are offended that God has appointed a man to conclusively establish the truth of His religion. I have realised, however, that the state of the faith of most Muslims today is very defective, the poison of modern philosophy having destroyed their belief. Islam is undoubtedly on their tongues, but the hearts have gone very far from it. God’s works and Divine powers are looked upon by them with ridicule. Such is Mr Ata Muhammad. I remember that when, in Amritsar, Mr Abdullah Atham was told of the prophecy of his death, Mr Ata Muhammad came to my place of stay and related before me, as an example, that a doctor had told him of his death, saying that Ata Muhammad would die within a certain period. However, that time passed safely, and he went to see the doctor. When he accosted him, the doctor asked: Who are you? He said: I am the same Ata Muhammad whose death you had foretold. The meaning is that all these matters are false and meaningless. Mr Ata Muhammad should remember, however, that to cite the example of the doctor only shows that he is himself totally ignorant of heavenly light. There undoubtedly exists a Being called God, and in support of His true religion He displays heavenly signs, not just in one particular age, but at every time of need, reviving the faith of the world anew. The story of the doctor shows the extent of his faith in God. I consider it appropriate now to end this book at this point. Praise be to God! the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden! Our Patron, a most excellent Patron, and a most excellent Helper! Humbly, the author, Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, Friday, 22 September 1893 at Qadian. THE END
Footnote: A gentleman, Hidayat-ullah by name, who has written a book accusing me of denying the miracles of Jesus, claims to infer from some statements in my book Izala Auham that, God forbid, I entirely deny the miracles of Jesus. But let it be made clear that this is an error of such people’s own reading and under-standing. I do not deny that Jesus performed miracles. Doubtless he displayed some miracles, and although reading the Gospels mars his miracles to a great extent -- as by the story of the healing pool (John 5:24) and his own frequent denials of performing miracles -- we have nothing to do with the Gospels. The Holy Quran shows that he was given certain signs. However, it is an error on the part of our superficial religious leaders to think that he, like the Creator of the worlds, would make a form of some bird and then blow into it, and it would fly off living, or that he would touch a dead body and it would spring to life and start walking around, or that he had knowledge of hidden things, or that he has not even died till now, but is in heaven in bodily form. If all these things that are ascribed to him are true, what doubt does there remain about his being the creator of the world, knower of the unseen, and the giver of life to the dead? So if, given this situation, a Christian should use this argument to prove his divinity, on the basis that the presence of the characteristics of a thing implies the existence of that thing, what reply do our Muslim brothers have for it? If they say that these miracles took place as a result of prayer, this is an addition to the word of God because it is understood from the Holy Quran that the thing which was shaped in the form of a bird, for example, used to fly when it was blown into (by Jesus). Prayer is not mentioned anywhere in the Holy Quran, nor is it stated that the form of the bird actually received life. One should not add anything of one’s own to the word of God. This is exactly the corruption for which the Jews were cursed. In fact, the Mu‘alim al-Tanzil and many other commentaries of the Quran show that the form of the bird would, after a short flight, fall to the ground like dust again. What else can then be concluded except that it was really only dust? Just as toys of clay are made to move about by man’s machinery, these used to fly by the penetrating influence of a prophet’s spirit. If not, then believing in their actual creation necessarily leads to much trouble and the ascribing of partners to God. The question is whether there was a miracle, and the flight of a lifeless thing, while without life, is a great miracle. However, if in any reading of the Holy Quran the words "it was raised to life" are found at this point, or if it can be shown historically that they really used to come to life, and lay eggs, and that even today there are many birds who are their progeny, then one must provide proof of all this. God says in the Quran that if the whole world wanted to create a fly, it would not be able to make it because this implies confusion in the creation of God. To assert that God had permitted Jesus to become a creator, is a fabrication against God. There is no contradiction in the Divine word. God does not give such permission to anyone. He did not give the Chief of the Apostles, may peace and the blessings of God be upon him, the permission to create even a fly, so how could the son of Mary have been given this permission? Fear God, and do not take the metaphorical for the real. {Go to text}
Translator's Note 1: Like, in 24:55. {Go to text}
It will be seen that Hazrat Mirza dealt with his opponents leniently and charitably when they demanded a mubahila with him, and he refused to curse them as liars for merely disagreeing with his claim. However, they continued to brand him as a deliberate imposter and to misrepresent his beliefs to the public, even after he published numerous statements explaining his position and denying their charges. It was only then that Hazrat Mirza agreed to hold mubahila with any maulavi who wished to do it. {Go to text}
Prophecies which are disclosed by God to prophets as well as saints, and the manner of fulfilment of those prophecies, are governed by certain laws, and these laws can be seen in operation in innumerable examples of actual prophecies given in the Quran, Hadith, other Islamic works, as well as the Bible. The prophecies made by Hazrat Mirza must be judged by the same rules. One of these rules is that when God, through the mouth of His righteous agent, discloses the news of someone's doom or destruction on account of their wicked deeds, the fulfilment of this news depends upon their subsequent behaviour. The decreed punishment may come as prophesied, or it may be averted for a while, or it may be withdrawn altogether. The Quran itself says many times that a prophet's opponents are punished with some (and not all ) of the punishment which he prophesies as befalling them. See the Quran, 40:28, 27:71,72, 10:46, 13:40, 40:77, etc. The prophecies mentioned here by Hazrat Mirza were made about persons who had used extremely abusive language about the Holy Prophet Muhammad in their writings and pronouncements. They had been repeatedly warned by Hazrat Mirza to abstain from this vituperation and abuse, but instead of heeding the warnings they mocked the idea of a sign coming from God as a punishment for their outrages. Indeed, they taunted Hazrat Mirza to bring a sign showing God's displeasure towards them. Hazrat Mirza prayed to God, and as a result he received prophecies in each case about the impending doom of the party concerned to befall within a certain specified time limit, as he has noted here. Lekhram was a leader of the militant Arya Samaj movement among the Hindus, and reviled all the prophets of God in the most coarse language. He grew bolder after the prophecy against him was delivered, and consequently he met his doom within the time limit, fulfilling all the other signs in the prophecy as well. Abdullah Atham, a Christian missionary, was terrified by the prophecy against him, and remained totally silent from then on, speaking not a single word of abuse about Islam or the Holy Prophet Muhammad. In accordance with the Divine law, therefore, God's mercy postponed his fate and he survived the 15 month term. After the term was over, however, his friends prevailed upon him to conceal his earlier repentance, in order to falsify the prophecy in the public eye. As a result, the Divine law re-instated the original prophecy, and he met his doom shortly afterwards. As regards the third prophecy, Ahmad Baig and his family were relatives of Hazrat Mirza. They had become atheistic, and used to openly revile the Holy Prophet Muhammad and the Quran. They also mocked and ridiculed Hazrat Mirza for his defence of Islam. He warned them privately that he had received revelation that they would be destroyed unless they repented. However, they only scoffed at these warnings. As a last sign, and as a test for them, Hazrat Mirza was directed by God to ask for the hand of Ahmad Baig's eldest daughter in marriage, so that the family may be reformed through association with him. (Marriage for the purpose of such reform is a tradition of the righteous and the prophets.) Should they refuse and marry her to someone else, both Ahmad Baig and the son-in-law would die within the periods fixed in the prophecy. All this was conveyed by Hazrat Mirza in private letters, but Ahmad Baig and his family made the matter public in order to ridicule the prophecy. They then defiantly married off the daughter to one Mirza Sultan Muhammad. Within six months, Ahmad Baig and some of his relatives were dead. This struck terror into the rest of them. They begged God for forgiveness, and entreated Hazrat Mirza to pray on their behalf. This repentence averted the fate which was prophesied to befall the man to whom Ahmad Baig would marry his daughter. In a notice published in September 1894, Hazrat Mirza wrote:
Mirza Sultan Muhammad and Ahmad Baig's family started showing great respect and reverence for Hazrat Mirza. In a letter written five years after Hazrat Mirza's death, Mirza Sultan Muhammad wrote:
A large number of the deceased Ahmad Baig's relatives joined the Ahmadiyya Movement in the course of time. As the aim and purpose of the prophecy, namely, the reform and reclamation of this family, was fulfilled after only the first of its six constituent parts (as enumerated in the text) had come to pass, the remaining five became redundant. {Go to text} |
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