Mirror of Charm and Beauty

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Mirror of Charm. And Beauty (Ã'inah Jamal). Hazrat. Being the text of a Paper by. Mirza Bashir Ahmad, on Zikr-i-Habeeb, i.e. aspects of the Life and Personality, and the high moral qualities of the. Promised Messiah. It was read by Maulana. Jalal-ud-Din Shams at the concluding session of the Annual Gathering of the Ahmadiyya. Movement, on December 28, 1962.. Published by. Ahmadiyya Muslim Foreign Missions Office,. Rabwah, W. Pakistan.

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September, 1963. First Edition. Printed at the Nusrat Art Press, Rabwah.

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.ܢ. Foreword. CONTENTS 2. Significance of the claims of the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement to be the. Promised Messiah and Mehdi. 1- 7 3.. The Mission of the Promised Messiah is peaceful. 8-10 4.. Achievements of the Missionary Organisa5. 22-27 tion raised by the Ahmadiyya Movement. 11-17. A short note on the Promised Messiah and the opposition his claim evoked. 18-21 6. The Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement came with a Jamali manifestation.. Attitude of justice and fairplay exhibited by the Promised Messiah for his enemies. 28-29. Promised Messiah's graciousness and mercy for his opponents. 8. 30-35 9.. Promised Messiah's prophecy regarding the migration of Ahmadis from Qadian and their eventual return to it. 36-41 10.. Painful maladies healed by the prayers of the Promised Messiah. 42-48 11. Promised Messiah's kind and considerate treatement of his relations. 49-52 12.. The Promised Messiah visits Delhi and is offered severe opposition. 53-58

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13.. Bad health of the writer, Hazrat Mirza. Bashir Ahmad. 59-61 14. Some Iqtadari miracles wrought by the. Promised Messiah. 62-68 15.. Promised Messiah's love of God 69-72 16. The spirit of devotion shown by some followers of the Promised Messiah. 73-83 17. Regard shown by the Promised Messiah for the education of his followers. 18. Two great missions of the Promised. Messiah Revival of Islam and refutation of Christianity 84-86 87-98

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IN THE NAme of all AH, THE MOST GRACIOUS AND. THE MOST MERCIFUL. WE PRAISE HIM AND. INVOKE HIS BLESSINGS UPON HIS PROPHET. THE EXALTED ONE.. FOREWORD. At the Annual Gathering, this year, I have again been invited to speak on Zikr-i-Habeeb, i.e. the Life and Personality of the Promised. Messiah, as illustrated by specific events, Signs shown by him, and the extraordinary sublimity of the moral qualities he displayed in his dealings. On this subject, in the Annual Gatherings, I have already spoken three times : great (i) In 1959, the Paper having since been published under title Seerat-i-Tayyibah', of which an English translation also has been published.. The central point in this Paper was the Promised. Messiah's Love for God, and his devotion for the Holy Prophet Muhammed. By the grace of God, this Paper was highly appreciated, not only by members of the Ahmadiyya. Movement, but also in circles outside, since every single word in it bears testimony to the deep devotion to God and the Holy Prophet

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Muhammad, which characterised the entire life of the Founder of Ahmadiyya Movement. (ii) Then, in the Annual Gathering of 1960,. I spoke on the same subject; and this Paper too was similarly appreciated. It has been published under title 'Durr-i-Manthur'. It embraces an account of some very interesting and charming events and incidents in the life of the Promised. Messiah, and some research in this connection.. This paper also has been translated into. English, in which form it has gone out to many foreign countries, winning high tributes from members of the Movement, as well as those outside this fold. The third Paper was read at the Annual Gathering in 1961, which has been published in Urdu under title Durr-i. Maknun'. This Paper also has been translated into English, and the translation is expected soon to come out in print.* It gives an account of miracles seen at the hands of the. Promised Messiah, the wonderful manner in which his prayers were accepted by God, and the great victories he won for Islam against the persons and forces ranged in opposition to this religion. This Paper too has been very well received;B and I have every hope that my Heavenly Master will be pleased to extend me a due reward for these Papers, and to *Since published, Durr-i-Maknun (Some Hidden Pearls)1962.

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also turn them into a source of blessings for the. Ahmadiyya Movement.. The Paper being presented in the Annual. Gathering this year forms the fourth link in this series, for which I have selected ‘Aa-eeni-Jamal as title, for this time my intention is to refer to aspects of the Life and personality of the promised Messiah which reflect his great charm and beauty. And indeed I have no capacity or power except what should come to me from Allah; and it is only on. Him that I depend for the purpose, and therefore it is only to Him that I turn.. MIRZA BASHIR AHMAD

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Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad M. A.

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MIRROR OF CHARM AND BEAUTY 1. As all of us are very well aware, the central point in the mission of the Promised. Messiah revolves round the position of Mehdi and Massih, which he claimed for himself.. On the basis of Revelation he received from. God, he claimed, that by the grace of God, he was the Mehdi whose advent towards the latter days has been promised in the Scriptures; that through him Allah would make Islam prevail a second time, so that the sun of this religion shall once more shine forth with the same splendour as it had done before, in its initial stage. In further explanation and exposition of this claim, he said that in fact two advents for the Holy. Prophet Muhammad had been intended by Allah: (i) the advent connected with the first era of *Name Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, born February, 1835, died May, 1908. 1

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i dispensation, which was characterised by strength and power, by awe and majesty, which manifested the dignity and splendour, of the position of Muhammadiyat'; ii) and the second advent, which was connected with his jamali name Ahmad-and was destined to materialise in a deputy and a most devoted servant, this later being the advent referred to in the Holy. Quran in Sura Al-Jumu'ah, that in the latter days a people would appear who would be schooled through a buruz, and a deputy of the. Holy Prophet. Accordingly, we find it stated in the Hadith that when the Quranic verse referred to above came down, and the Holy. Prophet was asked who were the people spoken of in this verse, he placed his hand on the shoulders of a devoted disciple named Salman the Persian, and replied that even if the Faith disappeared from the world, and became as far removed as the Pleiades, a stalwart of Persian extraction would bring it back to the earth (Bokhari, Tafsir Sura Jumu'ah).. So in these days, which certainly represent the latter times of the verse in question, Almighty. God has willed that the jamali splendour of the sacred name of Ahmad should be manifested at the hands of the Founder of the Ahmadiyya. Movement, who is of Persian extraction; and that, following the intervening period of weakness and 2

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1 decline, Islam should again make extraordinary progress, to spread all over the globe. Thus we find in our own day that the seed of this progress has been sown all over the world, through the extensive and triumphant missionary endeavour of the Ahmadiyya Movement; and now this seed shall prosper, to yield its flower and fruit, even as the Promised Messiah has foretold, on the basis of Revelations he received to this effect and there is no one in the world who can stop this from coming to pass.. This, and no other, is the rank and position of Mehdwiyyat, in regard to which the Holy Prophet Muhammad has said with great emphasis: "If in the span of life alloted to the universe there remains one single day, it would come to be lengthened by God. so that He should send the Reformer who would be mine own kin, his name being in accordance with my name, and his father's name the same as that of my father (this being a similitude to denote identical personality in spirit and purpose); by means of the light of guidance, this Reformer would fill the world with equity and justice, even though before his time it may have been full of iniquity and injustice" (Abu Daud, Vol. II, Kitabul. Mehdi'). The idea that the advent has been foretold 3

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in the Islamic Scriptures of a bloody Mehdi, who would spread Islam in the world at the point of his sword, is altogether absurd, and quite baseless. There is no such prophecy at all. Ideas of this kind are no more than superficial thinking on the part of short sighted people who took a parable and a similitude in literal meaning. Apart from numerous Quranic texts, which repudiate ideas of this kind, the absurdity of this view becomes evident, on a rational basis, the moment we remember that a faith imposed on the mind at the point of the sword can never breed the required degree of sincerity, without which all religious conviction is reduced to a sham, and a glaring mockery. Of hypocricy, of the state of mind that believes one thing and says something quite different, there is no greater enemy than. Islam. In denouncing the Hypocrites, the Holy. Quran goes so far as to say that, on the. Day of Judgement the Hypocrites would be thrown into the worst and the most awful portion of Hell.' 2. The second basic claim of the Promised. Messiah is that of Masihiyyat-i.e. he claimed to be the Messiah whose advent had been 4

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foretold in the Holy Quran and the Hadith, to the effect that in the latter days a Reformer, in the spirit of Jesus Christ, would appear among the Muslims, at a time and juncture when Christianity would be in a position of singular strength all over the globe, very advantagiously placed to spread the poison of its material and idolatrous views. At such a juncture, this Messiah of the Dispensation of Muhammad would expose the absurdity of Christian. Church doctrine, with reason and argument, of which the light and the force would be undeniable and irresistible. In the Holy Quran we read: "Allah would most certainly create. Khalifas, just as He had created Khalifas amongst the earlier people (the people of Moses); and through the instrumentality of these Khalifas,. Allah would protect His Own religion, from a state of fear and dread, changing to peace and tranquility in the mind of the Muslims" (The Holy Quran, Sura Nur).. Similarly, the Holy Prophet explains this in graphic and vivid detail, in the Hadith-and this is a passage of which the grandeur should be carefully noted: "Verily, I solemnly swear. in the name of Him Who holds my life in. His hand, that the Masiah, Ibn-i - Maryam, would most certainly appear in your midst. (in such a splendid manner as to seem as if he were 5

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coming down from the heavens); operating as the Arbiter and Judge among you, he would settle all your differences; and coming at a time when Christianity would be in great ascendance, he would break to pieces all its power and glory” (Sahih Bukhari, Bab Nazul-iIsa).. On the basis of Revelations from God. Almighty, Hazrat Ahmad, the Founder of the. Ahmadiyya Movement, claimed that he was the selfsame Mehdi and Masih, at whose hands is destined to take place the predominance of Islam as a religion, the progress and prosperity of the Muslims, as its followers, and the utter defeat of Christianity.. When you give proper thought to the matter, the claims that he was the Promised Mehdi, and the. Promised Mesih, represent one and the same identical position for this blessed Reformer, since both are really two branches, or two aspects, of one and the same mission. This is the reason, the explanation, why passages which embody prophecies in regard to the. Mehdi and Masih portray an identical set of circumstances. In his capacity as the Promised Mehdi, what was destined was the revival of Islam: it had been ordained by God in His wisdom, from the earliest beginning of time, that towards the latter days, when 6

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signs of decline would show themselves among the Muslims, and they would go they would go wrong in their beliefs, the Mehdi of this Ummat would appear, to set their thinking aright. By means of a divine knowlege, vouchsafed to him from heaven; by means of an inner light of true guidance; and with the God-given power of his soul, he would continue to raise the. Muslims to higher and still higher elevations and glories. On the other hand, being the Promised Masih, his mission would be that, appearing at the time of an unprecedented material grandeur of the Christian nations, he should break the power of the Cross to pieces, and make Islam prevail again in the world, even as it had prevailed in the First phase and era of its history. Mehdi and. Mesih are thus, two names given by the. Holy Prophet to the same identical Reformer, in view of the dual nature of his mission.. This is the reason why we find the Holy. Prophet saying clearly in a Hadith: "There is no Mehdi, except Isa" (Ibni Maja). An indication more plain than this is difficult to imagine, that the self-same Reformer who would come as the Promised Mehdi, he himself would be the Promised Masih as well. 7

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3. As I have already stated, these two names in fact, represent manifestations of Jamali attributes and, indeed, it was essential that it should have been so, since in these days the Muslims are not being subjected to religious pressure and persecution, to make them turn back and recant. Evidently, therefore, in times of peace, when no force was being used against the Muslims, to make them give up this religion, any application of force on the part of the Muslims, to consolidate the hold of this religion on the mind of any people, stood directly opposed to the Quranic injunction that "there should be no compulsion in matters pertaining to religion". For the Muslims to exercise any such compulsion would constitute an utter and flagrant repudiation of this clear and most valuable principle laid down by the Holy. Quran that truest of all guides in all that pertians to morality and ethics. Coming after. Moses, whose Khalifa he was, and who followed the Law of Moses, Jesus of Nazareth came fourteen hundred years later, in a Jamali spirit and colour: but the Jewish people, pinning their hopes to misconceived expectations, remained waiting for the descent from heaven. 8

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of Elias first, as had been promised (II Kings, 211 and Matthew chapters 11 and 17).. Similarly quite contrary to popular expectations, fourteen hundred years after the Holy. Prophet Muhammad, the Promised Mesih, instead of being sent down from the heavens, was raised from this earth itself; and just as Jesus of. Nazareth served the cause of his religion in a. Jamali manner, as was the need of the time, in view of the prevailing conditions, similarly it was ordained that the Masih-i-Muhammadi, in the most scrupulous allegiance and obdience to the. Holy Prophet, should serve the cause of Islam in a. Jamali manner, strictly in a spirit of peace, without bloodshed, war, or violenceto prove thereby, by means of his word of mouth, his written discourses, and the clear. Signs he would show in the furtherance of this cause, that Islam was indeed a religion of such a sweet, deep reasonable appeal to the human mind that it did not need to be pushed down the throat of humanity at the point of the sword. Friends should note with care how the Promised Messiah describes the purpose of his mission: "Allah has sent this Apostle, i.e. this. Perfect Mojaddid, so that He should prove that all religions and all teachings are worthless when compared with Islam; that 9

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Islam was indeed a religion that was far supperior to all other religions, in point of its beneficence and blessings, the knowledge and understanding it bestowed on those who came to it, and the heavenly. Signs it showed. It is the will and purpose of God that at the hand of this. Apostle he should make manifest the excellence and brilliance of Islam-and who is there that has the power to alter that which is the will and purpose of the. Lord? Allah found the Muslims, and their religion, in a weak and helpless condition during these days; and He has come that He should bring succour to these weak people, and to their religion and He is indeed AllPowerful. He does, even whatsoever He pleaseth. Addressing me, God has said, "Walk on the earth in thy power, and exultation, and hope, that people should know thy time has come; and that through thy being, and thy endeavour, the footsteps of the Muslims have reached the top of a firm and lofty minaret.. The followers of Muhammad have prevailed even the same Muhammad who is holy and the chosen one of Allah, the head and highest among all the 10

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Prophets. Allah will set right all thy works and He will grant to thee all thy wishes-even the Lord God, Who is the Lord of armies, and of hosts.. He will turn His attention in this direction and powerful help from heaven shall be provided for thee" (Tiryaqul. Qulub, page 61). 4. Walking in the footsteps of the Holy. Prophet Muhammad, with his reasoned and powerful style in speech and writing, the wonderful Sings he showed, and his spiritual teaching and exhortations, the Promised Messiah established a body of devoted followers, in the words of the Holy Quran, who were really a Body of the Followers of Muhammad in the Latter Days; and by the grace of God, this body of his followers, with their extraordinary endeavour, their preaching, their extensive literature, and their unprecendented financial sacrifices, have brought into being an organisation for carrying the message of Islam to all corners of the globe. Although in numerical strength, in financial and other kinds of means, this. Jama'at is still extremely weak, veritably only 11

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a minor fraction, as compared with the vast numbers of the of the rest rest of the Muslims, its missionaries have penetrated to the remotest parts of the earth, where they are striving day and night to uphold the banner of Islam, and the fair name of the Holy Prophet. Muhammad. Leaving aside India and Pakistan, more than a hundred missionaries are working in various well established mission centres, spread all over the world, where serious minded people are turning their attention to Islam.. In Europe and America, where, only forty or fifty years ago, there were people who regarded with a deep suspicion and prejudice everything connected with Islam, now, by the grace of God, and through the blessing of the prayers of the Promised Messiah, and the force of the great longing of his soul in this respect, there is coming to be visible a gradual change among these very people, so that a growing number among them have begun to book upon the Islamic Teaching with deep appreciation. The result is that the. Islamic principles, as an ideology, are rising higher and ever higher in the estimation of thinking people everywhere. It is of course true that this progress, as yet, is only like a seed just beginning to sprout out-as is always the way of God in regard to such 12

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things; but the vigour displayed by this seed is undoubtedly such that people gifted with discernment and a far-sighted vision even today can visualise the powerful, outspreading tree to which it is destined to grow very soon; and Christianity, for a long time which held an arbitrary mandate over practically the whole world, is now steadily shrinking in logical and moral defeat. In. Africa, where trained and subtle Christian missionaries were building a new citadel for the. Christian Church, their competent observers have been forced to confess that: "In Africa, if Christianity draws. to itself one person,. Islam attracts as many as ten into its fold" (World Christian Digest, June 1961. Sense translated from quotation given in Urdu).. It is only due to the grace of God, the spiritual concentration of the Promised. Messiah, his deep and soulful prayers in this behalf, and the humble endeavour of the. Ahmadiyya Movement, that leaving aside. Pakistan and Indian tetritories, in Europe,. America, Africa and Asia, alone, there are 32 Ahmadiyya missionary centres, with 118 missionaries. Of this force, 68 are Pakistanis, sent from the Headquarters of the Movement while 50 are local Ahmadis educated and trained for the work. It is to be carefully 13

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remembered that these are not mere mercenary workers they are people who believe in the. Islamic ideals with a depth of conviction that has actuated them to study this religion to its innermost soul, and then to dedicate their entire lives to the noble task of of carrying this light to mankind everywhere, at great personal hardship and trial, borne in cheerful fortitude, for a cause they hold to be the most worthy ; and as far as human eyes can see, they form part of the holy body of the godly people specially commended in the Holy Quran.. In other fields of activity, also, the Ahmadiyya Movement is characterised by the same kind of speed and effective planning for the holy war, waged in scrupulous peace, on which they have embarked for the good of mankind. For instance during the past few years, as many as 290 new mosques have been built in foreign countries. New schools and educational institutions started by the Movement in Europe, America, and Africa, number 44. Nineteen missionary journals are published from various foreign countries. Translations of the Holy Quran have been prepared in eleven. European, American, and African languages, of which five have come out in print, while arrangements are being made for publishing the remaining six as well. Missionary literature, 14

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tracts and leaflets, and what is specially with these activities published in the form of is in addition to all this; heartening in connection is the fact that their volume and range is increasing, widening from day to day. On the basis of this evidence, we can justifiably conclude that the day is not far distant in regard to which the Promised Messiah wrote as follows, in the light of knowledge in regard to the future vouchsafed to him in Revelations from God: "Ye all the people, listen carefully, and remember, that these prophecies are from. God Almighty, Who made the earth and the heavens. He will spread this,. His Own Movement, in all foreign countries; with reason and argument,. He will make it prevail everywhere.. The days are coming-indeed they are very near, when, all over the world, there shall be only one religion which people will mention with respect. Allah will invest this religion, i.e. Islam, and this Movement, i.e. the Ahmadiyya. Movement, with extraordinary blessings even such as shall seem to be supernatural; and He will utterly disappoint those who long to see its destruction.. And this dominance shall last for ever, 15

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even until the coming of Qiyama....... Very well, and clearly, bear in mind. that no one will come down from the heavens. All our opponents, alive at this moment, shall pass away from this world; but none among them shall see. Isa, son of Mary, coming down from the heavens. Then the children of their children also shall pass away, and they also shall not see the son of Mary coming down from the sky. Then Allah will cause a great uneasiness to spring up in their mind, that the time of the dominance of the Cross also had gone by and the world had passed into anther phase, another era, but Isa, the son of Mary, had not come down from the heavens. Then, all at once, so to say, people endowed with wisdom and discernment will get disgusted with this belief; and counting from this day, the third century will not be completed, when all those waiting for the appearance of Isa, among the Muslims, as well as the Christians, will give up this belief in a great disappointment and a piteous disillusionment. Then, all over the world, there shall be only one religion, only one guide, only one leader.

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I have come but to sow the seed, and this task has been duly achieved at my hand. The seed shall now grow and multiply; it will come into bloom and bear fruit and there is no one to stop it from doing so” (Tazkria-tul-Shahadatain, pages 64, 65).. By the grace of God, and owing to the heartfelt prayers of the Promised Messiah, and the devoted endeavour and sacrifices of the. Ahmadiyya Movement in this behalf, these splendid results we can now see duly flowing in front of our eyes; and thus they shall continue to show themselves, more and more in future, till the day of the dominance of Islam shall dawn, making it clear before the whole world that Allah does indeed hold in His hand the key to all power, progress and prosperity - and that for its propagation,. Islam does not need the application of any force or compulsion, since it possesses the power to conquer the hearts of mankind on the strength of its extraordinary beauty, its spiritual appeal, and the great attraction of the person and beautiful example of the. Messiah of the Muhammadi dispensation, this being the Reflection of Beauty in a Mirror which I shall try to describe in the course of this Paper. 17

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5. The Promised Messiah, Founder of the. Ahmadiyya Movement, was born on Friday,. This was the time of Sikh. Punjab, and the closing. February 13, 1835. supremacy in the period of the rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.. Hazrat Ahmad's father, Mirza Ghulam Murtaza, died in 1876%; and though, even prior to this, Revelation and Inspiration had started to come to him from God, subsequent to the sad demise of his father it grew in volume and frequency, to such an extent that it came to resemble a steady downpour of rain from the heavens. In other words, the moment he was deprived of the protecting hand of his father, Allah Himself firmly took hold of his hand.. In March, 1882, the Promised Messiah received the first Revelation of the call to the. Ministry (Braheen-i-Ahmadiyya, Part III), page 228), this having been the beginning of the great spiritual Jehad, right from the time of. Adam, which has been waged by every Reformer and Apostle from God. But even to this day, the Promised Messiah had not started taking bai'at (pledge of initiation and loyalty) 18

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from those who flocked round him; nor had foundation of the. But, in obedience he yet laid down the. Ahmadiyya Movement. to Divine command, this step was taken early in 1889, from which time began a steady recruitment into a heavenly army. Having received Revelations to this effect, the Promised. Messiah, soon after, put forth the claim that he was the Promised Messiah, and Mehdi.. This gave rise to a furious storm of opposition on all sides, which raged without abatement till the time of his death, in 1908. In fact, the opposition continued to increase in volume, range, and ferocity, all sects and sections of the people looking upon Participation in this unholy campaign as a matter for great pride. As stated by the Holy Quran, thus was the Divine Sunnat fulfilled, that no. Reformer ever comes from God, except that he is denied by his people, violently opposed, and subjected to vile abuse and ridicule (Sura. Ya-seen, verse 31).. After receiving the Revelation which called him to the Divine mission, the Promised Messiah lived for slightly over 26 years. After he had started taking bai'at, he lived in this world for about 20 years, counted in lunar years, which period makes neary 21 years. On one side, all this long period was spent in extreme 19

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opposition, of a very painful type, on the part of the common people and the Ulama ; while, on the other, it was, throughout, marked by an extraordinary manifestation of the. Promised Messiah's singularly arresting Jamali attributes. This being the Sunnat of Allah, and just as it had happened in the case of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, some people, very close of kin, also took up an extremely hostile attitude; people of the small town where he was born; the rural and urban people all over the country; the rich and the poor; the. Ulama among the Muslims %; those with the. Western type of education, as well as the common people among them; the Christians, and the Hindus, and the followers of all other religions; in short, the people of all sections. and sects joined this virulent and unholy camppaign, with equal misguided fervour. But at every step the remarkable Jamali attributes of the Promised Messiah shone forth with an extraordinary brilliance, even until the whole world came to perceive that this full moon, which had taken its light from the sun, that was the Holy Prophet Muhammad, was certainly not one which the brilliance could be put under a shadow by anything they might do against him. As the days went by, the righteously inclined, from all sections, classes, 20

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and religions, began to be attracted to his mission; and by the time of his death nearly four hundred thousand devoted men and women had been gathered into the fold.. Since the source of all beauty and goodness is Almighty God alone, while explaining what is meant by Jamali attributes, the Promised. Messiah has has very beautifully put it in a couplet :. When I saw the moon last night,. I was overcome by a great. Restlessness, since it bore. A trace of the Beauty. Which characterises the Sweetheart! (Surma Chashm-i-Arya). As if drunk with the love of God, he says further in the same poem :. Without Thee, I get. No peace, even for a moment:. My heart begins to sink,. As sinks the heart of a man. Who is seriously ill.. Please, O please look. Quickly, and see. What is this commotion.. This noise in Thy lane,. Lest some one, in the mad. Intensity of his emotions,. Should come to lose his life! 21

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6. The truth is that the real source of the beauty of everything in this world is only. God. It is He that invests all beautiful things with the appeal which belongs to them; and it is He, alone, that bestows stateliness and grandeur on them. While in one you find the strong, dazzling light, like that of the sun, which the eye cannot bear to look at, such is the majesty and awe it inspires in the heart of man, in the other you find a coolness and peace, as one feels when looking at the moon which works like magic; and the wisdom of. God has demanded that in the case of His. Apostles and Prophets He should institute phases of Jalal and Jamal. Although Moses and. Jesus were both Prophets in one and the same chain, obeying and operating the same law, the specific conditions of the times of each necessitated that, along with the new law given to Moses, he should be invested with Jalal, great majesty and awe, while Jesus came to serve the same law in a Jamali manner and spirit. In the New Testament, Jesus himself plainly conceded his subordinate position in this respect, when he said: "Think not that I am 22

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come to destroy the law, or the Prophets I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily. I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” (Matthew 5:17,18). The same two phases of Jalal and Jamal are also found in the Muhammadi dispensation. The Holy Prophet Muhammad came with a Jalali manifestation, of which the dazzling splendour conquered Arabia, rather, in fact, the entire known world of the day, in a strikingly brief spell of time. But his devoted servant, his perfect zil, the Messiah of the. Muhammadi dispensation, came with a gentle and soft light, which characterises the silver sickle of a new moon, which gradually waxed into the cool splendour of the moon when it is full, and slowly came to envelop the whole world in the great charm of its magic appeal.. These phases of Jalal and Jamal in heavenly movements are based on a great and deep wisdom. When Allah desires to set up a new. Shariya, and a new order based on that Shariya,. He raises a Reformer in a Jalali manifestation.. On the basis of a firin organisation, such a. Reformer creates a new body of men who subject their lives to the new law, creating a basis for a new kind of society, which necessitates a measure of political power. But when the introduction of a new Shariya is not the will 23

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and purpose of God, and the aim is only revival of a former Shariya, and the reformation of beliefs and actions in the light previously provided, the Reformer appears in a Jamali complexion, who works more through gentleness, love, sympathy, a spirit of humility, education, and reformatory programmes. Prayers and miracles, however, are a common feature of both kinds of manifestations, i.e.. Jalali and Jamali, since both these factors constitute the soul in all spiritual and religious orders, all organisations and social set ups. Moses came with a Jalali manifestation of his power as a Prophet; and Jesus, appearing 1400 years afterwards, came in a Jamali manifestation, characterised by a gentleness, a humility of spirit and approach. Similarly, the Holy Prophet. Muhammad came in Jalali manifestation, with a grandeur, a political power and prestige, which made his enemies tremble with fear; while 1400 years afterwards his disciple, his devoted servant,. Ahmad, the Messiah of the Muhammadi dispensation, came in a spirit of peace, with a white banner, from the firmament of divine guidance and ; thus has been fulfilled what had been said by Allah-fulfilled with justice and truth. 24

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7. As I have stated just now, the Promised. Messiah was a reformer who came with a. Jamali manifestation, as a deputy and servant of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, just as, in the dispensation of Moses, Jesus had come with a Jamali complexion. It is, however, to be remembered that where a Reformer appears in Jamali or Jalali manifestation of his power, it does not mean that his mission bears no sign of the corresponding manifestation-that a Jamali Reformer has no Jalali aspect at all nor a Jalali Reformer any Jamali complexion in the nature of his mission. What is meant by these terms and expressions is just this that a Jamali, or Jalali aspect dominates, in their character and personality, and in the main events of their ministry. Otherwise, all. Reformers, Apostles, and Prophets, bear both a Jalali and Jamali manifestation, though either the one, or the other aspect predominates in their method of work, and the achievements of their ministry. Allah sends Reformers in. Jalali manifestions when the occasion demands the establishment of a new Law and a new. Shariya, or for its consolidation. On the other hand, a Reformer is a Jamali Reformer when 25

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this aspect predominates in his mission and achievement, though on occasions the Jalali complexion, too, gleams out in portions of his ministry. But the focal point of their ministry remains predominantly Jamali. Moreover, the Jalali and Jamali aspects are also to be found in the work of the Khalifas and successors of the Reformers. Looked at from this angle, Hazrat Abu Bakr's Khilafat had a Jamali complexion, while Hazrat Umar was a Jalali Khalifa. Similarly, in the Ahmadiyya. Movement, the first Khalifa, Hazrat Maulvi. Nur-ud-Din had a Jamali aspect. But, as stated in the prophecy in regard to the Muslih. Mau'ud, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II has been. held to constitute a Jalali manifestation of the awe and majesty of God. The deep wisdom which underlies the Jalali and Jamali manifesfestations in various heavenly ministries constitutes a vast and a fascinating subject in itself, of which we need not here go into the details.. In any case, since the Promised Messiah, the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement, was a Jamali Reformer, like Jesus of Nazareth, the Jamali aspect predominates both in his personality, as well as the character of his ministry and one comes to feel as if this embodiment of graciousness, love, gentle counsel, 26

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and forgiveness, had taken his birth under the special influence of those aspects of the. Holy Prophet Muhammad, to which his well. known attributive name of Ahmad was, in the first place, most appropriately applicable. The. Promised Messiah, married; and he had children, and a band of devoted followers, while his enemies too reached the limits in their deep hostility. Efforts were made to inflict serious injury on him; conspiracies were hatched with these end in view; false criminal and civil suits were instituted against him in the law courts of the country, to cause loss of time and energy; and a compaign was also launched to turn the government of the land against him, by means of supplying false and grossly misleading reports in regard to the nature and purpose of his mission. His followers also were subjected to various kinds of persecution. But throughout his life, the Promised Messiah maintained an attitude of gentleness, forgiveness and an all embrasive kindness, not only for those who were his kin, and his relations, but towards all mankind, including his bitterest opponents, and enemies. He also remained consistently loyal towards the lawfully established government, even though many of its administrators subjected him to annoyance and persecution, in various ways. All this was a manifestation of the Jamali aspect of his ministry, of which 27

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another instance is not found in human annals of his times. 8. In my Paper last year I stated how a former ruler of Afghanistan, namely Amir. Habibullah Khan, had one of his most influential nobles and religious leaders, of such outstanding eminence that he had officiated at the coronation, buried waist-deep in the ground, and stoned to death in that position, for no other offence except this that he had yielded belief to the Promised Messiah; and that to the very last moment of his life, this great martyr continued to proclaim that whatever the consideration, he was not prepared to deny a truth which he had seen with his own eyes, had felt with the whole force of his being. When this same ruler of Afghanistan, who had ordered Syed Abdul Latif to be killed with such torture, subsequently came on a visit to India, as a guest of the British government, the news came out in the press that on occasions he had entered mosque for prayers with his shoes on, without taking the trouble to remove them, as is normally done in India. This action on his part was severely 28

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condemned by popular opinion, as flagrant violation of the sanctity of a mosque. Some member of the Ahmadiyya Movement carried the news to the Promised Messiah as well, that the Amir was said to have offered an afront to the mosque, by going in with his shoes on, and by offering his prayers in that condition. But the Promised Messiah at once checked the man in question, and said: “in this matter, the Amir was right, for it is permissible to offer prayers with one's shoe's on (Badr, April 11, 1907).. It is reasonable to assume in this connection that perhaps the man in question narrated the incident under the impression that, since the Amir had ordered a devoted Ahmadi to be stoned to death, in such a barbarous manner, simply because Syed Abdul Latif had accepted the Promised Messiah, Hazrat. Ahmad would be pleased to hear of the unpopularity incurred by the Amir, and would give expression to his displeasure against this ruler. But the Promised Messiah, that embodiment of justice and fairplay even for his enemies, immediately checked the man by saying plainly that "the Amir in this case was justified in what he did, since it was permissible to offer prayers, offer prayers, in circumstances, with shoes on." Here is arresting proof of the universal graciousness and mercy of the 29

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Promised Messiah for all mankind-his friends, and even his enemies, for the high and low, for his own people, and for those who were strangers to him. 9. Here I am reminded of another incident in the life of the Promised Messiah, which illustrates his forgiveness and graciousness for all. Sheikh Yaqub Ali, a well known journalist, has stated in his "Hyat-i-Ahmad" that on one occasion, when the Promised Messiah happened to be in Lahore, he was on his way back to the place where he was staying, after offering his prayers in a local mosque. At one point on the route he was suddenly attacked by a strong and heavily built man, who, incidently, claimed that he was the. Mehdi, and subscribed to belief in a Kalima to the effect that the Mehdi was an Apostle of God, instead of the Muslim Kalima that. Muhammad was the Apostle of God. He took the Promised Messiah in a firm grip, and tried to throw him prone on the ground. He did not succeed in this, but I have heard from another source that on account of the 30

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sudden, unexpected attack, the Promised Messiah staggered on his feet to some extent, and his turban narrowly escaped falling off his head. But a devoted disciple, Syed Amir. Ali, of Sialkot, who was present, at once grappled with the man. He pushed the assailant away, and was on the point of chastising him for the affront, and for taking the law in his own hands, when the Promised Messiah divined what was about to happen to the man in question. With a quiet smile, and speaking very gently, he said to Syed Amir Ali: “Shah sahib, let the man go. Do not say anything to him. What he did was a natural act on his part, since he thinks I have usurped the title which rightfully belongs to him. (Hyati-Ahmad, Vol. III, page 210).. Sheikh Yaqub Ali has stated further that after this incident to the time when the Promised Messiah reached the place of His temporary residence, he continued frequently to look back, as he walked along, lest, in his anger, some Ahmadi should inflict a beating on the culprit ; and he continued to repeat with emphasis that the poor misguided man should be forgiven and left alone. In one of his poems, the Promised Messiah has very well expressed his mind and temperament:. I hear vile abuse from people, 31

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And pray for the welfare. Of these people indeed. The feeling of mercy. Is in flux in my heart,. And I have reduced the feeling. Of resentment and anger. In my mental make up.. But it is interesting to note the jealous act of God in connection with this incident.. The Promised Messiah did indeed forgive the man; but Allah punished him in a singular manner, which was in keeping with the preeminent position of the Promised Messiah. Mr.. Irfani relates that sometime later a brother of this assailant, who called himself Paighambra singh, became an Ahmadi; and he became so devoted that he very contritely apologised for what his brother had done. In fact not only did he do this, but in the very same town where his brother had committed the outrage, on a public occasion he publicly tendered his allegiance to the Promised Messiah.. It is interesting to remember that this devoted Ahmadi called himself by the name of Paighambra Singh, because prior to his acceptance of Ahmadiyyat, his claim had been that he was a Guru, or an Autar, for the. Sikhs. However, after Allah had opened for him what was the truth, he found peace and tranquility of soul at the feet of the Promised 32

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:. Messiah. (Hyat-i-Ahmad, Vol. III page 210). This Paighambra Singh was a tall man, of a heavy build, and he was deeply devoted to the Promised Messiah. Frequently one used to see him singing songs in praise of the. Master. Often, too, he would go about wearing a robe similar to the Chola Sahib of. Guru Nanak, with verses of the Holy Quran written on it, exactly as in the case of the said Chola Sahib. Friends should here note that this is a case of the same subtle kind of revenge on the part of God as was exacted by Him in the case of Abu Jehl, by bringing his son and heir, Ikramah, into the fold of Islam, as a most devoted and heroic champion of the Faith, after he had come to accept it, even until he died a martyr on the field of battle. In the history of the Ahmadiyya Movement, instances of this kind are found in thousands, where the father is a bitter opponent, but the son becomes a most devoted disciple. In the style of a parable and a simile, the Promised Messiah has very well said "Sometimes people obtain conquest over you by means of peace, and sometimes by means of war." (Braheen-i-Ahmadiyya, part II, page 130) 33

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10 graciousness and. An incident of similar mercy on the part of the Promised Messiah also took place in the case of Malavamal, an. Arya Samajist of Qadian. From the days of his youth, this man had had been in frequent contact with Hazrat Ahmad, and was thus an eye witness of many Signs and miracles. But in his prejudice against Ahmadiyyat, he was so far advanced that on many occasions when the Promised Messiah called upon him to bear witness to these Signs and miracles, he always held back. At one time, this Malavamal fell a victim to tuberculosis, and his condition became almost hopeless. In deep despair, he repaired to the Promised Messiah, in tears, over his dire distress, begging the Promised. Messiah, to favour him with prayer for his recovery. The Promised Messiah in the proverbial gentleness and kindliness of his heart, was greatly touched, and prayed for his recovery, whereat he received a Revelation to the following effect: "O thou flame (of disease) cool down, and turn into a means of safety." (Haqiqatul Wahyi, Sign 117, page 265). Subsequently, Lala Malavamal completely recovered from the fell disease, after it had 34

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developed into virtually a message of death for him. And not only that he lived to be nearly a centinarian, and died in Qadian many years after partition of the country. To the time of his death, he remained a firm Arya. Samajist. But the impression on his mind of the righteousness of the Promised Messiah, and the Signs which he had witnessed with his own eyes, was so deep and profound, that at the time of partition, when bloody disorder broke out in Qadian and the surrounding area, and the Hindus and Sikhs subjected the Muslim population to an inhuman persecution, killing even old men, women and children, including some Ahmadis as well, and when Hazrat. Khalifatul Masih was forced to migrate to. Pakistan, with most of the Ahmadi population, leaving behind only a small body of men to look after the sacred places of the Movement at the Centre-in those critical days, this Lala. Malavamal sent for his son, Lala Dataram, and said: "Take care that you do not take part in Hindu and Sikh activities directed against the. Ahmadis, for there is a prophecy of the Founder of the Movement that his followers will, at some future date, again come back to Qadian; and I have seen myself in the course of life a number of times that whatever was foretold by Mirza Sahib, always subsequently came to pass. ". Masal, (File) Reports from Qadian 35

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11. In the Riwayat connected with Lala Malawamal, set down above a reference has just been made to a prophecy of the Promised. Messiah that the Ahmadies, at one stage, would be forced to migrate from Qadian, but would return to it after some time. This remarkable prophecy contains a number of very arresting facets; and by the grace of God, when the time comes for its fulfilment the splendeur of the prophecy would burst forth and come fully into view; and the world shall not only see that the key to knowledge of events still in womb of the future rests only in the hands of. God, but that the ultimate control of all sorts of events and changes also lies only with God Almighty. It is now long past since the day when the Promised Messiah received the following Revelation from Allah: "Dagh-iHijrat", i.e., "Thou or the members of thy. Movement shall have to undertake a painful migration" (September 1894, as referred to in. Tashhizul Azhan, for June and July, 1908).. On the basis of this Revelation, and also in view of the general sunnat of the Apostles of Allah, the Promised Messiah had the impression, to which sometimes he also gave 36

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expression, that he in his lifetime, or his followers after him, will have to migrate from. Qadian; and this Revelation came to be fulfilled in 1947, in a most clear and remarkable manner, in a set of the most unexpected and extraordinary circumstances. Even though the Muslims formed the majority in the population of district Gurdaspore, and even though the principle on which partition of the country was effected was that Muslim majority areas would go to Pakistan, the political arbiters threw Qadian and the surrounding area on the Indian side, which forced the. Head of the Movement along with his followers, and the other Muslims, to migrate to. Pakistan in great hardship and sacrifice. Thus the remarkable Revelation quoted above came to be fulfilled, in all its attendant bitterness.. The half part of the prophecy, which pertained to migration from Qadian has thus been fulfilled, and now forms part of history, as a great Sign witnessed at the hands of the. Promised Messiah. Qadian was the birth place of the Promised Messiah, the place where he was brought up, and lived all his life. it was here that he offered his deep prayers, and performed his worship of God, with a devotion which, in its effect, shook the heaven and earth; and Qadian is also the place where his sacred remains, along with a large 37

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number of his loyal followers lie buried. In the untoward events which followed partition, this sacred place has slipped out of the hands of the Ahmadiyya Movement. This is the first part of the decree of God, and one that is extremely bitter for us, and a great trial.. But we must not forget that this decree from heaven is also constantly sounding the alarm that the remaining portion of the prophecy is also coming to be fulfilled, in its own good time, that the Ahmadis one day would go back to Qadian, the sacred Headquarters of the Movement, this being a development for which we should constantly pray most earnestly and devoutly. Revelation of the Promised Messiah bearing on our return to Qadian runs as follows: "Lord of the earth, and the heavens, Who has enjoined propagation of the Holy Quran as a duty binding upon thee, even He shall take you back some day to the place (Qadian) which is thy native home; and for thy help I shall arrive with my armies suddenly, most un-expectedly, when the time comes" (Kitabul Bariyya & Tazkira, page 313).. This heavenly decree part of the prophecy in forms the second question; and we rest assured in the fullest conviction that it shall, without doubt, come to be fulfilled in 38

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Chosen One back its own good time. We of course cannot say when this is going to be; these matters form part of the great Unknown, which lies beyond human ken. But we know it as a matter of the firmest conviction, that Qadian, which has been the seat of the of Allah in his life, will come to us, in whatever form and manner is held meet and proper; and this is something which we should make safe and secure in our records, for the benefit of our coming generations.. Heaven and earth may pass away, but this decree from God is a verity which nothing can manage to alter. We, as Ahmadis, are not disloyal to a lawfully established government; the clear and binding order to us, of. God and His Apostle, is this that we should always remain scrupulously loyal to the government under which we live. Therefore, the loyal. Ahmadis of Pakistan are, undobtedly, to Pakistan, while those of us who are in. Bharat are equally loyal to the government of that country; and so on in the case of all other Ahmadis wheresoever they are to be found. Allegations, or suspicions in regard to our allegiance are lies, pure and simple. By the grace of God, we are followers of a Reformer from God, reared on honesty, sincerity and truth. We say only what we have been told by God. This principle forms 3)

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an integral part of our Faith, and of all our political thinking; and when you come to think of it dispassionately, you will at once realise that this principle is one that is the most true, if peace is to be maintained over the earth. We must not forget, however, that this Taqdir is one of those heavenly decrees which make themselves manifest all of a sudden. when least expected, for the chain of events which lead to its culmination remain unseen and unsuspected by human eyes, and only the ultimate result bursts forth suddenly into view. Without the least shadow of doubt. this is what is going to happen in the case of this prophecy. But as to when and how. these things belong to the Unseen and Unknown, of which the knowledge rests only with God Almighty a point on which it is needless for us to speculate. The powers of the Lord are so extensive, so absolute, that when. He once decides that a thing should transpire in a particular wise, the instant He gives the order "Be", conditions and circumstances begin to fall into line, from which the required result comes out as something that is inevi table and quite unavoidable. There is thus no need for us to fall into the slightest despair. We should keep our aims pitched high; and we should not slacken in our prayers and sacrifice: we should continue to 40 ;

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mould our lives on a pattern of truth and righteousness, so that the promised time should come soon. The God which Islam believes in has even the power that, in His own special control, He should bring into being a set of conditions and circumstances, of which the natural consequence should ripen into a peaceful and just settlement between. Pakistan and Bharat. In one of his poems, the Promised Messiah has very beautifully said:. With a manifestation. Of His immense and absolute. Powers, Allah brings into being. A clear proof in regard to His existence ;. And this is what constitutes. A display of His face. On the part of the One,. Essentially, who remains invisible. To the Physical eyes.. Whatsoever He comes to say. He would bring about,. Nothing, and no one can alter. Its due occurrence ;. And this is exactly wherein lies. The essence of His Lordship. Over everything there is. In the great vastness. Of the immeasurable universe. 41

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12. I was just now talking of drops of the graciousness and mercy of God which fell on people through their contact with the Promised Messiah, without distinction of friends and foes, and on all classes and sections of the people, according to the merits of each. This blessed shower came to the share of friends. of course, more than those who were not connected with him in ties of loyalty and devotion; but many of those outside this circle also received a share sometimes. How an Arya Samajist, and otherwise a firm opponent of the Promised Messiah, benefited by this rain has been described above; and now I proceed to narrate how a poor and a humble. Ahmadi woman, who came to Qadian from distant Kabul, Afghanistan, recovered from a painful malady, solely through prayer offered by the Promised Messiah on her behalf. Amatullah Bibi came to Qadian in childhood, from. Kabul, with her father and uncle, Syed Sahib. Nur and Syed Ahmad Nur, after the martyrdom of Syed Abdul Latif. In her childhood she suffered a great deal on account of some trouble with her eyes, which remained red and swollen, to such an extent that any attempt to open 42

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to me that she residence of the she could, and them entailed severe torture. Her parents tried various treatments, but the ailment did not respond to any, and the child became fed up with the remedies with which she was being plagued by her parents. Then, in a mood of desparation, one day, she ran away from her mother, who wanted to apply some medicine. "No mother,” she cried, "all these remedies have proved simply useless. I will no longer submit to their application. I will beg the. Promised Messiah to bless me with his breath.". Amatullah Bibi has related then betook herself to the. Promised Messiah, as best there, with tears, she begged Hazrat Ahmad to bless her ailing and extremely painful eyes with his heavenly breath. "When the Promised. Messiah looked at me, he found that my eyes were extremely red, and I was in great pain. "He took a little saliva from his mouth on the tip of his finger, and this he applied to the eyes, praying the while in his mind for recovery of the child. Then he kindly placed his hand on her head, and exclaimed: "There, child, you can go now. By the grace and mercy of Allah, this trouble will not recur.". Amatullah Bibi then told me that she never had any trouble with her eyes after 43

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that she was only about ten when this happened ; and she this. She told years of age was an old narrated this occurence to me. In other words, that simple treatment of her eyes, on the part of the Promised Messiah, accompanied as it was by his prayer in this behalf, remained effective for a long period of nearly sixty years, through all the varying circumstances of her life, during this the better part of half a century. woman of nearly 70 when she. I might add here that friends should bear in mind, that this method of 'breathing' on a person or thing, in order to bless it, really speaking, is only a way of prayer, in which the supplication present in the heart, or on the lips, is also accompnied by a concentration of looks, and a touch of the fingers; and this is a kind of treatment which also stands in record, in the Hadith, from the. Holy Prophet Muhammad himself. This is also the way Jesus Christ cured many of the sick who came to him for relief. In praise of the. Holy Prophet, some poet has very aptly and beautifully said: 44. Indeed you possess the beauty. Of Joseph, the curing. Breath of Jesus Christ,. And the White Hand of Moses.. In fact, whatsoever of quality

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And excellence belonged to all other. Righteous servants of the Lord,. You possess all that. In your own single person.. In connection with the method of treatment of disease, by means of 'dam', meaning 'breathing', as it is usually called, it is also to be remembered, that it is reliably on record as having been resorted to in some cases by the Holy Prophet Muhammad and the Promised Messiah. But it is a method that should not be used too frequently%3B for otherwise it would tend, in unworthy hands, to degenerate into a magic formula, and a kind of superstitious belief, since any carelessness in this behalf is likely to lead to various sorts of undesirable innovations. The better, and the safer way, would be to adopt the method for prayer which is the widely known and established way, in the light of the Holy Quran; and in circumstances which should give rise to an impulse to try the method of 'dam', only some really righteous and pious person should be approached for the purpose. As has been duly cautioned by the Promised Messiah himself, there is danger, otherwise, that, instead of yielding any real blessing, it should end in opening the way for injurious views and practices. 45

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13). I have just mentioned how a patient suffering from a very painful ailment was cured by the Promised Messiah. Other instances of this kind abound in the life of the Promised. Messiah not one or two, not ten or twenty, but literally in-numerable, of which some have been mentioned by the Promised Messiah in his memorable work, entitled “Haqiqatul Wahi" while others have been carefully preserved in the breast of the people concerned, or they have been privately reduced to writing by them. Out of this very large number, I would here refer only to one more instance.. Most members of the Ahmadiyya Movement know Hazrat Mir Muhammad Ishaq sahib, my uncle from my mother's side. He received education from Hazrat Maulvi Nur-ud-Din, the first Khalifa of the Promised Messiah, and from some other learned Ulama among the. Ahmadis; and then, on the basis of his native intelligence, and the great liking he had for knowledge and scholarship, he developed into one of our topmost scholars. His dars of the Holy Quran and the Hadith was highly appreciated, while as a debator also he was an extremely able and convincing speaker, in 46

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which capacity no Arya or Christian missionary ever proved to be any kind of match for him.. In the days of his childhood, Hazrat Mir. Mohammad Ishaq fell ill. His condition became serious, and the doctors lost hope. When the. Promised Messiah offered prayers for his recovery, he received a Revelation from God, while he was still engaged in his suplications. The words of the Revelation, translated into English, were: "Thy prayer has been accepted, and the gracious God conveys to thee the glad tiding in regard to the recovery of this child." Hazrat. Mir Muhammad Ishaq then was restored to perfect health, although, at one stage, his medical attendants had given up hope. He lived for forty years after this, to render signal service to Ahmadiyyat and Islam, and to sow the seed of many kinds of good in this world. He passed away nearly at the age of 55. "All that is on it (earth) will pass away And there will remain only the Person of thy Lord, Master of Glory and Honour." (the Holy Quran 55:27, 28).. But in connection with this incident I desire to point to a circumstance which, certainly, is of the nature of an extremely interesting, and delicate, and subtle miracle. Forty years after this event, when the time came for Mir sahib to pass off into the next life, and when, under 47

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the command of God, the angels called out his name, I was present by his bed-side. He was in a state of semi coma, and Hafiz. Mohamad Ramzan was reciting Sura Yasin, according to the traditional way for such occasions. In his recital, when Hafiz Mohammad. Ramzan reached the verse quoted above, which in the illness of his childhood had brought for him the glad tiding of his recovery, he drew his last breath, and passed to his Creator.. In other words, in the days of his childhood, this particular verse, as dropped on the heart of the Promised Messiah, brought to him the news that he would recover from the illness then, forty years later, in his old age, the same verse opened for him the door to the graciousness and mercy of the Lord in the next life.. Certainly, this is not a matter of mere chance, of mere coincidence. Here one cannot but pause, and reflect. The powers and the ways of Almighty God are indeed most strange, and, for man, past all finding out. Like the pressing of a button, the same switch, so to speak, when touched, brought renewed health and vigour for Mir Muhammad Ishaq; and then forty years later it opened for him the way into the next life, and into the gardens of. Heaven. Both these scenes, for Mir Muhammad. Ishaq, were replete with extraordinary graciousness and mercy from God; while for the 48

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Promissd Messiah, they make manifest the. Jamali grandeur of his elevated position. May. Allah shower his choicest blessings on the. Holy Prophet Muhammad, on his progeny, and on his servants. 14. Now I desire to refer to a small incident, which graphically indicates the extraordinary degree of the kindliness and consideration, for his kith and kin, which characterised the dealings of the Promised Messiah even though some of them were violently opposed to him, and gave him no end of trouble, by constant petty vexations, and even serious attempts to inflict loss or other kinds of injury on him.. As a matter of fact, it is small incidents and happenings of this kind, in the circle of a man's private, domestic life, where simulation is not possible, which indicate his real nature and purpose, more fully and clearly, than anything that transpires on the stage, so to say, in full view of the whole world. Once the Promised Messiah was talking to Hazrat. Ammajan, when the two were standing in a room that had been newly built. Playing around in my childhood, with some other boys, I also happened to reach the spot at this time. The 49

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window in this room was open, which gave a view of a portion of the building nearby where lived a cousin of the Promised Messiah, whose name was Mirza Nizam-ud-Din. Intent on my preoccupation with the game of the moment,. I happened to remark to my playmates: "Look, that is the house of Nizam-ud-Din.” These words, uttered by me in a kind of childish unconcern, happened to catch the ears of the. Promised Messiah. At once he turned to me and said: "Look, my boy, he is after all your uncle. You should not name him without respect, like that." (Seeratul Mehdi,. Riwayat 37).. I have mentioned in some other connection, that even though Mirza Nizam-ud-Din was a close relation of the Promised Messiah, having been a first cousin, he was extremely hostile to Hazrat Ahmad%;B and this was the reason why the ties of relationship lay in a general abeyance, and there was a feeling of remoteness, between the two families. It was a result of this general atmosphere that I referred to my uncle in this manner, in the careless way of children which, seemingly, was one of a certain measure of disrespect. But such was the high moral state of mind of the Promised Messiah that immediately the words dropped from my lips, I was suitably reprimanded and corrected. The effect 50

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of this admonition was so deep on me that his words sank into my mind like a steel nail; and I have never again dared refer to any elder of mine in the same casual manner, nor even those who are younger than myself.. I would like to add here that friends should take care to bring up their children on this high moral standard. They should not fail to apply a suitable corrective, whenever they happen to notice any error of the kind, large or small, since a corrective properly applied in the days of childhood has a great and lasting value, not possible at any other stage.. The Promised Messiah often used to remark that the way of religion lies in the proper observance of a respectful attitude towards all those to whom it is due. I strongly and most sincerely wish that every Ahmadi would stick to this golden principle as a standing guide in life. 15. In this connection I am also reminded of another incident. Once the Promised Messiah learnt that this same Mirza Nizam-ud-Din, who was a bitter opponent, was seriousiy ill.. The Promised Messiah overlooked the hostility which this gentleman displayed on every possi51

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ble occasion; and he went in person to his cousin's house, to inquire after his health.. Mirza Nizam-ud-Din was so ill at the time that his mind also appeared to have been affected to a certain extent. The Promised Messiah suggested some treatment, and through the grace of God the patient recovered. Hazrat. Ammajan told me that on this occasion the. Promised Messiah went to inquire after his health, the moment he learnt of the illness of this cousin, who was bitterly hostile, and remained such all his life. (Seeratul Mehdi,. Part III, Riwayat 511). It is well to remember here that this Mirza Nizam-ud-Din is the same gentleman who instituted a number of court cases against the Promised Messiah, without any basis, simply to cause him annoyance. He even went to the length of building up a wall, which blocked the way to the mosque, for the Promised Messiah and his followers; and on a number of poor Ahmadis he inflicted humiliating tortures, of which even the mere mention is unpleasant for a decent minded person (Seeratul Mehdi, Vol. I,. Rawayet 140).. This incident affords confirmation, in action, of the words of the Promised Messiah, to which I referred in my Paper on Zikr-i-Habib read last year, that even among his enemies there was none for whose welfare he had 52

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not prayed at least twice in his life. (Malfuzat,. Vol. III, pages 97, 98). Here one can only marvel at the grandeur of the share which the Promised Messiah received from the grace and mercy of God; and I wish and pray that members of the Ahmadiyya Movement, men and women, old and young, educated and uneducated, should come come to receive a similar share, as their heritage from the. Promised Messiah, so as to become perfect mirrors for reflecting the Jamali grandeur conferred by God on their teacher and master, 16. In spite of the extraordinary Jamali attributes of the Promised Messiah, and his matchless beauty in word and act, in conformity with the characteristic way of God in such matters, all classes and castes of the people ranged themselves in severe opposition to him, and left no stone unturned, in their endeavour to create various kinds of difficulties in his way, and to bring on him failure in his mission. In fact they closed on him all the doors they could think of. in this connection I desire here to refer to another small incident. In 1905 the Promised. Messiah visited Delhi, from which town hailed 53

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his blessed spouse, our mother. But curiously enough, before going there, he saw in a dream that he had gone to Delhi, but had found all the doors of the town closed on him. (Tazkira, page 568); and this was exactly how it came to transpire. When he reached. Delhi, all kinds and classes of the people of that town rose in severe opposition, showing, in fact, that all the doors were closed on him. It is true many people came to see him; but the greater part of them came with opposition in their mind, and they went back in the same condition. Some of them did not indulge in open opposition, but they remained silent, from lack of moral courage; and the few who had a spark of Iman in their hearts tried to smother it with their own hands, like. Heraclius of Rome; and when they went back to their homes after paying a visit to the. Promised Messiah, they went empty handed.. Not only had Delhi been the seat of. Muslim rulers of great power and grandeur, but also in this town lay buried a large number of the righteous servants of God, whose shrines have a powerful appeal for the people even at this time. In accordance with the sunnat of the righteous people, and in the humility of mind characteristic of the Promised Messiah a desire arose in his heart that he should visit the graves of those holy people, and 54

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offer prayers there, asking for the blessings. God for them, and for constant noise and and the mercy of the people of Delhi. Thus, during this visit he repaired to the graves of Hazrat Sheikh. Nizam-ud-Din, Hazrat Waliullah Shah, Hazrat. Khawajah Baqi Billah, Hazrat Khawajah Bakhtiar. Kaki, and Hazrat Khawajah Mir Dard. As a child, I also accompanied him on these occasions. After he had offered his prayers, standing on these graves, he remarked that if it had not been for the commotion around, from many people constantly coming and going, he had no doubt that he would have been able to meet Hazrat. Sheikh Nizam-ud-Din, in kashf. Khawajah. Hasan Nizami was a youngman at the time, and he respectfully took the Promised Messiah around. When the Promised Messiah was about to return to Qadian, after this visit to Delhi,. Khawajah Hasan Nizami requested that since the. Promised Messiah had visited the grave of Hazrat. Khawajah Nizam-ud-Din, he may kindly give a memento in words appropriate to the occasion.. To this request the Promised Messiah replied that he would do so after his return to Qadian, and in fulfilment of this promise the following statement was sent to him in writing : "When I had occasion to go to Delhi, the desire arose in my mind that I should also visit the graves of the righteous ser55

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vants of God whose remains lie buried in and around this town; for, when in my heart I felt no love from the people of. Delhi, a strong impulse arose in my mind that I should obtain some satisfaction and solace for my bruised soul by paying visits to the graves of the holy people, the steadfast lovers of God, like myself, who had passed away from this world with a bitter experience at the hands of the people who had tormented them, and had created difficulties for them.. When I paid a visit to the grave of. Hazrat Khawajah Nizam-ud-Din, it was in this frame of mind; and 1 visited the graves of some other righteous people as well. May Allah favour us all with his mercy and blessing. Amen!. From the Servant of Allah Ghulam. Ahmad, the Promised Messiah, from. Allah the Only One.. The deep sense of pain, and the pathos of these words does not need any comment.. Evidently, the realisation was extremely painful for the Promised Messiah that the people of the great and historic town where lie buried the earthly remains of so many righteous servants of God, were, in their ignorance, depriving themselves of the light and blessings 56

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of the revival of Islam in this the second era of its splendeur. One feels as if, in kashf, the Promised Messiah saw all these holy men in front of his eyes whose remains lie buried almost at every step in and around this historical town; and from a contemplation of these great and holy people, the Promised. Messiah's thoughts must have turned with a great deal of pain to their descendants and followers at the present day, who in ignorance, conceit, and blind prejudice, were rejecting the blessed light, for a glimpse of which generations and generations had passed away from this world in a great and deep yearning. This was the feeling which had made the soul of the Promised Messiah restless with regret over their unworthiness. But it has to be remembered that this state of mind was not one of despair: it was a feeling of regret, of sympathy, of pain, of identically the same kind which has been expressed in the Holy Quran, on the part of God Almighty: "Alas for My servants! there comes not a. Messenger to them but they mock at him” (36:31). In another place in the course of his writings, the Promised Messiah has referred to these feelings of pain and regret, in the following words, which also clearly visulise the great acceptance with which he was to be received in the future: "Indeed at the present day 57

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My people do not perceive. The position that is mine:. But a time shall come. When, with tears,. They will dwell with regret. Of these happy days of mine. (Azala-i-Auham). At still another place, with the greatest conviction and emphasis on the help and success in his mission that was to come to him from. God, he says: 58 "O ye people, rest assured that with me is that Hand which will never desert me, even unto the last moment.. If all your men and women, young and old, all your big men and all your common people were to combine, and pray for my destruction, even to the point where their noses are wasted and rubbed off in sijdas, and their hands become palsied with excessive strain, Allah will never, never grant this prayer until He has accomplished all He desires to bring about. And if not a single man comes to stand by my side, angels of the Lord will come to help me; if you conceal the evidence and the witness that is with you, Allah will cause the stones, to put forth their witness in my favour. Therefore,

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do not ye perpetrate injustice against your own souls. The faces of those who are liars are quite different from those of the truthful and the just. I call for curses on a life devoted to falsehood and lies; and also call for curses on a life that edges away from the Creator, from a fear of the people. Rest assured that I have neither come out of my time, nor shall I depart out of time" ('arba'een,. III, pages 4 & 5).. This is the perfectly sure and complete faith which comes to the Prophets of God; and this faith has the power to crush mountains, to ford deep and rushing waters of great rivers, to defy the worst storms; and this is the kind of faith which Allah invests with a miraculous power for the conquest of human hearts. 17. Here, by the way, I wish to say something in regard to myself, which is this that almost the whole of 1962 I have passed in bad health, with patches when I have been seriously ill. I am a victim of three ailments which have been troubling me for a long time now: gout, high blood pressure, and diabetes-all three of them 59

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extremely serious diseases, each in its own place. In addition, my pulse sometimes becomes too rapid which causes extreme strain and restlessness. Further, towards the end of the year I also came to suffer from heart trouble, with some defect developed by this organ which brings on pain in that region, flowing in waves to the right arm, which is a grave symptom. Once in 1954 also I had heart attack, which kept me hovering between life and death for a period of four months.. After that, however, Allah had mercy on me, and for a number of years I was able to attend to intellectual and academic work, even though. I was not fully restored to normal health. But towards the end of 1962, when I am reaching seventy years of my life, as reckoned according to the solar callendar, this trouble has recurred, probably on account of over-work. Attacks occur, sometimes daily, and sometime after short intervals, with the result that weakness has been greatly enhanced.. Only recently a famous heart specialist from. Lahore examined me thoroughly in Rabwahmy heart, liver, and chest. After he had taken. E.C.G. photographs of my heart, he said that it had received serious injury, and that there was every chance of this injury being deepened and made worse. He advised, with great emphasis, that I should take care to avoid 60

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hard work, should avoid all kind of mental and emotional strain, and take complete rest for a considerably long time.. Such having been the circumstances of my life during the year, I naturally have not had the time for making a proper preparation for my Paper this year, in the series called Zikri-Habeeb. I have not been in a position to make either a good selection of rawayat and incidents for treatment in my paper. Nor have I been able to express them in writing in a worthy and effective manner. I have to depend on only a casual and light study of the relevant field; and I have had to content myself with a simple narration of the rawayat and a simple description of the events and incidents referred to. Beyond this, it rests only with God, as to what measure of effectiveness and appeal he bestows on a writer and his writings. While hoping for the best, therefore, from His grace and mercy, I beseach friends to be indulgent with me in view of my handicaps; and I hope they will hold me excused if they find some fault or weakness in my treatment of material so sacred and important for the Ahmadiyya Movement. If, on the other hand, they find something good in my Paper, 1 hope and pray that they strive to derive full benefit.. The key to good health rests only in the hands of God; and it is only He Who can invest the words 61

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of a speaker or writer with force and appeal : and it is, again, only He Who can open the windows in the heart of people, so that what they come to hear or read should sink in.. With these remarks made by the way, I again turn to my subject, and I shall express briefly the rest of the material I have on hand at the time. 18. In my Paper last year I made some reference to iqtadari miracles. Independantly of the descent of some Wahyi or Inspiration on the heart of an apostle of God, miracles of this kind proceed from him on the basis of the power of his soul, and they become clear and marvellous proof of his truth, and of the help and succour he receives from Allah.. Many instances of miracles of this kind are found in the pious life of the Holy Prophet. Muhammad. For instance, at a time when no other treatment was available, he placed his hand on the ailing eye of a devoted and dear Companion, and it was immediately cured (Bokhari, Ghazwa-i-Khaiber). Or, in time of great need, he put his fingers into a small vessel which contained some water, and from the blessed touch of his fingers the small quantity 62

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of water hegan to wax and flow, so that a large number of his Companions drank their fill (Bokhari, Bab shuribal Barkati wal mauil. Mubarakih). Or, at a time of scarcity of food, a small quantity of it sufficed for a large number of people (Bokhari, Bab Ghazwatul. Khandaq.) All these are instances of iqtadari miracles which God showed at the hand of. His beloved Prophet.. A large number of similar iqtadari miracles is also to be seen in the life of the Promised Messiah. For instance, he placed his hand on some sick man in agony, and merely from the touch of his hand the man recovered from the disease. Or, under the imperative need of some emergency, he thrust his finger, into a small quantity of food, and it sufficed for a large number of people. As has been stated in the Holy Quran, the source of all miraculous powers is only God, and without sanction from Him no prophet or Apostle has the power, in his own person, to show any miracle (Sura Momin, verse 79); and though it is not for the Apostles of God to go about showing miracles, it is nevertheless a sunnat with God that, in order to invest the faith of his devoted servants with additional and greater strength of conviction, or to show them the way to a deeper comprehension, He shows extraordinary Signs at their 63

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hands, so that, at a jesture from them. or with the mere touch of their fingers, extraordinary results flow. But, as I have explained, powers of this kind are not bestowed on the Apostles and Prophets on a permanent basis. They are bestowed by God under a special set of circumstances, as an exception. Since a fuller discussion on this point has preceded in my. Paper in last year, entitled Durr-i-Maknun, pages 51 to 58, there does not seem to be any need for me here to dwell on the point to any greater length.. Here I would refer to two incidents in the life of the Promised Messiah, when the food ready for the meal in the house was in a small quantity, but a large number of guests arrived, unexpectedly, at the moment, and those responsible for serving the meal were thrown into great anxiety, fearing what they had prepared could not suffice for all and then the Promised Messiah 'breathed'on the food, and it amply sufficed for all. Mian. Abdullah Sanauri, who was an old and devoted disciple of the Promised Messiah, narrated to me that once the Promised messiah invited a few guests to a meal. But at the very last moment a large number of them happened to arrive, and “the Masjid Mubark was full of them." The Promised Messiah sent word to his spouse inside the house that more 64

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guests had arrived, and more food should be served. In her anxiety, she requested that the. Promised Messiah, may kindly step inside for a moment; and she explained that only a small quantity of food had been prepared, for the few guests who had been present before. What are we to do now, she asked in consternation. But the Promised Messiah took the whole situation in perfect calm. "Do not worry. Bring to me the vessel containing the food prepared." When this was done, he covered it with a handkerchief, and under it he thrust his fingers into the cooked rice, and then he went out saying "Serve the meal now.". Mian Abdullah told me that this food was eaten by all present and a quantity was even left over (Seeratul Mehdi, rawayat, 144). 19. When I related to Hazrat Ammajan wha had been said by Mian Abdullah, she told me that incidents of this kind had transpired a number of times in the course of household duties. One of these incidents she related to me as follows: "On one occasion, I prepared a small quantity of pillao, just enough to 65

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suffice for the Promised Messiah alone. But that day Nawab Mohammad Ali Khan (a son-in-law of the Promised Messiah), who lived nearby, happened to arrive, with his wife and children. The Promised Messiah told me that they should all be given the meal.. I sought to explain that the rice especially were only a very small quantity, whereat he came where the pillao was lying, and he 'breathed' on the vessel containing the rice, and said, "Serve the meal now.". Hazrat Ammajan told me that this small quantity of pillao then became invested with the marvellous quality that all present on the occasion to share the meal partook of it, after which some were sent to Hazrat Maulvi. Nur-ud-Din, and to Hazrat Maulvi Abdul. Karim, and were given to some people too, besides. In fact, since people looked upon this pillao as something blessed, on account of the special circumstances which came to be connected with it, many people made requests for a portion, and no such request was turned down, the rice sufficing for all (Seeratul Mehdi, rawayt 144).. Hazrat Ammajan told mc that during the lifetime of the Promised Messiah a number of such incidents transpired that through the blessing of his breath Allah made a 66

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small quantity of food suffice for a large number of people, in circumstances when it appeared impossible that a need arising suddenly and unexpectelly could properly be met.. Since the Promised Messiah always very strictly insisted that whatsoever guests came, they should be provided with food, and since. Qadian was only a small village at the time, with no shopping centre that could meet sudden needs, at times strenuous efforts had to be made by the household in this behalf.. But she told me that whatever the difficulties,. Allah always provided ample means for meeting the needs of the guests.. Worldly people, who lie hemmed in by their conception of the importance of material means in human life, probably would not be in a position to understand these things, for they do not have what should be called eyes of the soul. But people who have seen God, and have duly recognised Him%3B those who have experienced the limitless powers of the. Almighty. they know very well that in fact only God is the Creator and Master of the universe; that it is God alone who has put into force a taqdeer of good and evil; that. He alone is the one who has endowed various things with the qualities we find in them.. They also know that Allah is not the slave of whatever laws He has made and put into opera67

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tion in special circumstances, to meet special needs, He can alter them, as has been explained in the Holy Quran. People of this category, therefore, know very well that the powers of the. Lord are so vast, so incomprehensible, that there is absolutely no end to them. All that is needed for this realisation is that people should step outside the narrow confines of their material concepts, and open the eyes of the soul. Then, indeed, even they themselves would witness the marvellous things which others before them have seen at the hands of the chosen servants of God, at various times in human history. In this connection a couplet by some by some poet very aptly describes what is very true: "Come into the assembly. Of those who are drunk,. That you should have experience. Of quite another world:. If you do so, you will see. Quite another Heaven,. Another Iblees, and a different. Adam altogether." 68

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20. Other righteous people of God must have seen Paradise, in accordance with the powers of their soul; but the Paradise visualizd by the Promised Messiah, the Founder of the. Ahmadiyya Movement, was concentrated solely in the Holy Being of Almighty God Himself. He had gone so deep, and had drunk in the love of God, that he had risen far above considerations of reward and punishment, as a star in the heavens stands above the earth. Some instances of the love of God on the part of the Promised Messiah I have already referred to on previous occasions, in my previous Paper entitled seerat Tayyiba, in which this very point formed the pivot of my entire approach. Indeed it appeared, so to say, that the Promised Messiah's being was like a piece of sponge, so full of the love of God that there was no room left in it for anything else. Drunk with this love, he says in one place in the course of his writings: “Our Paradise is our God, and all our sublime enjoyments lie in Him, for we have seen Him, and every kind of beauty we 69

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70 have found in Him. This is a wealth worth acquiring, even at the cost of one's life; and this is a ruby well worth buying, even if it is to be purchased with one's entire being. O ye, who are deprived of it, run to this spring, for it would slacken your thirst. It is the fountain of life that will save you. (Kishti Nuh). In another place he says in a remarkably ecstatic manner : "In times of trial, our fear is only in regard to members of the Movement who are weak minded. As for me, my condition is this that even if a voice should come to me, telling me that I am in disgrace, and humiliated, forsaken and forlorn ; and that no desire or aim of mine will be granted, even then I call. God to witness that there will occur not the slightest diminution either in my love, or in my ardour to serve the cause of religion. This is so, for the simple reason that I have indeed seen. Him". And then the Promised Messiah recited the Quranic verse: "Is there anyone else like God who could be held deserving of the love we have for Him." (Seerat Masih-i-Mau'ud, by Maulvi. Abdul Karim)

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As for the love for the Holy Prophet, it forms part of the love of God, a reflection of it, so to say; and it is impossible that a true. Believer should have his heart full of the love of God, but should be devoid of love for the greatest among His Apostles. In any case, this is the Paradise for which the Promised Messiah so tirelessly and so devotedly served the cause of Islam, rising altogether above all thought of punishment and reward; and he staked everything, even his life, to make Islam prevail; and this is indeed the. Paradise, wherein, on the Day of Judgement he would come to merit, by the grace of God, a place with the Holy Prophet Muhammad.. In one of his poems, the Promised Messiah says in praise of the love of God: "Every lover creates an idol. In his heart, but in my heart. There lies ensconced only. This Sweetheart. He alone. Is my solace ; and it is He. Alone that my heart likesEven the same we call. Rabbul Baraya. With that Sweetheart. My life itself is grafted:. For me He is Paradise,. He alone the home of peace.. How can I manage to acquire. The power would enable me 71

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To give a proper description:. All that I can say is this. That of love for Him. There is a veritable river. Flowing in my heart.”. It is true, of course, that in the life hereafter there would certainly be a Paradise as well; and the Believers and Un-believers will have their place in Heaven or Hell. according to the quality of their deeds; but for the Apostles and Prophets of God, the real Heaven lies in the joy which they experience in their love for God. In fact, even for the people of ordinary degrees of righteousness, the real Paradise lies in the pleasure of God.. This is the reason why, in the Holy Quran, in the context of the bliss in Paradise, the pleasure of God is mentioned separately and specially, after other joys and blessings to be experienced there have been referred to. Therein we read written very clearly: "And the pleasure and approval of God is the highest bliss." (Sura. Tauba, verse 72). This is the position, indeed, of every True Believer, that instead of hankering after "hur-o-qusur", he should seek sojourn in the sublime spheres of the most sincere and unselfish love of God. 72

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21. Love attracts love. For God, and for the. Holy Prophet Muhammad, the Promised Messiah cultivated a love, in its strength, its depth, its intensity, which was unprecedented indeed; and then, as a consequence of these two loves, he cultivated in his heart sympathy and love for the creatures of God, to the highest point.. In recognition of this threefold love, love, then. Allah gave him a body of followers bound to him in chains of the highest devotion and loyalty, in point of the sincerity and the depth of their faith, their capacity for sacrifice, who closely resembled the blessed Companions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad. In the teeth of the most bitter and sustained opposition, his followers continued to make an un-interrupted progress, and Allah conferred every kind of prosperity on them. By the time when the Promised Messiah passed away, the number of his followers had risen to the impressive figure of 4,00,000; and of this large number, every single individual, in his love and devotion, was like a moth flying most ardently round the flame of a candle, yielding life itself in the intensity of its passion. In fact one feels highly amazed when a comparison 73

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is made of the quality of this large number of the followers of the Promised Messiah, with the handful of followers who gathered round Jesus. Christ in the course of his life on this earth.. The standard of loyalty and strength of faith as found among the followers of the Promised. Messiah we find far higher than anything seen in the case of the disciples of Jesus Christ; and in illustration of this point I would here refer to only five Ahmadis, taken at random, as their names occur to me at the spur of the moment, from the various conditions and walks of life. Certainly, all of these five were not such as could be called the most prominent in the Movement. were such ordinary and even their names are. Ahmadi circles.. In fact some of them obscure members that not widely known in. The first and foremost to be mentioned in this connection is Hazrat Maulvi Nur-udDin, among the topmost Ulama, and physicians of his time, in the undivided India of those days. When the Promised Messiah started taking bai'at of initiation into the Ahmadiyya. Movement, he was the one to obtain the distinction of being the first to take this pledge. He became so closely attached to the. Promised Messiah that he gave up his residence in Behra, his native place, and came to settle permanently in Qadian. When the Promised 74

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Messiah passed away, Hazrat Maulvi Nur-udDin succeeded him as the first Khalifa and head of the Movement. The standard of obedience and loyalty which he set was SO high that the Promised Messiah, on one occasion remarked 'He follows me so closely and undeviatingly as the pulse beat of a man follows in strict conformity with the beating of the heart'. (A'eena Kamalat-i-Islam, page 585).. Once it so happened that from Delhi, where he happened to be on a visit, the. Promised Messiah had a telegram sent to. Hazrat Maulvi Sahib, in connection with something, in which the man who filled in the telegraph form put in the words "Reach Delhi without delay." When Maulvi sahib received this telegram, he was busy in his dispensary.. When he received the telegram he started for. Delhi, straightway, then and there, without even going to his house to tell his people that he was going out of Qadian for some days. He did not even wait to take any luggage for the journey, or any money for the expenses. While he was thus on his way to the Tonga Stand for the journey to the railway station eleven miles away, someone ventured to say that he should have taken with him some bedding and other articles necessary for use during the journey, he replied that his. Imam had asked him to come without delay. 75

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and he did not want to waste any time in gathering these articles, for that would imply a delay. "I must proceed immediately, without wasting even a single minute, and I am going just as I am", he replied. God Almighty also honoured this reliance on Him, on the part of Hazrat Maulvi sahib, with an extraordinary degree of acceptance; and an unseen. Hand, so to say, provided for him everything he was likely to need in this journey, and he reported himself before his Leader and Imam without any delay, as he had been directed to do. This Maulvi Nur-ud-Din, it should be remembered, was the same in view of whose depth and strength of faith, and spirit of sacrifice, the Promised Messiah has remarked to following effect in one of his couplets: the "How happy it would have been. If every member of the Movement. Had been like Nur-ud-Din !. Indeed, it would certainly. Have been like this,. If every heart had been full. With the same depth and strength. Of faith and conviction.". We see, thus, in point of knowledge and learning, sincerity and strength of faith, righteousness, reliance on God, and obedience to the. Imam, the position of Hazrat Maulvi sahib 76

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was extra-ordinarily high and enviable in every way.. The second instance I desire to refer to here is one which I mentioned in my Paper last year as well-Hazrat Maulvi Syed Abdul Lateef, the Martyr. He was a native of Afghanistan, counted among the topmost Ulama of that country. He was also a very influential chief among the people of his native land, who had the distinction of having officiated at the coronation of Amir Habibullah Khan. When Sahibzada. Abdul Lateef came to know that Hazrat Ahmad of Qadian claimed to be the Promised Messiah and Mehdi, he came in person to Qadian to see for himself if this claim was based on truth. Gifted as he was with a pure mind, and a sensitive perception he immediately perceived that this was a true claim, and he yielded whole hearted belief and allegiance.. When he went back to Kabul, a decree of kufr was issued against him by the Ulama of his country; and they pronounced judgement that he deserved to be stoned to death.. On the basis of this fatwa, the Amir issued orders that he should be stoned to death in a most barbaric manner. He was buried in a pit waist deep, and then the Amir himself spoke to him, asking him to recant. But strong as a rock in his faith, he spurned all such overtures. The sentence was then carried 77

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out, in all its barbarity, and the martyr gave his life gladly, with the words: "I can never forsake the truth, which with the fullest conviction, I have accepted as coming from God.”. And in this brave manner, he left behind many of those who had come to yield belief earlier than he did. In regard to him the. Promised Messiah has said: "This wilderness of life. Is full of of many perils;. Thousands of dragons lie around.. The Lane of the Sweetheart. Lies stretching over thousands. Of miles; and the jungle is full. Of thorns, and a thousand dangers.. But mark the daring courage of that eminent man. From a foreign land :. All this vast and highly. Dangerous wilderness he traversed. In one single step”. (Tazkiratul Shahadatain). Next I would mention Chaudhri Rustum. Ali sahib, who was an old companion of the. Promised Messiah, extremely simple in manner, a highly venerable and sincere man. On one occasion the Promised Messiah issued an appeal for funds in connection with some emergent need in which connection he also addressed a letter to Chaudhri Rustam Ali 78

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as well. It so happend that on that very day when he received this letter, he received a substantial increase in his salary, from subinspectorship of police, having been promoted to the rank of Inspector. This gave him an increase in pay of eighty rupees a month.. This devoted disciple wrote to the Promised. Messiah in reply that he had no doubt the promotion was result of the Promised. Messiah's prayers in his behalf, since arrival of the letter was immediately followed by news of his promotion. He therefore sent the entire amount of the increase for the month to the Promised Messiah, and also promised for the future that every month he would be sending the full amount of the increase, in response to the appeal from the Promised. Messih, a promise which he fulfilled month after month, as long as he lived. In addition, he also maintained his usual monthly subscription for the funds of the Movement at the previous level of Rs. 25/- a month, subsisting himself on a very small sum every month, and thus setting up a standard of sacrifice for the common cause which is one of a very high order indeed. (Badr, January 14, 1909 &. Alfazl May 1, 1962).. Next I would mention Baba Karim Bakhsh sahib who hailed from a small village. He was not very highly educated, but like many 79

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other Ahmadis he was deeply devoted to the Promised Messiah. It so happened, on one occasion, that the Promised Messiah was making a speech in the mosque, and those coming late stood listening in rows at the fringe of the audience. When the pressure behind these people, who were standing around, increased, the Promised Messiah said that those standing should sit down, so that those who were arriving late should also have a chance to listen. When the Promised Messiah uttered these words, Baba Karim Bakhsh was in the street outside the mosque. Hearing the words of the Imam, he sat down where he was, and then crept forward in a sitting position, to reach the fringe of the audience in the mosque. If someone asked him why he had done this his reply used to be: "I sat down, where. I was, because if I had delayed obeying the command of the Imam, and I had happened to die in that condition, it occurred to me that I would have no excuse for having delayed rendering obedience to an order which had reached my ears." (Seeratul Mehdi, rawayet 741). Next I would refer to Munshi Abdul. Aziz, who was a patwari in rural areas. He also was among the old companions of the. Promised Messiah; he was very righteous, and had a great capacity for sacrifice. He 80

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related to me himself: on the occasion when the Promised Messiah went to Gurdaspore in connection with a court case, he was suffering from an acute attack of dysentry, and had to go to the WC very frequently. I stationed myself very close to him, so that as often as he rose to ease himself, I was there to have a lota of water ready for him, to wash himself. Again and again the Promised. Messiah said to me: "Mian abdul Aziz, please go to sleep. If I need you, I will wake you up.". But I remained awake all night, to render him the service I could. I took care not to doze off, from fear lest the Promised. Messiah should call for me, and I fail to respond. Next morning, when the Promised. Messiah was sitting among the disciples, he remarked with evident pleasure: At a time of crisis, Jesus Christ repeatedly enjoined upon his disciples that they should stay awake during the night, and keep themselves engaged in prayer. But repeatedly they were overtaken by sleep, and they dropped off (Mt. 26: 39-46).. In very happy contrast, while I was suffering from an ordinary ailment, I repeatedly told munshi Abdul Aziz sahib to go to sleep; but he remained awake all through the night, not to miss a single chance of rendering a service to me (Seeratul Mehdi, rawayet 701).. I have referred to these five men by way 81

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of a sample of the devotion which disciples of the Promised Messiah, from the different walks of life, rendered to him. I have kept this list deliberately brief. Otherwise each and every member of the Ahmadiyya Movement excells the others in point of depth of faith and sincerity of devotion, righteous living, and the spirit of sacrifice-setting an example in these respects for the whole world, and furnishing a strong proof of the truth of the Promised. Messiah. Jesus of Nazareth said, very truly, that a tree is known by its fruit. But it is highly to be regretted that during the portion of his life he spent in Palestine, he was not given to see the sweet fruits of his ministry; and in the final crisis, which showed itself in the event of crucifixion, his disciples showed great weakness and lack of loyalty. But, through the blessings of His beloved Prophet, to the. Messiah of the Muhammadi dispensation,. He vouchsafed sweet fruit in great abundance.. In the course of his writings the Promised. Messiah says in one place, in this behalf, with a depth of emotion and gratitude to God: 82 "I can state on oath that in any case there are one hundred thousand members of the Movement who have rendered faith to me in the utmost sincerity, who act righteously, who weep so profusely while they listen to me that their collars j

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become wet with tears. Among those who have taken the pledge of bai'at at my hand, I see thousands who have worked such a transformation in themselves that I find they are much better than the disciples of Moses who flocked round him in his lifetime; on their faces I find the light and strength of faith which characterised the blessed companions of the Holy prophet Muhammad. I perceive that the progress achieved by my followers in righteousness, and the capacity for good works, is such that it is a miracle in itself. There are thousands who are ready to render the supremest sacrifice. If they be called upon to yield everything they have in the way of material goods, they would not hesitate even for a moment. But, all the same, I constantly keep exhorting them to rise higher and ever higher, while I refrain from talking about their virtues, even though at heart I am happy in this behalf" (Alhakm, No. IV, pages 16, 17). 83

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22. Here I have been reminded of incident in which, on one side, we another find an example of love and sincerity of members of the Movement, while on the other it illustrates the care and beauty of the manner followed by the Promised Messiah for the education and training of his followers. It is well known that among many nations one way for the followers to express their loyalty to their leader is that on occasions when a political or religious leader comes on a visit to a town, the people express their reverence sometimes by drawing the carriage themselves, after releasing the horses from the traces.. Towards the end of his of his life, when the. Promised Messiah paid a visit to Lahore, it occurred to some zealous youngmen of the. Ahmadis of Lahore that they should express their devotion to the Imam in this manner.. But when they submitted this request to the. Promised Messiah for approval, he rejected it, and said: "Our mission is to turn animals into human beings, not to turn human beings into animals." (Hayat-i-Tyyaba, pages 456-57). 84

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This is a very simple and spontaneous statement, but it throws a very fine and delicate kind of light on the deep feelings of the pure mind with which he came to this world from his heavenly Master. A worldly minded leader would have welcomed this expression of devotion on the part of his followers, he would have taken it as a sign of esteem and reverence. But in the eyes of the Promised. Messiah the important point was not the depth and degree of honour accorded to him: the most important point was that of the dignity of the mission with which he had come from. God. The fact is that in these days, the greater part of humanity have lost their natural spiritual quality; it has come to incline more in the direction of a mere animal existence, smothered in the dark and heavy veils of materialism, the spiritual quality has come to be concealed, as the light of the sun becomes dim at the time of an eclipse. This is the reason why, at the time when he was appointed to his mission, the Promised Messiah received the following Revelation from God: "This Messiah from Us would again revivify the Deen, after it had become weak; and he would re-establish the Islamic Shariyya in the world.” (Tazkira, page 71 and 659).. Of course the struggle is hard, very hard.. The armies of shirk and kufr are launching 85

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their attacks on Islam from all sides; and the forces which represent the material view of life are fully determined that the higher qualities of the human soul be trampled down and totally extinguished. But the final triumph shall come to the share of truth, and the mission of the Promised Messiah will be fully successful. On the basis of knowledge vouchsafed to him by God, the Promised Messiah says, in one place, in regard to the success destined for his mission: "Rest assured that in this struggle between Islam and Kufr, Islam has no need to sue for peace, as a week and defeated opponent. The time now is the time for the spiritual sword of Islam to do its work, as in a previous era of its ascendance it demonstrated its outward might. Take careful note of this prophecy, that even in this battle the enemy shall be routed with great disgrace, and Islam shall come out triumphant. It does not matter how strong and powerful are the attacks launched by the modern sciences; it does not matter what new weapons they bring into the field; the end destined for them is defeat. In gratitude for the favour conferred on me, I declare that knowledge of the high capabilities and strength of Islam has been vouchasfed to me; and on the basis of that knowledge I say that not only will Islam save itself from the attacks of 86

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new philosophies; it will also prove that the modern branches of knowledge and science opposed to it were no more than a gross kind of ignorance. The domain of Islam has nothing to fear from these forces and their attacks.. The days of its glory stand very near, and I perceive that signs of this development, of this victory, are beginning to be visible already." (A'cena Kamalat-i-Islam, pages 254-55) 23. In the early part of this Paper I stated that the mission of the Promised Messiah had a twofold purpose. One purpose was to bring about a revivification of Islam, its revival, and to make it dominant ; and the other purpose was to break the Cross, i.e., break the power of Christianity, the worship of Christ, and to re-establish the worship of the One and Only. True God. Jesus of Nazareth was undoubtedly a Prophet of God, whom we respect from the bottom of our hearts. But after him, his followers made the preposterous blunder that fell away from the path of truth, and took him as being the Son of God, thus laying the foundation of a glaring kind of shirk, although the whole life of Jesus Christ stands to prove 87

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that he was a mortal being, not at all a son of. God, having been born of woman, like all other human beings. He lived his life subject to all those weaknesses and frailties which characterise the lives of other mortals, carrying out his mission in a remarkable spirit of humility; and he spent all his life in the worship of the One and Only True God; while the hard hearted Jews brought a false charge against him, and nailed him to the cross. But. God saved him from the accursed death in miraculous manner. There is no event in the life of Jesus Christ, nor any of his sayings to prove that he was better than the other. Prophets. In fact he always presented himself as subject to the Law of Moses, as a Khalifa, in the chain of Khalifas among the Israelites, as a Prophet who had not brought a new. Shariya. Since the Promised Messiah also was a Prophet from God, he respected and loved Jesus. Christ not only because both belonged to same holy fraternity, but also because he himself had been raised in the spirit of Jesus Christ.. However, since he was raised as the Khatimul. Khulafa, raised at the feet of the greatest of all. Prophets, the Holy Prophet Muhammad, he was in rank higher than Jesus Christ. In one of his couplets the Promised Messiah has said: "Now leave this talk. About the son of Mary. 88

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For this slave and servant of Ahmad. Is much better than him.” (Dafi'ul Bala). On the other hand, since Christian doctrines and beliefs had come to be distorted, and the principle of the Unity of God had been replaced by the doctrine of Trinity which, after all is only another name for shirk, the Promised Messiah, in due conformity with the purpose of his mission, devoted his fullest. endeavour to the task of fighting against the influence of Church Christianity, and the breaking of the Cross as a symbol of this mistaken religion, fully exposing the absurdity of its principles, by means of his lectures and the large number of books he wrote for the purpose, even to the point where even the opponents of the Promised Messiah had to concede to him the title of "Victorious General” against the Aryas and the Christians. On the other side, the Christians opposed him by all the fair and unfair means in their power; they left no stone unturned in their effort to defeat and humiliate him; but God gave him victory in every field against all these enemies, and he passed away away from this world crowned with laurels ; and his followers today are striving day and night to carry the banner of Islam to the four corners of the world, with Christianity on the retreat everywhere, 89

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and Islam making solid advances.. In this connection I have been reminded of one interesting incident. It so happened once that the Christians of Batala, a town near Qadian, who were especially prejudiced against the Promised Messiah on account of this nearness, and who were helpless against the powerful arguments produced by him in support of Islam, and who were burning in the fire of envy and jealousy, threw a challenge that they would put a piece of writing under a seal, and put the sealed cover on a table before the Promised Messiah; if he was really a Prophet of God, they said, he should be able to reveal the contents by bringing the powers of his soul to bear upon the matter. In this, most probably, they had hoped that the Promised Messiah would evade or ignore this curious challenge, and they would be able to exploit the incident against him. But as soon as he received this challenge, the Promised Messiah replied: "I accept this challenge, and I am ready for this contest, that by prayer and a concentration of the power of my soul, I should obtain knowledge of the contents of the sealed document. But the binding condition in that case would be that you people shall have to accept Islam" (Ashab-i-Ahmad Vol. IV. page 104). 90

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This most positive and clear stand SO disconcerted the Christians in question that they fell altogether silent over it. They had issued the bold challenge themselves, but they had to flee from the field in great consternation. As stated in the Holy Quran (An'am, verse 109), it is true that the Prophets of. God, in themselves, have no knowledge of the Unseen and the Unknown; but it is also true, and it forms part of the eternal sunnat of God, that, in His wisdom and discretion, He reveals secrets of the future to His Prophets, so that the true religion should be strengthened by such Signs.. It is to be carefully noted here that the reply given by the Promised Messiah to this challenge, that the people in question shall have to accept. Islam, if he correctly revealed the contents of a sealed piece of writing, was not an ordinary and a formal reply. It was undoubtedly an extraordinary and a very clear proof of the truth of his claim. Those entrusted with a. Divine mission do nothing that is useless and vain ; it is far from the dignity of their mission that they should go about showing tricks like jugglers. Their sole purpose is to lend support to the truth, and to call the people to it they do not interest themselves. in anything, and they do not put their hand to any task, except where they have reason 91

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to believe that the attendant circumstances would afford a chance for striking a blow in support of the truth, in an atmosphere of honesty and sincerity. It is highly to be regretted that these Christians of Batala did not have the see the result courage to come forward and of their challenge. Had they done so, Allah would have shown some mighty. Sign, to benefit all mankind with its light, and to make the truth prevail. Addressing the Christians, the Promised Messiah says in one of his poems: 92 "Come, O ye Christians,. Come this way. Perceive the truth;. And find the right path.. The beautiful qualities which the Quran. Possesses, show us in the Gospels,. If you can. Over your heads,. There is the Creator and the Lord:. Think of Him, and do not seek. To lead mankind astray.. The Holy Quran has this wonderful. Quality, that it turns a man. Into a Lover of God. It drags. Him into the Lane of the Friend,. And then it show Signs,. The most miraculous and strange.. Whatsoever its denyers say. Is altogether absurd and vain.. If they are sincere in what they say,

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Let them come to me, and let them. Say those things to my face.. If they desire to know. Of That Sweetheart,. Let them listen to me :. Let me describe the beauty. That is to be found in Him.. If the eye does not work,. Perhaps the ears might:. Or, in any case. it would be. A serious, and a good test ! (Baraheen-i-Ahmadiyya, Part III). But the Christian world should take care to remember that it would not be able to evade the issue by such tricks, and such cleverness on their part. The days of Christianity are now strictly numbered. The Cross is going to be smashed, and Islam is going to prevail, in any case. The Promised Messiah says: "My heart melts into blood when I see the dead being worshipped; and I would have died of this grief long ago, if my friend on high, the Almighty God had not comforted me, that in the end victory shall come to Islam. All objects worshipped, other than God, shall perish; and all false gods shall be cut off from the idea of their godhead. The life of. Mary, as a being to be worshipped shall 5 93

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suffer a death, and her son, too, will now certainly die in this respect.. It is now the will and purpose of God that the position of both as false gods should be put to death (by means of strong and well based arguments). Therefore they must both now die, and there is none in the world can save them.. And all those defective capacities also must die which readily accept false gods.. There shall be a new earth, and a new heaven. The days are coming near when the sun of truth shall rise in the west, and Europe shall come to know of the. True God".. Ishthar, January 14, 1897 and Tazkira, page 299. 24. All this, that has been stated just now, is what was revealed to the Promised Messiah by God; and it has been duly communicated to the world. In its own good time, all this is going to be fulfilled. This is a decree from the One above, a decree of which tidings have been given by all the previous. Apostles and Prophets in their time; and our 94

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holy master, the greatest among Prophets,. Muhammad, said, so positively as to call upon. God as a witness in relation to the matter, that with the advent of the Masih and the. Mahdi shall come the second era, and the lasting era, of the dominance of Islam; that. Christian beliefs, and forces represented by the Cross, shall come to be smashed for ever; that a new earth and new heaven shall come into being. Nevertheless, this also is a law brought into being by God Himself that in regard to everything there is a mixed system of Taqdir and Tadbir. The Taqdir comes from the heavens, under the will and purpose of. God, of which the wires and strands are in the hands of the angels, in the divine scheme who run the universe, while themselves they remain concealed. Of Tadbir, on the other hand, the wires and strands, God, in His wisdom and discretion, has left in the hands of men.. Whenever a new order comes into being, at the hands of some Apostle and Prophet, the group of True Believers catches the meaning of the Divine Finger, as it moves in gesture, and they set their plans in motion, in conformity; and then both these movements combine, in effect, to produce a great change.. Accordingly we find that, in the face of the the clear promises from God, in regard to the victory of Islam, the Holy Prophet himself, 95

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and his blessed companions, made sacrifices for the sacred cause of which no instance is to be found in the history of any other people.. Similarly, where the Promised Messiah has prophesied in regard to extraordinary changes that are to come about, and about the dominance of Ahmadiyyat and Islam, he has, at the same time, time, warned the Ahmadis, in a most positive and strong manner, that they should take care to make their plans in accordance with the will and purpose of God, at the back of these prophecies, and then wait with faith, for their fulfilment. Mark these words of the Promised Messiah. 96 "The truth shall be victorious, and for. Islam shall again come the day of freshness and light, as it came once before; and that sun shall again shine forth, as it had shone in splendeur before.. But that is not yet to be. It is essential that the heavens should keep it from shining forth like that, even until, in the most strenuous endeavour directed to that end, our hearts flow out in blood, to lend strength to our effortsuntil we sacrifice all our comforts, until we bear all kinds of humiliations, so that Islam should come to be honoured. The revival of Islam demands an indemnity from us. And what is that

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indemnity? Our death on this path. This is the death on which depends the life of Islam, the life of the Muslims, and a proper manifestation of the Living. God" (Fateh Islam). And again, by way of advice to his followers, the Promised Messiah says, with an intensity of sympathy and love, which friends should note with care : recognises me. "O ye, my people! O ye, the thriving, branches of the tree that is my being! You have taken the pledge of bai'at at my hand; and you are sacrificing your life, your comforts, and your wealth for this cause. Listen to me very carefully. Who is my friend? Who is dear to me? Only he who. And who it is that recognises me? Indeed, only he who believes in me, and feels sure that I am from God; and he accepts me in just the same way as are accepted those who are from God. The world cannot accept me, for I am not of this world. But those whose nature partakes of that higher life, they accept me and shall continue to accept me. He who forsakes me really forsakes Him Who has sent me; and he who grafts himself to me, he does indeed graft himself to Him from. Whom I came. There is a lamp in my hand: he who comes to me, he will partake of this light. But he who runs away from me, on a 97

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basis of suspicion and mistrust, he will be thrown into darkness. I am the strong fortress for safety these days: whosoever shall enter this fortress, he will save himself from thieves and robbers, and the wild beasts. But whoso desires to move away from my walls, he has death staring him in the face on all sides; and even his carcase will not be safe (in the sense that, spiritually speaking, all trace of him shall be obliterated). Who is it that enters into me, and becomes part of my being? Only he who eschews evil, and takes hold of virtue; who eschews all crookedness, and walks in truth; who releases himself from the bondage of shaitan, and becomes a slave of Allah. Everyone who does this, becomes part of me, So that he is in me and I am in him" (Fateh. Islam, page 34).. God grant that we, and our coming generations, should live in this world as thriving branches of the tree that is the being of the. Promised Messiah; and through us the names of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, and of the. Promised Messiah, should echo and re-echo all over the world with glory; and these words of God be fulfilled with due splendeur that "The feet of the followers of Muhammad have been firmly planted, in strength, over a towering and lofty minaret"! Amen! 98 i

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