A Critical Review of the Pamphlet, 'Fateh-e-Qadian'

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A critical Review of the Pamphlet, ‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ By Hadi Ali Chaudhary

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A critical Review of the Pamphlet, ‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ Was P i r Meher ‘Al i Sh a h the Conqueror of Qadian or is that the Crude Vision of his blind followers?

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A critical Review of the A critical Review of the A critical Review of the A critical Review of the Pamphlet Pamphlet Pamphlet Pamphlet – – – – ‘ ‘‘ ‘f f f f a a a a te te te te h h h h - - - -e e e e- - - -Q Q Q Q a a a a di di di di a a a a n n n n’ ’’ ’ First published in Urdu in UK: 1991 as: F a te h -e-Qadian, y a , Gust a kh Akhkh in First English translation published in UK: 2013 Written by Hadi Ali Chaudhary Translated by Khalilur Rahman Mullick Revised by Khurram Matin Khan ©Islam International Publications Ltd.Published by Islam International Publications Ltd.Islamabad, Sheephatch Lane Tilford, Surrey GU10 2AQ United Kingdom Printed in UK at Raqeem Press Islamabad, Tilford, Surrey ISBN: 978-1-84880-073-1

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Contents Foreword...........................................................................................ix I‘j a a a a zul-Mas ih ih ih ih —A Miracle of the Promised Messiah as....1 Beginning of P i r’s Opposing Attitude and the Publication of Shamsul-Hid a yah...............................................................................2 Publication of Letters by Hadrat Maulav i ‘Abdul Kar i m................5 Invitation to Debate by Maulav i Syed Muhammad A h san............6 The Promised Messiah’s as Challenge to Compete in the Commentary of the Holy Quran....................................................8 P i r’s Announcement...............................................................................12 The Reply of Maulav i Muhammad A h san.........................................14 Threats by the Disciples.........................................................................15 Sudden Arrival of P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] in Lahore...................................16 A Sincere Effort to bring P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] into the Contest of a Written Commentary.....................................................................17 The Promised Messiah as ’s Detailed Announcement.......................21 An Easy Condition of Debate for the P i r...........................................25 P i r Meher ‘Al i ’s Return to Golrha.......................................................26 Conclusive Argument by the Promised Messiah as...........................27

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vi A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ Matchlessness of I‘j a a a a zul-Mas ih ih ih ih : Maulav i i i i Mu h h h h ammad H H H H asan Fai di di di di and his notes............................................35 A Book in Urdu Instead.........................................................................36 Charge of Plagiarism...............................................................................38 The Real Culprit of Plagiarism.............................................................40 Letter of Mi an Shah a bud-D i n Addressed to the Promised Messiah as.............................................................................................40 Second Letter of Maulav i Karamud-D i n Addressed to H ak i m Fa d l D i n..............................................................................................46 Empty Boasts of Victory.........................................................................50 Miracle.......................................................................53 The Promised Messiah as did Not Bring a New Law......55 Pious and Pure are All the Prophets............................61 Wrong Date of Birth, Wrong Reason..........................69 Revival of Islam Lies in Proving the Death of Jesus as.....73 Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] is Certainly Not Alive........................................78 Some Far-Fetched Interpretations.......................................................79 Testimony of the Companions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa.....................................................................................82 None Shall Now Descend from the Heavens...................................87 A Reflection of Padre Oaring Washington and Others of His Ilk.........................................................93 Signs of the Advent of the Messiah and Mahd i..............97 Appreciation of Flowers............................................117

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Contents vii Truth has come and falsehood has vanished..............133 ‘God will Disgrace You...’....................................................................134 ‘...I shall Gain Honour’........................................................................142 Publisher’s Note.............................................................................147 Glossary..........................................................................................151 Index..............................................................................................157

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Foreword This book is a critical review of the pamphlet F a te h -e-Qadian written by a Maulav i Musht a q Ahmed Chisht i of Norway.His claims of the so-called ‘victory’ of P i r Meher ‘Al i Sh a h of Golrha against the Promised Messiah as , Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, are exposed in light of documented historical facts.P i r Meher ‘Al i Sh a h was a man who initially acknowledged the services of the Promised Messiah as in defence of Islam, but later gave in to his followers and started opposing him.In this book, we have documented the details of the events that occurred before and after P i r Meher ‘Al i Sh a h’s open criticism of the Promised Messiah as along with the direct and indirect communication which took place between him and the Promised Messiah as and his Community.After studying this book, it becomes clear that any claims of the P i r’s victory against the Promised Messiah and Mahdi as of the age are false and baseless.On the contrary, one can see how Allah the Almighty fulfilled His promises given to the Promised Messiah as about his victory and the victory of his Community.The second half of the book provides a refutation to the allegations leveled by the author of the pamphlet F a te h -e-Qadian against the Promised Messiah as.Issues such as the status of Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as , his respect for other Prophets, his extreme love and devotion for the Seal of Prophets, the Holy Prophet

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FOREWORD x Muhammad (may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and arguments for the natural death of Jesus [ Hadrat I s a as ] are discussed.Furthermore, the need of the Promised Messiah and Mahdi in this age and the signs of his advent are also discussed along with proofs of the truth of his claims.Finally, this book documents the ill fate of Maulav i Musht a q Chisht i - which he faced due to his opposing the Promised Messiah and Mahdi as of the age - and the success and honour that Allah has bestowed on the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community all around the world.Allah Almighty revealed to the Promised Messiah as : Verily, We have granted you a clear victory.1 Gratitude is due to Khurram Matin Khan for the revision of the translation.Valuable insight was provided by Munawar Ahmad Saeed in reviewing the translation.The following offered valuable assistence to prepare the book for publication: Abdul Wahab Mirza, Naveed Malik, Irfan Azam and Ayyaz Mahmood Khan.Munir-ud-Din Shams Additional Wak i lut-Ta s n i f London, November 2013 1 Tadhkirah , English 2 nd Edition, p.114, Published by Islam International Publications Ltd., UK, 2009 [Publishers]

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i‘j a zul-Mas ih —A Miracle of the Promised Messiah as In his book, Anj a m-e- A tham , published in 1896, the Promised Messiah as declared that he would no longer take part in any more debates or disputations because of his opponents’ mischief, their attempts to create unrest during these gatherings, and for other legal reasons.In the same book, he also put forward a method to distinguish and discriminate between truth and falsehood, which is that one should ask for God’s guidance through prayers.Amongst the ascetics, leaders of religious orders and their successors that he invited to pray was a well known religious leader of the Chishtiyah sufi sect, P i r Meher ‘Al i Sh a h 2 (b.1837, d.May 5, 1937) of Golrha (District Rawalpindi).In the beginning, the above-mentioned P i r held favourable views and had expressed respect for the Promised Messiah as.Around 1896 or 1897, when one of his devotees, B a b u Feroz ‘Al i, Station Master of Golrha, asked him about the Promised Messiah as , he replied without any hesitation: 2 The term ‘P i r’ refers to a religious leader.In this book we have sometimes referred to P i r Meher ‘Al i Sh a h as the ‘P i r’ etc.[Publishers]

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2 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ Imam Jal a lud-D i n Say uti rh says that by ascending to certain high stations, some spiritual pilgrims attain the rank of Messiah and Mahdi and others acquire a similarity to those ranks.I cannot say whether this man is at such a lofty spiritual station, or whether he is truly the same Mahdi who was promised by the Holy Prophet sa to the ummah of Islam.He is working like a sharp sword against false religions and certainly enjoys divine support.( al- H akam, June 24, 1904, p.5, col.2, 3) On receiving such an opinion it is perhaps of little surprise that B a b u Feroz ‘Al i , went on to join the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, taking the bai ‘ at [pledge of initiation] at the hand of the Promised Messiah, Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as.Beginning of P i r’s Opposing Attitude and the Publication of Shamsul-Hid a yah Soon after the incident, however, P i r Meher ‘Al i adopted the ways of the other maulavis and began to oppose the Promised Messiah as.He published a book in Urdu entitled, Shamsul-Hid a yah F i Ithb a t- e- H ay a til Mas ih 3.Hadrat H ak i m Maulav i N u rud-D i n ra was particularly saddened when he received a copy of this book.He was particularly surprised because P i r Meher ‘Al i himself had recently written two letters to 3 Meaning: Sun of guidance in establishing the life of the Messiah ( Hadrat ‘ I s a as ) [Publishers]

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i‘j a zul-Ma si h —A Miracle of the Promised Messiah as 3 him in which he spoke of the Promised Messiah as with words of great devotion, and due to this Hadrat Maulav i N u rud-D i n ra was desirous of meeting the P i r.After reading the book, Hadrat Maulav i N u rud-D i n ra , wrote a letter dated February 18, 1900, to P i r Meher ‘Al i raising eleven questions.Shamsul-Hid a yah , the Pir’s book under discussion, had references from the works of Ibn-e-Jar i r and T a r i kh-e-Kab i r Bukh a r i.Hadrat Maulav i N u rud-D i n ra asked whether the P i r had himself studied these books or if he had them in his library.A few days later, the reply was received and it was discovered that the book was actually written by a follower of the P i r, named Maulav i Muhammad Gh a z i.The follower had published the book and ascribed it to the ‘best of the researchers, commander of the sages, our lord, Khw a jah Meher ‘Al i Sh a h’.The P i r wrote: Respected and revered Maul a n a , may peace and blessings of Allah be on you! Maulav i Muhammad Gh a z i has been procuring and studying the above-mentioned books of Tradition and the commentaries on the Holy Quran.Maulav i Muhammad Gh a z i has gone home these days.Maulav i Ghul a m Muhy i ud-d i n and H ak i m Sh a h Naw a z must have expressed their good opinion about me out of their good faith but I am well aware of my worthlessness in this regard.It was Maulav i Muhammad Gh a z i who compiled and published the book, Shamsul-Hid a yah , with his own effort and arrangements.However, he did have exchange of views and agreement on some topics with me personally from time to time.If you agree, Maulav i Muhammad Gh a z i will respond to your

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4 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ letter and explain the situation with reference to the books you asked about, when he returns.May Allah keep both the parties firm on the right path.With greetings of peace A humble servant of the Scholars and Saints, Meher Sh a h 26th Shaww a l 1317H & March 28, 1900 AD ( al- H akam , April 24, 1900, p.7, col.1, 2) His letter stated the truth in simple terms; however, when the word got out to his followers, he feared of losing his disciples.He consequently began to find flimsy excuses to cover his clear admission.For example, he told one of his disciples, ‘Abdul H a d i : You must not worry.No sentence will be devoid of truth and wisdom, insh a ’All a h.Whatever he [ Hadrat Maulav i N u rud-D i n] said was because he did not understand the meaning of the words ‘compilation’ and ‘publication’.4.Ask him that in writing essays and their compilation, is not the distinction between general points and specifics based upon one’s point of view? You should also get a copy of the second paper which Maulav i N u rud-D i n has received and examine it closely.Sal a m, Meher Sh a h ( al- H akam, April 24, 1900, p.7, col.2) Similarly, he wrote to another disciple, Ghul a m Mu h ammad, Clerk in the offices of the Accountant of the Punjab: 4 He is our Lord and He will make it clear to them.[Publishers]

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i‘j a zul-Ma si h —A Miracle of the Promised Messiah as 5 I wrote to Maulav i N u rud-D i n regarding his request and the appreciation of my knowledge that he received through our friends.The gist of the letter is: I do not possess any expert knowledge and our friends must have praised me simply out of good faith.I further explained that Maulav i Muhammad Gh a z i would write to him upon his return, because he carried out the research on it.I often gave him unpublished papers to prepare for publication i.e.to collect and put them in some order and to print them.Maulav i N u rud-D i n thought I had denied being the author of the book since the compilation had been attributed to Maulav i Muhammad Gh a z i , as was the case.Sometimes the author and the publisher are the same and sometimes they are not.I had assigned the collation and ordering of the book to him for lack of time.Anyway, the aim that people should not be misled was fully achieved with the Grace of God.We learn daily of the popularity of the book through letters.We need not concern ourselves with the views expressed by the common folks.Sal a m.( al- H akam , April 24, 1900, p.7, col.3) Publication of Letters by Hadrat Maulav i ‘Abdul Kar i m Hadrat Maulav i ‘Abdul Kar i m could not bear this obvious duplicity on the part of P i r Meher ‘Al i and duly published all the above letters in the newspaper al- H akam on April 24, 1900.He demanded again a reply to all the queries raised about the P i r’s book

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6 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ and thus revealed the facts.In so doing, he showed the P i r to be a clear fulfilment of the Promised Messiah’s prophecy: I will disgrace whoever will aim to disgrace you.After the publication of the note by Hadrat Maulav i ‘Abdul Kar i m, a full-fledged conflict ensued.To find an escape, P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] asked Maulav i Muhammad Gh a z i to publish an announcement that: Maul a n a Hadrat P i r Meher ‘Al i Sh a h had written the reply to the questions raised by Maulav i N u rud-D i n the very first day he received his letter, however, for some reasons it was not sent to him.Now that the answers have been demanded again in al- H akam , we are publishing them.After this, the answers given by P i r Meher ‘Al i were noted.These replies were more meaningless than his previous letters had been.Their diction was not correct and neither was the style.Similarly, the expression was not elegant and neither was the thought behind it.They were nothing but incongruous and disjointed pieces put together incoherently.Invitation to Debate by Maulav i Syed Muhammad A h san As far as the book Shamsul-Hid a yah F i Ithb a t-e- H ay a til Mas ih was concerned, P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] did his utmost to prove that Jesus

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i‘j a zul-Ma si h —A Miracle of the Promised Messiah as 7 [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] was alive, using the same ‘arguments’ as Maulav i Muhammad Gh a z i did.Yet, the fact totally escaped the P i r that just as a weak rope cannot give support to anything, a weak argument does not help anyone either.Hence, the logical and historically accurate arguments presented by the Promised Messiah, Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as on the death of Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] stood tall and firm, like an unscaled mountain.Hadrat Syed Muhammad A h san of Amroha, a companion of Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, wrote an excellent book to rebut Shamsul- H id a yah.—the book published in the name of P i r [Meher ‘Al i ].He entitled his book Shams-e-B a zighah 5.Through the publication of this book, he not only proved the absolute hollowness of the P i r’s arguments but also manifested how degraded were the views held by the P i r.Indeed, the arguments presented in this book serve to cause shame for the followers of the P i r even to this age.On the last page of Shamsul-Hid a yah, the real author of the book, Maulav i Muhammad Gh a z i , had invited the Promised Messiah, Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as to a debate ‘subject to satisfactory arrangements’.Syed Muhammad A h san of Amroha informed the P i r in an announcement made on the July 9, 1900, that he was ready for the debate.He invited the P i r stating: You should announce your readiness otherwise it will prove that the truth is on our side.( al- H akam , July 9, 1900, pp.10–11 and July 23, 1900, p.5, col.3) 5 Meaning: The Rising Sun [Publishers]

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8 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ P i r Meher ‘Al i Sh a h did not reply to Hadrat Syed Muhammad A h san’s invitation to debate, imagining, perhaps, that he could thus retreat quietly.The Promised Messiah’s as Challenge to Compete in the Commentary of the Holy Quran The Promised Messiah as , who was awaiting the P i r’s own response upto that point, addressed him directly in a public announcement which was published on July 20, 1900 pointing out that thousands of P i r Meher ‘Al i Sh a h’s disciples believed him to be the most eminent maulavi in the country with regard to his knowledge, understanding of the Divine verities and subtleties, and also in literary comprehension.In fact, he himself had made a claim in Shamsul- H id a yah that he had been given an understanding of the Holy Quran.To determine the truth in these claims, the Promised Messiah as put forward a simple solution as follows: According to the Holy Quran, the truly sincere servants of God are given Divine help in three ways: 1....They are afforded miraculous support by God at the time of confrontation...as shown by the verse 6 6 He will grant you a distinction...( S u rah al-Anf a l 8:30) [Publishers]

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i‘j a zul-Ma si h —A Miracle of the Promised Messiah as 9 2.They are endowed with a deep knowledge and understanding of the Holy Quran...as shown by the verse 7.3.The majority of their prayers are accepted...as shown by the verse 8.(Announcement dated July 20, 1900, Majm u ‘ah Ishtih a r a t , vol.3, published by Ash-Shirkatul Isl a miyyah Ltd., Rabwah, Pakistan, p.327) So, to make a clear differentiation between truth and falsehood, P i r Meher ‘Al i was advised to compete in writing a commentary of the Holy Quran.The Promised Messiah as invited him to enter into a scholarly contest by writing a commentary on the Holy Quran on the following terms: In order to distinguish the honest from the deceitful, a public meeting in Lahore—the headquarters of the Punjab—should be held.After drawing lots to select forty verses from any chapter of the Holy Quran, or an entire chapter (if it contains forty or less verses), the two competing parties should pray to God that: ’O Allah! Please grant whichever of us in Your view is in the right, the spiritual power to write, in this very gathering, the verities and fine points of this chapter in eloquent and clear Arabic language and 7 Which none shall touch except those who are purified.( S u rah al-W a qi‘ah 56:80) [Publishers] 8 Pray unto Me; I will answer your prayer.( S u rah al-Mu’min 40:61) [Publishers]

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10 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ help him with the Holy Spirit.And whichever of us two is acting against Your will and is not truthful, deprive him of this ability and prevent him from the expression in eloquent Arabic and the insight into the Holy Quran, so that people may know whom You support and from whom Your blessings and the help of the Holy Spirit is withheld.’ After this prayer, the two parties should start writing their commentaries in Arabic with the condition that both parties should neither have any book with them nor any assistant to aid them.It shall be essential for each person to write quietly, with his own hand, so that the other competitor can not extract or plagiarize anything from the eloquent composition and the fine points they may overhear.Each party shall be allowed exactly seven hours to write this commentary, which must be done face to face and not behind any veils.Each party shall have the authority to search the other to make sure that he is not secretly getting help from any books.Both parties should complete their commentaries in seven hours but on the same day and in the same gathering, in the presence of witnesses.Once written, the commentaries should then be signed and read out to three scholars (with the responsibility of their selection and arrangement for their attendance being on P i r Meher ‘Al i Sh a h).It shall be the duty of each of these three maulavis to give their opinion, on oath, as to which of the two has been written with the help of the Holy Spirit both regarding the commentary and the Arabic composition.It shall be necessary that the three maulavis are neither the followers of this humble one nor the disciples of Meher ‘Al i Sh a h.

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i‘j a zul-Ma si h —A Miracle of the Promised Messiah as 11 It would be acceptable to me that P i r [Meher ‘Al i Sh a h] may select Maulav i Muhammad H usain Batalv i , Maulav i ‘Abdul Jabb a r Ghaznav i and Maulav i ‘Abdull a h, Professor of Lahore, or any other three maulavis who are not his disciples or elders.It shall be incumbent upon the three maulavis that they express their opinion, under oath, stating which commentary and Arabic composition is superior and shows signs of Divine support.This oath should be similar to the oath mentioned in the Holy Quran in reference to defamation of chaste women in which the declaration is repeated three times.It shall also be required that the above-mentioned commentaries be no less than twenty pages in length (where a page is determined to be of average size and in average print, as is to be found in thousands of existing printed copies of the Holy Quran in the Punjab and India).If, with this form of contest, together with the testimony of three such maulavis , it is decided that P i r Meher ‘Al i Sh a h had Divine support in his commentary [of the Holy Quran] and Arabic composition and I was not able to show the same or even that we both accomplished the task to the same degree, the whole world can be a witness that I shall admit that the truth is with P i r Meher Sh a h.I also give a solemn undertaking that, in this case, I will burn all my books about this claim, and shall consider myself forsaken and reprobate.However, if my God makes me victorious in this competition and Meher ‘Al i Sh a h remains tongue-tied; not being able to write in eloquent Arabic, or to express the subtleties and truths mentioned in the chapter of the Holy Quran, or if he altogether rejects this competition, then in all these cases it shall be

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12 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ incumbent upon him to repent and take the bai ‘ at [pledge of initiation] at my hand.(Announcement dated July 20, 1900, Majm u ‘ah Ishtih a r a t , vol.3, published by Ash-Shirkatul Isl a miyyah Ltd., Rabwah, Pakistan, pp.327–330) The Promised Messiah as published this announcement with signatures of twenty of his followers as witnesses.He asked P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] to publish an announcement of his acceptance of this challenge within 10 days of receiving this announcement, endorsed by the signatures of twenty other respectable people, and to include a solemn promise to take bai ‘ at if he was to be defeated.(see Majm u ‘ah Ishtih a r a t , vol.3, published by Ash-Shirkatul Isl a miyyah Ltd., Rabwah, Pakistan, p.331) P i r’s Announcement Since P i r [Meher ‘Al i Sh a h] did not have the strength to enter the field of scholarly contest, and did not want to disclose his true state of mind either by issuing a clear rejection, he published an announcement on July 25 saying that: ‘I whole-heartedly accept the invitation to attend the meeting in Lahore with the conditions laid down by Mirza [ Ghul a m Ahmad ] , but first of all we will have a verbal debate on his claim to be the Messiah.Then, if Maulav i Muhammad H usain Bat a lv i and both of his companions express the opinion that in this debate Mirza [ Ghul a m Ahmad ] is not right in his claim, he will have to take the bai ‘ at [pledge of initiation] on my hand.The contest of writing commentary shall only be allowed

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i‘j a zul-Ma si h —A Miracle of the Promised Messiah as 13 to begin after that.(To refer to the complete letter see W a qi‘ a t-e- S a hih ah by Hadrat Muft i Muhammad Sa diq, published by Anw a r- e-Ahmad i , Lahore, 1900, pp.25–26) Discussing the deceptive plan of P i r [Meher ‘Al i ], the Promised Messiah as , said:...It is obvious that if I am victorios [in the verbal debate], I would have no further need for a contest of manifesting Divine support.On the other hand, if I am overpowered, I would be expected to take the bai ‘ at.Now the readers should decide whether there is any room for the contest of manifesting divine support which I had invited him to.( To h fah Golarhviyyah p.2, R uha n i Khaz a ’in , vol.17, p.88) The Promised Messiah as further states: P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] wants me to revert to the same position...regarding which I have made a written declaration in my book Anj a m-e- A tham,...that in future I will not enter into verbal debates....he has put forward the excuse of a verbal debate with the intention that if he [ Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad] will not come for the debate, we will beat the drum of victory in public.And if he will debate we will say he has broken a solemn promise which he had made with God.( To h fah Golarhviyyah pp.2–3, R uha n i Khaz a ’in , vol.17, pp.89–90) It is also very clear that this ‘acceptance’ of a verbal debate was actually a clear rejection of a written contest, and was a ridiculous

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14 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ escape from the sincere invitation of the Promised Messiah as.Instead of a contest in written commentary, P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] put forward a suggestion for a debate about the Promised Messiah as ’s claim of being the Messiah.He went on to appoint a person 9 as judge who was the leader of the disbelievers and was known to hold the same views as those of P i r [Meher ‘Al i].He was a declared opponent of the Promsied Messiah as over the matter of the death of Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] and based his entire faith on the continued life of Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] and on apposing the Promised Messiah as.It was also ridiculous that P i r [Meher ‘Al i Sh a h] Golarhv i himself appointed Maulav i Muhammad Bat a lv i to judge the verbal debate together with two other similar people, because these people were already supporting the P i r in his rejection of the Promised Messiah as.The Reply of Maulav i Muhammad A h san Maulav i Muhammad A h san published an announcement on August 14, 1900, that if P i r [Meher ‘Al i Sh a h] is not avoiding the contest, then the same three ulema 10 who were appointed by the Promised Messiah as to judge the written commentary should publish an oath that the P i r’s method is not a proof of his helplessness in the matter of writing a commentary.Then, if within a year, no sign appears in support of Mirz a [ Ghul a m Ahmad ] we 9 That is, Maulav i Muhammad H usain Bat a lv i [Publishers] 10 Maulav i Muhammad H usain Batalv i , Maulav i ‘Abdul Jabb a r Ghaznav i and Maulav i ‘Abdull a h.See page 11 above [Publishers]

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i‘j a zul-Ma si h —A Miracle of the Promised Messiah as 15 will be considered defeated.Also, on behalf of ‘Anjuman-e-Furq a n’, the followers of the Promised Messiah as in Lahore, (whose officers were: President: Hak i m Fa d l Il a h i , Secretary: Munsh i T a j D i n and Joint-Secretary: Mi an Mi‘r a j D i n ‘ Umar) published an announcement twice, on August 19 and August 20, 1900, that: Should P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] write a commentary according to the conditions of the Promised Messiah as , we will give him a reward of 1,000 rupees in cash.(For details see W a qi‘ a t-e-Sa hih ah , published by Anw a r-e-Ahmad i , Lahore, 1900, pp.36–37) As a reply to these announcements, P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] once again published a statement in which, to avoid a written commentary, the emphasis was entirely on a verbal debate.Moreover, he one-sidedly fixed the date of this verbal contest as August 25, 1900.(For details see ‘As a -e-M u s a , published by Maulav i Muhammad ‘Abdul Maj i d, Delhi, 1900, p.418) [Bear in mind that Munsh i Il a h i Bakhsh Accountant, from whose book the above reference is taken, was a bitter opponent of the Promised Messiah as and was unparalleled in the malice and animosity he bore against him].Threats by the Disciples Furthermore, some disciples of P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] were enraged and they began to write a series of abusive letters to the Promised Messiah as.In these letters, they not only took the abusive language to it’s limits, but also gave threats of murder, which clearly showed

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16 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ that they had speeded up the movement to poison the public mind against the Promised Messiah as.(For details see ‘As a -e-M u s a , p.418) Sudden Arrival of P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] in Lahore P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] made a clever move at this time.His announcement had been published on August 21.A few days after publishing his announcement—without waiting for the reply of the Promised Messiah as —P i r Sahib arrived in Lahore on August 24, 1900, accompanied by a large entourage of his disciples.Out of the three people the Promised Messiah as had suggested as arbiters for the contest of written commentary, Maulav i Muhammad H usain Batalv i , set out towards Shimla on the pretext of some personal business and the other two arbiters, Maulav i ‘Abdul Jabb a r Ghaznav i and Maulav i ‘Abdull a h Tonk i , Professor at the Oriental College, Lahore, presented themselves in Lahore on the same day as the P i r.Many people from outlying areas also gathered to hear the proceedings of the so-called debate.Muhammad H usain Bat a lv i wrote: My humble self...considered the claims of Mirz a of the face-to-face contest of writing commentary and manifestation of signs as his old boast...and avoided any part in it by going to Shimla on some personal business.( Ish a ‘at-us-Sunnah, vol.19, p.129)

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i‘j a zul-Ma si h —A Miracle of the Promised Messiah as 17 Immediately on arrival, the disciples of P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] made the announcement that the P i r has come for the ‘debate’ and that he has accepted all of Mirz a ’s 11 conditions.As soon as P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] stepped into Lahore, flood of hatred for Ahmadis swelled like a flood...Abuses and profanities were rampant, and sermons were delivered from the pulpits declaring that the Promised Messiah as was worthy of being killed.(For details see W a qi‘ a t-e- S a hih ah by Hadrat Muft i Muhammad Sa diq, published by Anw a r-e-Ahmad i , Lahore, 1900, p.41, p.63) Eventually, though, the arrival of P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] in Lahore and the publication of the inflammatory announcements by his disciples were to prove an inextricable embarrassment for him.A Sincere Effort to bring P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] into the Contest of a Written Commentary As soon as they learnt of the arrival of P i r [Meher ‘Al i ], the sincere Ahmadis in Lahore made an earnest attempt to persuade him for the contest of a written commentary.They published a statement on August 24, the day of his arrival, that the devotees of P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] are publishing announcements full of abuses from Lahore and Rawalpindi, but why don’t H ak i m Sul ta n Ma h m u d of Rawalpindi, Muhammad D i n, the bookseller of Lahore, and other devotees of the revered P i r ask him to announce in clear terms that he accepts the challenge of the Promised Messiah as for a contest of written 11 I.e.The Promised Messiah as [Publishers]

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18 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ commentary.Although the date set for the contest by the Promised Messiah as has already passed, if they were to accept the challenge even now, another suitable date can be set and the Promised Messiah as would attend it.P i r Meher ‘Al i made no response to this announcement.Followers of the Promised Messiah as respectfully wrote a personal letter and delivered by hand to P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] stating: If you have truly come to Lahore due to concern for the faith of Islam and want to remove this ‘vicious turmoil’ you should immediately publish a signed statement saying that: I am ready to enter unconditionally into a contest on written commentary with Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, in accordance with his announcement of July 25, 1900.You should also get the signatures of at least four renowned chiefs and maulavis of Lahore as witnesses to this statement....We respectfully request you that for God’s sake agree to this settlement and do not think of avoiding it.(For full text of the letter see W a qi‘ a t-e- S a hih ah, published by Anw a r-e-Ahmad i , Lahore, 1900, pp.45–46) This letter was written the following day, on August 25.A non- Ahmadi friend, Mi an ‘Abdur Rah i m, Inspector of the Market, accompanied by H ak i m Syed Muhammad ‘Abdull a h, Arab of Baghdad, Munsh i ‘Abdul Q a dir, the teacher, and Mi an M i r Bakhsh, the shopkeeper of Lahore, visited the P i r at the time of Z uhr prayer.P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] stated that he would reply to the letter after ‘A s r prayer.However, when the said Inspector of the Market, visited his residence again at 5 p.m., the P i r’s disciples did

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i‘j a zul-Ma si h —A Miracle of the Promised Messiah as 19 not let him enter, and asked him to leave with the message that ‘P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] will not reply’.(For details see W a qi‘ a t-e- S a hih ah, published by Anw a r-e-Ahmad i , Lahore, 1900, pp.44–45, 47) Earlier, on June 27, 1900, the Ahmadis in Lahore had published an announcement for a standing challenge to any scholar or custodian of any shrine, who considered himself to be following the truth in opposition to the Promised Messiah as , to take part in a prayer duel with the Promised Messiah as.The method suggested for the prayer duel was that a few incurable patients and other afflicted people should be distributed equally between both contestents according to the the drawing of lots.The contestants should then engage in prayer for the recovery of their particular group of invalids.Within 40 days, the information that the contestants receive from God as a result of their prayers should be published, indicating which of their patients would recover fully.The contestant whose patients recover or their afflictions are eased should then be considered to be in the right.After a lengthy silence, a written announcement in answer to this straightforward and simple challenge was distributed in Lahore on August 25, 1900—the date of the above-mentioned incident at the P i r’s house.In this statement Maulav i Muhammad Gh a z i and other disciples of the P i r conceded quite clearly that they neither had the backing of God nor could the sick be healed with their prayers.They asked that H a dr a t Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as should perform this miracle on his own and heal the sick.(For details see W a qi‘ a t-e- S a hih ah , published by Anw a r-e-Ahmad i , Lahore, 1900, pp.19–20) After these negotiations completely fell through, H ak i m Fa d l Il a h i and Mi an Mai‘r a jud-D i n ‘ Umar sent a registered letter

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20 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ addressed to P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] on August 26, 1900.In it they asked the P i r to publish a statement bearing his signature that he unconditionally accepts the invitation of July 20, 1900 to the contest of writing a commentary on the verses of the Holy Quran.(For details see W a qi‘ a t-e- S a hih ah , published by Anw a r-e-Ahmad i , Lahore, 1900, p.47) Alas, the P i r refused outright to accept the registered letter.(For details see W a qi‘ a t-e- S a hih ah , published by Anw a r-e-Ahmad i , Lahore, 1900, p.47) However, his disciples started spreading a rumour that P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] had sent many telegrams on August 25, to which Mirz a [Ghul a m Ahmad] had not replied.As a response, an announcement was published on August 27 daring P i r Meher ‘Al i that if he were to publish a written affirmation accompanied with his oath, attesting to the authenticity of this rumour, the followers of the Promised Messiah as would present him with 51 rupees.(For details see W a qi‘ a t-e- S a hih ah , published by Anw a r-e-Ahmad i , Lahore, 1900, p.49) P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] himself remained silent as usual.However, on the same day, several maulavis held a large public gathering in the B a dsh a h i Mosque, attempting to cover up the truth.These maulavis told their audience that no heed should be paid to Mirz a [ Ghul a m Ahmad ] and his Community, nor should any reply be made to anything they may ask.In a report of the proceedings, published in Ish a ‘at-us-Sunnah , the verdict of these maulavis appeared as following: In future, no Muslim should pay heed to any written communication of Mirz a Qadian i or his followers.Neither should

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i‘j a zul-Ma si h —A Miracle of the Promised Messiah as 21 they speak to them or give them any reply, as their beliefs are entirely contradictory to Islam.(Ish a ‘at-us-Sunnah, vol.19, no.132) On this occasion, Munsh i Ni za mud-D i n, financial secretary Anjuman H im a yat-e-Isl a m , made a persistent request to the P i r that he should also address the gathering and furthermore, people made a humble request to him to address the gathering in the B a dsh a h i Mosque.However, he refused by saying that his voice was too soft and he was not able of speak from a pulpit.(For details see al- H akam, October 24, 1900, pp.6–7) The Promised Messiah as ’s Detailed Announcement When the Promised Messiah as learnt of this situation, he published a detailed announcement, on August 28, 1900, in which he wrote: I have learnt that the disciples of P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] and others who share their views are spreading rumours in the streets of Lahore that P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] did arrive in Lahore for the contest of a written commentary, but Mirz a [ Ghul a m Ahmad ] fled from it.I hereby inform the public once again that these rumours are contrary to the facts, for it is the P i r who has fled and has not agreed to write the commentary.He has neither the capacity for it, nor is he blessed with Divine support.

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22 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ I would have done my best to go to Lahore, but it has been reported that many illiterate people from Peshawar, in the Frontier [Province], accompany the P i r as his allies and many of the petty-minded and vulgar people of Lahore are roaming in the streets hurling abuses like drunks.The opponent maulavis , in a frenzy, are telling people that I deserve to be put to death.In such circumstances, how could it be right for me to go to Lahore without proper arrangements...? (Announcement of August 28, 1900, Majm u ‘ah Ishtih a r a t , vol.3, published by Ash-Shirkatul Isl a miyyah Ltd., Rabwah, Pakistan, pp.350–351) The announcement of the Promised Messiah as continues: However, if P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] has made up his mind sincerely, and is ready to write the commentary in Arabic, without adding further conditions, then I declare on oath, bearing Allah as my witness, that I will definitely go to Lahore, solely for the face-to- face contest of writing commentary in Arabic.I only desire two things on which depends my arrival in Lahore: 1.Firstly, P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] should publish an announcement in simple and clear text, without adding complications or more conditions, that: ‘I have agreed to enter into a contest with Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadian i , to write a commentary on the Holy Quran, in eloquent and literal Arabic.’ The announcement should be signed and verified by five respected and well known dignitaries of Lahore....Since it is the rainy season they should set the date of this contest in

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i‘j a zul-Ma si h —A Miracle of the Promised Messiah as 23 the above announcement, at least three days in advance, so that I may be informed of the event.2.The second thing which is a condition for my arrival in Lahore, is that three chiefs of Lahore, namely: Naw a b Sheikh Ghul a m Ma h b u b Subh a n; Naw a b Fate h ‘Al i Sh a h; and retired Extra Assistant, Syed Barkat ‘Al i Kh a n, should publish a mutually agreed statement to the effect that ‘we take responsibility for the disciples of P i r Meher ‘Al i Sh a h and their ilk, that they will not utter any abuse nor commit any uncivilized act.’ Bear in mind that there are no more than 15–20 people in Lahore who support me and I can make arrangements to deposit a sum of 2,000 rupees with the three said chiefs, stipulating that if any of my followers were to abuse or beat someone, they may confiscate my deposit.I promise they will remain quiet as if they were not even breathing.However, P i r Meher ‘Al i Sh a h, who has good relations with some of the chiefs of Lahore, and some of them may possibly have allegiance to him, need not deposit any money.It will be sufficient that the above-mentioned chiefs agree to take responsibility for the words and deeds of the incitable people from the Frontier [Province] who accompany the P i r at present.They should also accept the responsibility for the actions and statements of other disciples, supporters and other maulavis of Lahore, who are openly pronouncing religious fatwas that I deserve to be put to death.When the afore-mentioned chiefs will publish these few lines of assurance, with their signatures, and after the above-mentioned announcement of P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] has been published, if I do not speedily go to Lahore, I may be openly

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24 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ declared a liar.(Announcement of August 28, 1900, Majm u ‘ah Ishtih a r a t , vol.3, published by Ash-Shirkatul Isl a miyyah Ltd., Rabwah, Pakistan, pp.351–353) Munsh i Il a h i Bakhsh wrote regarding the above mentioned second condition set by the Promised Messiah as : Holy is Allah! This is strange justice, that Mirz a himself is not prepared to accept a single condition from others but is adding condition upon condition himself.Furthermore, the stipulated conditions are impossible to implement.( ‘As a -e-M u s a , p.420) The above words highlight the importance of the conditions.In fact, the biggest concern of the Promised Messiah as was that the environment of morality and restraint, which a religious contest demanded, was altogether lacking.If this were not the case, why would they declare the demand for responsibility as ‘impossible to implement’, especially, since these people were disciples of P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] and shared his beliefs.We find a similar incident in the life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa.It is reported in Sunano Ab i D a w u d ( Kit a b-ul- Khir a j Wal Fai Wal Am a rah B a bo Khabarin-Na di r ) that the tribe Ban u Na di r sent a message to the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa that he should bring 30 people, and that they would bring their priests.If their priests attested to the truth of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa they would readily believe in him.However, since they had secretly prepared for rebellion at this meeting, the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa , wisely sent word that unless they gave him a written agreement, he would not trust them.

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i‘j a zul-Ma si h —A Miracle of the Promised Messiah as 25 An Easy Condition of Debate for the P i r At the end of the above-mentioned Announcement, the Promised Messiah as put forward the following suggestion, with a view of fulfilling the P i r’s demand for a debate: If P i r Mehr ‘Al i Sh a h is incapable of participating in a face-to-face contest of writing a Quranic commentary in Arabic as is evident, then there is another easy method which is different from the kind of debates I have undertaken to avoid.The method is that after the above mentioned acceptance of responsibility [by the three chiefs 12 ] I should arrive in Lahore and should be allowed to speak for three hours, explaining my claim and its supporting arguments in a public meeting, where the aforementioned three chiefs should also be present.My address will not contain any direct reference to P i r Meher ‘Al i Sh a h.After my speech, Meher ‘Al i Sh a h should take the stand and should likewise address the public for three hours, presenting his arguments from the Quran and Hadith for the physical advent of the Messiah from the Heavens.People can compare and judge between the two speeches themselves.If P i r [Meher ‘Al i Sh a h] were to agree to any one of the two options, then having received in writing the assumption of responsibility by the aforementioned chiefs, I will gladly come to Lahore.( Majm u ‘ah Ishtih a r a t , vol.3, published by Ash-Shirkatul Isl a miyyah Ltd., Rabwah, Pakistan, p.354) 12 Naw a b Sheikh Ghul a m Ma h b u b Subh a n; Naw a b Fate h ‘Al i Sh a h; and retired Extra Assistant, Syed Barkat ‘Al i Kh a n.See page 23 above.[Publishers]

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26 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ P i r Meher ‘Al i ’s Return to Golrha Initially P i r Meher ‘Al i had intended to stay in Lahore until Friday September 1.However, fearing that he would once again be faced with public demands to give a speech which would ruin his remaining prestige, he cancelled the rest of his itinerary in Lahore and, instead of leaving on Friday as was planned, he left the city right away.He instructed his disciples not to read the Promised Messiah’s as announcements and books as it would cause them to lose their faith.Thus, when the above mentioned Announcement of the Promised Messiah as reached Lahore, P i r Meher ‘Al i was no longer in Lahore and had already reached Golrha.Nevertheless Hadrat Muft i Muhammad Sa diq, Munsh i T a jud-D i n, Secretary Anjuman-e-Furq a niyyah, and other Ahmadis immediately sent him the Announcement by registered mail and wrote: As you have unexpectedly left Lahore before Friday, we are sending you this Announcement by registered mail.Nevertheless, as a precautionary measure, we are also leaving two copies of the Announcement with your respected disciples so that they can be presented to you.(For details see W a qi‘ a t-e- S a hih ah, published by Anw a r-e-Ahmad i , Lahore, 1900, pp.61–62) They also wrote: From the Promised Messiah’s as last Announcement, the period of five days, which was set aside for you to obtain signatures from the

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i‘j a zul-Ma si h —A Miracle of the Promised Messiah as 27 relevant chiefs, has now been extended to 15 days.Please send the signed announcement within this timeframe.( Ibid.) In addition, they offered to pay for one second-class and two intermediate-class return tickets for the railway, for P i r [Meher ‘Al i] and two of his followers, to assist with their expenses for their return trip to Lahore.They concluded by saying: We hope that, to bring the truth to light, you will soon make the necessary arrangements and return back to Lahore.( Ibid.) Alas, on this occasion also, P i r Meher ‘Al i refused to accept the registered letter.Thus despite the offer of paying for travel expenses, the P i r and the other like-minded maulavis did not have the courage to present any hadith, as demanded by the Promised Messiah, about the claim of the physical ascent to — and descent from — Heaven of Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ].They also could not venture into the contest on writing a commentary, nor to make a convincing speech on their position.Conclusive Argument by the Promised Messiah as Once P i r Meher ‘Al i left Lahore, his devotees began to circulate a series of claims, asserting that a holy personage such as P i r Meher ‘Al i had taken the trouble to come to Lahore for a contest on writing a commentary on the Holy Quran, but that when Mirz a

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28 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ [Ghul a m Ahmad] realised that this holy man was indeed ‘the genius of our time, beloved of our period, full of knowledge and wisdom regarding the Quran, and unique in the world’, he went into hiding in some corner of his home.Otherwise, the P i r’s disciples asserted, there would surely have been a great manifestation of a sign of elucidating the wisdom of the Holy Quran, and a display of eloquence in the Arabic language on the part of P i r Meher ‘Al i.When the Promised Messiah as witnessed how the truth was being concealed, he proposed, under Divine inspiration, another method of writing a Quranic commentary, which he outlined as follows in his book Arba'in , no.4, on December 15, 1900: If P i r [Meher ‘Al i] has a genuine command of composing eloquent commentary in Arabic, and has not used any deception, he will still possess this command.Therefore, I ask him, in the name of Allah, that he should fulfil my request in the following way.He should write a learned commentary in Arabic of not less than four juz’w 13 of a book, on S u rah al-F a ti h ah to refute my claims.I, in turn, will write a learned commentary in eloquent Arabic on the same chapter of the Holy Quran, with the grace and power granted by God, in support of my claims.He is permitted to get help from the scholars of the world, inviting the learned and eloquent men from Arabia, and seeking the help of the professors of Arabic in Lahore and other cities.Starting from December 15, 1900, we shall both be permitted 70 13 A juz’w comprises 16 pages.[Publishers]

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i‘j a zul-Ma si h —A Miracle of the Promised Messiah as 29 days to complete this task.This time will not be extended by a single day.Having completed this commentary in contest with me, if three well known writers from Arabia were to declare that the P i r’s commentary indeed contains all the essential elements of eloquence and learning, and is full of spiritual wisdom, I will give him a prize of 500 rupees in cash.I will also set fire to all my books and will take the bai ‘ at [pledge of initiation] at his hands.However, if the result is contrary, or if P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] fails to write anything in the allocated time, then I have no need to take bai ‘ at from such people, nor do I need their money.I only want to demonstrate that despite being known as a p i r , he has uttered such a despicable lie.( Arba'in , no.4, pp.18–19 footnote, R uha n i Khaz a ’in, vol.17, pp.449–450 footnote) The Promised Messiah as also said: I allow him, by all means to call Muhammad H usain Bat a lv i , Maulav i ‘Abdul Jabb a r Ghaznav i , Muhammad H asan Bheen or other similar people.He even has the discretion to get the services of some writers from Arabia.The commentary of both parties should not be less than four juz’w.If in the allocated period of 70 days i.e.December 15, 1900 to February 25, 1901, one of the two parties does not publish the commentary, and the time has passed, then he will be considered a liar and no other proof will be needed to prove him to be in the wrong.( D am i mah Arba'in , no.3, 4, p.4, R uha n i Khaz a ’in, vol.17, p.484)

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30 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ In accord with this announcement, with the Grace and special Help of God, the Promised Messiah as published a learned and eloquent commentary on S u rah al-F a ti h ah entitled, I‘j a zul-Mas ih , within the specified time, on February 23, 1901.The Promised Messiah as gave a clear warning on the title page of the book declaring the commentary to be matchless: He who, being incensed, sets out to write a reply, will soon find that he is filled with remorse and has come to a sorry end.14 The Promised Messiah as stated that the purpose of writing the commentary was to prove false P i r Mehr ‘Al i Sh a h’s claim that he had the knowledge of the Holy Quran, drank at the fountain of deep Divine knowledge and was a man of miracles.(For details see I‘j a zul-Mas ih, pp.34–37, R uha n i Khaz a ’in , vol.18, pp.36–39) The Promised Messiah as also challenged P i r Meher ‘Al i ’s sense of honour by saying: 14 Nuz u lul-Mas ih , pp.193–194, R uha n i Khaz a ’in , vol.18, pp.571–572 [Publishers]

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i‘j a zul-Ma si h —A Miracle of the Promised Messiah as 31 If this ignorant man lacks capacity to undertake this task himself, then I give him permission to get help from the scholars who share his views, or call a group of writers from Arabia, or ask the pious people of his nation to pray that he may be granted the capacity.I say this so that the public becomes aware that all these people are ignorant.Not one among them, nor all of them put together, have the ability to do this work.To put forward the argument that the P i r, who has been challenged for the contest, used to be a scholar but now his knowledge has melted away like ice and the spiders of dust have spun webs over his memory, is merely an excuse.( I‘j a zul-Mas ih, pp.40–41, R uha n i Khaz a ’in , vol.18, pp.42–43) Then, in great grandeur the Promised Messiah as made the announcement:

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32 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ It is a fact and I speak the truth that my writing is a sharp sword that has cut away all those who dispute, and no opponent is left.It is incumbent upon anyone who thinks that he has eloquent speech and that his writing shines like the full moon to not remain silent.He should bring out a book to match mine.Even if their fathers, their sons, their friends, their scholars, philosophers and jurists were all to join hands to attempt to match this commentary within the short period of time specified, they will not be able to do so.The fact is that I prayed for this, and my prayer was granted.Therefore no writer, whether old or young, will have the power to write a response to this.This commentary is a treasure—in fact, a city—of divine knowledge that has been built with the water and clay of truth.( I‘j a zul-Mas ih , pp.54–55, R uha n i Khaz a ’in , vol.18, pp.56–57) About this miraculous writing the Promised Messiah as also said: I prayed that Allah may make this book a miraculous sign for scholars and no writer should have the power to come up with and write its match....My prayer was accepted, and Allah gave me the glad tiding, saying:

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i‘j a zul-Ma si h —A Miracle of the Promised Messiah as 33 15 I understood that this meant that the antagonists would not have the power to produce its like.( I‘j a zul-Mas ih , p.66 , R uha n i Khaz a ’in , vol.18, p.68) Hence, according to this prophecy, neither P i r Meher ‘Al i nor any other writer from Arabia or any other country had the courage to produce anything like it.15 The Forbidder has forbidden him from Heaven.[Publishers]

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Matchlessness of I‘J A ZUL-MAS IH : Maulav i Muhammad h asan Fai di and his notes I‘j a zul-Mas ih , a book of the Promised Messiah as , was published on February 23, 1901.He sent a copy to P i r Meher ‘Al i.In addition to him, this book contained an open invitation to Arabs and non- Arabs to enter into the contest of writing a commentary in the Arabic language.Accepting this challenge, Maulav i Muhammad H asan Fai di of Bheen , Sub-district Chakwal, District Jhelum, declared that he would write its rebuttal.He was a teacher at the No‘m a niah School in the Sh a h i Mosque, Lahore.For this rebuttal, he started compiling notes on the Promised Messiah’s as book I‘j a zul-Mas ih , and on a book written by a companion of the Promised Messiah as , Hadrat Syed Muhammad A h san Amrohv i called Shams-e-B a zighah.At one place amongst his notes he wrote: 16 16 Curse of Allah on those who lie.[Publishers]

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36 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ Hardly a week had passed since he had written the above statement, he died under Divine decree.His extraordinary death proved him to be a liar in opposing the Promised Messiah as , and at the same time provided a great sign of the fulfilment of the revelation of the Promised Messiah as : He has been forbidden by the Forbidder from Heaven.17 The belongings left behind by Maulav i Muhammad H asan Fai di , which was sent to his village Bheen, Sub-district Chakwal, District Jhelum after his death, contained the two books I‘j a zul-Mas ih and Shams-e-B a zighah , on which he had written his notes.A Book in Urdu Instead Since many intelligent people did not approve of the behaviour of P i r Meher ‘Al i , which he had displayed in Lahore (and which has been reported above), the Promised Messiah as expected that P i r Meher ‘Al i , in order to wash away the stains of insult, would make an attempt to write and publish a commentary on S u rah F a ti h ah in eloquent Arabic, to try and match I‘j a zul-Mas ih , and thereby show the public that the venerated P i r knew Arabic and could write a commentary.Finally on July 1, 1902, the Promised Messiah as received a book, Saif-e-Chishtiy a ’ i from P i r Meher ‘Al i.The book, 17 Tadhkirah , English 2 nd edition, p.518, published by Islam International Publications Ltd., UK, 2009 [Publishers]

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Matchlessness of I‘J A ZUL-MAS IH 37 instead of being written in Arabic according to the terms laid out in the challenge, was written in Urdu.Rather than being a commentary, it contained nothing but baseless objections and criticisms of the two books, I‘j a zul-Mas ih and Shams-e-B a zighah.It shows that neither did P i r Meher ‘Al i accept the challenge to write the Arabic commentary face-to-face in order to prove his scholarship and miraculous powers, nor did he discharge this duty even after such a long time.Instead, he firmly established his own helplessness.Not only did it prove the P i r’s inability to write a commentary, but it also manifested, once again, a powerful sign of the truth of the Divine revelation vouchsafed to the Promised Messiah as : The Forbidder has forbidden him from heaven.18 The P i r also put a stamp on the truth on what the Promised Messiah had stated: He who, being incensed, sets out to write a reply, will soon find that he is filled with remorse and has come to a sorry end.18 Ibid.[Publishers]

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38 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ Charge of Plagiarism In his book Saif-e-Chishtiy a ’ i , the biggest objection P i r Meher ‘Al i raised was that some sentences in the book I‘j a zul-Mas ih (which amounted to no more than four lines in a book comprising over 200 pages), had been plagiarised from Muq a m a t-e- H ar i r i , the Holy Quran or some other books; some of which had been written with minor variations.Moreover, some were from well-known Arabic proverbs.This was the allegation of plagiarism, which the P i r had raised against Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.In his book Nuz u lul-Mas ih , the Promised Messiah as gave a sufficient and well reasoned response to this allegation.Here we shall mention some points briefly: • It is common to find a similar theme in one or two sentences of writers.• Sentences are sometimes used as excerpts by authors.• In H ar i r i ’s book, some verses of the Holy Quran are found as excerpts.19 • We find some sentences and couplets of other authors without any change or reconstruction in H ar i r i ’s writings.• Some sentences of ‘Abul Fa d l Bad i -‘uz-Zam a n, the genius author of his age, exactly match Hariri.19 H ar i r i is an authentic Arabic author, and a celebrated master of prose, whose writing comprises rhythmic and rhyming prose.The collection of his writings is called Muq a m a t-e- H ar i r i.

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Matchlessness of I‘J A ZUL-MAS IH 39 • Two poets of Sab‘ah Mu‘allaqah (the collection of high ranking odes which, during the pre-Islamic period, was hung in the Ka‘bah) have similar lines of poetry.One poet said: The other said: • The Jews prove that some passages of the New Testament have been taken word for word from Talmud.• Some evil-minded critics have alleged that the topics in the Holy Quran have been adopted from the Old and New Testaments and its parables are those of the ancient Arabs.Only a man ignorant of the rules of literature could believe that because of similarity of theme or because of excerpts, the above books and writings were filled with stolen passages and poems.In great eloquent books, you find examples of repetition and use of appropriate excerpts.Anyone who declares such examples as plagiarism, either does not know the ABC of elegant writing and rhetoric, or he is being dishonest.To adorn the writing with excerpts and to repeat the theme is an accepted way in rhetoric.If this is called plagiarism, then this allegation would also apply to the best authors, poets and masters of prose, who are considered the masters of eloquence and command of language.

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40 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ The Real Culprit of Plagiarism Dear reader, witness now the special Divine Decree which always crowns the truthful with honour and grandeur and bestows, on the liars, not just defeat, but also disgrace, misfortune and ignominy.On July 26, 1902, while the Promised Messiah as was engaged in replying to the criticism raised by P i r Meher ‘Al i’ s book Saif-e- Chishtiy a ’ i , he received a letter by Mi an Shah a bud-D i n from the village of Bheen who was a friend and neighbour of the late Maulav i Muhammad H asan Fai di.The letter showed the pilfering activities of P i r Meher ‘Al i so clearly, as though one had been caught in the act.We shall reproduce here, to the very letter, this missive.Letter of Mi a n Shah a bud-D i n Addressed to the Promised Messiah as Text of the letter is given below: Messenger of God and appointee of the Gracious God, your holiness, dear Hadrat Mirz a [ Ghul a m Ahmad ] , may your blessings and benficences perpetuate.Assal a mu ‘alaikum wa ra h matullahi wa barak a tuh u 20 I received your registered letter.It refreshed my grieving heart and I learnt the situation.20 Peace be on you with Allah’s Mercy and His Blessings.[Publishers]

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Matchlessness of I‘J A ZUL-MAS IH 41 The situation is that I was not shown the manuscript of Muhammad H asan separately because, after his death, all his books and papers had been locked away.However, I did see the notes that were written by him on Shams-e-B a zighah and I‘j a zul- Mas ih.They are the same notes which the wicked Golarhv i 21 has copied, he has not written anything of his own merit.Now, the father of Muhammad H asan and some others have become my mortal enemies.They do not show me even a page from these books.Previously, I found an opportunity to see these books when Golarhv i returned the copies — which he had obtained in the past.That was possible only because the man who brought the book back was an outsider.When he lost his way, he came to the mosque and asked me for the directions to the house of Maulav i Muhammad H asan.I asked him his purpose.He said that he was sent by Meher ‘Al i Sh a h to return the books, Shams-e-B a zighah and I‘j a zul-Mas ih to Maulav i Muhammad H asan’s father.Then I looked through the books and saw the notes appended to every page, against each line.I had Saif-e-Chishtiy a ’ i with me so I compared the text with the notes.It was the same, word for word.I would like to do what you have asked for; however Muhammad H asan’s father does not let me have the book.He says that I can only look through them in his presence, and he will not allow me to take them away.I am helpless and cannot do anything about it.I have made a mistake by writing a letter to Golarhv i telling him that he has written nothing at all; what he has done is to copy Muhammad H asan’s notes.Consequently, Golarhv i has written 21 Referring to P i r Meher ‘Al i.[Publishers]

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42 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ to Muhammad H asan’s father asking him not to show me the notes because I oppose him.Now the dilemma is that Muhammad H asan’s father is a disciple of Golarhv i and follows his commands.I feel truley regretful that I wrote to him, for it is because of this that all have become my enemies.Please forgive me as my coming to Qadian by myself will be an unnecessary expense due to the fact that he does not let me have the books.Humbly, Shah a bud-D i n from Bh ee n , Sub-district Chakwal Concerning this matter, Mi an Shah a bud-D i n also wrote the following letter to Hadrat Maulav i ‘Abdul Kar i m ra , a companion of the Promised Messiah as : Respectful and revered Maulav i ‘Abdul Kar i m ra , Assal a mu ‘alaikum wa ra h matullahi wa barak a tuh u I am enjoying good health and wish the same for you.I would not have declined to come but they do not give me the books, Shams- e-B a zighah and I‘j a zul-Mas ih , which contain the desired notes [of Maulav i Muhammad H asan Fai di of Bheen ].The harsh tone of Saif-e-Chishtiy a ’ i is mostly of Muhammad H asan.That is why his death...was an example....Now that I have written the letter, Golarhv i 22 himself admits his mistake, as is clear from the postcard 22 Referring to P i r Meher ‘Al i Sh a h [Publishers]

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Matchlessness of I‘J A ZUL-MAS IH 43 written by Golarhv i with his own hand which he sent to Maulav i Karamud-D i n.In short, Golarhv i has urged Muhammad H asan’s father not to show me the books.Golarhv i says in the postcard that he wrote with the permission of Muhammad H asan.This is not a sincere statement.He was compelled to say this because he was ashamed that we came to know of the secret.I am sending the postcard separately.You will see that it has been written by Golarhv i in his own handwriting.Humbly, Shah a bud-D i n from Bh ee n Maulav i Karamud-D i n, mentioned in Mi an Shah a bud-D i n’s letter, wrote to the Promised Messiah as and to Hak i m Fa d lud-D i n, the proprietor of D i a -ul-Isl a m Press, Qadian.We reproduce these letters below: Revered, your holiness, Mirz a Sa hib, May you live long.Assal a mu ‘alaikum wa ra h matullahi wa barak a tuh u For some time, I have been reading your books and I love your writings.Many times in my dreams I have seen good scenes about you.I often argue with your adversaries.I have not yet become your disciple, for I feel one has to take great care; as long as one is not satisfied through a private face-to-face meeting it is not right to take a pledge.However, I have love for you in absentia.

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44 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ A few days ago, I saw your holiness in my dream in which you congratulated me and gave me some sweets and disclosed two things which were on my mind.In the same dream, I said that I was convinced that you are the recipient of visions.God knows the real facts.I am still unable to understand some matters, which is why I remain undecided, though I believe in your goodness and piety.The other day I shed tears as I read a few lines of a poem in Persian and a few lines of one in Urdu in the first pages of your book Surmah Chashm-e- A ryah and I thought that one can never find such moving feeling and pain in the writings of liars.Yesterday, I received a registered letter, concerning P i r Golarhv i ’s 23 book Saif-e-Chishtiy a ’ i , from Maulav i ‘Abdul Kar i m, through a dear friend of mine, Mi an Shah a bud-D i n, who is a student.I had also told Mi an Shah a bud-D i n that most of P i r Meher ‘Al i ’s book comprised of the notes of the late Maulav i Muhammad H asan, which he made in the margins of the books I‘j a zul-Mas ih and Shams-e-B a zighah , to record his thoughts.P i r Meher ‘Al i had borrowed the two books from me (which have now been returned).On comparison, we found the notes word for word copied into his book.This is an extreme example of pilfering, that he copied the thoughts of a dead person and attributed them to himself, without mentioning the original author.How strange it is that some of the faults that he attributes to your book, are to be found in his own book.Since both books are now in the possession of Maulav i Muhammad H asan’s 23 Referring to P i r Meher ‘Al i Sh a h.[Publishers]

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Matchlessness of I‘J A ZUL-MAS IH 45 father—and he holds views against you—it is difficult to send them to you.However, it will be possible to copy those notes and send the copy to you.Another possibility is that an appointed member of your Community could come here and see those notes for himself.This will be possible only if someone is sent without delay.Only the day before yesterday, I received a postcard from P i r Meher ‘Al i in which he admitted that he stole Muhammad H asan’s notes to enhance the effectiveness of Saif-e-Chishtiy a ’ i.I am sending it for you to see.It will be inadvisable to disclose that all this information has been provided by me.However, there will be no harm if Mi an Shah a bud-D i n’s name is disclosed.I don’t want to face the rancour of the P i r’s followers.Please pray that my faith in you becomes clear and I should be convinced that you receive revelations and are commissioned by God.I send my humble sal a m to Maulav i ‘Abdul Kar i m and Maul a n a Maulav i N u rud-D i n.Constraint of time prevents me from writing more.Sal a m from Shah a bud-D i n and he concurs with the contents of this letter.Humbly, Muhammad Karamud-D i n, From Bh ee n, Sub-district Chakwal, Dated July 21, 1902.

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46 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ Second Letter of Maulavi Karamud-D i n Addressed to H ak i m Fa d l D i n An English rendering of the text of the letter follows: Revered Hak i m [Fa d l D i n], may you live long.Assal a mu ‘alaikum wa ra h matullahi wa barak a tuh u The boy reached home on July 31 and immediately I started trying to convince him to assist us in the matter.At first, he refused vehemently to give us the books and said that the books belonged to Ja‘far Zattly, who recognizes the handwriting of the late Maulav i Muhammad H asan and who had told the boy strictly that the books must be taken at once to Zattly in Lahore.However, after employing many tactics and enticements, I convinced him.Eventually, he settled for a payment of six rupees.Having transferred the notes on another copy of I‘j a zul-Mas ih , we are sending with the bearer of this letter, the original book which has the notes of late Maulav i [Muhammad H asan] in his own handwriting.Please send a note for the receipt of the book with the bearer of the letter and, if possible, give him six rupees also, so that we can pay the boy and there is no difficulty in acquiring the other book, Shams-e-B a zighah.As soon as you will send us a copy of the book Shams-e-B a zighah , we will immediately send you the original book containing Maulav i ’s handwritten notes.Please rest assured, there will be no going back on his word if Allah wills.The boy says that there are many other notes written by the late

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Matchlessness of I‘J A ZUL-MAS IH 47 maulavi which can be traced.When found, we will settle its price and, if needed, send the handwritten notes of the late [Muhammad H asan] Fai di to you.Please procure and send a copy of Shams-e-B a zighah soon, because the boy is home on only a month’s vacation.After that, he will take the book to Lahore and it will be impossible to acquire the original.Try in Chakwal, you may find a copy and then send it with the bearer of this letter and send your man with him so that he can take the book.I hope that Hadrat Mirz a Sa hib and your Jam a ‘at will accept my insignificant services and pray for me.However, I request that for the time being my name is not disclosed, so that I can render similar help again.Sal a m from Maulav i Shah a bud-D i n.Yours sincerely, Muhammad Karamud-D i n from Bh ee n, Sub-district Chakwal August 3, 1902 (Note: The boy mentioned in the letter was the son of late Muhammad H asan, who was also his heir.As stated by Maulav i Karamud-D i n, the son accepted six rupees cash and gave us the two books, I‘j a zul-Mas ih and Shams-e-B a zighah , which contained the notes of Muhammad H asan in his own hand.This was how Pir Meher ‘Al i was exposed.) It may be observed that if the notes were not stolen and were used with the permission of Muhammad H asan Fai d i then why was it not stated in the book that the material was written with his permission? Why did P i r Meher ‘Al i lie and claim to be the author

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48 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ of this book? Why did he not publish Muhammad H asan Fai d i’s permission in the book? Why did he remain silent until God exposed his secret and his theft was caught? We shall present, below, the postcard of P i r Mehr ‘Al i , which Maulav i Karamud-D i n referred to in both his letters above.In it, you will note that P i r Meher ‘Al i has openly admitted that in fact his book Saif-e-Chishtiy a ’ i is a composition of the late Muhammad H asan Fai d i.Addressing Maulav i Karamud-D i n, the P i r wrote in this postcard: My dear and sincere friend Maulav i Karamud-D i n, I am enjoying good health.Wa‘alaikum wa ra h matullah 24.I want to send you a copy by post or through some reliable man.Let it be known to you that in this book 25 the refutation of commentary on S u rah F a ti h ah (i.e.the book I‘j a zul-Mas ih ) is a compilation of the late [Muhammad H asan] Fai d i and it was included with his permission.This was decided verbally and in writing in Jhelum.Actually, at the request of the late [Muhammad H asan] Fai d i, I sent the necessary material in reply of Shams-e- B a zighah to him in Lahore and had given him permission to publish it under his own name.Unfortunately, his life did not allow him to do so and neither did I find that material in Lahore.Eventually I had to do this work myself.Therefore, I had to get the books from you and to publish the refutation of the commentary with my changes on the basis of the prior permission 24 And peace be on you with Allah’s Mercy.[Publishers] 25 Saif-e-Chishtiy a ’ i [Publishers]

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Matchlessness of I‘J A ZUL-MAS IH 49 to publish it.In future you or Maulav i Ghul a m Muhammad may have to take the trouble of doing the same.The Promised Messiah as included all this correspondence in his book Nuz u lul-Mas ih , which was published during the lifetime of P i r Meher ‘Al i.In the same book, the Promised Messiah as also gave a crushing reply to the objections which were raised by the book, Saif-e-Chishtiy a ’ i.P i r Meher ‘Al i had alleged that some excerpts from others included in that book constituted plagiarism.Ironically, the secret striving which the P i r undertook to steal material — so that he could declare Saif-e-Chishtiy a ’ i his own book — was divulged to the public.P i r Meher ‘Al i was caught red- handed.The books of Maulav i Muhammad H asan containing his hand-written notes reached Qadian.Comparing these notes with Saif-e-Chishtiy a ’ i , everyone witnessed that P i r Meher ‘Al i had decidedly plagiarized the writings of a dead man.This was the shameful defeat which the special decree of God had destined for P i r Meher ‘Al i.This way, his contest with a man commissioned by God, who was the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, uncovered his true state of lowliness as depicted by his own line of poetry: What is worth of Meher ‘Ali to do justice to Your homage? O!, the one possessing crude vision, who are you meddling with!

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50 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ Empty Boasts of Victory Let’s ponder over it with a sense of fairness.The Promised Messiah as wrote twenty-two books in eloquent Arabic as well as several announcements in Arabic.P i r Meher ‘Al i Sh a h continued to brag: If we wished, we could cetainly utter the like of this.26 Yet, despite living a long life, and having much free time, P i r Meher ‘Al i was unable to write even a few pages of commentary on the Holy Quran in Arabic.Because of the cunningness of P i r Meher ‘Al i , from beginning to end, and his excuses of running away, his helplessness and defeat was the talk of the town.This was the reason which led some of his close disciples to accept the truth and they joined the Ahmadiyya Community.Moreover, as the people, rather very respectable people, demanded that P i r Meher ‘Al i write the commentary, his helplessness became all the more evident.For instance Maulav i Fai d Ahmad Fai d of J a mi‘ah Ghosia 27 of Golrha wrote: On the insistence of Hadrat D i v a n Syed Muhammad of Pakpatan, once Hadrat [P i r Meher ‘Al i]...thought of writing a commentary of the Holy Quran, but thereafter he excused himself by telling 26 S u rah al-Anf a l 8:32 [Publishers] 27 He was a teacher in J a ‘miah Ghosia in P i r Meher ‘Al i ’s native town, Golrha.[Publishers]

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Matchlessness of I‘J A ZUL-MAS IH 51 the D i v a n that, ‘as I thought of writing the commentary such a heavy downpour of meanings and subjects fell upon my heart, that I realised it would require my whole life to put it in writing and I would not be able to do anything else.’ ( Mehr-e-Mun i r, p.245) It would have been a great achievement if P i r [Meher ‘Al i ] had accomplished this work instead of other engagements.However, the ‘heavy rain’ fell on the barren land and produced nothing.All their claims were empty boasts which had no real substance.Finally, the contest between the Promised Messiah as and P i r Mehr‘Al i Shah, concluded with a glorious victory for the Promised Messiah as.Every machination that the P i r devised turned against him.It is a great miracle indeed that Saif-e-Chishtiy a ’ i (sword of Chishtiyah), which was sharpened to attack the Promised Messiah as , ended up killing its author himself.

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Miracle Opponents of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community sometimes ask us to describe the true nature of miracles.That reminds us about those who, when the verses of the Holy Quran were recited to them, said : If we wished, we could certainly utter the like of this.28 Such people have never understood the true nature of miracles.How could they appreciate I‘j a zul-Mas ih ? Every machination of P i r Meher ‘Al i rebounded on him, his tricks were laid bare, and he was himself wounded by every weapon with which he tried to attack the Promised Messiah as.In particular, the way Saif-e-Chishtiy a ’ i (sword of Chishtiyah) was sharpened to attack the Promised Messiah as , but ended up killing it’s author instead, was a great miracle but P i r Meher ‘ Al i still paid no heed like those before him about whom Allah the Almighty testifies: 28 S u rah al-Anf a l 8:32 [Publishers]

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54 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ And if they see a Sign, they turn away and say, ‘A passing feat of magic.’ 29 If someone wants to know the true nature of miracles, he should read the following books by the founder of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, the Promised Messiah , Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as of Qadian:
Surmah Chashm-e- A ryah
Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya
Chashmah-e-Ma ‘ rifat
Haqiqatul-Wahi 29 S u rah al-Qamar 54:3

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The Promised Messiah as did Not Bring a New Law The author of the pamphlet F a te h -e-Qadian, Maulav i Musht a q Ahmed Chisht i, carved a new standard for the truth of the Prophets, which is mentioned neither in the Holy Quran nor in the a ha d i th of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), nor will you find any trace of it in old Scriptures.He writes: One of the innumerable pious attributes of the Prophets is that they receive a book and call people towards the book which has been sent.They do not write books.( F a te h -e-Qadian, p.11) This is a senseless objection.Everyone knows that it is up to Allah the Almighty that He should provide signs to prove the truth of a Prophet according to the needs of the time.Noah [ Hadrat N uh as ], was commanded to construct a boat according to the circumstances of his time, and that very boat proved to be a great sign for him, and became a proof of his true prophethood.Similarly, each Prophet is granted distinctive signs by God.For our time, as Allah says in the Holy Quran:

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56 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ When books are spread abroad.30 The Promised Messiah as , the one commissioned by God was granted the miracle of knowledge and publications as proof of his prophethood.Among these, I‘j a zul-Mas ih is a splendid sign.These people have been helpless against this sign of the Promised Messiah as , and they speak like the chiefs of Mecca when they were helpless against the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa.The Holy Quran cites them as saying: What is the matter with this Messenger that he eats food, and walks in the streets? 31 In the present case, [Musht a q] Chisht i objects on the prophethood of the Promsied Messiah as , calling him a strange Prophet who writes a book; as though to write a book is an awful and objectionable thing for a Prophet.As far as the reading and writing of a Prophet is concerned, it is a distinctive feature of our Lord and Master, the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa , that he was unlettered.Apart from him, however, you will not find any mention of this distinctive feature in any other Prophet.Instead, regarding David [ Hadrat D a w u d as ], Moses [ Hadrat M u sa as ] and Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] you will find stated in a 30 S u rah at-Takw i r 81:11 31 S u rah al-Furq a n 25:8

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The Promised Messiah as did not bring a new law 57 commentary of the Holy Quran, Tafs i r-e-Bai da v i , that they used to write.Whether the Promised Messiah as becomes the target of his attack or not, the above Prophets are certainly becoming its target.If you look at the above mentioned text of Musht a q Chisht i from another angle, it points to a clear deception.About the Prophets he writes: They bring a book and call people to the book which has been sent.They do not write a book.( F a te h -e-Qadian, p.11) If one reflects a little, he will realise that the books which the Prophets bring, or the books which they ask people to follow, are of a different kind altogether.They are called Divine Books and contain the Shar i ‘ah law.It is an audacity to link the books of the Promised Messiah as with them, and then to compare them with the Divine Books is an affront.Never did the Promised Messiah as claim that any of his books is a book of Shar i ‘ah.Each of his books is comprised of commentary and elucidation of the Shar i ‘ah of Holy Prophet Muhammad sa.As for instance, the book I‘j a zul-Mas ih comprises a narration of the truth and wisdom contained in S u rah al-F a ti h ah.Therefore, it is inconceivable to imagine any book of the Promised Messiah as to be akin to a Divine Book or like the Books of Shar i ‘ah which the Prophets bring or teach.

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58 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ The status of the Promised Messiah as is only as a servant and slave of his Lord and Master, the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa and it is supported by the following revelations that he received: Every blessing is from Mu h ammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.Then blessed is he who has taught and he who has been taught.32
 ا و  ا He will revive the faith and will establish the law.33 Therefore, the Promised Messiah as is from among those Prophets who urge people to act upon the Divine Book previously sent.Accordingly, the Promised Messiah as exhorted his Community: The only path to becoming a beloved of God is to follow the Holy Prophet sa.There is no other path that can lead you to God....Hearken! I say it again; in no way can man succeed without following the true path of the Holy Prophet sa.We have only one Messenger and only one Quran which was revealed to him.By being obedient to him, we can find God.( al- H akam, March 10, 1903) 32 Haqiqatul-Wahi , p.95, R uha n i Khaz a ’in , vol.22, p.99; Tadhkirah , English 2 nd Edition, p.848, published by Islam International Publications Ltd., UK, 2009 [Publishers] 33 Haqiqatul-Wahi , p.107, R uha n i Khaz a ’in , vol.22, p.110; Tadhkirah , English 2 nd Edition, p.854, published by Islam International Publications Ltd., UK, 2009 [Publishers]

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The Promised Messiah as did not bring a new law 59 He also said: God has sent me so that I prove that the living book is the Quran, the living religion is Islam and the living Prophet is Muhammad Mu st af a sa [the Chosen One].Hearken! I say this holding Heaven and earth as my witness, these statements are true and God is the only God who is described in the affirmation of 34
ا ا
ا  ل ر ا.He alone is the living Prophet in whose footsteps, once again, the dead are coming to life, the signs are manifesting themselves, blessings are descending and fountains of the unseen are sprouting.( Ibid., May 31, 1900) Again he said: I have not come with a new Shar i ‘ah and my heart can never accept that a new Shar i ‘ah can come after the Holy Quran, because it is the perfect law and Kh a tamul-Kutab 35.Allah has raised me in this century to revive the Shar i ‘ah of Muhammad sa.( Ibid., May 10, 1901) 34 There is none worthy of worship except God and Muhammad sa is His Messenger.[Publishers] 35 Final/Perfect book [Publishers]

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Pious and pure are all the prophets In his booklet, F a te h -e-Qadian , [Musht a q] Chisht i has used boasting, lying, slander, foul talk – in short all kinds of bragging and nonsense.For example, after his usual ramble on page 14, he writes about the Promised Messiah as on page 15: His goal was to break peoples’ devotional ties with other Prophets and to captivate them to himself.For instance, when he found the speaking ability of infant Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] in the lap of his mother unpalatable, he compared his own son with him and wrote, ‘Hadrat Masih had spoke only in the cradle, but this boy spoke twice when he was still in the belly.’ 36 Here, [Musht a q] Chisht i treated the writings of the Promised Messiah as with blatant unfairness.If you read the whole text of the Promised Messiah’s as book, the matter becomes very clear and there is no room for objection.The Promised Messiah as says: 36 Tiry a qul-Qul u b, p.41 , R uha n i Khaz a ’in , vol.15, p.217 [Publishers]

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62 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’...the soul of that boy spoke to me under divine direction and I heard his words as revelation:  ِ وا ا   اا That is: My time has now arrived.I shall fall upon the earth from Allah and from His hands and then shall proceed towards Him.After this he says: This is amazing that Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] spoke in the cradle, but this boy spoke twice in the belly.From the above text, it is clear that the reference to the talk of the boy who was still in the belly was not equated with the talk of a child walking about and speaking with a physical tongue.On the contrary, it was clearly stated to be a revelation which God had sent down to the Promised Messiah as.Thus, it was to be taken as a narrative from the soul of the child.His sentence is worth consideration: The soul of that boy spoke to me under divine direction It is strange why—if [Musht a q] Chisht i had read this book—did he not ponder over this sentence.Everyone who is blessed with insight understands that visions and revelations relate to the spiritual world.If at all times one measures them in terms of the material world, the outcome may well be laughable.In Islamic literature, one finds many experiences of holy men, which are vouchsafed visions and revelations, in which the people who have died — and have even

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Pious and pure are all the prophets 63 been dead for centuries — come and convey messages and revelations.Sometimes they also see children talking, who have not yet been born.Many times they see birds and beasts talking; often they have been known to have seen dreams in which buildings, trees and stones are also talking.Sometimes, [in dreams] even buildings move thousands of miles, as once the Ka‘bah came to meet Mujaddid Alif Th a n i ra 37.’ (For details see the book Had i qah Ma h m u diyah translation by Hadrat Abul-Fai d Kam a lud-D i n Sarhind i, published by Ro d a Qayyum i p.68, printed at Bal i d Press, Faridkoat, Punjab, India).If, in view of [Musht a q] Chisht i, these experiences are objectionable, then the same objections will apply to the vision that he has narrated in his booklet, F a te h -e-Qadian on page 7.Let us not get into whether the vision is authentic or not.But the vision talks about the appearance of Muh a jir Makk i to P i r Mehr ‘Al i.May we ask whether he appeard in his physical body, and if he spoke with his physical tongue? We can cite several examples to [Musht a q] Chisht i of his noble elders, but our aim is not to raise objections against anyone, but only to explain that one needs an eye for the inner sight and a thinking abounding in piety to understand the world of visions and revelation, for they relate to spiritual domain.37 Literally, ‘Reformer of the second millennium’.Hadrat Ahmad Sirhind i – known as Mujaddid Alif Th a n i ra - was an Indian scholar from the Punjab, a H anaf i jurist and a prominent member of the Naqshband i sufi order.[Publishers]

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64 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ Therefore, when the Promised Messiah as said that the boy talked twice in the belly, it was not a physical conversation.He had previously stated it clearly: The soul of that boy spoke to me under divine direction.In accordance with what the spirit of the boy said that: ا ا   ِ  ا و ا    That is: My time has now arrived.I shall fall upon the earth from Allah and from His hands and then shall proceed towards Him.His birth and his death is a clear proof of the truth of this revelation, which God sent down on the Promised Messiah as , as a narrative from the soul of the child.As far as the linking of this is concerned, In view of the complete text of the Promised Messiah as , the parallel between the speech of the boy in the belly and the speech of Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] becomes crystal clear.It has no other purpose except to show that as the speech of Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] in his cradle was from the wondrous powers of God, similarly the speech of the soul of the boy before his birth was a manifestation of the amazing powers of the same wondrous God.Beyond that, you cannot ascribe any other meaning to it, because Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] spoke with his physical tongue, whilst, as the Promised Messiah as says, ‘The soul of that boy spoke to me under divine direction and I heard his words as revelation.’ The accusation made by Maulav i Musht a q Ahmad against the Promised Messiah as , in his own words is that:

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Pious and pure are all the prophets 65 His goal was to break peoples’ devotional ties with other Prophets and to captivate them towards himself.The accusation is worthy of being rejected outright.In his hostility against the Ahmadiyya Community, he has become so blind that he is ready to use all kinds of deceit; indeed he considers it his duty to do so.The fact of the matter is that the Promised Messiah as has taught his followers to develop devotional ties with all Prophets.He says: The Prophets are spiritual physicians and the proof of their being accomplished physicians is that the prescription they give i.e.the Word of God, is so efficacious that if one uses it without any explicit or implicit reservation, one is healed.The disease of sinfulness is removed and transcendence of God is established in the heart and the heart becomes engrossed in the love of God.( Chashmah-e-Ma ‘ rifat, p.127, R uha n i Khaz a ’in, vol.23, p.135) The Promised Messiah as also says: They are vicegerents of God on Earth, therefore, at the appropriate time, God’s attributes manifest themselves in them and they do not display anything which is against the attributes of God.( Chashmah-e-Ma ‘ rifat, p.283, R uha n i Khaz a ’in, vol.23, p.296) He also imparted the following words of wisdom to his Community:

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66 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ The source of all light; Is our great leader His name is Muhammad sa ; He alone has captivated My heart Pious (Pure) are all the prophets; One excelling the other But raised by Allah, the Most High; Muhammad sa excels them all.(Qadian ke A ryah Aur Hum , pp.57–58, R uha n i Khaz a’ in , vol.20, p.456) Regarding Prophets, the belief of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Commmunity, as explained by Hadrat Mirz a Bash i rud-D i n M a hmu d Ahmad ra , Khalifatul Masih II is: We believe that whenever darkness prevails in the world and human beings sink deep in sin and evil, when without the help of God it becomes difficult for them to release themselves from the hold of Satan, then out of His ultimate Mercy and Beneficence, God chooses, from out of His own pious, pure and loyal servants, those whom He charges with the duty to guide the world.God says: 38 meaning, there is no people to whom a Prophet has not been sent by us.Their pure lives and perfect examples have ever served as guides for other human beings.Through them, God reveals His 38 S u rah F at ir 35:25

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Pious and pure are all the prophets 67 will and purpose.Those who turn away from them degrade themselves.Those who turn to them earn the love of God.The doors of His blessings are opened to them; His Grace and Mercy descend on them.They become spiritual preceptors for generations to come and attain greatness in this world and the next.We also believe that Divine Messengers, who in the past have helped mankind out of darkness and evil, have belonged to different levels of spiritual greatness and have fulfilled, in different degrees, the divine purpose which determined their advent.The greatest of them was the Holy Prophet, on whom be peace and blessings of Allah.God described him as the Chief of men and a Messenger unto all mankind.God revealed to him the perfect knowledge of things and blessed him with such awe-inspiring and mighty help that the most powerful earthly rulers trembled in awe of him.The entire earth was made a mosque for him and his followers have bowed and prostrated themselves before the One God, the God without an equal, in every nook and corner of the earth.Justice began to reign instead of injustice, kindness instead of cruelty.And we also believe that if the earlier Prophets had lived in the time of our Holy Prophet, they would have had no option but to obey and follow him.Truly has the Quran said: And remember the time when Allah took a covenant from the people through the Prophets, saying ‘Whatever I give you of the

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68 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ Book and Wisdom and then there comes to you a Messenger, fulfilling that which is with you, you shall believe in him and help him.’ 39 Truly has the Holy Prophet, on whom be peace and the blessings of Allah, himself said:  آن
 و
  ّ " # $#و ا%
&ا If Moses [ Hadrat M u sa as ] and Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] were alive today, they would have had to believe in me and follow me.40 ( Da’watul-Am i r, pp.6–7, Anw a rul- ‘ Ul u m , vol.7, p.334) To anyone still doubting our faith, we can only say: If you call it disbelief then by God we are disbelievers in the extreme.39 S u rah A l-e-‘Imr a n 3:82 40 Al-Yaw a q i t Wal Jaw a hir, vol.2, p.22, printed Egypt 1321 A.H.has the word
 instead of
 ; See also Tafs i r Ibn-e-Kath i r, vol.2, p.240

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Wrong date of birth, wrong reason Musht a q Chisht i has used a novel approach to prove P i r Meher ‘Al i to be the reformer of the 14 th century.He has coined a phrase 41 ّد  ن ا ا .From its gematrical value, which is 1275, Chisht i has come up with the view that since this figure taken as a year of Hijrah is the same year as the birth of P i r Meher ‘Al i , it proves that P i r Meher ‘Al i was the mujaddid [reformer] of the 14th century.[Musht a q] Chisht i has fixed the year of the birth of P i r Meher ‘Al i as 1275 Hijrah, which according to the Christian calendar is 1859 AD.Whereas according to Maulav i Muhammad F ad il Sa bir of Thekri an , who was one of the special devotees of the P i r Meher ‘Al i and an elder of [Musht a q] Chisht i , the year of P i r Meher ‘Al i ’s birth was 1837 AD, making a difference of 23 years.To elaborate, in Mehr-e-Mun i r , the biography of P i r Meher ‘Al i published by Maul a n a Fai d Ahmad of J a mi‘ah Ghosi a Golrha Shar i f, with the permission of Syed Ghul a m Muhy i ud-D i n Sh a h who adorned the high Ghosi a throne of Golrha Shar i f, has recorded a dirge of Muhammad F ad il Sa bir, the last line of which settles the years of 41 Mujaddid [reformer] of the 14th century [Publishers]

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70 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ P i r Meher ‘Al i ’s birth and death for certain as 1837 and 1937 respectively.The verse, exactly as published in the book, is as follows: Muhammad F ad il Sa bir declares Pir Meher ‘Al i ’s year of birth as 1837 and then adds the gematrical values of  ا (which totals 100) to come up with 1937 as the year of his death.Thus the testimony within Mehr-e-Mun i r establishes that in fact the year of P i r Meher ‘Al i ’s birth was 1837 AD or 1252 AH.To begin with the reasoning involved in lowering the age of the Pir by twenty three years and using a self coined phrase on which to base the gematrical value was fake and utterly baseless.Add to it that the so called touchstone — concocted from the gematrical values of the Arabic letters to prove that P i r Meher ‘Al i was a mujaddid — was shattered by determining 1252 AH as the year of his birth.It may be of interest to the reader that under the verse of Maulav i Muhammad F ad il Sa bir’s dirge referred to earlier, the author of Mehr-e-Mun i r has written: The date of the death of P i r [Meher ‘Al i] which I arrived at from the sum of the gematrical values of the Arabic sentence
ّ  ودودا ّد  ۃ meaning ‘Friend of Allah and the mujaddid of the Divine path has died.’

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REVIVAL of Islam LiEs in PROVING the Death of Jesus 71 Here the Arabic word  ( tawaff i ) was used as ‘death’.With this comment, the author of the book has proved the lifelong work of P i r Meher ‘Al i purposeless and all his efforts futile.P i r Meher ‘Al i spent all his life proving that the Arabic word  ( tawaff i ) means ‘To take away in its entirety’.So that when this word is used for Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ], its purport is that Allah took Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] as a whole to Heaven, where he still lives; but notice the irony.As soon as the P i r breathed his last, his special devotee Maul a n a Fai d Ahmad Fai d ruined all his hard work and proved that  ( tawaff i ) does not mean ‘to take up in its entirety’; it simply means ‘to die’.This devotee of his wrote ّ  ودودا ّد   ۃ that is, friend of Allah and Mujaddid of the Divine path has died, not ‘taken up as a whole’.We must remember that permission to publish this book, Mehr- e-Mun i r, was specially obtained from Syed Ghul a m Muhy i ud-D i n, son of P i r [Meher ‘Al i ], who adored the throne of Golrha.

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REVIVAL of Islam LiEs in PROVING the Death of Jesus as Musht a q Chisht i , in his pamphlet F a te h -e-Qadian, has also raised the issue of the life and death of Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ].To prove that Jesus is still alive, he has quoted a fatwa [edict] of P i r Meher ‘Al i Sh a h as following: Even if you take the Arabic word,
 ( tawaff i ) to mean death, Mirza’s [Ghul a m Ahmad] purpose is not achieved because the word 
( mutawaff i )...covers both the present and the future.Therefore, it will mean that ‘I will cause you to die at some future time’.The Jews will not be able to kill you.All the Muslims agree that Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] will die after having descended from Heaven, close to the Day of Judgement.’ ( Mehr-e-Mun i r, p.528) If one reads this edict carefully, it implies that when Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] will die after having descended close to the Day of Judgement, the same word  ( mutawaff i ka ) will indicate his death.Thus, it is established that  ( mutawaff i ka ) has no other meaning except death.If, for the sake of argument, we suppose that he will

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74 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ die close to the Day of Judgement, then his ر (ascension) will not happen till after his death, because the Holy Quran says: I will cause you to die a natural death and will exalt you to Myself.42 Thus the author of the pamphlet claims that Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] will die after having descended close to the Day of Judgement, and then he will be raised; his ascension will not happen while he is alive but only after his death.May we point out that according to this belief, if he is still alive, his ر (ascension) has yet to happen.To impress his followers with his knowledge of Arabic, Musht a q Chisht i has used technical terms of Arabic grammar which have done him more harm than good.He has gotten himself into such a deep hole that he will never be able to get out of it.He writes: If you look carefully at the Arabic word را
 ( r a fi ‘ uka ), it destroys all Qadian i 43 research.When any of the forms of ر ( rafa ‘ a ), ُ  (y arfa ‘ o ), ر
 را ( rafa ‘ an fahuwa r a fi ‘ un ), are used where the subject is Allah and the object is some matter, the particle il a is mentioned, its pronoun – not noun – being in the genitive case, and its pronoun’s antecedent is the subject, in such a case, the 42 S u rah A l-e-‘Imr a n 3:56 [Publishers] 43 Reference is to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community [Publishers]

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REVIVAL of Islam LiEs in PROVING the Death of Jesus 75 word will have no meaning except ‘to lift to the Heavens’.( F a te h - e-Qadian , p.13) The author, Musht a q Chishti, did not cite any example or precedent according to the rules of grammar that he mentions.All he has stated is the grammar of the verse of the Holy Quran 44.One can not present a verse as a claim and then present the same verse as its proof.Neither is he able to cite a single example to support his claim nor can he prove, till the Day of Judgement, that the word ‘Heavens’ occurs in this verse.The Holy Quran has no mention of ascension towards the Heaven.The height of his deception is that he has concocted something himself, yet he is attributing it to the Holy Quran.Then, we also have to wonder where ‘Heaven’ is and in which direction? As long as we do not fix the direction of God, how will a physical body move towards Him? The fact is that neither can his argument be proven from the Holy Quran — since it is against its tenor — nor will we find any example outside the Holy Quran that would support his argument.When one holds a belief according to the true intent of the Holy Quran, the Holy Quran also supports him and supporting examples can be found in abundance outside the Holy Quran.We are confident that our opponents cannot produce a single example to back the above mentioned principles of grammar.We produce here an example against this interpretation which they will not be able to counter.In his book M a Thabata Bissunnat i f i Ayy a mis-Sunnah , which is one of the fundamental books of the beliefs of Musht a q 44 S u rah an-Nis a ’ 4:159 [Publishers]

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76 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ Chisht i ’s group, the mujaddid [reformer] of the eleventh century, Hadrat Sheikh ‘Abdul H aqq Muhaddith Delhv i (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) says: آن  ا   ا  و  ها  ا و  "رم ا&%$ق و ' ()" * ا * +, ' ه-ا ا&".و  ه-ا 1+0د ا ر  ا ا  ا * و 2 0 ا و ه0 ا* 34 و * The various purposes of the advent of the Holy Prophet sa were: to guide mankind, to perfect high moral values and to complete the principles of religion.When these tasks were completed and the purposes were fulfilled then 45 ر ا ا و  ا.He was sixty three years of age.But, according to Musht a q Chisht i ’s argument, it would mean that Allah took him to the Heavens with his physical body and according to P i r Meher ‘Al i’ s interpretation, he will die close to the Day of Judgement.So, here we have quoted an authentic and decisive passage which conforms to the rules mentioned by Musht a q Chishti, but contradicts his interpretation.Therefore, according to the rules which he has put forward, our Lord and Master Holy Prophet Muhammad sa has not died but was lifted to the Heavens and to put it in his own words, ‘it can have no other meaning.’ In that case, we are left with one of two options.Either these opponents believe that just like our Lord and Master Holy Prophet Muhammad sa , Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] attained nearness to God, a high 45 That is: Allah raised his station to ultimate height and then caused him to die.[Publishers]

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REVIVAL of Islam LiEs in PROVING the Death of Jesus 77 station in the sight of God, exceptional honour and great height and then died his natural death, or accept that Holy Prophet Muhammad sa beloved of God and an authority in both worlds, like Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] is alive in the Heavens with his physical body.The same words ر ا ا ( rafa ‘ ahull a h Ilaih ) have been used for both of them.As the Promised Messiah, Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as said: It shoud incite our sense of honour to believe that Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] is alive in the Heavens While our emperor of the world sa , should lie buried in the ground.Allah has displayed this sense of honour for the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa in the Holy Quran: We granted not everlasting life to any human being before you.If then you should die, shall they live here for ever? 46 46 S u rah al-Anbiy a ’ 21:35 [Publishers]

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78 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] is Certainly Not Alive The Holy Quran has presented many sure proofs of the death of Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ].To be brief, we shall present only two verses which are decisive and leave no room for escape for those who stand to oppose the clear import of the Holy Quran.FIRST VERSE One of the clear verses that give news of the death of Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] is: The Messiah, son of Mary [Mas ih Ibn-e-Maryam as ], was only a Messenger; surely, Messengers like unto him had indeed passed away before him.And his mother was a truthful woman.They both used to eat food.47 The death of Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] is clearly established from this verse.First, it is stated that the Messiah, son of Mary [Mas ih Ibn-e- Maryam as ], was no more than a messenger.At the same time, it is declared that all the messengers before him have passed away as though an irrefutable proof is given of the death of Jesus.It is the same sort of speech as if one were to say, ‘Tom is nothing but a man and all men are created from dust’.As this sentence establishes that certainly Tom is created from dust in the same way the above 47 S u rah al-M a ’idah 5:76

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REVIVAL of Islam LiEs in PROVING the Death of Jesus 79 mentioned verse establishes the death of Jesus.Otherwise, he will have to be accepted as someone outside the group of holy messengers, which is clearly wrong.Shedding further light on this matter, the Holy Quran says that the mother of Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] was a truthful woman and both of them used to eat food.It is worth reflecting that if Jesus was still alive, should the words in this verse: ‘used to eat food’ have been used for him? Certainly not! In such a case, the mention of Jesus should have been made separately from Mary [ Hadrat Maryam as ] and the statement should be something like ‘Mary used to eat food and Jesus still eats food and will continue to eat till the day of his death’.But this has not been stated.Therefore, by making a mention of Jesus together with Mary [ Hadrat Maryam as ] as people in the past tense, the matter is further clarified that the station of Jesus was no more than that of a messenger, and as other messengers had died, so had he.As the rest of them needed food so did he; and he did not possess the Divine attribute of living without food.Despite the presence of this verse, if someone believes that Jesus is still alive, it will only be out of his own high-handedness.Some Far-Fetched Interpretations To exclude Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] from the subject of this verse, some people make far-fetched interpretations of this verse.For instance, they contend that although Allah has stated in this verse that all the Prophets before Jesus had passed away, He did not say that Jesus

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80 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ himself had also passed away.Alas, they do not reflect over this style of speech.One can understand, even with a little command of the language, that in this verse, the news of the death of Jesus has been given by including him among the group of all the past Prophets, thus, it will be illogical to imagine that Jesus has not died.However if one persists in the belief that this verse proves only the death of the previous Prophets and not of Jesus, we ask them to fairly assess what this other verse proves: SECOND VERSE And Muhammad sa is only a messenger.Verily, all Messengers have passed away before him.If then he die or be slain, will you turn back on your heels? 48 Now, how can Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] be excluded from the scope of this verse? If his advent was before that of the Holy Prophet Mu h ammad’s sa and we know it is a fact; then we will have to accept Jesus’s as death; for the verse tells us so clearly that all the Prophets before the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa have died.Sadly, some Muslim theologians show stubbornness; instead of accepting this fact righteously and honestly, they start making far- fetched interpretations of this verse.For instance, they say that the Arabic word  ( khalat ) used in the verse does not only mean death, it also means to move from one place to another.Therefore, 48 S u rah A l-e-‘Imr a n 3:145

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REVIVAL of Islam LiEs in PROVING the Death of Jesus 81 they take it to mean that all the Prophets before the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa either died or left their place to move elsewhere.However, we will make it absolutely clear to the readers that this is only high-handedness because when this word  ( khal a ) is used in the Arabic language exclusively for a person, its meaning is always ‘death’, not ‘to leave a place’.It is a strange coincidence that, apart from Arabic, the phrase ‘passed away’ is used for the two meanings—‘to die’ and ‘to go over a path’—in Urdu and English as well.However, when we say all the Prophets have passed away it would be ludicrous to interpret that some of the Prophets have died while some others merely went ‘over a path’, or that they moved from one place to another.Arabic grammar bears testimony that when the word  ( khal a ) is used for someone exclusively, it means the person has died.The Arabic dictionary T a jul- ‘ Ur u s states: When you say someone has passed away ( khal a ) it means he has died.Not only the Arabic dictionary but even the commentaries of this verse say  ( khal a ) means end of life.For instance, under the commentary of this verse in Tafs i rul-Qonaw i ‘Al i al-Bai da v i, volume 3 and Tafs i r Kh a zin, volume 1, it is stated: The Holy Prophet sa will leave this temporary world in the same way as the other Prophets as left by a natural death or assassination.This proves that it is certainly not permissible to interpret the meaning of this word  [ khal a ] anything other than death.In the presence of this verse, it cannot be accepted that Jesus [ Hadrat

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82 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ ‘ I s a as ] was alive at the time when this verse was revealed.Then how is it possible for any intelligent man to believe that the same word which gives news of the death of 124,000 Prophets, suddenly changes its meaning and instead of the death of Jesus, it now means that he has been taken to the Heavens [alive]? If words start changing their meaning in this way, then every statement can be interpreted to mean anything with anyone’s wishes.One could take death to mean life and life to mean death.You can call a scholar, an ignorant man and an ignorant man a scholar.You can call night, day, and day, night.In short, there will be such upheaval that the world of communication would be turned upside down.Testimony of the Companions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa Still, if one is not fully satisfied, we present an irrefutable testimony of the Companions of the Holy Prophet sa (may Allah be pleased with them), after which there should remain not the least bit of doubt that according to the Companions - the meaning of the verse (And Muhammad sa is only a messenger.Verily, all Messengers have passed away before him) was that all the Prophets before the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa had died and none of them lived physically in the Heavens.An incident is reported in the books of history and authentic a ha d i th , including S a hih Bukh a ri , that when the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa passed away, the Companions ra were deeply grief stricken as though they were mad.Some could not believe that their

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REVIVAL of Islam LiEs in PROVING the Death of Jesus 83 beloved Master had separated from them for good.Affected by this deep grief, Hadrat ‘ Umar ra refused to accept that the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa had died.With a sword in his hand, he stood up and declared that he will cut off the head of anyone who declared that the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa had died.He said that the Holy Prophet sa had certainly not died and, as Moses [ Hadrat M u s a as ] temporarily separated from his people to supplicate to God, similarly the Holy Prophet sa had left them temporarily and would come back.In this state of affairs, some Companions ra dispatched runners to fetch Hadrat Ab u Bakr ra.When he came, he visited the holy body wrapped in a white sheet.He lifted the sheet from the blessed face and realized that the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa had in fact died.Uncontrollably, tears began to flow from his eyes.He leaned and kissed his forehead and observed, ‘God will never let you suffer two deaths’, implying that he will not come back after dying to die again.Maybe he meant that he has died physically, but his Faith will live forever.He then came out weeping and, standing among the gathering of the Companions recited some verses of the Holy Quran.The first verse he recited was S u rah A l-e-‘Imr a n chapter 3 verse 145: And Muhammad sa is only a messenger.Verily, all Messengers have passed away before him.If then he die or be slain, will you turn back on your heels?

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84 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ It is reported that, after the Companions ra heard this verse, they understood that the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa had indeed died.Hadrat ‘ Umar ra felt weak in the knees due to the intensity of grief.He staggered and fell to the floor.The Companions ra report that after hearing this verse, they felt as this verse had been revealed for the first time, that is, for the first time the meaning of this verse was fully understood by them that the Holy Prophet sa was to die like all other Prophets, with no exceptions.Have we not the right to ask the Muslim theologians: Does this verse not prove that as all Prophets before the Holy Prophet sa have died, similarly the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa will also die.And why did Hadrat ‘ Umar ra and the other Companions ra not ask Hadrat Abu Bakr ra , sword drawn, that the verse with which you give us the news of the death of the Holy Prophet sa does not have the power to declare the death of a Prophet of an ordinary station i.e.Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] of Nazareth.Despite this verse, if he can ascend to the Heavens, then why can our Master sa not do the same? He was the pride of both worlds and was granted the leadership over all the Prophets.How is it possible that the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa , who was the purpose of the universe and for whose sake the universe was created is being declared to be subject to death by this verse, while a Prophet of an ordinary station who would have taken pride to be his servant is declared by the same verse to have ascended to the Heavens? But, this did not happen and not a single Companion raised this objection.Hadrat Ab u Bakr ra , ‘Umar ra , ‘Usm a n ra , ‘Al i ra and ‘ A ish a ra and F at imatuz-Zahr a’ ra were also among them.All these people — intense lovers of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa — were present at the time, but no one uttered a single word of objection.All of them

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REVIVAL of Islam LiEs in PROVING the Death of Jesus 85 bowed their heads weeping, and submitted to the pleasure and decree of their Lord.Each verdict of the Holy Quran was an absolute and final word for them.Praise be to Allah! What a great spirit of righteousness and obedience did the Companions ra have.On the one hand, this was evidence of the state of the abundance of their love, that they could not bear the thought of the death of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa and were ready to draw their swords to cut off the head of anyone who would utter a word about his death, and on the other, an unparalleled display of their submission to God.From a short verse of the Holy Quran, they tolerated, without hesitation, the separation from the one for whose life they would unhesitatingly have given a thousand lives and for whose sake, they were ready to die a thousand times.Notice, what revolutionary change was wrought in them by these few words of the Holy Quran.The lives of those intense lovers, who a few moments ago were ready to kill anyone who spoke of the death of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa , were themselves jeopardized and the robust young men staggered and fell to the ground.Not one of them entertained any thought of interpreting a small verse of the Holy Quran according to their liking and refusing to accept the demise of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa.We wonder what has come over the Muslim theologians of today.Why is the flow of their love turning away from Muhammad of Arabia sa and turning instead to Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] of Nazareth? Why have they crossed all limits in the love of a past messenger of the children of Israel that they dare to ignore such a clear guidance from the Holy Quran? Even in their words, the theologians believe the Holy Quran had given the news of the demise of the Holy Prophet sa but when the exact same words of are

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86 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ used for Jesus of Nazareth, they give them an entirely different meaning.Would that they had the capacity to see, through the insight of the physically blind Hass a n bin Th a bit ra , the light that appeared in Arabia and appreciate the beauty of that Perfect Man sa , who was embodied in light.Who, with his perfect beauty, had enamoured and fascinated the hearts of his Companions.Would that they could raise the same voices as that of Hass a n bin Th a bit ra to address the Holy Prophet sa , the Pride of the two worlds, and say: آ56 ا 07اد 9.ى6 –  :.96 ا *" ء ك 5 – : آ56 ا,ذر O my beloved, you were the pupil of my eye.With your death today, the pupil of my eye is blinded; I care not who dies after you.For I feared only your death.These are the lines of a poem which was composed by a blind man, Hadrat Hass a n bin Th a bit ra , addressing the Holy Prophet sa.O! Those who claim to love our Master sa of Mecca and Medina, notice the spirit with which the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) loved their beloved Lord and Master Holy Prophet Muhammad sa , without parallel.In their view, if there was anyone in the world who had the right to live, it was none other than the Messenger sa of Arabia.After his death, they cared not if all the Prophets appearing on the globe died a thousand times.But the Muslim theologians of today willingly accept the death of our beloved Muhammad sa and are adamant about their belief of the life of Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] of Nazareth.Alas! They totally ignore that the supposed life of Jesus spells death of their beliefs — the tenets

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REVIVAL of Islam LiEs in PROVING the Death of Jesus 87 which every Muslim should love more than their own lives and desires.They fail to realize that the erroneous concept of unusually long life of Jesus has filled the world, from East to West, with idolatory and has rendered Islam utterly defenceless against the onslaughts of Christianity.Please ponder over the following Persian couplets written by the Promised Messiah as : They think that Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] of Nazareth lives till the Day of Judgement But allow no such excellence to the one buried in Yathrib With their belief they themselves have helped Christianity That is why the worshippers of the dead one have become daring ( A ’ i na-e-Kam a l a t-e-Isl a m , p.56, R uha n i Khaz a ’in, vol.5, p.56) None Shall Now Descend from the Heavens Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] of Nazareth is neither alive nor will he descend from the Heavens.The Messiah who was to come has already come.

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88 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ The days are approaching when every Muslim will lose hope in the belief in the life of Jesus and will feel frustrated.The Promised Messiah and Mahdi as has prophesied as a great challenge: Remember very well that no one shall ever come down from Heaven.All our opponents who live today shall die and none from among them shall ever see Jesus, son of Mary [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as Ibn-e-Maryam as ], coming down from Heaven; then their children that are left after them shall also die and none from among them shall ever see Jesus, son of Mary [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as Ibn-e-Maryam as ], coming down from Heaven, and then their third generation shall also die and they too shall not see Jesus, son of Mary [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as Ibn-e-Maryam as ] coming down.Then, God shall cause great consternation in their minds and they shall then say that the period of the dominance of the Cross has also passed and the way of life has changed completely, yet the son of Mary has not come down.Then, in dismay, the wise among them shall forsake their belief.( Tadhkiratush-Shah a datain, published in 1903, p.65) In view of this fundamental difference, another clear, open and realistic declaration was made by Hadrat Mirz a Ta hir Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih IV rh , the then Imam of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, on April 7, 1985, in London during the Annual Convention.It should be noted that Musht a q Chisht i did not pay any attention to this declaration, nor did he inform the public about it.Therefore, it is not unlikely that he had given up on the idea of the second coming of his presumed Messiah.We bring, once again, this magnificent and challenging announcement addressed to our opponents, to everyone’s attention:

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REVIVAL of Islam LiEs in PROVING the Death of Jesus 89 The Holy Prophet [Muhammad sa ] has given us the news, through numerous chains of narrators, about the advent [of Hadrat ‘ I s a as ].Therefore, you will have to make a decision whether you will follow your so-called thinkers of Islam, or follow Hadrat Muhammad sa.Whether you will follow the Messiah who belonged to the ummah of Moses [ Hadrat M u sa as ], or follow the Messiah who was born among the ummah of Muhammad sa , belongs to this ummah and is a servant of Muhammad Mu st af a sa [the Chosen One].Now, what is to be decided is whether the ummah will agree to the Mosaic Messiah or to the Muhammad i 49 Messiah.As far as we are concerned we are pleased with the Muhammad i Messiah.As far as the station of the Messiah is concerned, we hold the same belief as your belief that the Messiah who has to come in the latter days will be completely obedient to Hadrat Muhammad Mu st af a sa [the Chosen One] and his Shar i ‘ah and will be a subordinate Prophet.There is hardly any difference between us regarding the status of that Messiah.We firmly believe, and you also believe that the one who is to come will be a subordinate Prophet and there is no difference in this belief.Our contention is only whether the Messiah who appears among the Muslims of the Latter Days is the one from the Mosaic ummah or is a Messiah who will be born as a subordinate Prophet resembling Jesus, son of Mary [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as Ibn-e-Maryam as ].You believe and believe universally: That whoever will come with the name Messiah will certainly be a Prophet of God, whether he will be an old Prophet or a new Prophet is a separate 49 One belonging to Muhammad sa [Publishers]

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90 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ discussion.Moreover, your own prominent theologians, your own thinkers have written that he will certainly be: A.A Prophet of God—Anyone who will believe him to be devoid of prophethood will be a disbeliever, rather some of your great pious leaders have accepted that: B.He will not be the old Prophet - he will come in a new body i.e.not the old body but another person will appear.The Holy Prophet sa has himself given the verdict that Mahdi and Messiah will not be two separate persons but will be two names of one and the same person.The statement of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa ,
اى ا
bears a testimony to this.Addressing our opponents who insist that Jesus [I s a as ] was taken to the Heaven , Hadrat Mirz a Ta hir Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih IV rh further said: You have been defeated...and will remain defeated...and will never be able to bring to life Jesus, son of Mary [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as Ibn- e-Maryam as ], who was a Prophet of the Mosaic ummah.If, according to your view, he is sitting in Heaven, you will never be given the ability to bring him down.You may continue to wait generation after generation, but, by God, this longing of yours will never be fulfilled.( Ibid.) In this connection, our adversaries throughout the world have not been able to accept the challenge which was given to them by the then Imam of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.The challenge, which stands today, was that if the old Messiah had to guide the

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REVIVAL of Islam LiEs in PROVING the Death of Jesus 91 Muslim ummah, then they should use all their power in supplication, should cry in their prostrations and employ whatever ways necessary, to bring the Messiah down from the Heaven.Then, this quarrel will end all at once.Witnessing such a magnificent sign, the Ahmadis will outstrip you in accepting him.However, remember that it is utterly impossible.It shall never come to pass that a man who has never ascended to Heaven bodily and had died a natural death like other Prophets should come down bodily from Heaven.Mourn and lament, for none shall now descend from Heaven.The world has even reached the age of seven thousand now.

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A reflection of Padre Oaring Washington and others of his ilk Maulav i [Musht a q] Chisht i has written with extreme temerity that: If I were to go into the prophecy of Muhammad i Begum and her special progeny and describe the special sign in detail, you will be delighted more than the story of Lail a Majn un.Dear reader, with this statement of Maulav i [Musht a q] Chisht i, one is reminded of the phrase ‘Cat is out of the bag’.His statement has proved that the real pastime of this maulavi during the private moments at night is to read the stories of Lail a Majn un and delight in them and during the daylight hours, his disguise is to display his religiosity by becoming Kha ti b-e-Millat , Hadrat and ‘ All a mah.This is why he has tried to test the truth of the holy Messiah and Mahdi of God by setting the story of Lail a Majn un as his measure.A worldly person will obviously scrutinize the Prophets and others commissioned by God at the touchstone of his own baser thought.In his book, Saw a ne h ‘Umr i Muhammad Sahib , Padre Oaring Washington has criticized the marriages of our Lord and Master,

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94 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ the chief of the elect and most righteous Hadrat Muhammad Mu st af a sa [the Chosen One].Padre Oaring Washington’s book was translated by L a l a Rali a R a m Ghol a ti and was printed in Aror Bans Press, Lahore, Pakistan.Members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community are the people who have believed in the Messiah and Mahdi, that true lover and the perfect servant of Hadrat Muhammad Mu st af a sa [the Chosen One], the aim and object of whose life was: Would that my life is sacrificed for the religion of Muhammad Mu st af a sa.This is the aim and object of my heart.Would that I attain it.We cannot tolerate to repeat the venomous writings of these enemies of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa.However, we will mention here some names as a mirror, so that Maulav i [Musht a q] Chisht i can see his own image reflected in it.They are Padre Th a kur D a s, Padre Rogers, Padre ‘Im a dud-D i n, Padre ‘Abdull a h A tham, Padre William, Master R a m Chandar Christian and Padre Ranclen, who have displayed extreme impudence about the marriages of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa and his wives.If today, a maulavi were to publish material, similar to the above mentioned Padres, against God’s holy Promised Messiah, everyone would understand the category such a man would fall into, who

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A reflection of Padre Oaring Washington and others of his ilk 95 uses such venomous speech against holy and pious personages.In fact it is the same old venom which is spitting out from new fangs.As far as the prophecy of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa , regarding the Promised Messiah as is concerned, that ّج و و   , that is, he will marry and have children, Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah, did marry under a specific command of God and his special destiny was that he was blessed with that Promised progeny which was mentioned in this hadith.Then, it is utter dishonesty of Maulav i Chisht i to call the prophecy of Muhammad i Begum an attempt to fulfil the above- mentioned prophecy of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa.The prophecy of Muhammad i Begum was a prophecy of warning and was conditional.It was predicted for a specific aim, and by the revelation of God.There was no involvement of the personal wishes of the Promised Messiah as in it, nor did he need another marriage, since Allah had already blessed him the promised progeny.Allah had also told the Promised Messiah as :
 ه ِاة ا This woman will suffice you.[From whom Allah had granted the promised children] ( Tadhkirah, English 2 nd edition , p.793, published by Islam International Publications Ltd., UK, 2009) In this detailed prophecy, marriage with Muhammad i Begum was only one part which was conditional to it’s basic parts.When some parts of this prophecy, that contained warnings, were fulfilled and after Ahmad Beg, the father of Muhammad i Begum died, this family was extremely terrified and they turned to God and they repented from their idolatrous views and from being disrespectful

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96 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ to the Holy Prophet sa.This fulfilled the object of the prophecy.Hence the conditional parts of the prophecy were annulled as we find its precedent in the incident of the Prophet Jonah [ Hadrat Y u nas as ], when punishment was put off because of the repentance of his people.It may be of benefit to mention that most of the members of this family put a stamp on the fulfilment of this prophecy and they believed in the Promised Messiah as.They always remained attached to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community with great steadfastness.Notable among them were Muhammad i Begum’s mother, sisters, brother, son and brother-in-law.

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Signs of the advent of the Messiah and Mahdi Under the title ‘Recognition of the Promised Messiah’, [Musht a q] Chisht i has given an incomplete quote of a hadith from Mishk a t and the reference is also wrong.With the apparent words of this hadith, he has tried to prove that the signs mentioned in this hadith do not fit Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad [The Promised Messiah as ].For the benefit of the reader we will quote here the full words of the actual hadith:
  ا
  و  ل  ل رل ا  ا  و  ل 
   ا ارض ّج و"# و   و $%   & و ار'
( )  ت
## ' #  ى م # ا- و 
   #  و ا.
 ا % و  Hadrat ‘Abdull a h bin ‘Umr u reports that the Holy Prophet sa said, ‘Jesus, son of Mary [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as Ibn-e-Maryam as ], will descend onto the earth.He will marry and have children.He will stay on the earth for 45 years and will then die, and will be buried with me in my grave.Then Jesus, son of Mary, and I will rise from the

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98 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ same grave between those of Ab u Bakr ra and ‘ Umar ra ’.(Mishk a t, B a bu Nuz u li ‘ I s a as 50 , section 3) Respected reader, if we depend only on the apparent words of this deeply meaningful saying of the Holy Prophet sa and overlook its underlying wisdom, then the picture will look somewhat like this: when that imaginary Messiah, which is imagined to have been sitting, for the last 2,000 years in Heaven, will come down to earth, people will listen to his claim, but instead of believing in him, they will claim that it is not enough to descend from Heaven, we will wait and see whether or not you will marry.Firstly, it is ludicrous that a decrepit old man of more than 2,000 years of age will descend from Heaven and will go out looking for a wife, so that he can provide a proof of his truth.Secondly, Allah says in the Holy Quran quite clearly: And him whom We grant long life — We revert him to a weak condition of creation.51 As one reaches old age his limbs and muscles gradually decline in strength and man becomes weakened.How can the imaginary Messiah, who has been sitting in the imaginary Heavens for 2,000 years, be outside the law mentioned in this verse? Everyone knows what happens to the physical condition of a man who is 100 years old.Imagine what will be the state of the body and the mind of a 50 Chapter: Descent of Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] [Publishers] 51 S u rah Y a S i n 36:69 [Publishers]

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Signs of the advent of the Messiah and Mahdi 99 2,000 year old man.Therefore, the very story of the life of Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] in the Heavens is absurd.It is against the Holy Quran, the a ha d i th of the Holy Prophet sa and against the law of nature as we have proved in the previous pages.However, even if he marries, they will say, it is not possible for a 2,000 year old man to have children; therefore, we will wait and see whether or not you can have children.When he has children, he will ask people to believe in him but instead of believing, every Muslim will regard it as his duty not to believe.They will argue that according to the apparent words of the hadith , it is necessary for you to live on earth for exactly 45 years.Therefore, we will not believe but wait 45 years first.If your life is longer or shorter by even a day, it will prove that you are not the true Messiah and your coming down from Heaven, marrying and then having children was meaningless and was not enough to prove the truth of your claim.Waiting for 45 years, many of the people will have died and the remainder will wait and see if he lives on earth exactly 45 years.Even if he leaves the world exactly after 45 years, then firstly, it would be unprecedented that not a single soul would have believed in such a helpless and oppressed Prophet and one commissioned by God until his death.That even those who may have wanted to believe in him will have been compelled to wait 45 years for his death.Secondly, having completed his 45 years, when such an imaginary Messiah will leave this world alone, without anyone supporting him, people will not believe even after his death.They will wait and see whether or not his corpse is taken to Medina.Even if his corpse reaches Medina, the difficult stage will still remain of digging up the grave, God forbid, of our Lord and Master Hadrat

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100 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ Muhammad Mu st af a sa [the Chosen One] between the graves of Hadrat Ab u Bakr ra and Hadrat ‘Umar ra , and then bury him with the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa in his grave.Besides, who will let a Prophet, on whom not a single Muslim from the ummah will have believed in, be buried in the grave of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa ? Each and every particle of our body and our soul is intoxicated with passionate love for Muhammad Mu st af a sa [the Chosen One], our condition is: May our head, our soul, be sacrificed in the path of the passionate love of Muhammad sa.This is our longing, this our prayer and this our unshakable resolve.Our soul trembles, and our body shivers at the thought that the grave of our Lord and Master Holy Prophet Muhammad sa , who was more loving than a mother and more affectionate than a father, should be dug up.With Allah’s grace, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has been fermented with the passionate love of Holy Prophet Muhammad sa , but any Muslim having even slight sense of honour cannot tolerate that his father’s grave be dug up.Then, how could he tolerate that someone should dig up the grave of the person for whom he is ready to sacrifice his mother and father? However, this [Musht a q] Chisht i might insist that we will certainly see the grave of the sovereign of the two worlds, the

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Signs of the advent of the Messiah and Mahdi 101 beloved of Allah, the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa , dug up because according to the apparent words 52
   ى , there can be no other meaning except that, God forbid, he will be buried with the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa after his grave is dug up.Even if people continue to watch this soul-rending painful scene, with the false hope that after the burial they will believe in the dead Messiah, they will still have to sit and wait on the threshold for the Day of Judgement because the final stage is still outstanding.Which is that on the Day of Judgement, the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa and the Messiah will rise from the same grave which is between the graves of Hadrat Ab u Bakr ra and Hadrat ‘Umar ra.Now, you see, how literal interpretation and superficial thinking has pushed [Musht a q] Chisht i and people of his ilk in the misery of waiting, and as yet they will remain deprived of faith.They will remain without faith till the Day of Judgement.This was not the purpose of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa ; by declaring 53 اى ا  he determined that they were one and the same person.The Holy Prophet Muhammad sa stated such signs of the coming of the Messiah that a discerning eye could recognize him, not just in the twilight hours but in the deep darkness of the night, as you can see a white lit-up tower from a distance.As a hadith of the Holy Prophet sa mentions: 52 He will be buried with me in my grave.[Publishers] 53 There is no Mahdi except Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ].Ibn-e-M aj ah , K it ab u l- F itan , Bab Shiddatuz - Zam a n.

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102 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ ل  ا  رة 1 ءا  2 د34 The Promised Messiah will descend near a white minaret in the east of Demascus.54 The hadith does not say that he will come down from the minaret but the words are that he will descend near a minaret.We know that Qadian, Province Punjab, India, which is the homeland of Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah as , is exactly in the east of Syria, on the same latitude.Thus, there is no ambiguity as far as the words ‘east of Demascus’ are concerned.Let us now turn to the word ‘minaret’.It could mean that the Promised Messiah will descend at a time when, because of improved means of travel and communications (for instance, railways, ships, aeroplanes, postal services, telegraph and printing press etc.), the work of propagation and preaching will be much facilitated as though a man is standing on a minaret and his call was reaching far and wide.His light will spread quickly far and wide in the world, as is the quality of a minaret.As to what is meant about the advent of the Promised Messiah by a white minaret, it could be a portent that the best means for the propagation of Islam will be available to him.In this sense, the word ‘east’ also indicates that the sun of the Promised Messiah will rise in the best possible surroundings, of its eastern horizon, and its rays will spread rapidly throughout the world.The word ‘minaret’ also means that as something on a height is easily visible and people living at a distance can also see it, similarly the stand of the Promised Messiah will be on a minaret and he will appear with such illumined and evident signs that, 54 Mishk a t , Bab u l ‘A lama t B aina Y adi s Sa ‘ ati W a Zakarad - Daj jal

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Signs of the advent of the Messiah and Mahdi 103 provided the people do not close their eyes and turn their heads away from his light, they will certainly be able to see him because he will be on a high station.The underlying wisdom in adding the word ‘white’ with the minaret appears to be that although every minaret is visible from a distance, a white minaret is specially so because it shines brighter and eyes are attracted to it.The word ‘white’ may also indicate that the position of the Promised Messiah will be without any blemish i.e.his high station will not be because of some worldly importance but it will be purely spiritual.He will be seen by people in this sacred form, provided that they do not close their eyes because of prejudice or a preference for darkness.Explaining further signs of the Messiah and Mahdi , Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as , the Promised Messiah as says: So remember that amongst the specific signs of the Promised Messiah, it is written that: 1.He will descend with two yellow sheets.2.He will descend with his hands supported on the shoulders of two angels.3.The disbelievers will die with his breath.4.He will be seen in such a state as though he has just come out of a bath and the water drops will be seen falling from his head like pearl beads.5.He will circuit round the Ka‘bah confronting the Antichrist.6.He will break the Cross.7.He will kill the swine.

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104 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ 8.He will marry and will be blessed with children.9.He is the one who will kill the Antichrist.10.He will not be killed but will die a natural death and will be buried in the grave of the Holy Prophet sa.This completes the 10 conditions.The Promised Messiah as continues: …The two yellow sheets stand for ailments 55 which from the beginning were destined to affect the body of the Promised Messiah, so that his exceptional health may also became a sign.The purport of two angels is the double support from the unseen on which depends the completion of his argument.A.One is the completing of the argument with innate knowledge bestowed on him, rational as well as traditional.B.Second is the completion of the argument with signs which without the agency of man will descend from God.His descent with his hands supported on the shoulders of the two angels is an indication that, for his progress, means will be provided from the unseen to support him in accomplishing his work.Earlier, I had mentioned a dream.I saw that I was given a sword in my hand the hilt of which was in my hand but its tip touched the skies.I was wielding it in both directions.As I 55 It is mentioned in the books of the interpretations of visions that yellow colour means ailment.[Publishers]

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Signs of the advent of the Messiah and Mahdi 105 wielded it hundreds of people were being killed on both sides.Still in my dream, a righteous man interpreted it that it is a sword of the completion of the argument.By the right side is meant the completion of the argument which will be achieved through signs and by the left side is meant the completion of the argument which will be achieved through rational and traditional argument.Both kinds of completion of argument will occur without human support and effort.The Promised Messiah as further states: Killing the disbelievers with his breath means the non-believers will be destroyed by the breath of the Promised Messiah i.e.with his attention.The Promised Messiah’s appearance, as though he has come out of a bath with water drops falling from his head like pearl beads, is a vision.The interpretation is that with his repeated repentance and supplications, the Promised Messiah will continuously refresh his link with God, as if he was bathing all the time and the pure drops of this sacred bath drop from his head as pearls.This does not mean that he has some supernatural powers; certainly not.Have the people not seen before, the result of assigning supernatural powers to Jesus, son of Mary [‘ I s a Ibn-e- Maryam as ], which only made millions of people the fuel of Hell fire? Does their desire still linger that, against human nature, Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] should descend bodily from Heaven accompanied by the angels and should kill people by his breath and that drops of pearl should fall from his body? The meaning of the drops falling from the body of the Promised Messiah, which I have mentioned is correct.When the Holy Prophet sa saw bangles in his

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106 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ hands, did it mean actual bangles? Similarly, when the Holy Prophet sa saw cows being slaughtered did it mean real cows? Certainly not, they implied other things.Similarly, when the Holy Prophet sa saw the Promised Messiah as though he had come out after bathing and saw water dropping from his head like pearl drops, it means he would be a man who would repeatedly repent and turn to God and his link with Him will always be refreshed as though he were bathing all the time.The pure drops of the purity of his turning to God will drop like pearls from his head.In another hadith, man’s turning to God is compared to bathing.For instance, discussing the excellence of Prayer, the Holy Prophet sa said that if a stream runs in front of the door of one’s house and he were to bathe in it five times daily; can any filth remain on his body? The Companions replied that it cannot.Then, the Holy Prophet sa said that in the same way, no filth of sin can remain on the soul of one who observes Prayer (which combines repentance, seeking of forgiveness, supplication, humility, offering praise and glorification) five times daily, as though he were bathing five times daily.This hadith makes it clear that the meaning of the Promised Messiah’s bathing is the same, otherwise what special excellence is in the physical act of bathing? Even the Hindus bathe this way every morning, and the drops of water also fall from their body.Alas, people with material thoughts always drag spiritual matters to a material level, and like the Jews remain ignorant of the mysteries of truths.

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Signs of the advent of the Messiah and Mahdi 107 The Promised Messiah as continues: The fact that both the Promised Messiah and the dajj a l will perform circuits of the Ka‘bah proves that this does not mean that they will physically perform circuits of the Ka‘bah, for in that case we would have to concede that the dajj a l will succeed in entering the Ka‘bah or that he will become a Muslim; both of which assertions go against the clear purport of a ha d i th.This hadith has to be interpreted, and the interpretation which God has made manifest to me is that, in the latter days, a group of people will emerge who will be called dajj a l.This group will be a bitter enemy of Islam and in order to completely bring down the structure of Islam, it will go circuiting round the Ka‘bah, which is the centre of Islam, like a thief.As against this, the Promised Messiah will also perform the circuit of the centre of Islam, which the Ka‘bah symbolises.The purpose of the Promised Messiah in performing the circuit of the Ka‘bah would be to apprehend the thief named dajj a l , and to safeguard the centre of Islam from his designs.We know that the thief goes around the houses at night and so does a watchman, but while the purpose of the thief is to rob and plunder a household, the purpose of the watchman is to apprehend the thief and to have him locked in a prison of severe punishment so that people are safeguarded from his mischief.Thus, this hadith indicates that in the latter days, the thief who is designated dajj a l , will try his utmost to demolish the structure of Islam, and that the Promised Messiah, out of his devotion to Islam, will raise his supplications to Heaven and that all angels will lend him their support so that he should be victorious in this final battle.He will neither get tired, nor

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108 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ dejected, nor will he slacken his efforts, but will try his utmost to catch the thief.When his supplications reach their climax, God will see how his heart has melted in his love for Islam.Heaven will do what the earth cannot.And the victory that cannot be achieved by man will be won at the hands of angels.The Promised Messiah as further states: Great calamities will descend towards the end of the latter days of this Messiah and there will be strong earthquakes and peace will depart entirely from the world.These calamities will descend as a result of the supplications of the Messiah and after these signs, he will gain victory.It is the same angels that are referred to in the metaphorical term when it is stated that the Messiah will descend supported on the shoulders of two angels.Who can conceive today that the mischief of the anti-Christ, which is understood to be the designs of the wayward Christian clergy, can be quelled by human effort; certainly not.It will in fact be quelled by the God of Heaven alone.He will fall on them like a thunderbolt, He will come like a storm and will shake the world like a hurricane because the time of His wrath has come, but He is Independent.The fire of the stone of decree demands a strike of deep supplication by men.Alas! how difficult a task it is, how hard! We have to offer a sacrifice and as long as we do not give this sacrifice, the Cross cannot be broken.As long as a Prophet has not offered such a sacrifice, he has not become victorious.It is this very sacrifice which has been referred to in a verse of the Holy Quran:

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Signs of the advent of the Messiah and Mahdi 109 56 which means that the Prophets desired victory by throwing themselves in the fire of holy struggle.The result was that every tyrant and rebel was annihilated....The Promised Messiah as further states: To imagine, that breaking of the Cross means to physically break crosses made from wood or gold, is a gross error.Such crosses have often been broken in Islamic battles.What is meant here is that the Promised Messiah will shatter the doctrine of the Cross and this doctrine will never flourish in the world.It will break in such a way that it will never be grafted again.It will not be broken by human hands but God, who possesses all powers, will destroy it just as He had created it.Everything is in His sight; He knows who is true and who is false.He will not grant this honour to the others, but will grant it to the Messiah, raised by Him, with his own Hands.Whoever is given honour by God, none can disgrace him.The Messiah has been created to accomplish a great task and that task will be successfully completed at his hands.His prosperity will cause the decline of the Cross, and the life of the doctrine of the Cross will come to an end with the appearance of the Messiah.The views of the people will naturally continue to show signs of weariness with the doctrine of the Cross, as is happening these days in Europe.It is evident that these days the work of Christianity is being carried out only by the salaried clergy.The knowledgeable people are forsaking this doctrine.It is 56 S u rah Ibr a h i m 14:16

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110 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ a wind which is blowing against the doctrine of the Cross and is becoming fiercer and faster.These are the very signs of the advent of the Promised Messiah and the same two angels who were to come down with him are working against the doctrine of the Cross.The world is continuously coming out of darkness into light and the time is near when the spell of the anti-Christ will break completely, for it has completed its life.The prophecy that the Messiah will kill swine, points to the defect of a filthy and foul-mouthed enemy and it indicates that such an enemy will be killed with the prayers of the Promised Messiah.The prophecy that the Promised Messiah will be blessed with progeny indicates that God will create from his progeny a man who will succeed him and will defend Islam, as this news has already been given in some of my prophecies.The Promised Messiah as continues: The prophecy that he will kill the anti-Christ means that with his advent, the teachings of the anti-Christ will decline and will automatically fade away.The hearts of the intelligent ones will turn to the unity of God.Be it known that the word ‘ dajj a l’ (anti- Christ) has two connotations: First, it signifies a group which supports falsehood and works with cunning and deceit.Secondly, it is the name of the Satan who is the father of all falsehood and corruption.Therefore, killing it means that this satanic treachery will be destroyed in such a way that it will never flourish again till Doomsday, as though in the final battle, Satan will be killed.

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Signs of the advent of the Messiah and Mahdi 111 The prophecy that after his demise, the Promised Messiah will enter the grave of the Holy Prophet sa could not mean that, God forbid, the grave of the Holy Prophet sa will be exhumed.These are fallacies, full of insolence and disrespect, of these people who think only material thoughts.What it means is that in his station of nearness he will be so close to the Holy Prophet sa , that after death he will be granted the station of being closest to the Holy Prophet sa and the Promised Messiah’s soul will unite with the soul of the Holy Prophet sa as though they were both in one grave.This is the true meaning but anyone can imagine whatever other meaning they like.The spiritual people do know that after death physical nearness has no relevance.Everyone who has any spiritual nearness to the Holy Prophet sa , his soul is brought near to the Holy Prophet sa.As Allah says in the Holy Quran: 57 The prophecy that he will not be killed indicates that letting the final Caliph killed would be a cause for disgrace to Islam.For the same reason, the Holy Prophet sa was saved from being killed.( H aqiqatul-Wa hi , pp.307–313 , R uha n i Khaz a ’in , vol.22, pp.320–326) Finally, we present here another sign of the Promised Messiah and end our discussion on the subject.Hadrat Imam B a qir has reported this hadith: 57 So enter you among My chosen servants.And enter you My Garden.( S u rah al-Fajr 89:30–31)

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112 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ ان 7 
"8  -%9 : 3& ا ات وارض ;% ا ّل ٍ و (
 ر1 ن و ;>9 ? 4ا # ;@ا  ـ Two signs have been appointed for our Mahdi, which have never been manifested since the creation of the Heavens and earth for anyone else commissioned by God.Firstly, there will be an eclipse of the moon on the first night in Ramadan followed by an eclipse of the sun on its middle date.58 This means the moon will eclipse on the 13th lunar date, because according to principles of astronomy, a lunar eclipse can only occur on the 13 th , 14 th or 15 th lunar days, and the sun will eclipse on the 28 th of the same month, because a solar eclipse can only occur on the 27 th , 28 th or 29 th lunar days.This sign was fulfilled clearly and the entire world saw it in the year 1311 Hijra i.e.in 1894 AD.In the month of Ramadan 1311 Hijra, the moon eclipsed on the first night of the possible three nights, i.e.on the 13 th , and in the same month of Ramadan the sun eclipsed on the middle day of the possible three days, i.e.on the 28 th.This sign manifested twice.First it occurred for the Eastern half of the globe and then it happened in America [the following year].Both times it occurred on the same dates as specified in the hadith.The sign is mentioned not just in the hadith but the Holy Quran has also indicated it: 58 D a r Qu t n i, vol.1, p.188

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Signs of the advent of the Messiah and Mahdi 113 And the moon is eclipsed, and the sun and the moon are brought together.59 This means the sun will also eclipse in the same month.Now, you can see how clearly the fulfilment of this sign tells us that this indeed is the time when the Mahdi must appear, because the sign of his appearance has been fulfilled.Some people raise the objection that this hadith has a gap in its chain of narrators and stops at Imam Muhammad B a qir (may Allah be pleased with him).Furthermore they say, it states that the lunar eclipse will occur on the first night of Ramadan and the solar eclipse in the middle of Ramadan, whereas the actual lunar eclipse occurred on the 13 th and the solar eclipse on the 28 th.The answer to this objection is that though this hadith is apparently mauq u f [i.e.the narrators of this hadith narrated up to Imam B a qir], but according to the verdict of the scholars of a ha d i th , infact, this report is marf u ‘ [attributed to the Holy Prophet sa ] You have also to consider who the narrator was.Was he not a shining jewel of the Holy Prophet’s family? Everyone knows it was a point of style for the Imams from the Holy Prophet’s family, in view of their dignity, that they did not consider it essential to link the chain of reporters by name to the Holy Prophet sa.This is their publicized and well known custom.In any case, we have not coined this hadith but it has existed for the last 1,300 years.The answer to the second objection is that it is against God’s practice and the law of nature for the lunar eclipse to occur on it’s 59 S u rah al-Qiy a mah 75:9–10

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114 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ first day and the solar eclipse in the middle of the month.The law of nature which is set by God, has limited the lunar eclipse to occur only on the 13 th , 14 th or 15 th date and the solar eclipse on the 27 th , 28 th and 29 th of the lunar month.Therefore, the ‘first’ and the ‘middle’ mean the first and the middle of the three possible dates respectively, and not first and middle dates of the month.Another proof is that in the Arabic language the early days’ moon is called ‘ hal a l ’, whereas the word for the moon used in the hadith is ‘ qamar ’ which shows clearly that it does not mean the first night.Furthermore, Muslims in all ages have been explaining these dates the same way, as we have just explained.For instance, even in more recent times, Maulav i Muhammad of Lakhoke had written before the appearance of this sign: During that year, the moon will eclipse on the 13 th and the sun on the 27 th of Rama da n , this is what one reporter of the hadith has written.In this line of poetry, Maulav i Muhammad had written 27 th by mistake instead of the 28 th , but he has followed the same principle as we have mentioned above.Above all else, the events have sealed their stamp on its true interpretation, that by first is meant the 13 th and by the middle, the 28 th.In short, this sign has been fulfilled so clearly that it leaves no room for any excuse or any contention.We have heard from reliable sources that when this sign was fulfilled some maulavis were striking their thighs to express regret and were uttering, ‘now the

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Signs of the advent of the Messiah and Mahdi 115 people will be misled, now the people will be misled’.This also is a clear sign of the fulfilment of the hadith that: ءه  2
 CD9 اد ء ا Their scholars will be the worst creatures under the firmament of Heaven.On the one hand, a sign of God was being manifested, and on the other, the maulavis were suffering grief that the appearance of the sign would allow the people to slip out of their hold and start believing in Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as , the Promised Messiah and Mahdi.We have mentioned here only a few of the signs mentioned by our Lord and Master, the leader of all the Prophets Hadrat Muhammad Mu st af a sa [the Chosen One], by which to recognize the Messiah and Mahdi.Everyone with a discerning eye and illumined heart, who saw these signs being fulfilled in the people and in the Heavens, bore, on the one hand, the testimony of the truth of the prophecies of the Holy Prophet sa , and on the other hand believed in the Promised Messiah and Mahdi and joined the jam a ‘at of the believers.However, there were also those who were beating their thighs and shouting and suffering grief over why the proofs were manifesting themselves for the true Messiah and Mahdi, testifying to the truth of the words of the hadith of the Holy Prophet sa , ا و اَا , that is, they remained misguided and continued to misguide others.

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Appreciation of Flowers...The well known Punjabi poet Muhammad Bakhsh, whose poems abound in shining gems of similes and metaphors, says: Appreciation of the flowers is known to the nightingale; of the illumined mind Appreciation of the flowers cannot be known by the vulture; devourer of the dead corpse.If you need to ask of the appreciation and worth of the fragrance of the flowers, their colourful beauty, their blossom and their elegance, do not ask the vulture who is eager to see the living suffer death and then devour their helpless corpses which rot and stink.Ask the nightingale whose mind is clear, who loves the grace and elegance of the blossoming and flourishing, colourful and beautiful saplings because they possess the capacity to grow, to live and to grant life.She knows the worth of the beauty of the flower, its refulgence, its fragrance and its colourful elegance.

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118 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ If you want to know the holiness and the truth of Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ], you need to refer not to the utterances of Caiaphas the Soothsayer but to the narrations of his apostles such as Peter, Jacob and Nicodemus.If you want to witness the sacred powers of the Chief of the Prophets Hadrat Muhammad sa Mu st af a [the Chosen One] and see the manifestation of his grace and kindness, do not ask the leaders of the Quraish, ask Hadrat Ab u Bakr, ‘Umar, Talh a , Miqd a d Bin Aswad (may Allah be pleased with all of them) instead who used to say: O the Messenger of Allah! we will fight in front of you, at your back, on your right and on your left.The enemy cannot reach you unless he walks over our corpses.Or perhaps you should observe the Mu h ammadan beauty through the eyes of Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as , the Promised Messiah and Mahd i , then you will also see: I see hundreds of thousands of Josephs in the mere dimple of his chin I see untold Messiahs born out of his breath Comeliness in his face, Is better than the moon and the sun The very dust of his street, is more fragrant than hundreds of muskpods of the musk of Tartar.(Qadian ke A ryah A u r Hamm)

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Appreciation of Flowers 119 Also, if you want to witness the character and biography of Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as , the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, do not see through the eyes of the maulavis, but look at it from the eyes of insight of those who recognized and believed in the Messiah and Mahdi.The high station of Hadrat H ak i m N u rud-D i n ra is well known.The well known Muslim leader Sir Syed Ahmad Kh a n, the founder of Aligarh University used to say that when a scholar progresses, he becomes a philosopher; when a philosopher progresses, he becomes a sufi; and when a sufi progresses he becomes N u rud-D i n.(For more details please see Badr, May 6, 1909, as referenced by H ay a t-e- N u r , By Sheikh ‘Abdul-Q a dir (S a biq Sod a garmal), Published by Sheikh ‘Abdul-H a d i Z a d, Chir a gh Street No.3, Delhi Darw a zah Lahore, Punjab Press, Watan Building, Lahore.) You should see Hadrat Mirz a Ghulam Ahmad Qadian i, the Promised Messiah and Mahdi through the eyes of this N u rud-D i n.What testimony did he bear when he saw Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad? When the same N u rud-D i n believed in him, what did he receive? He says in his own words: The wealth that I have received here is everlasting wealth.A thief or a robber cannot dispossess you of it.I have found here, what the people, longing for it, did not find for the last 1,300 years.60 60 al- H akam no.9, vol.7, p.3, col.2.dated March 10, 1903 [Publishers]

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120 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ He further says with great humility: Who am I and what is my worth.If I were great, I would have stayed home; if I possessed piety on my own, then what was the need for me to accept the Imam? If this object could be gained from books alone, I had no need for anyone, for I have loads of books.The fact of the matter is that you cannot gain your objective by any of these things.61 [Musht a q] Chisht i has introduced Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as , the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, on page 9 of his book in this way: Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadi a n i , son of Mirza Ghulam Murta da , was born in Qadian District, Gurdaspur, in 1839 AD.In 1864, after his customary education, he was employed for four years as a minor court official in the Deputy Commissioners Office in Sialkot.During this time, he continued his study of religions.After renouncing his job at first he gained some fame challenging the Christians to debate.Then, on the advice of his devotee H ak i m N u rud-D i n Bherav i he claimed to be a reflection of Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ].After a while, he advanced a step further, and rejecting the Islamic doctrine of the life of Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ], he made himself the Promised Messiah.Unfortunately, [Musht a q] Chisht i , cannot see what the disciple Peter saw in Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ], what Hadrat Ab u Bakr ra saw in 61 Ibid., p.4 [Publishers]

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Appreciation of Flowers 121 our Lord and Master Hadrat Muhammad sa and what Hadrat H ak i m N u rud-D i n ra saw in Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadian i , the Promised Messiah and Mahdi — or what is seen by others who believe in him — because he is neither of their class nor does his sight possess the capacity to recognize the truth.Instead, he possesses an eye which always looks for excuses to disbelieve those commissioned by God.The true introduction of Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadian i , the Promised Messiah and Mahdi is as follows: Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadian i as , the Promised Messiah and Mahdi was born a twin, after Fajr Prayer, on a blessed Friday, February 13, 1835 AD.(In his book Fu sus ul- H ikam, Hadrat Sheikh Mu h yud-D i n Ibn-e-‘Arab i the chief of the sufis, has stated that the Mahdi will be born a twin.) Right from his childhood, Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was inclined to piety.He was not interested in playful activities like other children, though in moderation, he was fond of swimming and horse-riding.For physical exercise, he used to walk miles and he continued this practice to his last days.As was the custom in the country, he received his education at home.He was always keen to worship and do austere practices in seclusion.He spent all day in the mosque engaged in worship and engrossed in the deep study of religious books.As a result, some people started calling him 62
   
.He had a limitless and passionate love for the Holy Quran.To reflect and ponder over the Holy Quran was his vocation, as he says: 62 Of the Mosque [Publishers]

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122 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ The desire of my heart at every moment, is to kiss Your revealed Book And circuit around the Holy Quran, for this alone is my Ka‘bah.(Qadian ke A ryah A u r Hamm) His father used to advise him to spend less time in study, in case it affected his health.Whenever his father asked him to engage in business or seek employment he would reply, ‘I have become employed with God’.Because of repeated urgings by his father — and in view of the command of the Holy Quran to obey parents — he joined the Civil Service in Sialkot which he did not do for long.Even during the period of this employment, his real vocation continued to be worship, austerity, study of religious books and deliberation over the Holy Quran.For instance, Maulav i Sir a jud-D i n, father of Maulav i Ghazanfar ‘Al i Kh a n, editor of daily Zami n d a r newspaper, has given his personal testimony about the life, at that time, of Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as , thus: Around 1860–61 AD Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was employed as a clerk in Sialkot when his age was 22 or 23 years and I can give testimony as an eye-witness that in his youth he was a pious and righteous man.( Zami n d a r, June 8, 1908, India) Noticing the righteousness of Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and his relationship with God, his father used to observe:

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Appreciation of Flowers 123 Our state is nothing like the pious and pure condition of Ghul a m Ahmad.He is not of the world but of Heaven.He is not a man but an angel.( Tadhkiratul-Mahd i , vol.2, p.33) His first marriage took place when he was 15 and his second marriage when he was around 50 years of age, but neither of the two marriages affected his seclusion, level of study and devotion to God.This was the time when English rule was at its height and the Christian missionaries were preaching with the utmost vigour.They had established Biblical Societies everywhere and published hundreds of books against Islam and against the founder of Islam and they distributed tens of millions of pamphlets free.The speed of their progress can be judged by the fact that in 1851 the number of [native Protestant] Christians in India [and Burma] was around 91,000 but in 1881 this number increased to over 490,000 63.On the other hand, the movements of the Aryas and Brahmu Samajists were in their prime and were making Islam the targets of their criticism.It was as though Islam was surrounded by the enemy.The singular aim of all these movements was to annihilate Islam and make the truth of the Holy Quran and the truth of the Founder of Islam appear doubtful in the eyes of the world.Aryas did not believe in any Divine revelation after the Vedas.The Brahmu Samajists were rejecting the revelation outright.They believed that intellect by itself was sufficient for salvation.Influenced by the misleading philosophy of the West and impressed by the apparent material progress of the Christian countries, the 63 ‘The Indian Empire: it’s people, history and products’, by W.W.Hunter, published by Trübner and Co., London, 1886, p.263.[Publishers]

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124 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ educated among the Muslims were rejecting Divine revelation.The Muslim clergy were fighting the battle of excommunication amongst themselves.In his book, Musaddas , the late Maul a na Al ta f H usain Ha l i [a well recongized Urdu poet, and writer] has painted the picture of this helpless and destitute state of Islam thus: There remains neither the faith nor Islam.What remains is just the name of Islam.Then comparing the ummah of Islam with a garden, he says: You will then see a garden; Desolate and deserted Where dust flies in all directions Nowhere can you apply the word freshness.Its once green branches are burnt and dropped Its unworthy now of bearing flower or fruit Its dried trunk is only fit for fire

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Appreciation of Flowers 125 Now you hear this voice continuously— at all times This is the very deserted garden of Islam.In this environment, the reality of the Holy Quran and the truth of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa was becoming doubtful even to those who called themselves Muslims, many of whom had already fallen in the lap of Christianity.The Christian clergy, Aryas, Brahmu and all other religions were constantly attacking Islam.The Christians were most active and with the commanding position of their government and with their cunning moves, they were bent upon destroying Islam and removing it from the face of the earth.Watching this grave situation, the fires of passionate love for God, and his beloved Hadrat Muhammad sa was enflamed in the heart of Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as , and his concern for the backing of the faith was excited.On the one hand, after diving deep in the deep ocean of the Holy Quran, Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as brought out and scattered the priceless pearls and gems of wisdom and knowledge of the Divine, and on the other hand gave such crushing replies to the objections raised against Islam with the knowledge of science, astronomy, philosophy, physics and other branches of knowledge, that it caused a great panic in the religious world, and the bright and shining sun of Islam, as it was unveiled, began to illuminate the world.Witnessing the helpless situation of the Muslims and the pitiable state of Islam, Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as felt deep concern.For instance, one of his companions Hadrat Maulav i Fate h D i n of Dharamkot has reported:

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126 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ Once, I saw Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was restlessly...pacing up and down....On enquiry he told me that when he remembers the affair of Islam and thinks of various problems faced by Islam, he feels extremely restless and it is the pain for Islam which makes him so anxious.( S i ratul-Mahd i , vol.3, p.29) In a poem Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Pomised Messiah and Mahdi as has expressed his pain in these words: The day has dawned upon the enemies of the faith, but we are passing through the night; Arise! O my Sun; for I feel so restless Help me now with the hands of Your Grace So that the ark of Islam may ride this storm Islam is being pushed around by many a people; The high minaret of Islam is quaking in turbulence.My heart gets totally restless as I think of this difficult task O the protector of my life! send down an army of angels

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Appreciation of Flowers 127 Apply balm to my wounds, for I am in distress Hear my cries; I am weak and emaciated I cannot bear to see the weak condition of the faith of Muhammad sa O my Sovereign! grant me success and victory.O my Lord! have mercy on Islam and save it Yourself Hear the supplications of the inmates of this shattered ark.A whole world has died without Your water O Lord! turn this way, the flow of Your life-giving stream; Without the Grace of God, the ark of Islam may well-nigh drown Show your mettle, O madly devoted comrades; no wisecrack will succeed in this situation.O God! Excite in my heart a fire to serve the Muslim nation And let the countless flames rise to the Heavens

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128 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ Weeping and wailing in the presence of the Gracious God is our job This stream of tears will surely cause the trees to bear fruit.It’s useless now to ask help from the progeny of man Now our cries are only in your court O! Lord.( Bar a h i n -e- Ahmadi yy a , part 5, R uha n i Khaz a ’in , vol.21, pp.127–152) This was the time when Allah determined to raise a Messenger in the world for guidance and leadership.So Allah commissioned Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as as the Promised Messiah and Mahdi.In his writings the Promised Messiah as says: On one occasion, I received a revelation which indicated that there was a difference among the higher angels.The indication was that the will of God was prepared to bring about a renaissance of Islam, but the angels had not yet been informed of the identity of the rejuvenator.Hence that was being debated (ibid.Part 4, pp.502–503 sub-footnote 3; and Tadhkirah, English 2 nd edition , p.55, published by Islam International Publications Ltd., UK, 2009) He also said: At the same time I saw in a dream that a search was being made for one who should revive the faith.A person appeared before me and pointing to me said ها ر ّ ر ل ا , that is ‘This is the man who loves the Messenger sa of Allah.’ His meaning was that the principal condition of this assignment was the love of the Holy Prophet and that I fulfilled that condition.( Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya , part 4, p.

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Appreciation of Flowers 129 503 sub-footnote 3; and Tadhkirah , English, 2 nd edition, p.55, published by Islam International Publications Ltd., UK, 2009) He also said: A few days ago, I saw in a vision a person who was approaching death through tuberculosis.He disclosed to me that his name was D i i i i n Mu h h h h ammad (Faith of Mu h ammad), and it was conveyed to me that this man was a personification of D i n-e-Muhammad i [Faith of Muhammad sa ].I comforted him that he would be healed through me.( Iz a la-e-Auh a m , p.214, R uha n i Khaz a ’in , vol.3, p.206; Tadhkirah , English 2 nd edition, p.236, published by Islam International Publications Ltd., UK, 2009) Similarly Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as , the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, received a revelation:
 ا و  ا He will revive the faith and will establish the Law.( Tadhkirah , English 2 nd edition, p.87, published by Islam International Publications Ltd., UK, 2009) The Promised Messiah as saw a vision and he described it thus: I was occupied in writing something one night and then went to sleep and [in my dream] I saw the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and his face was bright like the full moon.He came close to me and I felt as if he wished to embrace me.So he embraced me and I saw that rays of light proceeded

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130 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ from his countenance and entered into me.I felt these rays were like palpable light and I believed that I was seeing them not only through my spiritual sight but also with my physical eyes.Thereafter, I did not perceive that he had separated himself from me nor did I perceive that he had left me.Thereafter, the doors of revelation were opened to me and God addressed me and said:  ا رك ا   –  ر  اذ ر  و ا ر
– ا  ا !ن – ر"#$ %&  ا'"ر اوه – $*$) و + ),  -ا – +& ا'
ات و ا' ّل او  #1ا – Meaning: Allah has placed blessing in you, O Ahmad.Whatever you did let loose, it was not you but it was Allah Who let it loose.The Most Gracious One has taught you the Quran so that you should warn the people whose ancestors have not been warned and that the way of the guilty ones might become manifest.Say: I have been commissioned and I am the first of the believers.( A ’ i na- e-Kam a l a t-e-Isl a m , p.550, R uha n i Khaz a ’in , vol.5, p.550; Tadhkirah , English 2 nd edition, pp.55–56, published by Islam International Publications Ltd., UK, 2009) Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah and Mahdi says: God has sent me so that I should prove that the Holy Quran is a living book and that Islam is a living faith and Muhammad Mu st af a sa [the Chosen One] is a living Prophet.I say this, holding the earth and the Heavens as my witness, that all these statements are true and that there is only one true God, which has been

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Appreciation of Flowers 131 described in the kalimah 64  ا ا ا   ر ل ا.The living Messenger is the messenger on whose feet the dead are coming to life once again, the signs are appearing and blessings are manifesting themselves.The springs of the unseen are sprouting.( al- H akam, May 31, 1900) He also said: I alone am the light of this age of darkness.He who follows me will be saved from falling into the pits prepared by the Devil for those who walk in the dark.I have been sent by God to lead the world in humililty and peace to the True God and to re-establish the reign of moral values in Islam.God has provided me with Heavenly signs for the satisfaction of seekers after truth, and has shown miracles in my support; He has disclosed to me secrets of the unseen and of the future which, according to the Scriptures, are the real criteria for judging and identifying the true claimant to this divine office.He has vouchsafed to me true knowledge and comprehension of verities.That is why, souls which hate truth and love darkness have turned against me.But it is my desire to be kind and forgiving towards mankind, as far as it lay in my power.( Jesus in India, English 2 nd edition , pp.12–13) Then with the beat of a drum he announced with great majesty: 64 There is none worthy of worship except Allah; Muhammad sa is His Messenger.[Publishers]

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132 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ O ye people, hearken to my call! Remember that this is a prophecy from Him Who created the earth and the Heaven.He will cause this, His own Movement, to spread in all countries and shall cause them to triumph over all others through reasoning and argument.The days are approaching; nay they are near at hand, when only this religion shall be spoken of with honour and respect.God shall grant this religion and this Movement His choicest blessings and unprecedented success and frustrate the designs of all those who seek to destroy them and shall perpetuate their ascendancy till the time the world comes to its end.( Tadhkirat-ush-Shah a datain , R uha n i Khaz a ’in , vol.20, p.66)

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Truth has come and falsehood has vanished Regarding the sapling of Ahmadiyyat which God had planted with His own Hands, the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as , the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community had prophesied: I have come only to sow the seed so it has been planted by my hand.Now it shall grow and flourish and there is none who can hinder it.( Tadhkirat-ush-Shah a datain , R uha n i Khaz a ’in, vol.20, p.67) The seed became a sapling and then a stout tree and today it has seen more than 100 spring seasons, its roots are deep and firm in the ground and its branches reach into Heaven.Each of its branches receives rains of God’s Grace and buds of success and achievement bloom on them and each sunrise on it bears the testimony of its advancement.The message of Ahmadiyyat has reached to the corners of the earth and each nation is drinking water from this fountain.This caravan of Ahmadiyyat, which was organized by God with the hand

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134 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ of His own holy Messiah, continues to advance on the path of the victory of Islam with Allah’s backing and support.Supporting themselves on the crutches of falsehood, thousands of people like Maulav i Musht a q Chisht i and his elders came out in its pursuit, but could not reach even it’s dust.Instead, they let their faces be covered with the dust of failure and defeat and were lost in the darkness of the past.Their story will be preserved in the pages of history as one unbecoming story, because they belong to the groups of people who have opposed the Prophets, whom the people search for in the pages of history under the chapter of ‘Disgrace and Misfortune’.‘God will Disgrace You...’ The curse of disgrace has been continuously pestering those that have showed hostility towards the Prophet of the time, and the holy Messiah of God, over the past 100 years.We need not have mentioned it here if only our opponents had seen their condition reflected in the mirror of the last 100 year’s history, that why God reversed on them each of their curses and frustrated each of their plans.Why does God, on the one hand bestow success and victory on the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and on the other hand let our opponents suffer defeat and frustration? They have witnessed everything, but instead of humility have displayed nothing but arrogance.We do not have to go far in the past; we can look at what has happened in recent history.When in 1988, Hadrat Mirz a Ta hir

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Truth has come and falsehood has vanished 135 Ahmad, the then Imam of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, gave the mub a halah 65 challenge to the leaders of our adversaries and to the leading disbelievers, Maulav i Musht a q Chisht i had also accepted this challenge.This was reported in the Millat newspaper of London, dated December 24 th and 25 th , 1988, but prior to that he had written in the September issue of the monthly Tarjum a n-e- Islam of Norway: We have already given a mub a halah (prayer duel) challenge to Mirz a [Ta hir Ahmad ] , but Qadian i s are fleeing from it.In the same issue, Maulav i Musht a q Chisht i also wrote: Now, for the fourth time we are accepting this mub a halah challenge.Accepting this challenge, Maulav i Musht a q Chisht i prayed for the defeat and ruin of the Jam a ‘at of the one who had been commissioned by God.As we demonstrate below, his crying and bewailing rent his own honour and defeated him and frustrated him and also defamed him.On February 13, 1989 — approximately two months after the then Imam of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community had given the mub a halah challenge — Maulav i Musht a q Chisht i transferred 80% of the funds which the government had allocated for the education of children into his son’s name.This transfer was later anulled by 65 A prayer duel as prescribed in the Holy Quran in A l-e-‘Imr a n 3:62 [Publishers]

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136 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ the Mosque Committee, declaring it to be a clear breach of trust on Chishti’s part.On August 24, 1989, Maulav i Musht a q Chisht i obtained the signatures of a few of his supporters to approve that 2/3 of the funds collected for the mosque were to be used for the Ahle Sunnat community and remainder to be dedicated to Jami‘ah Islamiyyah 66 , and that he himself will be its custodian.Then, to devour these funds, he opened an account in the name of two false institutions: 1.Sunn i Trust 2.J a mi‘ah Isl a miyyah Maulav i Musht a q Chisht i used these institutions for his fraud with the funds of the central Sunn i Jam a ‘at of Norway.The above misappropriation of funds were well publicized in Pay a m-e-Mashriq registered in Moss, Norway, volume 8, number 11, issue of November 1989.Similarly, his misdeeds were published in a tract and distributed on the occasion of ‘ I d Mil a dun-Nab i (Celebration of the birth of the Prophet sa ).Then, he conferred such titles on his disciples as conspirators, mischievous, hypocrites and Jewish lobby, and did not realize that he himself was their Imam and their leader so what would that make his own position? Eventually, Maulav i Musht a q Chisht i did admit his disgrace but blamed it on the Ahmadis, alleging they had had a hand in it.In October 1989, in four episodes of the Radio Norway’s Urdu service, he was pronounced to be a deceiver, fraudulent cheat and a devourer of mosque funds.66 Islamic school [Publishers]

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Truth has come and falsehood has vanished 137 For the readers, we present here a few significant points from the newspapers and magazines that put a stamp of affirmation on his disgrace, so that it may serve as a warning to others.1.Pay a m-e-Mashriq which is published from Norway’s city, Moss, has presented the following facts in volume 8 and issue number 12, page 8: i.By declaring the propaganda against him as a Jewish conspiracy, Maulana has aggrandized himself.ii.Setting aside a third part of the mosque funds i.e.10 million rupees, is daylight robbery of the trust of his colleagues.iii.To collect 10 million, he continued to paint a picture before the people of Paradise in one hand and Hell in the other.iv.He was giving a guarantee of Paradise to sinners who gave him money for the mosque.v.It was the same trickery by which a Christian Padre in olden times used to deprive his devotees even of oven fuel or cooking oil, and a Hindu pundit who until recently used to plunder the jewellery of the brides of his devotees.2.The June 1990 issue of the monthly B a z Gasht of Norway has preserved for good not only his other financial misappropriation, but the following dreadful facts which will always bear testimony to his disgrace and defeat.

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138 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ i.In the holy month of Ramadan, the mosque and it’s Imam were dishonoured twice during Friday Prayer and once during the Tar a v ih Prayer.ii.A squabble was created on the occasion of ‘ I dul-Fi t r , when the Imam and nearly 1,000 worshippers were standing ready for Prayers, and the Prayer was stopped.Such disgrace may never have been suffered by even a Christian priest.3.On pages 11–17 of the August 1990 issue of the same monthly B a z Gasht of Oslo, Norway, some vile allegations were proved against Musht a q Chisht i and he was declared to have committed the following misdeeds: Wrangling, misuse of the pulpit of the mosque, desecration of the mosque, greed, settling his family in Norway, acquiring privileges by demand, hiring employees at his sole discretion, establishing irrelevant institutions to his liking, making false promises, starting up of several courses without having to complete any, misappropriating the accounts, letting his own flat for rent and occupying the mosque residence, devouring the funds collected in the names of God and His Messenger, use of bribery and wangling to settle people in Norway.4.In its issue no.August 8, 1990, Q a ’id monthly wrote: i.The maulavi continued all kinds of activity, giving people false hope of reward in the Hereafter.ii.Dispossessed the people of their money.

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Truth has come and falsehood has vanished 139 iii.Robbed people with false promise of entrance into Paradise.iv.The reality of the maulavi is: His skill is begging at the pulpit of the mosque He dances in the name of religion, wearing the shoes of gold He roams around counting the beads of his rosary But secretly he is coveting to gather wealth 5.Payam-e-Mashriq in its issue of August, volume 9, number 8, gives this news: i.This maulavi deserves to be given the name ‘swindler’.ii.A religious school was bought in the name of Jami‘ah Islamiyyah , with central funds but the maul a n a transferred the building in his own name.We have a copy of the contract.6.As a result of the brawl which was created in the mosque in Oslo on Friday March 29, 1991, during the holy month of Ramadan, the police desecrated the mosque with their shoes and their dogs.Its details appeared on page 8 of the

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140 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ newspaper Dagbladet on Monday April 2, 1991 and his disgrace was the talk of the town throughout Norway.7.Finally, we put before you the report of the monthly Q a ’id of Oslo, March 1991, no.3: Maul a n a Musht a q Ahmad Chisht i has been dismissed as an Imam.Since his dismissal, the attendance at the mosque has begun to recover.To express their satisfaction at the ending of this squabble the worshippers offered naw a fil [supererogatory Prayer].Thank God for that.[Musht a q] Chisht i , we will not count your misdeeds and the beads of the necklace of your disgrace.You should ponder as to why the mill of disgrace began to grind immediately you accepted the mub a halah challenge and why each new revolution of this mill brought a new disgrace.Reflect again, are these curses not the same which are always destined for those who stand against those commissioned by God.God has kept the gate of repentance open.Still there is time to enter this gate.Stop your cunning, wrangling, lies and misdeeds and repent before God.67 [Musht a q] Chisht i appended the title of ‘Chisti’ to his name and then to make himself holy, he wrote on page 27 of his bundle- of-lies book, F a te h -e-Qadian : God knows why there is such attraction in the words ‘Chisht’, ‘Chisht i ’ and ‘Chishti ya’i ’ that as soon as one utters them or pens 67 This is the translation of the passage in the published Urdu book.Maulav i Musht a q Chisht i has now passed away.[Publishers]

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Truth has come and falsehood has vanished 141 them, one is transported into ecstasy, eyes become wet with tears and heads bow in devotion and love! In the foregoing pages, we have given some examples of comments about [Musht a q] Chisht i from the newspapers and magazines of Norway which rent his robe of honour in such a way that the nudity of his real self becomes obvious.People can see his true nature and his disgrace and seeing the so called religious leaders and Chisht i s like him they shed the tears of blood and their heads do not bow in devotion and love but bow in shame and feelings of disgrace.Having got rid of him, they then offer their prayers of thanks.The people like Hadrat Mo‘ i nud-D i n rh Chisht i and Hadrat Ganj Bakhsh rh , Allah’s Mercy be upon them, were the trustees of the grandeur of Islam, but time has proved [Musht a q] Chisht i to be the trustee of disgrace: What comparison can there be of dust to the world of purity Let’s look at another Chisht i who was known in the United Kingdom by the title Abul-Fat h [Father of Victory].He also used to append ‘Chisht i ’ to his name.He joked about the mub a halah challenge given by Hadrat Mirz a Ta hir Ahmad, the then Imam of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, and with great arrogance he used a derogatory term ( muj a halah ).Then, how Allah tore his respect to pieces is not hidden from anyone.There is no need for us to uncover his shameful deeds here nor are we pleased with anyone’s disgrace and notoriety.Rather, we pray that as this man

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142 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ was punished a great deal in this world and disgrace forever has become his destiny, may Allah overlook his mistakes and his sins.However, we feel it is necessary to say that anyone who stands to oppose those commissioned by God and their Jam a ‘at, or wishes to disgrace them, he himself falls in the estimation of Allah and suffers clear ignominy before the world.So one should ponder over why has disgrace upon disgrace been heaped on the opponents of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.And why each of these opponents’ steps merely takes them to the ditches of decay and degradation.While on the contrary, Allah’s treatment with the Jam a ‘at of His holy Messiah and Mahdi is so outstanding; with His backing and support, this Jam a ‘at continues to advance, supported on the shoulders of His Destiny.‘...I shall Gain Honour’ After the mub a halah challenge, Allah gave such honour and nobility to the then Imam of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jam a ‘at, Hadrat Mirz a Ta hir Ahmad rh , that when he travelled through scores of countries, people in each country showed him respect and the heads of state and Chief Ministers stood up to welcome him.In many countries, he was presented the keys of the cities.In each country, on each soil, wherever he stopped, victory and elation, success and achievement paid homage to him.Then in 1989, ministers and members of Parliament from a dozen countries came with delegations to attend the Jalsah S a l a nah [Annual Convention] United Kingdom which he presided.

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Truth has come and falsehood has vanished 143 Now, with the sheer Grace and Help of Allah, this worldwide Jam a ‘at has been established in 124 countries and has 3216 strong well organized jam a ‘ats 68.(These figures do not include the number of jam a ‘ats in Pakistan.) Throughout the world (excluding Pakistan) the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has established 1945 mosques and 356 Muslim Missions, 27 hospitals, 258 nursery and primary schools and 81 high and junior secondary schools 69.The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community publishes 81 newspapers and periodicals in various languages and in various countries 70.Most of all, this divine Jam a ‘at has been enabled to publish the Holy Quran with translation in 44 languages 71 while translation in a further six languages has been completed and the work is in progress in many more languages.Similarly, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has been enabled to publish selected verses of the Holy Quran in 85 different languages 72 , selected a ha d i th and selected writings of the Promised Messiah — which show the transcendence of God and the truth and excellence of Hadrat Muhammad Mu st af a sa [the Chosen One], Islam and Holy Quran.These publications are being distributed from town to town in great numbers.68 By the Grace Allah, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community now has many more Jam a ‘ats in over 200 countries.[Publishers] 69 Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has now established over ten thousand mosques and many more Muslim Missions, hospitals, and schools.[Publishers] 70 This number has now increased to over 100 newspapers and periodicals.[Publishers] 71 By the Grace of Allah, the Holy Quran has now been translated in over 70 languages.[Publishers] 72 This number has now increased to more than 100.[Publishers]

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144 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ Looking at this brief survey of the grandeur of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, the divine support accompanying it’s Imam, the eyes of our opponents like Musht a q Chisht i must have become glassy.Their nerves must have left them, and their tongues must have become mute, but their condition must be shouting: O!, the one possessing crude vision, who are you meddling with! Why are you in the habit of concealing the true testimony? O arrogant one!, You shall fall upon evil days.Your clever designs can never cause me harm, O ignorant one.Because I am the one who will come out unscathed, even if pushed in Fire.If your faith amounts to anything, avert what I have predicted That ‘I shall gain honour; And you will face reproach’.God shall disgrace you; And I will be granted honour Hearken, O! ye who deny me; This miracle is bound to happen.

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Truth has come and falsehood has vanished 145 The holy men of God gain victory over others For my sake, this sign, is going to come from God.( Tatimmah H aq i qatul-Wa hi, R uha n i Khaz a ’in , vol.22, p.595)

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Publisher’s Note Please note that according to our system of counting Quranic verses, the verse Bismill a hir-Ra h m a nir-Ra hi m (In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, Ever Merciful) is counted as the first verse of the chapter which it precedes.Some publishers of the Holy Quran, however, begin counting following Bismill a hir-Ra h m a nir- Ra hi m.Should the reader not find the relevant verse under the number mentioned in this book, he or she is advised to deduct 1 from the number.For example, if this book quotes Ch.35: F at ir: 25, then some copies of the Holy Quran will list the same verse under Ch.35: F at ir: 24.Where necessary, translation of the Arabic text has been elaborated by additional words to explain the meaning.Such words are in italics.The word and at the commencement of a translated verse has been omitted.The form ibn has been used in both initial and medial position in the names of persons, in order to conform to current usage, although bin also occurs medially in some original texts (abbreviated usually as b.).The name of Muhammad sa , the Holy Prophet of Islam, has been followed by the symbol sa , which is an abbreviation for the prayer ( ) S allall a hu ‘Alaihi Wa A lih i Wasallam (may peace and

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148 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ blessings of Allah be upon him and his progeny).The names of other Prophets as and messengers are followed by the symbol as , an abbreviation for ( / ) ‘ Alaihissal a m/ ‘ Alaihimussal a m (on whom be peace).The actual prayers have not generally been set out in full, but they should nevertheless, be understood as being repeated in full in each case.The symbol ra is used with the name of the Companions of the Holy Prophet sa and those of the Promised Messiah as.It stands for ( / / ) Ra di yall a hu ‘anhu/‘anh a /‘anhum (may Allah be pleased with him/with her/with them).rh stands for ( ) Ra h imahull a hu Ta‘ a l a (may Allah’s blessing be on him).aa stands for ( ) Ayyadahull a hu Ta‘ a l a (may Allah, the Almighty help him).In transliterating Arabic words we have followed the following system adopted by the Royal Asiatic Society: ا at the beginning of a word, pronounced as a , i , u preceded by a very slight aspiration, like h in the English word honour.ث th , pronounced like th in the English word thing.ح h , a guttural aspirate, stronger than h.خ kh , pronounced like the Scotch ch in loch.ذ dh , pronounced like the English th in that.ص s , strongly articulated s.ض d , similar to the English th in this.ط t , strongly articulated palatal t.ظ z , strongly articulated z.ع ‘, a strong guttural, the pronunciation of which must be learnt by the ear.

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Publisher’s Note 149 غ gh , a sound approached very nearly in the r grasseye in French, and in the German r.It requires the muscles of the throat to be in the ‘gargling’ position whilst pronouncing it.ق q , a deep guttural k sound.ئ ’, a sort of catch in the voice.Short vowels are represented by: a for (like u in bud ) i for (like i in bid ) u for (like oo in wood ) Long vowels by: a for or (like a in father ); i for  or (like ee in deep ); u for و (like oo in root ); Other: ai for  (like i in site ) 1 ; au for و (resembling ou in sound ) Please note that in transliterated words the letter e is to be pronounced as in prey which rhymes with day ; however the pronunciation is flat without the element of English diphthong.If in Urdu and Persian words e is lengthened a bit more, it is transliterated as ei to be pronounced as ei in feign without the element of diphthong.Thus ے is transliterated as kei.For the nasal 1 In Arabic words like  (Shaikh) there is an element of diphthong which is missing when the word is pronounced in Urdu.

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150 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ sound of n we have used the symbol n.Thus the Urdu word   ں is transliterated as mei n.* The consonants not included in the above list have the same phonetic value as in the principal languages of Europe.We have not transliterated foreign words which have become part of English language, e.g., Islam, Mahdi, Quran 2 , Hijra, Ramadan, Hadith, ulama, umma, sunna, kafir, pukka, etc.Curved commas are used in the system of transliteration, ‘ for ع , ’ for ء.Commas as punctuation marks are used according to the normal usage.Similarly, normal usage is followed for the apostrophe.We have made every effort to validate the original references and have also added several additional references where needed.The Publishers * These transliterations are not included in the system of transliteration by The Royal Asiatic Society.2 Concise Oxford Dictionary records Quran in three forms—Quran, Qur’an and Koran.

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Glossary Ahmadiyya Muslim Community— The Community of Muslims who have accepted the claims of Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as of Qadian as the Promised Messiah and Mahdi.The Community was established by Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as in 1889, and is now under the leadership of his fifth Khalifah — Hadrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (may Allah be his help).The Community is also known as Jam a a a a ‘at-e-Ahmadiyya or Ahmadiyya Muslim Jam a a a a ‘at.A member of the Community is called an Ahmadi Muslim or simply an Ahmad i i i i.Allah— Allah is the personal name of God in Islam.To show proper reverence to Him, Muslims often add Ta‘ a l a , translated here as ‘the Exalted’, when saying His Holy name.Bai‘at— Oath of allegiance to a religious leader; initiation at the hands of a Prophet or his Khalifah.H H H H a d d d d rat— A term of respect used for a person of established righteousness and piety.

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152 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ Hadith— A saying of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa.The plural is aha dith.Holy Prophet sa — A term used exclusively for the Founder of Islam, Hadrat Muhammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.Holy Quran— The Book sent by Allah for the guidance of mankind.It was revealed word by word to the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa over a period of twenty-three years.Im a a a a m Mahd i i i i — The title given to the Promised Reformer by the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa ; it means: the Guided Leader.Jalsah S a a a a l a a a a nah— Annual convention or gathering of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.It was initiated by the Promised Massiah as himself.Jam a a a a ‘at— Jam a ‘at means community.Although the word jam a ‘at itself may refer to any community, in this book, Jam a ‘at refers to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community unless specifically mentioned with the name of another community.Khal i i i i fah and Khil a a a a fat— Caliph is derived from the Arabic word Khalifah , which herein means the successor.Khulaf a ’ is the plural of Khalifah.In Islamic terminology, the title ‘ Khal i fa-e-R a shid’ [righteous Khalifah ] is applied to one of the first four khulaf a ’ who continued the mission of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa.Ahmadi Muslims refer to each successor of the Promised Messiah as as

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Glossary 153 Khalifatul Masih.The institution of successorship is called Khilafat.Khal i i i i fatul-Mas ih ih ih ih I— Hadrat Khalifatul Masih I, H ak i m Maul a n a Nurud-Din ra (1841–1914), the first person to do the bai‘at at the hand of the Promised Messiah as , was elected as the first Khalifah after the demise of the Promised Messiah as.The Promised Messiah as has highly appreciated his faith, sincerity and sacrifices and has regarded him as a model for everybody in the ummah.Khal i i i i fatul-Mas ih ih ih ih II— Hadrat Khalifatul Masih II, Mirza Bashir- ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad ra (1889–1965), was the second successor of the Promised Messiah as.He is also called Mu s le h -e-Mau‘ u d because he was born in accordance with the prophecy made by the Promised Messiah as in 1886 concerning the birth of a righteous son who would be endowed with unique abilities and attributes.Khal i i i i fatul-Mas ih ih ih ih III— Hadrat Khalifatul Masih III, Ha fi z Mirz a N as ir Ahmad rh (1909–1982), was the grandson of the Promised Messiah as and his third successor.Before being elected as Khalifah , he served in many key positions in the Jam a ‘at.Khal i i i i fatul-Mas ih ih ih ih IV— Hadrat Khalifatul Masih IV, Mirza Tahir Ahmad rh (1928–2003), was the fourth successor of the Promised Messiah as.He was the grandson of the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jam a ‘at, Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah as.

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154 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ Khal i i i i fatul-Mas ih ih ih ih V— Hadrat Khalifatul Masih V, Mirza Masroor Ahmad aa , is the fifth successor of the Promised Messiah as and the current Imam of Jam a ‘at-e-Ahmadiyya.He is the great grandson of the Promised Messiah as.Khil a a a a fat— The institution of successorship in Islam.See also Khal i i i i fah.Khulaf a a a a ’— Plural of Khal i i i i fah.See also Khal i i i i fah.Mahdi— ‘The guided one.’ This is the title given by the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa to the awaited Reformer of the Latter Days.Maul a a a a n a a a a or Maulav i i i i —A Muslim religious cleric.Muhammad— Proper name of the Holy Prophet sa of Islam.S S S S a h h h h i h h h h Bukh a a a a r i i i i — A book of aha dith (the sayings) of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa compiled by Hadrat Imam Muhammad Bin Ism a ‘ i l Bukh a r i rh (194H-256H).This book of a ha d i th is believed to be the most authentic book after the Holy Quran.Sunnah— Traditions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa of Islam.S u u u u rah— A term in Arabic referring to a chapter of the Holy Quran.Shari ‘ ah— Religious law.

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Glossary 155 The Promised Messiah— This term refers to the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jam a ‘at, Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as of Qadian.He claimed that he had been sent by Allah in accordance with the prophecies of the Holy Prophet sa about the coming of al- Im a m al-Ma h d i (the Guided Leader) and Messiah.

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Index Ahmadiyya Muslim Community progress of, 143 Alt a f H ussain Ha l i on the plight of the Muslims, 124 Anj a m-e- A tham Announcement by the Promised Messiah that he would no longer take part in debates., 1 Anjuman-e-Furq a n, 15 Brahmu Samajists beliefs and activities of, 123 Christian missionaries vigorous preaching in India by, 123 Companions ra testimony of, on the death of Hadrat ‘ I s a , 83 Divine help three ways of, 8 Hadrat Maulav i ‘Abdul Kar i m Published Pir Mehr ‘Ali's letters in al- H akam, 5 Hadrat Maulav i N u rud-D i n Khalifatul Masih I ra on the spiritual treasures bestowed by the Promised Messiah, 119 questions raised about Shamsul-Hid a yah, 3 Hadrat Mirz a Bash i rud-D i n Mahm u d Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih II ra on the advent of Messengers of God, 66 Hadrat Mirz a Ta hir Ahmad Khalifatul Masih IV rh

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158 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ honour and respect of,, 142 on the defeat of the opponents of Ahmadiyyat, 90 Hass a n bin Th a bit ra poem on the demise of the Holy Prophet, 86 Holy Prophet Muhammad sa declined the invitation of Ban u Na di r due to their mischivious plans, 24 devotion of the Companions of, 118 exortations of the Promised Messiah for obedience of, 58 on the identity of Jesus and Messiah, 101 prophecies about the coming of Messiah, 89 prophecy about the marriage and progeny of the Promised Messiah by, 95 Holy Quran is the perfect and final law, 59 I‘j a zul-Mas ih , 30 declaration by the Promised Messiah that no one would be able to compete with his commentary, 32 Imam Muhammad B a qir prophecy narrated by, 113 Jesus [ Hadrat ‘ I s a as ] absurdity of his presumed physical re-advent, 99 issue of the death of, 73 verses proving the death of, 78 Maulav i Fai d Ahmad Fai d on P i r Meher ‘Al i 's not writing a commentary, 50 Maulav i Fate h D i n of Dharamkot testimony of, about the Promised Messiah, 125 Maulav i Karamud-D i n letter to Hak i m Fa d l D i n, 46 Maulav i Muhammad F ad il Sa bir dirge of P i r Meher ‘Al i of, 70 Maulav i Muhammad Gh a z i.

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Index 159 real author of Shamsul- Hid a yah, 3 Maulav i Muhammad of Lakhoke couplet about the prophecy of solar and lunar eclipse, 114 Maulav i Mushtaq Chishti humiliation of, 136 Maulav i Sir a jud-D i n testimony about the youth of the Promised Messiah, 122 mub a halah acceptance of, by Maulav i Mushtaq Chishti, 135 Muft i Muhammad Sa diq, 26 and Waqi‘ a t-e-Sah ih a h , 13 Muhammad H asan Fai d i attempted rebuttal and miserable end of, 35 Muhammad i Begum prophecy about, was a divine warning, 95 similarity of the prophecy about, with that of Prophet Y u nas as , 95 Mujaddid Alif Th a ni ra vision of, that Ka‘bah came to meet him, 63 Munsh i Il a h i Bakhsh, 24 Munsh i T a jud-D i n, 26 Mushtaq Chisht i fake argument to claim Pir Meher ‘Al i as Mujaddid, 69 inappropriate use of grammatical terms by, 74 Senseless objections of, 56 mutawaff i meanings of, 73 Nuz u lul-Mas ih discussion of elegent writing in, 38 Oaring Washington, 94 Pir Meher ‘Al i arival in Lahore and the riots thereafter, 17, 18 attempts by sincere Ahmadis of Lahore to persuade him for a competition inwriting a commentary, 18 beginning of his opposition to the Promised Messiah, 2

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160 A critical Review of the Pamphlet—‘f a te h -e-Qadian’ charge of plagiarism against the Promised Messiah, 38 could not write a few pages of commentary in Arabic in his whole long life, 50 deception in his suggestion for a debate, 14 early views about the Promised Messiah, 1 interpretation of tawaff i disproven by his own follower, 71 proven plagiarism by, 40 shameful defeat of, 49 Promised Messiah as anguish for Islam, 126 announcement of August 28, 1900, 21 challenge to write a commentary of the Holy Quran, 8 challenge to write a commentary on S u rah al-F a ti h a h , 29 Charge of plagiarism against, by P i r Meher ‘Al i , 38 Chishti's na'ive objection that he wrote books, 56 declaration the Jesus will never come back alive, 88 exortations to show devotion to all Prophets, 65 fulfilment of the revelation of, 36 Holy Prophet's prophecy of marriage and progeny of, 95 I‘j a zul-Mas ih a miraculous sign of, 32 introduction of, 121 invitation for a public discussion of his claim, 25 mission of, 58 on the beauty of the Holy prophet, 118 on the reason for the daring attitude of Christians, 87 on the signs of the coming of the Messiah, 103 passionate love for the Holy Prophet, 100

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Index 161 purpose of the advent of, 130 signs of the advent of, 97 some books discussing the nature of miracles by, 54 some visions and revelations of, 128 Shah a bud-D i n letter of, exposing P i r's plagiarism, 42 Solar and lunar eclipses fulfilment of the sign of, 112 Syed Muhammad A h san challenge to P i r for a debate, 7 publication of Shams-e- B a zighah in refutation to P i r's book, 7

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