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| Ahmadiyya Mosque, Albania |
When The Promised Messiah announced his that it had been revealed to him that he was the Messiah who the Muslims had been expecting, he did so by publicly publishing a discussion of the subject in three parts over 1890 and 1891 and requesting the Muslims not to reject his claim before at least reading the statements and arguments contained therein. The first two parts of this epic trilogy, Fathe Islam and Taudeh Maram, have already been discussed in earlier articles and have their full English translations available free online from alislam.org.
The third part, Izala-e-Auham, also has it's original Urdu version available free on the same site, but it has never been fully translated into English. It should be noted that although the main text is in Urdu, Izala-e-Auham also contains numerous revelations which The Promised Messiah received in Persian and Arabic.
As this book is one of the three parts of a message by which the Muslims were to judge The Promised Messiah's claim, it is of great religious and historical importance. Rather than publish an article on the book, we have decided to try something more ambitious and have collected the extracts which have been translated of the book, to present them for the benefit of our readers who cannot read Urdu.
The translations we have gotten together were done by Sir Muhammad Zafrullah Khan r.a. and were approved by Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih and appear in different parts of the collection 'Essence of Islam' as well as some other sources, however their collection on this site is, like all of the site, completely unofficial and unauthorised and if we are asked to remove it then May Allah always find us obedient. We have collected all these together. We have placed the extracts in the order they appeared in the original text of Izala-e-Auham and above each individual extract we have added a subtitle which is our own and only our own and if there is any error in these subtitles we take full responsibility and apologise from the outset. Also, in the original text the actual Arabic of quotes from The Noble Qu'ran and ahadith have been presented, whereas we have merely offered the English translation. Also, for references to where the text is taken from, we have simply added the page number in which that particular extract appears in Volume 3 of Ruhani Khuzain, the book in which Izala Auham is collected.It is not the first book within the volume, which is why the referenced page numbers begin at approximately 100.
We should also note before we begin that in part 31 of the presented translation, The Promsied Messiah states that he is not a prophet. The reason for this has already been discussed at length in previous articles and we shall not reenter this discussion at the present time. However, several years later in his mission, it was repeatedly revealed by Allah to The Promised Messiah that he was a prophet of God and so his understanding of the issue changed, based on divine revelation.
Of course, the result is the length of a short book, or almost 30,000 words. Anyhow, here is an abridged translation, by Sir Muhammad Zafrullah Khan, of The Promised Messiah's bookIzala-e-Auham, or 'The Removal of Misconceptions':
1. Introduction (p102-105)
O revered ones! O clerics! And O leaders of the people! May God Almighty open your eyes. Do not transgress the limits in your wrath and anger. Study both parts of this book of mine carefully, for therein lies light and guidance. Fear God Almighty and hold back your tongues from denouncing me as a disbeliever. God Almighty knows well that I am a Muslim.
I believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His Messengers and Resurrection after death. I bear witness that there is no God except Allah, the One without associate; and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. Fear Allah and say not: You are not a Muslim. Fear the King to Whom you will be brought back.
If, even after studying this book, you still continue to harbour doubts, then come and test him who is supported by God. O ye opposing clerics, sufis and religious leaders, who reject me and denounce me as an impostor, I have been assured that if all of you together, or individually, stand against me and wish to compete with me in respect of the heavenly signs that are manifested in support of the friends of the Gracious One, God Almighty will put you to shame and will unmask you, and you will see that He is with me. Is there anyone among you who is prepared to come into the field for such a trial, and to compete with me, after a public announcement, about the close relationship that God has with me? Remember, God helps the righteous. Lay aside your tricks for He is close to me. Will you then fight Him? Can anyone rise in stature merely by jumping arrogantly? Will you rip the truth apart with your sharp tongues? Fear Him Whose wrath is greater than all wraths!
...In the same way I too have been sent to put forth plainly the commandments of the Holy Qur’an. The only difference is that the first Messiah was given to Moses and this Messiah has been given to the ‘like of Moses’. This much is beyond doubt. Yet I tell you truly that those who were revived by the Messiah are dead, but he who will drink of the cup that has been bestowed upon me will never die. If there is anyone else who can also utter the life-giving words that I speak and proclaim such wisdom as I do, then you are at liberty to conclude that I have not come from God Almighty. However, if this wisdom and understanding- which serve as the water of life for those whose hearts are dead- is not procurable from any other source, then you have no excuse for the crime that you have rejected the fountain that has been opened from heaven. No one on earth can stop it. Do not rush towards confrontation lest you should deliberately invite the charge about which God says:
The third part, Izala-e-Auham, also has it's original Urdu version available free on the same site, but it has never been fully translated into English. It should be noted that although the main text is in Urdu, Izala-e-Auham also contains numerous revelations which The Promised Messiah received in Persian and Arabic.
As this book is one of the three parts of a message by which the Muslims were to judge The Promised Messiah's claim, it is of great religious and historical importance. Rather than publish an article on the book, we have decided to try something more ambitious and have collected the extracts which have been translated of the book, to present them for the benefit of our readers who cannot read Urdu.
The translations we have gotten together were done by Sir Muhammad Zafrullah Khan r.a. and were approved by Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih and appear in different parts of the collection 'Essence of Islam' as well as some other sources, however their collection on this site is, like all of the site, completely unofficial and unauthorised and if we are asked to remove it then May Allah always find us obedient. We have collected all these together. We have placed the extracts in the order they appeared in the original text of Izala-e-Auham and above each individual extract we have added a subtitle which is our own and only our own and if there is any error in these subtitles we take full responsibility and apologise from the outset. Also, in the original text the actual Arabic of quotes from The Noble Qu'ran and ahadith have been presented, whereas we have merely offered the English translation. Also, for references to where the text is taken from, we have simply added the page number in which that particular extract appears in Volume 3 of Ruhani Khuzain, the book in which Izala Auham is collected.It is not the first book within the volume, which is why the referenced page numbers begin at approximately 100.
We should also note before we begin that in part 31 of the presented translation, The Promsied Messiah states that he is not a prophet. The reason for this has already been discussed at length in previous articles and we shall not reenter this discussion at the present time. However, several years later in his mission, it was repeatedly revealed by Allah to The Promised Messiah that he was a prophet of God and so his understanding of the issue changed, based on divine revelation.
Of course, the result is the length of a short book, or almost 30,000 words. Anyhow, here is an abridged translation, by Sir Muhammad Zafrullah Khan, of The Promised Messiah's bookIzala-e-Auham, or 'The Removal of Misconceptions':
1. Introduction (p102-105)
O revered ones! O clerics! And O leaders of the people! May God Almighty open your eyes. Do not transgress the limits in your wrath and anger. Study both parts of this book of mine carefully, for therein lies light and guidance. Fear God Almighty and hold back your tongues from denouncing me as a disbeliever. God Almighty knows well that I am a Muslim.
I believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His Messengers and Resurrection after death. I bear witness that there is no God except Allah, the One without associate; and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. Fear Allah and say not: You are not a Muslim. Fear the King to Whom you will be brought back.
If, even after studying this book, you still continue to harbour doubts, then come and test him who is supported by God. O ye opposing clerics, sufis and religious leaders, who reject me and denounce me as an impostor, I have been assured that if all of you together, or individually, stand against me and wish to compete with me in respect of the heavenly signs that are manifested in support of the friends of the Gracious One, God Almighty will put you to shame and will unmask you, and you will see that He is with me. Is there anyone among you who is prepared to come into the field for such a trial, and to compete with me, after a public announcement, about the close relationship that God has with me? Remember, God helps the righteous. Lay aside your tricks for He is close to me. Will you then fight Him? Can anyone rise in stature merely by jumping arrogantly? Will you rip the truth apart with your sharp tongues? Fear Him Whose wrath is greater than all wraths!
...In the same way I too have been sent to put forth plainly the commandments of the Holy Qur’an. The only difference is that the first Messiah was given to Moses and this Messiah has been given to the ‘like of Moses’. This much is beyond doubt. Yet I tell you truly that those who were revived by the Messiah are dead, but he who will drink of the cup that has been bestowed upon me will never die. If there is anyone else who can also utter the life-giving words that I speak and proclaim such wisdom as I do, then you are at liberty to conclude that I have not come from God Almighty. However, if this wisdom and understanding- which serve as the water of life for those whose hearts are dead- is not procurable from any other source, then you have no excuse for the crime that you have rejected the fountain that has been opened from heaven. No one on earth can stop it. Do not rush towards confrontation lest you should deliberately invite the charge about which God says:
Do not go too far in suspicion and mistrust lest you should be seized on account of what you allege and in this agony you might have to say:
...O ye Muslims, if you believe truly in God Almighty and in His Holy Prophet s.a.w. and are awaiting Divine help, then be sure that the time of such help has arrived. This affair is not from man, nor has it been devised by man. In fact, this is the dawn which had been prophesised in Holy Scriptures from ancient times. God Almighty has remembered you at the time of your dire need. You were about to fall into the pit of ruin, but His Compassionate Hand has come to your rescue. Be grateful and jump with joy that the day of your revival has arrived. God Almighty would not permit the ruin of the garden of His faith, which was irrigated by the blood of the righteous. He does not desire that, like the religions of other people, Islam also should become a collection of ancient tales, which should exhibit no current blessing. He Himself provides light when the darkness is at its height. Do you not look for a new moon after the night of complete darkness? You comprehend fully the physical law of nature, but, alas, you are wholly unaware of the spiritual law which it resembles.
O selfish divines and men of barren piety! Fie on you that you do not desire the opening of the heavenly doors and wish that they should remain closed forever so that you might maintain your positions of eminence. Look into your hearts and examine your conscience. Is your life free from the worship of the world? Do your hearts not suffer from the rust which involves you in darkness? Are you in any way different from the Pharisees and jurists who, in the time of the Messiah, were wholly given to self-love? Is it not true that thereby you are yourselves furnishing a parallel for the appearance of the like of Jesus and are placing yourselves under the judgement of God Almighty? I tell you truly that it is easier for a nonbeliever to become a believer than it is for you to believe. Many will come from East and West who will partake of this bounty, but you will die in your condition of rust. I wish you would reflect.
2- Disbelievers find the words of Prophets offensive (p110-112)
When the verses [of the Holy Qur’an] were revealed condemning the pagans as an abomination, polluted, and the worst of creation, and as stupid and the progeny of Satan, and that their idols will be the fuel of fire and will be castigated into Hell, Abu Talib sent for the Holy Prophet s.a.w. and said to him: ‘Son of my brother, the people are much provoked by your abuses and are bent on killing you and me too. You have dubbed their wise men as fools and have called their ancestors the worst of creation, and have named their revered gods the firewood of hell and fuel for fire and have generally described all of them as an abomination, progeny of Satan, and polluted. I advise you, as your well-wisher, to control your tongue and stop all this abuse; otherwise, I would have no power to protect you against the wrath of the people.’
The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, answered: Uncle, I have uttered no abuse. All that I have said is a fact and is entirely relevant to the situation. This is what I have been sent for. If this should involve my death I would gladly welcome such death for myself. My life is dedicated to this purpose and I cannot refrain from expressing the truth for fear of death. Uncle, if you are apprehensive on account of your own weakness and on the score of the trouble in which you might be involved, you might withdraw your protection from me. God knows that I am in no need of you. I shall never refrain from conveying the Divine message. I hold the commandments of my Lord as dearer than my life. Should I be killed in this cause, I would wish to be restored to life so that each time I should die in the cause of Allah. I am not affected by fear. Rather, I consider it most delightful to suffer in this cause.
While the Holy Prophet s.a.w. was speaking his face shone with the light of truth. When he concluded, Abu Talib, perceiving the light in his face, was overcome by emotion and said: I was not aware of this exalted condition of yours. You exist in a different world and in a different condition. Go and continue as you wish. So long as I am alive, I shall support you to the limits of my capacity.
All of this subject dealing with the events related to Abu Talib is set out in well-known books, but the whole of the subject has been revealed upon the heart of my humble self by Allah the Almighty, except that an occasional phrase has been added by my humble self by way of explanation.
3- Ahadith Prophecising the Promised Messiah (p121-125)
My statement concerning the Promised Messiah, whose descent from heaven and second advent into the world is awaited, which God Almighty has disclosed to me by His grace and mercy, is that there is no mention in the Holy Qur’an of the second advent of Jesus. According to the Holy Qur’an, Jesus has departed from this world forever. Some Ahadith, which are replete with metaphors, predict the second advent of Jesus. Their context indicates that they do not predict the second coming of Jesus, son of Mary, but comprise metaphorical statements which mean that in an age that would resemble the age of Jesus, son of Mary, a person will resemble Jesus, son of Mary, in his temperament, power and function.
As Jesus, son of Mary, had revived the religion of Moses and had set forth afresh the true teaching of the Torah, which the Jews had forgotten, in the same way this second Messiah would revive the faith of the Prophet who was like Moses and was the Seal of the Prophets s.a.w. This Messiah of the Prophet who was the like of Moses will completely resemble the Messiah of Moses in the events of his life and in all other consequences that his people will experience on account of their obedience to him or their denial of him. God Almighty has revealed to me that I am that Promised Messiah.
According to their old ideas which have taken firm root in their hearts, the Muslims’ claim that Jesus, son of Mary, will descend from heaven near the eastern minaret of Damascus with his hands resting on the shoulders of two angels. Some of them say that he will descend on the minaret with the help of a ladder which the Muslims will provide for him, and the angels will then depart. He will be well dressed—he will not be naked—and will meet the Mahdi in that condition. His age will be the same as when he ascended to heaven, that is thirty-two or thirty-three years. Passage of years and months will not have affected his age or physique; nor will his hair and nails have grown; they will only become subject to change after his descent. He will not engage in fighting, but the disbelievers will die by the power of his breath alone, which, instead of reviving the dead as it formerly did, will now cause the living to die.
Here the clerics contradict themselves and assert that he will wage wars, and the one-eyed Antichrist will die at his hands. The Jews will also be killed by his command. They assert that he will be the same Jesus, son of Mary, who was a Prophet of God and who was bestowed the Gospel through Gabriel, and yet they allege that on his descent upon earth he will have lost his status of Prophethood and will only be a follower of the Holy Prophet s.a.w. and will be bound by the law of the Holy Qur’an, like the Muslims, and will join them in their prayers. Some say that he will be a follower of the great Imam Abu Hanifa, but it is not specified which of the four Sufi orders, Qadri, Chishti, Suharwardi or Naqshbandi he will identify himself with.
In short, they begin with describing him as a Prophet and then reduce him to a degree that no sensible person can ever contemplate. Then, converting his functions from their metaphorical description into physical activities, they allege that he will break crosses and slaughter swine. They do not explain what he will gain by breaking crosses. Even if he broke one or two million crosses, would the Christians, who are devoted to the worship of the cross, not make new ones in place of the broken ones? If the slaughtering of swine is also to be taken literally, will the principal occupation of the Messiah be that of hunting swine with a pack of dogs? If that is so, it will be a great day for Sikhs and some nomadic tribes like the Chamars, Sansis, Gondelas, etc., who are fond of hunting swine. But this activity of his will not in any way benefit the Christians, who are already very skilful in hunting swine. There are up to a thousand shops in London that sell the flesh of swine, and up to twenty-five thousand pigs are daily sent to the outlying areas of the city.
The question is: is it worthy of a Prophet who has appeared for the reform of mankind to waste his time hunting pig, a disgusting animal, while even touching the pig is a grave sin according to Torah. A question also arises that—while hunting is a hobby of the idle—if the Messiah is still to be so fond of hunting, is there any dearth of such good animals as deer, caribou, rabbits, etc., that he should soil his hands with the blood of such a foul animal?
I have presented here a picture of the character and activities of the Messiah in his second advent, as conceived by the bulk of the Muslims. It is for sensible people to consider how unnatural, contradictory and inconsistent with the high status of Prophethood all this is.
It should be remembered that none of this nonsense is mentioned in either of the two great compilations of Ahadith. Imam Bukhari has given no indication that the Messiah who is to come will be the same person as Jesus, son of Mary. On the contrary, he has narrated two actual sayings of the Holy Prophet s.a.w, which distinguish the Second Messiah from the first. The connotation of one of these Ahadith is that the son of Mary will appear from among you, and it further clarifies that he will be your Imam from within you.
One should carefully consider how the Holy Prophet s.a.w, in order to remove any misunderstanding which may result from the name ‘son of Mary’, goes on to say: Do not take him to be the son of Mary himself, rather: ‘He will be your Imam from among your own people.’ The other Hadith, which gives the same indication, is that the Holy Prophet s.a.w. described the features of the first and the second Messiah differently. His description of the features of the second Messiah fits me exactly. Is the clear distinction between the features of the two not enough to prove that the first and the second Messiah are in fact two distinct personalities?
4- The Holy Qu'ran rejects concept of Jesus' physical ascent to heaven (p125-127)
Nowhere does the Holy Qur’an mention the bodily ascent of Jesus to heaven. His death, on the other hand, is specifically mentioned at several different places. One of these contains Jesus’ own confession of his death:
As his death is established, it follows that his body must have been buried in the earth like the bodies of all dead people. The Holy Qur’an expressly states that it was his soul that ascended to heaven and not his body. That is why, in the verse just cited, he clearly acknowledged his death. Had he ascended to heaven alive in his physical body, he would not have said that he had departed the earth after his death. And, obviously, if it was only his soul which had ascended to heaven, then how can he possibly descend in his physical body?...
...The journey of the Me‘raj was not with the physical body, but was a vision of the highest type, which in effect was experienced in complete wakefulness. In such a vision, a person according to the capacity of his soul, can journey through the heavens with a body of light. As the soul of the Holy Prophet s.a.w. possessed the highest capacity, therefore, in his journey ofMe‘raj, he arrived at the highest point of the universe, which is described as the Great Throne. This journey was the vision in a sort of wakefulness. I do not call it a dream, nor was it a vision of low status. This was a vision at the highest stage, which is clearer and brighter than wakefulness. I myself have experience of this type of vision...
...If we were to assume that he had ascended to heaven in his physical body, we would have to acknowledge that, like all human and animal bodies, his body must also be affected by the passage of time and that one day he must die. Thus he may have died in heaven having lived out his normal span of life and may have been interned in a graveyard on some planet which is now supposed to be capable of supporting human life. On the other hand, if we are to assume the impossible—that he is still physically alive, then, after the passage of so many centuries, he must have arrived at extreme old age and will no longer be capable of performing any religious function or service. His descent upon earth in such a condition would serve no useful purpose and would only put him to unnecessary travail.
5- Meaning of Ahadith that Jesus would 'descend' back to Damascus (p132-139)
It is asked: how can we reject the clear and obvious statements of the Ahadith which expressly state that Jesus, son of Mary, would descend from heaven near the eastern minaret of Damascus with his hands on the shoulder of two angels? The answer is that descent in this context does not mean descent from heaven in a physical body. The Ahadith do not even employ the word ‘heaven’. The Arabic word Nuzul (descent) is commonly used to connote arrival. A person who arrives at one place from another is described as having descended at that place. For instance, it is said that an army or a camp has descended at such and such a place. This does not mean that the army or the camp have descended from heaven. The Holy Qur’an has also employed the expression Nuzul (descent) for the Holy Prophet s.a.w. It is also stated in a verse that iron has descended from heaven. It is thus obvious that this descent does not connote what people have imagined.
The Hadith of Sahih Muslim which says that the Messiah would descend near the white eastern minaret of Damascus has throughout puzzled the scholars, for it is not clear what relationship Messiah has with Damascus....A little attention resolved this difficulty in my mind anD it was disclosed to me, in a clear vision, that the intimation in the compilation of Abu Dawud that a person designated Harith or Harrath [a cultivator] will appear is correct and is identical with the prophecy of the second advent of the Messiah and that both have reference to me.
It has been disclosed to me that the word Damascus in the prophecy means a town which is home to a people who resemble Yazid and think and act like him. Their hearts feel no love for Allah or His Messenger and they do not esteem Divine commandments. They worship their selfish desires and are so committed to the dictates of their evil egos, that they esteem the blood of the pure and the holy lightly. They do not believe in the hereafter; and the existence of God Almighty is for them a mystery which they cannot understand. Just as a physician is needed for the sick, it was necessary that the Messiah should appear among such people.
It has been disclosed to me that the word Damascus here indicates a place which possesses this important characteristic peculiar to Damascus. The use of this word in connection with the place of the appearance of the Messiah is an indication that the Messiah does not mean Jesus who was given the
Gospel but he is someone from among the Muslims who, in his spiritual condition, resembles both the Messiah and Imam Hussain, for Damascus is the capital of Yazid and is the centre of the Yazidis from which proceeded thousands of tyrannical commands…
The word Damascus clearly indicates that Jesus in not the Messiah who was to come, but as the Yazidis resemble the Jews in the same way the Messiah who is to come resembles Jesus and possesses the temperament of Hussain. This is a very subtle point: the word Damascus has been used metaphorically. As the tragedy of Imam Hussain was an enormity in the estimation of God Almighty and resembled closely the tragedy of Jesus, as even the Christians would acknowledge, therefore, God Almighty desired that the coming generations may be apprised of its enormity and its resemblance to the tragedy of Jesus.
Damascus has been metaphorically mentioned in this context so that the readers might be reminded of the time when the beloved grandson of the Holy Prophet s.a.w. was, like Jesus, put to the sword most tyrannically by the wretches of Damascus. Thus God Almighty particularly mentioned Damascus, wherefrom such tyrannical directions had issued and which was the home of such hard-hearted and darkminded people, as an indication that the place which resembled Damascus would now become the headquarter for the propagation of faith and justice.
...I received a revelation concerning Qadian as following, 'There have been created in it people who possess the qualities of Yazid'...It is to be noted that my place of residence is on the eastern edge of Qadian...
...On the day, when the revelation just mentioned—referring to Qadian—was received, I saw my brother Mirza Ghulam Qadir in a vision reciting the Holy Qur’an aloud. In the course of recitation he recited, 'We have sent it down close to Qadian'. I expressed my surprise that the name of Qadian should be mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, on which he said: ‘Here it is, you can see.’ I looked and saw that this revelation was set out about the middle of the right page of the Holy Qur’an. Then I said to myself: ‘It is true that the name of Qadian is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an’ and I also said: ‘Three names are mentioned with honour in the Holy Qur’an: Mecca, and Medina, and Qadian.’
This indicates that his name has a connection with the interpretation of my vision. The word Qadir [Powerful] which is part of his name indicated that all this is the decree of Qadir-e-Mutlaq [the Most Powerful] and is not to be wondered at. This is how the wonders of His power have always been manifested that He exalts the humble and the lowly and reduces the great and highly placed to the dust...
...I had written so far when I received the revelation, 'Say: Had this matter been from someone other than Allah, you would have found in it much contradiction. Say: If Allah had followed your desires, the heavens and the earth and all that is in them would have been corrupted and the wise design of Allah would have been frustrated. Allah is Mighty Wise. Say, if the ocean became ink for transcribing the words of my Lord, surely the ocean would be exhausted before the words of my Lord came to an end, even though We had augmented it with the like thereof. Tell them: If you love Allah, follow me, Allah will then love you. Allah is Most Forgiving, Ever Merciful.'
This was followed by a revelation, 'These ulema have changed My house about. They have set up their fireplaces in My temple and their cups and thuthian fill My place of worship. Like rats, they are nibbling at the ahadith of My Prophet.' Thuthian are small cups which are calledsakorian in Hindi. By place of worship are meant the hearts of most of the maulavis of this age which are filled with worldly desires...
...The prophecy that relates to the Promised Messiah has two special aspects. One is that through his true teaching he will reform the spiritual condition of the Muslims which will be utterly corrupt at the time of his advent and; he will totally remove their spiritual poverty and inner indigence and present them the jewels of knowledge, verities and comprehension in excess of their need. No seeker after truth from among them will remain spiritually poor and indigent. All those who hunger and thirst for truth will be provided in abundance with the wholesome food of truth and the sweet drink of comprehension. Their pockets will be filled with the pearls of true knowledge and they will be given phialae filled with the perfume of the true meaning of the Holy Qur’an.
The second special aspect of the prophecy, which relates to the advent of the Promised Messiah, is that he will break the cross, slaughter the swine and kill the one-eyed Antichrist. Every disbeliever who is touched by his breath will die instantly. The spiritual interpretation of this special aspect is that the Promised Messiah will crush under his feet all the glory of the religion of the cross, that he will destroy with the weapon of conclusive arguments those who are afflicted with shamelessness like swine, and who devour filth like pigs, and that he will wipe out with the sword of clear proofs the opposition of those who possess only the eye of the world and are bereft of the eye of the faith in place of which they have only an unsightly taint. Not only such one-eyed ones, but also every disbeliever who views Islam with contempt will suffer spiritual extinction through the glorious breath of Messianic reasoning.
In short all these signs are metaphoric, the significance of which has been fully revealed to me. Some may not appreciate it at this time but after waiting for sometime, and despairing altogether of the hopes that they now entertain, all of them will accept it...
...It is an absurdity to interpret literally the Hadith of Sahih Muslim which says that when the Messiah descends from heaven he will be wearing yellow robes. There appears no reason for this peculiarity. If this indication is interpreted according to the principles of the interpretation of dreams, it would mean that when the Promised Messiah announces his claim he would not be in good health...
...An eminent personage...whose name was Maulavi ‘Abdullah Ghaznavi... I saw this eminent and righteous person in my dream after his death that he was standing fully armed in a military way with great dignity and majesty.
I mentioned some of my revelations to him and asked him to interpret one of my dreams. I told him that I had seen in a dream that I was holding a sword, the hilt of which was in my hand and its point reached up to the sky. When I turned it to the right thousands of my opponents were killed and when I turned it to the left thousands of my enemies were killed.
Hadrat ‘Abdullah was very pleased to hear this dream of mine. With his face beaming with cheerfulness, happiness, and clear conviction, he said: ‘The interpretation of your dream is that God will employ you for high purposes. Wielding the sword on the right and killing opponents means that the task will be accomplished through spiritual light and the manifestations of spiritual Signs; while wielding it to the left and slaughtering thousands of enemies means that Allah will employ you to confound them with reason and argument and thus in both ways Allah will establish the truth.’ He added: ‘When I was in the world I was hoping that God will surely raise such a person.’
Then he took me to a large building in which a number of righteous and godly people were sitting, all of them armed in military fashion and sitting upright as if waiting for some command immediately expected for the performance of some military task….
This blessed dream, which is really a type of vision, points to the same Signs of the Messiah that I have mentioned above. That the slaughter of swine and killing of infidels by the Messiah has the same import: he will convey the divine arguments convincingly and will frustrate them through the sword of argument. Allah knows best...
...That Jesus, son of Mary, will appear in the world by way of transmigration of souls is the worst and most shameful of notions. Those who believe in the transmigration of souls, believe that only an impure person would return to this life, but that those who leave the world, having completed all stages of spiritual perfection, would stay in the house of salvation for a long time. Moreover, according to our belief, God Almighty has promised that those who are admitted to heaven would never be expelled therefrom.
It surprises us as to why our divines would want to bring Jesus out of paradise. They relate the tale that Enoch, with the permission of the angel of death, stepped into paradise, and when the angel asked him to come out he refused to do so and recited the verse:
Still they assert that Jesus will return to earth from heaven. Would he not be entitled to benefit from this verse? Is this verse to be considered abrogated in reference to him?...
This humble one saw in a state of vision that two individuals, who looked like men, were sitting in a house, one on the ground and the other near the roof. Addressing the one who was sitting on the ground, I said: I need an army of one hundred thousand, but he kept quiet and returned no answer. Then, I turned to the one who was near the roof towards the sky and addressed him. I said: I need an army of one hundred thousand, He replied: a hundred thousand will not be bestowed, but five thousand soldiers will be given. Thereupon, I said to myself that although five thousand is a small number, but if God Almighty so wills, a few can prevail over many and I recited the verse:
...Then, that Mansur Who is mentioned in the hadith of Abu Dawud concerning ‘Harith’ was shown to me in a vision and it was said concerning him, ‘He is prosperous, he is prosperous,’ but due to some wise design of God the Almighty, I was not able to identify him. I hope, however, that he will be shown to me on some other occasion.
6- Ahadith tell us Jesus' condition in paradise is the same as Moses (153-154)
The account of the spiritual ascent of the Holy Prophet s.a.w. set out in Bukhari, which describes his meeting with some of the Prophets, makes no mention that Jesus was there in his physical body. The meeting of the Holy Prophet s.a.w. with Jesus is described in exactly the same terms as his meeting with Abraham and Moses. His dialogue with Moses is set out in detail. There can, therefore, be no doubt that if on the basis of this Hadith Jesus had been raised bodily to heaven so must Abraham and Moses have been bodily raised, inasmuch as the Holy Prophet s.a.w. saw all of them in the same condition. He did not observe any particular dress or other sign of a bodily ascent about Jesus, which was not visible with regard to the other Prophets.
7- Allah's support for the Promised Messiah (156-158)
I have set out in these announcements the lights of the power of faith that have been manifested to me in an extraordinary manner in the shape of support from the unseen. They are proofs of the grace and mercy of God Almighty and of nearness to Him and have been bestowed on this humble one by virtue of my strong faith and adherence to the straight path.
This spiritual station cannot be claimed by any of my opponents. If anyone contests this statement, let him stand forth and compare the blessings bestowed upon him on account of his following his own religion, with those that have been bestowed on me. But no one has stood up to confront me, nor is it within the power of a frail human being to stand up merely on the basis of his cunning, wicked designs or bigoted obstinacy, against this Movement which God Almighty has established with His own hand.I affirm truly that if anyone stands up against this Movement to display blessings enjoyed by him, he will be struck down with great humiliation, as this Movement is not of man but is from that Mighty and Powerful Being Whose hand fashioned the heavens and all heavenly bodies and spread out the earth for its dwellers.
It is a pity that our clerics and divines are always ready to sit down with paper, pen and inkpot to condemn me as a disbeliever, but do not reflect for a moment whether falsehood can ever inspire such awe and dread that no one dares step forth in answer to such a challenge. Can a false one possess such courage and steadfastness as has been manifested before the whole world in this instance? Let those who doubt the truth of my statements approach the leaders, preachers and teachers of all opponents of Islam and persuade them … to stand against me in a contest regarding spiritual matters, and see whether God Almighty supports me or not.
…It has been disclosed to me that whatever is rejected in consequence of my supplications will not be acceded through any other means and a door that is opened through me cannot be closed through any other means.
8- Revelation Stating Similarity between Jesus and The Promised Messiah (p165)
'You have the closest relationship to Jesus, son of Mary and you are the nearest of all people to him in your qualities, your appearance, and the age in which you have been raised.'
9- Beliefs of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (p169-170)
The summary and essence of our faith is that, ‘There is none worthy of worship, except Allah and Muhammad is his Messenger’. Our belief that we profess in this life and with which, through the favour of God Almighty, we shall pass on to the next life, is that our lord and master, Muhammad, the chosen one s.a.w. is the Seal of the Prophets and Chief of Messengers, at whose hands the faith was perfected and the bounty was completed through which, by treading the straight path, a person can reach God Almighty.
We believe with absolute certainty that the Holy Qur’an is the last of the heavenly books and that not a word or vowel point of its laws and limits and commandments can be added to or subtracted from. No revelation can now be received from God, which can have the effect of modifying or abrogating the commandments of the Holy Qur’an, or of changing any single one of its directions. Anyone who thinks otherwise is, according to us, not believer, and is a heretic and kafir.
We also believe that even the lowest stage of the straight path cannot become available to a person without following the Holy Prophet s.a.w. let alone the higher stages of that path. We cannot attain to any stage of honour and perfection or of nearness to God except through the true and perfect following of the Holy Prophet s.a.w. Whatever is bestowed upon us is by way of reflection and through the Holy Prophet s.a.w.
10- The dangers of Literally Interpreting Ahadith Regarding Jesus' Return (p 174)
There are great difficulties in interpreting this prophecy literally, for this would invite all manner of objections before the Messiah even descends from heaven. There is no need for us to get involved in these difficulties. Why should we seek to bring the son of Mary down from heaven and deprive him of his Prophethood? Why should we degrade him so that someone else should be the Imam and he should be the follower; and another should take the covenant of allegiance as the Imam and Khalifa while he should be a helpless spectator; and he should become a common Muslim, and dare not even mention his Prophethood?
11- Challenge to non-Ahmadis to pray for their own Messiah (179-180)
If I am in error in claiming to be the Promised Messiah, then why don’t you try to make the Promised Messiah you have in mind descend from heaven in these very days, for I am here and he for whom you are waiting is nowhere to be seen. My claim can only be effectively refuted if he descends from heaven and I am proved to be false. If you are indeed truthful, you should supplicate all together that the Messiah son of Mary should soon be seen descending from heaven.
If you are indeed in the right, your prayer will be heard, for the prayers of the righteous are accepted in contrast to the prayers of the false, but you may be certain that this prayer of yours will not be accepted as you are in error. The Messiah has come but you have failed to recognize him. Your vain hope will never be fulfilled; this age will pass and no one from among you will see the Messiah descending from heaven.
God Almighty has conveyed to me through a sure and certain prophecy that out of my progeny there will be one who will resemble Jesus in many respects. He will descend from heaven and will straighten out the way of the dwellers upon earth. He will set free those who are held in bondage and deliver those who are imprisoned in the chains of doubt. Son, delight of the heart, high ranking, noble.
12- Revelation Including the prophecy of Death of Zulfiqar Bhutto aged 51 (p184-190)
Today my people do not recognize my status,
The day will come when they will recall my blessed time with tears...
I am the lamp of Truth, in the Chamber of Holiness,
I am the lamp of Truth, in the Chamber of Holiness,
His hand is my protector against every fierce and cold wind...
...Obviously, it is very clear that those who have accepted this humble one as the Promised Messiah are secure against every danger and will be accounted as deserving several kinds of merit and reward together with the strengthening of their faith. This is because:
First of all they thought well of a brother and did not declare him an impostor or a liar and did not admit into their hearts any evil doubt con-cerning him. They are, therefore, deserving of the merit which is earned by those who think well of a brother.
Secondly, they did not fear people’s reproaches in the matter of accepting the truth, nor did they yield to egoistic passions. They have, therefore, become deserving of merit in that, having heard the call of a Divinely inspired Caller, and having considered it as a call to the truth, they accepted his message and were not held back by any obstacle.
Third, having accepted the one who appeared in fulfillment of a prophecy, they have been freed of all bothersome thoughts which are generated by a long period of waiting and end up in the loss of faith due to continuous disappointment. These fortunate people have not only been delivered from such risk but, their faith is further strengthened and their traditional belief assumes a sense of true knowledge for they have seen a Divine sign and the fulfilment, before their very eyes, of a prophecy of God’s Messenger. They have been delivered of all anxiety that invades the hearts in the matter of prophecies that just do not find fulfilment.
Fourthly, having believed in one sent by God Almighty they have been rescued from Divine wrath and displeasure which pursues the disobedient ones who have nothing to do but contradict and deny.
Fifthly, they have become deserving of the graces and blessings which descend upon the sincere ones who, out of goodwill towards a claimant, accept the one who comes from God Almighty.
These are the benefits which, by the grace of God, shall be bestowed on the fortunate people who have accepted this humble one. But those who do not accept me are deprived of all this good fortune. Their fear that in the case of acceptance they would harm their faith is baseless. I cannot understand how this could do any harm to their faith. The faith would only be harmed if I had asked them to follow a new teaching contrary to the teaching of Islam; for instance, if I had declared unlawful that which is lawful or had declared lawful that which is unlawful, or had changed anything in respect of the fundamental doctrines upon which salvation depends, or if I had added anything to or subtracted anything from the prescribed forms of worship, like Fasting or Prayer or Pilgrimage or payment of Zakat. If I had increased the number of Prayers from five to ten or had reduced them to two, or had prescribed Fast for two months instead of one, or had reduced the period to less than a month, that would certainly have done harm and might have amounted to denial of the faith.
But when I repeatedly affirm, ‘Brothers! I have not brought a new faith or a new teaching. I am one of you and am a Muslim like you. For us Muslims there is no book other than the Holy Qur’an, which we should follow and direct others to follow; and we have no guide or leader except the Seal of the Messenger, Ahmad of Arabia s.a.w, whom we should follow and should direct others to follow. In such case, what apprehension can a devout Muslim have in accepting my claim which is based on Divine revelation?
Assuming that the revelation received by me were not true and I was in error in interpreting and understanding that which I was commanded, what harm would come upon him who believed in me, for he would not have believed in anything which unfavourably affects his faith. If, during our lifetime, Jesus son of Mary was to actually descend bodily from heaven, then: My heart is overjoyed and my eyes are lit up with delight. I and my Community would be the first to accept him….
...But, in the contrary case, there is no way of saving one’s faith. If, until the end of their lives, no one is seen descending from heaven and they are instead faced with their own journey to the hereafter, what doubts would assail their minds and what apprehensions would they entertain in the matter of the prophecy of the Holy Prophet s.a.w? It is not unlikely that such doubts might even destroy one’s faith, for according to the Bible and the Ahadith, this is the time of the appearance of the Messiah.
That is why many of the righteous ones, who had experience of visions, had specified the beginning of the fourteenth century as the time of the appearance of the Messiah...
...A few days ago I was meditating whether a certain Hadith- 'The Signs will appear after two centuries’- means that the Promised Messiah would appear towards the end of the thirteenth century of the Hijrah and whether this humble one is included within the meaning of that hadith. Then my attention was, in a vision, directed to the value of the letters of the name set out below and indicating that the Messiah would appear at the close of the thirteenth century. and this had been determined in advance by divine decree. The name is: Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani. The value of the letters comprised in this name is exactly 1300. In this village of Qadian there is no other person bearing the name Ghulam Ahmad. Indeed, it has been conveyed to me that there is no one else in the whole world who bears the name Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani. It has been the way of Allah with me that He, hallowed be His name, conveys some mysteries to me which are comprised in the value of the alphabet...
...On one occasion, I was thinking of the time of the creation of Adam and my attention was directed towards the value of the letters of surah al-‘Asr as comprising the date...
...With regard to the death of a certain person, God the Almighty revealed to me through the value of the letters of the alphabet, namely: That is [Arabic] He is a dog and he will die according to the value of the letters in the word kalb [dog], which amounts to fifty-two. This means that his age will not exceed fifty-two years and that he will die within the course of his fifty second year...
...On one occasion when I desired to discover through revelation the phrase which would express the date of the consecration of this mosque…, I received the revelation: ‘This mosque is a source of blessings, and is blessed itself. In it will be performed every blessed deed.’
13- Visions (p204-206)
Sometimes, in a dream or a vision, spiritual matters assume physical shape and are seen as human beings. I recall that when my revered father, may Allah grant him forgiveness—who was a respected notable and was known with honour in the neighbourhood—died, two or three days after his death I saw in my dream a very beautiful woman whose features are still in my memory. She said to me: ‘My name is Rani’. She conveyed it to me by gestures that she was the honour and dignity of this household and that she was about to depart, but would stay on for my sake...
...In those very days, I saw a very handsome man and I said to him: ‘You are wonderfully handsome.’ He conveyed to me through a gesture: ‘I personify your good fortune.’ In response to my comment that ‘you are a wonderfully handsome man’ he answered: ‘Yes, I am worthy of being looked at.’...
...A few days ago, I saw in a vision a person who was approaching death through tuberculosis. He disclosed to me that his name was Din Muhammad and it was conveyed to me that this man was a personification of Din-e-Muhammadi [the faith of Muhammad s.a.w.]. I comforted him that he would be healed through me...
14- The Holy Qu'ran tells us that Jesus is dead (p224-225)
We have so many certain and conclusive proofs of the death of Jesus, son of Mary, that they cannot all be set out in this brief publication. Read the Holy Qur’an carefully and you will find the death of Jesus mentioned so clearly and definitely that it is not possible to interpret it otherwise. For instance, the Holy Qur’an reports the acknowledgement of Jesus:
Can we interpret the word Tawaffi (die) in this verse as meaning sleep? Would it be right to understand this verse as meaning: Since Thou didst cause me to sleep Thou hast been the One to watch over them? Of course not. The only appropriate interpretation of Tawaffi in this context is the straightforward one of death; and the context does not permit us to interpret that death will occur after Jesus’ bodily ascent to heaven. This is because the question put to Jesus refers to the going astray of his people, which had happened after his supposed bodily ascent to heaven and had been completed before the advent of the Holy Prophet s.a.w.
The Hadith also confirms the death of Jesus. On page 162 of the Commentary Ma‘alim it is mentioned on the authority of ‘Ali bin Talhah that Ibn-e-‘Abbas interpreted the verse:
to mean i.e., ‘I will cause you to die.’ This is supported by other verses like:
Thus Ibn-e-‘Abbas believed that Jesus had died. Our readers must be aware that Ibn-e-‘Abbas was among the foremost of those who comprehended the Holy Qur’an perfectly. The Holy Prophet s.a.w. had prayed for him that he might be bestowed true knowledge of the Holy Qur’an.
15- The False Source of The Doctrine of the Ascent of Jesus (p235-236)
We have established fully that the belief that Jesus had ascended bodily to heaven is not supported by the Holy Qur’an and true Ahadith. It seems to be based upon senseless and contradictory speculation. In this philosophical age, which is accompanied by cultured reason and sharpness of intellect, it would be a great mistake to hope for religious success on the basis of such doctrines. If these meaningless speculations were to be presented to the illiterate Bedouins of Arabia, or the inhabitants of the deserts of Africa, or the wild dwellers of the far off islands in the oceans, they might gain some acceptance; but we cannot hope to propagate among educated people such doctrines as are utterly opposed to reason, experience, laws of nature and philosophy.
Moreover, they cannot be attributed to the Holy Prophet s.a.w; indeed they contradict the Ahadith. Nor can we present such doctrines as a gift to the scholars of Europe and America who are discarding the absurdities of their own respective faiths. How can those, whose hearts and minds have been developed by the light of new kinds of knowledge, accept such concepts which are disrespectful to God Almighty, denigrate His Unity, falsify His Law and abrogate the teachings of His Books?
The notion that Jesus will descend bodily from heaven is only a consequence of the concept that he was raised bodily to heaven. Therefore, we should first consider whether or not the primary factor can be established on the basis of the Holy Qur’an and Hadith. If the basic factor is established, we will be able to accept that a person whose bodily ascent to heaven is proved could likewise descend bodily from heaven. But if the basic factor is not established on the authority of the Holy Qur’an and the Hadith and instead contradicts them, we cannot accept the accuracy of the alleged consequence and if there should be any Ahadith whose purport might be indicative of such consequential proposition, we would try to reconcile them to the basic factor.
16- Demand to Perform Jesus' Miracles (p251-263)
Certain Muslim sects believe that Jesus used to fashion different types of birds and used to invest them with life by breathing into them. On this basis I have been asked that as I claim to be the like of Jesus I should also fashion a bird and make it come alive by breathing into it. It is alleged that millions of birds created by Jesus fly about everywhere and that the like of Jesus should also create some birds.
Certain Muslim sects believe that Jesus used to fashion different types of birds and used to invest them with life by breathing into them. On this basis I have been asked that as I claim to be the like of Jesus I should also fashion a bird and make it come alive by breathing into it. It is alleged that millions of birds created by Jesus fly about everywhere and that the like of Jesus should also create some birds.
The answer to all these superstitions is that the verses on which they are based are allegorical and it is the height of faithlessness and patent repudiation of the basic values of Islam to construe them as meaning that God Almighty had deliberately associated Jesus in His attribute of creation; inasmuch as it would be a negation of the Godhead to believe that God Almighty should invest someone else with His special attributes and His Divinity.
One of these people was asked if he could distinguish those birds that had been created by God from those that were created by Jesus, but he confessed by remaining silent that he was unable to do so. The doctrine that some birds are the creation of God Almighty and some are the creation of Jesus is altogether vicious and amounts to polytheism. Anyone holding such a belief cannot be a Muslim….
...The miracles of Prophets are of two types. One are heavenly manifestations, in which human design and reason have no part, such as the splitting of the moon, which was a miracle of our lord and master, the Holy Prophet s.a.w. and was manifested by the limitless power of God Almighty as a sign of the greatness of a righteous and perfect Prophet.
Secondly, intellectual miracles, which are manifested through the extraordinary intelligence of a Prophet and which resemble Divine revelation. For instance, the miracle of Solomon, which was manifested in the shape of:
whereby the Queen of Sheba was blessed with faith. It appears that this miracle of Jesus was purely intellectual like the miracle of Solomon.
History reveals that in those days people were inclined towards the useless pursuit of sleight of hand, which astonished the common people. People like those who, in the time of the Pharaoh, used to manipulate the forms of serpents and other animals and made them move like living animals, had by the time of Jesus spread into the land of the Jews who had learnt magical tricks from them as is also indicated in the Holy Qur’an.
It is, therefore, not a matter of surprise that God Almighty may have instructed Jesus in some method whereby a toy fashioned out of clay could be manipulated by pressing a spring or breathing upon it so as to fly like a bird or to move on its feet.
Jesus had worked with his father Joseph for twenty-two years as a carpenter, and carpentry stimulates a man’s mind towards inventing different kinds of machines and mechanical instruments. Miracles are granted to a person in accord with the faculties that he possesses. As the spiritual faculties of our lord and master, the Holy Prophet s.a.w. were well developed in the appreciation of spiritual verities, he was accordingly bestowed the miracle of the Holy Qur’an, which is comprehensive of all verities and understandings of the Divine.
It should, therefore, not be a matter of surprise if Jesus displayed an intellectual miracle to his opponents, like the one displayed by his ancestor, Solomon. Such a miracle is not beyond the reach of the intellect inasmuch as in our own time many mechanical experts are able to fashion birds that speak and move and wag their tails. I have also heard that some mechanical birds can even fly. Many such toys are manufactured in Bombay, Calcutta, Europe, America and every year new one are introduced into the market. As the Holy Qur’an often employs metaphors, these verses can be construed to mean that birds signify the illiterate and simple people whom Jesus chose as his companions, who were like birds under his care, and into whom he breathed spiritual guidance whereby they began to fly.
Moreover, it is possible that such wonders might be performed like a pastime through hypnosis. Those who are experts in ‘amal-ut-tirb [psychokinetic exercises] can, by directing the warmth of their spirits towards certain objects, make them appear as if they were alive. The human soul possesses the capacity of directing its warmth upon a lifeless object so as to make it move as if it was alive. I have seen some practitioners of this phenomenon, who so warmed a wooden tripod by the touch of their hands through the exercise of their animal spirit that it began to move, and though several people mounted on it, it could not be stopped...
...It should be remembered that such an object which is fashioned out of clay or wood and is warmed by a spirit through ‘amal-ut-tirb does not become alive. It remains solid and lifeless; it is only made to move by the warmth of the spirit of the mesmerist. It should also be remembered that the Holy Qur’an does not affirm the movement or flight of such birds, nor their coming to life. It should also be kept in mind that curing diseases and influencing objects with the warmth of the spirit are all branches of mesmerism and there have always been people who healed the paralytics, the lepers and those suffering from tuberculosis through spiritual exercises...
...It has been conclusively established that, under Divine direction, Messiah, son of Mary, was an expert in mesmerism, like the Prophet Isaiah, though he was not as great an expert as the latter, because even the bones of Isaiah performed the miracle that when they were brought into contact with a corpse, it came back to life; but the corpses of the two thieves who were nailed to the cross at the same time with Jesus were not revived through contact with his body. In any case, these mesmeric activities of Jesus were in accord with the thinking of his age for a special purpose.
It should, however, be kept in mind that mesmerism is not worthy of such appreciation as the common people imagine. Had I not looked upon it with contempt and disgust, I could, by the grace of God Almighty and with His support, have performed the same wonders as were performed by Jesus, but I prefer the spiritual method that was followed by the Holy Prophet s.a.w.
Jesus had adopted this method under Divine direction in view of the earthy and low thinking of the Jews, which had become their second nature. In truth he was not fond of this method. One evil characteristic of this physical practice is that a person who continues to employ his emotional and intellectual faculties to heal physical maladies suffers a serious decline of the spiritual capacities, which heal spiritual ills through their influence, and is not able to achieve any remarkable success in illumining and purifying souls.
That is why Jesus, who healed those afflicted with physical ailments with this method, was not able to achieve any noticeable success in impressing hearts with guidance and the Unity of God and steadfastness of faith, but the Holy Prophet s.a.w, who did not pay any attention to physical matters, and concentrated on stimulating spiritual guidance in the hearts of his people, was most successful in purifying the souls and helped thousands of God’s creatures to achieve it to the highest degree. He achieved matchless success in the spiritual reform of mankind and in bringing about inner change. The dead, whom Jesus revived by the practice ‘amal-ut-tirb, died within a few minutes, as the warmth of the spirit and its life was only temporarily stimulated in them, but those who were spiritually revived by our Holy Prophet s.a.w. shall live forever.
My designation of mesmerism as ‘amal-ut-tirb, in which Jesus had acquired some proficiency, is under Divine direction. God Almighty disclosed to me that this art is ‘amal-ut-tirb, and it is concerning this that I received the revelation: ‘This is the tirb of whose reality people are unaware.’ It must be realized that God Almighty is Unique in respect of every one of His attributes and does not associate anyone in them. The emphasis which the clear and unambiguous verses of the Holy Qur’an give to this subject is well known. As Allah, hallowed be His name, says:
God Almighty has here clearly affirmed that there is no Creator besides Him. In another verse, it is stated that the whole world together cannot create even a fly.
Then it is stated that no one beside Him has control over death and life and resurrection. Had it been His way to associate any one of His creatures in these attributes, He would have made an exception of them and would not have taught His absolute Unity. It may be asked why then has Allah the Glorious, employed the expression, ‘You will create’ with reference to Jesus. The answer would be that this is a metaphoric use of the expression as in the verse:
Without a doubt God Almighty is the true Creator and those who fashion toys of clay or wood are also creators but only metaphorically so, because their works are mere show and have no reality.
If it is asked why it is not permissible for Jesus to have fashioned birds under Divine direction which could fly by his breathing into them, by way of a miracle, the answer is that God does not make anyone the master of death and life or harm and benefit. Prophets seek miracles through prayer and supplication and do not possess the power to work miracles like a man has the power to use his hands and feet. Thus the power of creation is one of those Divine attributes that are never bestowed upon man and is distinct from a miracle.
The essence of a miracle is that God Almighty, in order to demonstrate the truth and honour of a Prophet and the powerlessness and helplessness of his opponents, manifests something that is extraordinary or beyond imagination by His special design or in response to the prayer or supplication of the Prophet, but it is done in a manner which is not inconsistent with His attributes of Unity, Holiness and Perfection and which does not permit of anyone else’s power or design. It is not a miracle that God Almighty should invest a human being with the power of fashioning birds of clay, which would become real birds with flesh and bones and blood and all the limbs of animals when he breathes into them.
If God Almighty can make someone the agent of His attribute of creation in the case of birds, He can also bestow the full agency of His attribute of creation. In this event, partnership in Divine attributes would become permissible, though only under His direction and permission, and the comprehension of the true Creator would become doubtful in the presence of such creators whose creations would become indistinguishable from God’s. This would not be a form of miracle; it would be partnership in Godhead. Some wise people try to solve the dilemma of polytheism by asserting that the birds which Jesus created did not live for any length of time but fell down and died after a short flight, but this explanation would help only if it is held that those birds were not invested with true life but only appeared to be alive for a short time as a result of mesmeric influence….
...The Holy Qur’an affirms that Jesus had been given the power to do these things as an exercise of his natural capacity, which is inherent in every human being. Jesus was not unique in this respect. Such capacity is being demonstrated in our own age. The miracles of Jesus were rendered bizarre and doubtful by the pool which had existed even before the birth of Jesus, and which also displayed wonders and a single dip into which bestowed healing upon all those afflicted with diseases such as paralysis, leukoderma, leprosy etc. and there were others who manifested similar extraordinary signs later on, and there was no such pool to cast doubt on their manifestations.
The belief that Jesus fashioned birds of clay and made them come alive as real birds by breathing into them, is entirely false and polytheistic. It was only an exercise of mesmeric capacity that had been developed to some degree by his spiritual propensity. It is also possible that he made use of clay from the pool that had been activated by the Holy Spirit. His miracle was only a kind of sleight of hand and the clay remained only clay like the Samaritan’s calf. Ponder over it, because this is a magnificent point; no one comprehends it except those who have been granted great wisdom...
...The clear miracle of the Holy Qur’an which can manifest itself to every people and by presenting which we can silence everyone, whether an Indian, Persian, European or American, is the unlimited treasury of insights, verities and wisdoms, which are expounded in every age according to its need and stand as armed soldiers to refute the thinking of every age.
If the Holy Qur’an had been limited in its verities and insights, it would not have amounted to a perfect miracle. Beauty of composition is not a matter the miraculous nature of which can be appreciated by every literate and illiterate person. The clear miracle of the Holy Qur’an is the unlimited insights and fine points which it comprises. A person who does not admit this miracle of the Holy Qur’an is altogether deprived of the knowledge of the Qur’an. He who does not believe in this miracle does not estimate the Qur’an as highly as it should be estimated, and does not recognize God as He should be recognized, and does not honour the Holy Prophet s.a.w. as he should be honoured.
Bear it in mind that the miracle of unlimited insights and verities which are contained in the Holy Qur’an has accomplished more in every age than has the sword. All the doubts that every age raises according to its circumstances, and all the claims of superior insights that are put forward, are completely refuted by the Holy Qur’an. No Brahmu Samajist, Buddhist, Arya or any other philosopher can put forward a Divine verity which is not already comprised in the Holy Qur’an.
The wonders of the Qur’an will never cease. As the wonderful qualities of the book of nature have never come to an end in any previous age, but appear ever fresh and new, the same is the case with this Holy Book, so that the word of God and the work of God should be proved to be in accord.
As I have written before, very often the wonders of the Holy Qur’an are revealed to me and are such that they are not to be found in the commentaries. For instance, it has been revealed to me that the period that elapsed between the creation of Adam and the advent of the Holy Prophet s.a.w. is mentioned in Surah al-‘Asr in the value of its letters and amounts to 4,740 lunar years. This fine point which discloses the miracle of the Holy Qur’an is not mentioned in any commentary.
In the same way, God Almighty has disclosed to me that the meaning of:
is not only that the Qur’an was revealed in a blessed night, but that it also has another meaning which I have set out in my booklet Fath-e-Islam. Which commentary mentions all these verities?
It should be borne in mind that a multiplicity of meanings of the Holy Qur’an does not create any contradiction, nor import any defect in the guidance of the Qur’an. Indeed the light of the greatness of the Qur’an is enhanced by the addition of one light to another. Since time on account of limitless changes gives rise to limitless ideas, as a matter of course, it is necessary for the Holy Qur’an to manifest itself in ever new forms, to disclose ever new knowledge, and to refute all innovations and novelties.
In these circumstances, if a Book which claims to be Khatam-ul-Kutub were not to meet new contingencies, it would not establish its claim. If this Book comprises everything that is needed in every age, we would have to confess that it comprehends unlimited insights, and that it takes care of the needs of every age.
It should also be remembered that the way of Allah with every perfect recipient of revelation has been that the hidden wonders of the Qur’an are revealed to him. It often happens that a verse of the Holy Qur’an is conveyed to the mind of a recipient of revelation and its purpose is something different from its original meaning. Maulavi ‘Abdullah Ghaznavi has written in a letter that on one occasion he received the revelation, ‘We said: O fire be cool and a means of peace and security,’ but that he could not comprehend its import. He then received the revelation, ‘We said: O steadfastness be cool and a means of peace and security.’ Then he understood that in his case fire had meant steadfastness.
17- The Holy Qu'ran states that all the divine Messengers have passed away (p277-278)
The Holy Qur’an clearly states that there never was a Prophet who did not pass away:
To conceive of Jesus as alive in the face of these verses, and to believe that Jesus is alive in heaven like the angels, without the need of food, would be to turn away from the Holy Word of God. I again affirm that if Jesus is alive in heaven in his physical body, then the Divine reasoning set out in one of the above verses—that if the Holy Prophet s.a.w. were to die it would not be inconsistent with his Prophethood as all Prophets before him have been subject to death—would be accounted as defective and meaningless. Surely God Almighty is far above saying that which is not true and is against the facts.
18- The Stages of Entry into Heaven and Hell (p282-287)
Heaven and hell have three grades. The first grade, which is imperfect, begins when a person departing from this world enters his grave. This grade has been metaphorically described in the Ahadith in several ways. One way is that for a righteous person a window is opened in the grave towards heaven through which he observes the splendour of heaven and enjoys its breezes. The size of this window corresponds to the grade of the faith or actions of the dead person.
It is also recorded that those who leave the world in a condition in which they are wholly lost in God and who lay down their lives in the cause of the Beloved like the martyrs and Siddiqs, who are even ahead of the martyrs, for them it is not merely a window that is opened into heaven, but they enter heaven with the whole of their beings and faculties. Nevertheless, they do not enjoy the delights of heaven to a perfect degree before the Day of Judgement.
In the same way, for the dead body of a wicked person a window is opened in the grave towards hell through which a consuming vapour arrives in the grave from hell and that wicked soul burns all the time in its flames. But for those who depart from the world in such condition that, on account of their persistent disobedience, they are wholly lost in Satan and in obedience to him they cut asunder altogether from God, it is not only a window that is opened for them after their death towards hell, they are cast into hell with their whole being and all faculties, as God has said:
Nevertheless, they are not subjected to the full torment of hell before the Day of Judgement.
There is a second stage of entry into heaven and hell which should be called the intermediate stage, which is attained after the resurrection, but before entry into the great heaven or the great hell. In this grade the faculties are sharpened and the manifestation of God’s mercy or His wrath is observed in a perfect way, and the delights of heaven or the torments of hell are felt more strongly on account of the nearness of the great heaven or the great hell, as God the Glorious, has said:
In this second grade also people are not equal. There are those of a high grade who are accompanied by heavenly lights. Allah the Glorious refers to them in the verse:
In the same way, there are great disbelievers in whose hearts a fire is kindled before they enter completely into hell, as Allah the Glorious says:
Above this second grade is a third grade, which is the last of the grades which people will enter after the Day of Judgement and will enjoy or suffer in a complete and perfect manner. In these three grades a person is in a type of heaven or hell, and in none of these grades is he excluded from heaven or hell. From one grade he progresses into another. One of the ways of such progress is that, for instance, a person dies in a low condition of faith and action and a small hole is made for him towards heaven as his capacity for the manifestation of heaven is limited to that much.
Thereafter, if he leaves behind righteous progeny, who supplicate earnestly for his forgiveness and for that purpose give alms to the poor or, if he had love for a man of God who supplicates earnestly for his forgiveness, or he has left behind him some project which is of public benefit, then by the blessing of these good actions that are carried on his behalf, the window that is opened for him towards heaven widens daily and this process is accelerated by the Divine pronouncement: My mercy outruns My wrath; till the window becomes a wide gate and he enters heaven like the martyrs and Siddiqs….
…God Almighty has made so much provision for the widening of this window that it appears clear that His purpose is that if anyone travels towards Him with a particle of faith and action that particle will be constantly nurtured. If by any chance all sources of good that should reach a dead person from this world are unavailable, at least this source remains available that God Almighty has imperatively commanded all believers and pious people and martyrs and Siddiqs that they should most sincerely supplicate for the forgiveness of those of their brethren who have passed on from this world. It is thus obvious that a supplication that is made by a host of believers will not be in vain, but will work daily to widen the window that was opened towards heaven for the sinful believers who had died. These supplications have so far widened numberless windows so that countless persons have entered paradise who were bestowed in the early days only a small window for the contemplation of heaven.
In this age some of the Muslims are under the misconception that only the martyrs will enter heaven immediately after death and that all other believers, including Prophets and Messengers, will remain outside heaven till the Day of Judgement and that only a window will be opened for them towards heaven. They have not considered that all Prophets and Siddiqs are spiritually superior to martyrs and that being kept away from paradise is a type of torment which cannot be contemplated for those who have been forgiven. Can one concerning whom God Almighty has said:
remain behind the martyrs in good fortune and the achievement of his purpose? It is a pity that through their lack of intelligence, these people have reversed the law. They conceive that the first entrants into heaven will be the martyrs and that the turn of the Prophets and Siddiqs would arrive after countless years. These people are guilty of great disrespect and can derive no benefit from vain excuses. Everyone can understand that those who are foremost in faith and action should be the first to enter heaven and not that they should only have a window opened for them like those who are weak of faith, and that the martyrs should have access to all the fruits of heaven as soon as they die. If entry into heaven depends upon perfect faith, perfect sincerity and perfect devotion, then there is no one who is ahead of the Prophets and Siddiqs, whose whole life is so devoted to God Almighty that they are like the dead and yearn that they should be martyred in the cause of Allah, and be revived and be martyred again, and be revived and be martyred again.
It is thus clear that there is such great provision for entry into heaven that almost all believers will enter it completely before the Day of Judgement and that the Day of Judgement will not expel them from heaven, but will bring it even nearer. From the illustration of the window, it should be realized how heaven is brought near to the grave. This does not mean that heaven is brought physically close to the grave. It is brought spiritually near. In this way, the dwellers of paradise will be spiritually present in the Day of Judgement and will also be in paradise. The Holy Prophet s.a.w. has said: Heaven is under my grave.’ This is worth reflecting upon.
19- Revelation Concerning the Truth of the Message of The Promised Messiah (p306)
I was once severely stricken so much so that I arrived at the door of death and perceiving this condition I made my will. At that time I recalled the prophecy (relating to Mirza Ahmad Baig) and, feeling that I was at my last breath and my funeral might be offered tomorrow, I thought to myself perhaps the prophecy had a meaning which I had not comprehended. In that near-death condition the revelation came to me: ‘The truth is from your Lord, so why do you have any doubt about it?’
I was once severely stricken so much so that I arrived at the door of death and perceiving this condition I made my will. At that time I recalled the prophecy (relating to Mirza Ahmad Baig) and, feeling that I was at my last breath and my funeral might be offered tomorrow, I thought to myself perhaps the prophecy had a meaning which I had not comprehended. In that near-death condition the revelation came to me: ‘The truth is from your Lord, so why do you have any doubt about it?’
20- Why, despite the Qu'ranic guidance, there is a need for revelation (p226-232)
It is idle to assert that revelation has no reality and is a vain thing, the harm of which is greater than its benefit. Such an assertion is made only by a person who has never tasted this pure wine and does not desire to have true faith. Such a one is happy with his habits and customs and never seeks to find out to what degree he believes in the Almighty God and how far his understanding extends and what should he do so that his inner weaknesses are removed and a living change takes place in his morals, actions, and designs. He is not eager to cultivate that love which should make his journey to the other world easy and whereby he should develop the inner quality of making spiritual progress.
Everyone can understand that this heedless life is ever pulling a person downward, with his relationship with wife and children and with the burden of honour and good repute, which are all like heavy stones pressing him downwards. He is in need of a high power, which, by bestowing true sight and true vision upon him, should make him eager to behold the perfect beauty of God Almighty. That high power is Divine revelation that provides comfort in distress. It enables a person to take his stand joyously and comfortably under mountains of misfortunes.
That Imperceptible Being, Who confounds the reason and wisdom of all philosophers, manifests Himself only through revelation. He comforts the hearts of seekers and bestows contentment upon them and revives the half-dead ones by saying: I am present. It is true that the Holy Qur’an contains all the guidance, but when the Qur’an leads a person to the fountain of guidance the first indication of it is that he begins to experience converse with the Divine, whereby a revealing understanding of high degree and a visible blessing and light is created and that cognition begins to be acquired which cannot be achieved by blind following or through intellectual theories, for they are all limited, full of doubts, defective, and incomplete.
We need to extend our cognition directly, for the greater our cognition the greater will be our eagerness. With a defective cognition, we cannot expect perfect eagerness. It is a matter of surprise how unintelligent those people are who do not consider themselves in need of that perfect means of approaching the truth upon which spiritual life depends. It should be remembered that spiritual knowledge and spiritual understanding can be acquired only through revelation and visions, and until we achieve that standard of light our humanness cannot acquire any true understanding or true perfection....
...We have been created for a great purpose, which is the true understanding of God; on that understanding depends our salvation. It delivers us from every impure and doubtful way and leads us to the edge of a pure and clear river. It can be acquired only through Divine revelation.
When, being delivered entirely from our ego, we dive deep with an eager heart into an unattainable Being, our humanness, having appeared in the court of Godhead, returns with some signs and lights from that world. Thus that which the worldly ones look upon with contempt is the only thing which brings a long-separated one in an instant to his Beloved and bestows comfort upon the lovers of the Divine. It relieves a person suddenly of all types of egoistic limitations; until that true light descends upon the heart, it is not possible that the heart should be illumined. The imperfection of human reason and the limitations of current knowledge bear witness to the need of revelation…
…Question: Though the Holy Qur’an affirms the death of Jesus, it does not specify when he died. Why not reconcile the Qur’an and Ahadith by adopting the position that Jesus will die after his descent upon earth?
Answer: The Holy Qur’an clearly says that Jesus died in the period when he was raised to reform the tribes of Israel which had gone astray; as Allah the Glorious, has said:
In this verse, ‘I shall cause thee to die’ precedes ‘I shall exalt thee’, which shows that death occurred before exaltation. A further proof is that Allah the Glorious, has said: After thy death I shall place those who follow thee above those who disbelieve (i.e., the Jews), until the Day of Judgement. All Christians and Muslims agree that this prophecy had been fulfilled before the advent of Islam, inasmuch as God Almighty had subordinated the Jews to Christians and Muslims, and they have continued in that condition of subordination for centuries. The verse cannot be construed to mean that such subordination will take place after Jesus returns from heaven.
Allah the Glorious quotes Jesus in the Holy Qur’an as saying:
These commandments can obviously not be carried out in heaven. He who believes that Jesus was raised bodily to heaven will have to accept, according the above verse, that Jesus is still subject to all the commandments of the Torah and the Gospel, whereas this requirement cannot be fulfilled in heaven. It is also strange that, on the one hand, God Almighty should command Jesus to be dutiful to his mother throughout his life, but He should then separate him from her while he was still living; and that He should command him to give alms throughout his life, but should then convey him alive to a place where he cannot give alms himself nor can direct anyone else to do so; and that He should command him to observe Prayer, but should convey him far away from the company of the believers whose companionship was necessary for Prayer services.
Did his bodily ascent to heaven have any other result than making him incapable of discharging his obligations towards his fellow beings and from carrying out the duty of enjoining virtue and forbidding vice? Had he continued to live on earth during these 1891 years, how beneficial his person would have been for God’s creatures! The only result of his bodily ascent to heaven was that his people went astray and he himself was totally deprived of the opportunity to carry out the functions of Prophethood.
21- 20 Signs That The Promised Messiah was a Truthful Man of God (p334-339)
Question: The Messiah son of Maryas proved through many miracles that he had been sent by God, what [miracles] have you got? Have you put forward any such proof? Have you brought any dead person to life or restored sight to one congenitally blind? Even if we were to suppose that you are the like of the Messiah, what benefit do we derive from your advent?
Answer: It is apparent from a study of the Gospels that, throughout his life, the Messiah himself remained the target of this same objection that he had shown no miracle. How could he be the Messiah when he did not bring back to life anyone who could have related the conditions of the life after death and could have warned his heirs that he had come back from hell and that they should forthwith believe. Had the Messias brought back the ancestors of the Jews to this life to bear witness to his truth, no one would have dared deny him.
Prophets have certainly shown signs but the faithless ones could not perceive them. In the same way, this humble one has not come empty-handed. God Almighty has bestowed a great quantity of life-giving water to me for the purpose of reviving the dead. He who drinks of it will come to life. I proclaim that if the dead are not revived, and the blind do not begin to see, and the leprous are not cleansed through my words, then I have not come from God Almighty, Who in His Holy Word has said concerning me, ‘If he is viewed in contrast to the Prophet of Nazareth, it will be realized that he is carrying out a great cleansing of the creatures of God, considerably more than they were ever healed of physical ailments.’
Be sure that the seed of spiritual life has been sown like a mustard seed and it will soon, very soon, appear in the form of a great tree. A person who thinks along material lines cherishes material things and sees great value in them, but he who has been given a share of spirituality seeks the spiritual life. The righteous servants of God Almighty do not come into the world to make an exhibition for the amusement of people. Their true purpose is to draw people towards God and they are ultimately recognized through this very spiritual power. The light that endows them with the power to attract others may not be perceived by those who would try to test it and it may even lead them to stumble; still, that light by itself draws such people as are worthy of being drawn and thus reveals its miraculous effect.
The special friends of God are known by the following signs:
(1) They are bestowed a pure love of the Divine which cannot be perceived by people of this world.
(2) Their hearts are governed by a sort of fear, due to which their obedience takes the subtlest form, and they are afraid lest the Eternal Friend is displeased.
(3) They are bestowed extraordinary steadfastness, the manifestation of which surprises the beholders.
(4) When someone persecutes them and persists in so doing, he is suddenly subjected to the wrath of that Most Powerful One, Who is their Guardian.
(5) When someone becomes their true friend, and devotes himself to them in full loyalty and sincerity, God Almighty draws such a one to Himself and bestows His special mercy on him.
(6) In comparison with others, their prayers are accepted in such large numbers as can hardly be counted.
(7) Hidden mysteries are often revealed to them and they are informed in advance of that which is yet to come. Even though other believers also may experience true dreams and visions, the chosen ones exceed them all in this respect.
(8) God Almighty becomes their Custodian and treats them more mercifully then a parent would treat his children.
(9) When they are afflicted with a great calamity, they are treated in one of two ways: either they are delivered from it in an extraordinary manner or are bestowed such steadfastness as is full of pleasure, delight and eagerness.
(10) They are bestowed a high moral status wherein they are freed from all arrogance, pride, meanness, conceit, hypocrisy, envy, miserliness and narrowmindedness. They are characterized by wholehearted conviction and cheerfulness.
(11) Their trust in God is of a very high order and the fruits thereof continue to be manifested constantly.
(12) They are given the power and the capacity to perform righteous deeds which others are unable to perform.
(13) They develop a high degree of sympathy for God's creatures without the expectation of any reward or merit. They are inspired by a high degree of desire to serve mankind. They themselves cannot understand why they are so inspired, for this characteristic is a part of their nature.
(14) They are wholly and perfectly devoted to God Almighty and possess a fervent desire to sacrifice their whole beings in His cause. The special relationship their souls have with the Spirit of God cannot be described in words. They enjoy a standing with the Holy One which is not recognized by the common people. That which they specially possess in abundance and which is the fountainhead of all blessings; and by virtue of which—while they appearing to be sinking—they win through to security; and having arrived at the brink of extinction, are revived; and even though they are humiliated, they still exhibit their crown of honour; and though appearing alone and abandoned, they are suddenly seen at the head of a large group; is none other than this relationship of perfect devotion which can neither be severed with the sword nor loosened by any riot or fear of the world. There is peace for them from Allah and His angels and all the righteous.
(15) The fifteenth sign is their knowledge of the Holy Qur’an. They are given deep understanding of the wisdom, verities and fine points of the Holy Qur’an to a degree which is never given to others. They are the pure ones concerning whom God, the Glorious, says:
(16) God Almighty inspires their words and writings with an effectiveness, which distinguishes them from the writings and speeches of the conventional clerics. Their words have an awe and grandeur and provided there are no veils—it captures the hearts.
(17) They inspire a kind of awe which is a reflection of the awe inspired by God, for God Almighty grants them His company in a special manner. Their countenances reflect the light of God's love. He who perceives it is delivered from the fire of hell. Although they may fall into error or minor sin, there is a fire in their hearts that consumes all error and all sin. Their error does not persist, but is like something which is carried away by a strong current of water. Thus their critic always stumbles.
(18) God Almighty does not let them be destroyed and they are not subjected to humiliation and disgrace for they are dear to God as they are planted with His own hand. He does not cause them to fall from a height in order to destroy them, but He does so to exhibit their miraculous deliverance. He does not push them into fire in order to consume them, but to show the people that what was at one time a fire has now become a lovely garden.
(19) God Almighty does not let them die until that for which they have been sent has been accomplished. Their journey to the hereafter is deferred until they have found acceptance in the hearts of the pure.
(20) They leave behind a good remembrance, and God Almighty bestows special mercy on their progeny through many generations, as well as on the progeny of their faithful friends and keeps their names alive.
These are the characteristics of the Friends of the Gracious One. Each of these, when manifested at its due time, appears like a great miracle but its manifestation is entirely in the hand of God Almighty. Now, in obedience to the direction:
I do not see any harm in declaring that the Merciful God has, through His grace and bounty, bestowed all these characteristics on me in abundance. He has not sent me empty-handed, nor has He appointed me without any accompanying signs. He has bestowed all these signs upon me which are being manifested and will continue to be manifested. God Almighty will go on manifesting these signs until the truth is clearly established.
In answer to the question, ‘What benefit can we derive from your advent?’, I say that when a person who has been chosen appears from heaven, his advent benefits all and sundry according to their capacities. His advent is, in fact, the rising of a spiritual sun, the light of which spreads far and wide. As the sun casts its effects differently on animals, plants minerals and other objects, though few people know enough about it, in the same way, the advent of an appointed one affects all dispositions and every part and region of the universe. From the moment his merciful appearance is determined upon in heaven, angels begin to descend therefrom, like the rays of the sun, unto the far corners of the world to strengthen those who have the capacity to advance towards the truth. Thereby, people of pious natures are by themselves inclined towards accepting the truth.
All these are the signs of the truth of the Man of God at the time of whose advent heavenly abilities are sharpened. God has given this alone as a sign of true revelation that when it descends, angels too descend along with it and, day by day, the world begins to turn towards the truth. In addition to the particular signs that I have described above, this is a general sign of an appointed one who comes from God Almighty.
22- Meaning of prophecy the Messiah will be buried with Muhammad s.a.w. (p352)
A long time ago I saw in a dream that I was standing near the blessed grave of the Holy Prophet s.a.w. and there were many corpses of those who had died or had been killed and people wanted to bury them. Then a man came out of the chamber holding a long reed with which he pointed to a spot on the earth and told everyone where his place of burial was. In the course of doing this he approached me. Standing in front of me and touching a spot close to the blessed tomb with his long reed, he said to me: You will be buried here. Then I woke up.
My interpretation was that this indicated the degree of closeness in the hereafter inasmuch as if a person on his death becomes spiritually close to a holy one that would mean that his burial place is close to the burial place of that holy one, but Allah knows best and His knowledge is decisive.
23- Meaning of prophecy The Promised Messiah would fight the Dajjal (p361-366)
If—God forbid—it had truly been written in the Holy Qur’an that, contrary to the Divine law which binds all of mankind, Jesus was raised bodily to heaven and will survive till the Day of Judgement, the Christians would have been furnished with tremendous means to mislead mankind. Excellent, therefore, it is that the god of the Christians suffered death. This assault that has been mounted by this humble one, on behalf of God Almighty, in his character as messiah son of Mary, against the people of Dajjal-like character who were bestowed holy things but mixed them with pollution and who performed that which should have been performed by Dajjal, is not in any respect less than an assault with a sharp sword.
It may be asked: Jesus, son of Mary, was to come to vanquish the Dajjal, and if it is you who have come in the spirit of Jesus, son of Mary, who then is the Dajjal against you? My answer is that, though I admit the possibility of another Messiah son of Mary coming after me, and he may even be the promised one in the context of some Ahadith, and a Dajjal may also come to mislead the Muslims, yet my belief is that so far there has not been any Dajjal like the Christian clergy of these days, nor shall there ever be till the Day of Judgement. A Hadith of Muslim reads:
Considering the import of this Hadith of Muslim, I say that if we were to examine all documentary evidence available to us from the creation of Adam to this day, and examine the activities of all those who have ever taken upon themselves to do the work of Dajjal, we shall not find anything matching the Dajjal-like activity of the Christian clergy of this day. They have in mind an imaginary Messiah who, according to them, is alive and claims to be God. Jesus son of Mary never made any such claim, rather it is these self-appointed advocates of his who claim that he is God. They have had recourse to every kind of distortion and deception in support of their claim, and there is hardly a place, with the exception of Mecca and Medina, where they have not gone in pursuit of their objective. There is no form of deception, conspiracy or design to mislead, which they have not adopted.
Is it not true that in pursuit of their Dajjal-like designs they have encircled the whole world? Wherever they go and establish a mission they turn everything upside down. They are so wealthy that all the treasures of the world seem to lie at their feet. Although the British Government is concerned only with administration and has no concern with religion, the missionaries have a government of their own which possesses unlimited wealth and is spreading its tentacles all over the world. They carry with them all kinds of heaven and hell. One who is inclined to follow them is shown the heaven, and the one who chooses to oppose them is threatened with hell. They are accompanied by mountains of bread wherever they go, and many, who are the slaves of their stomachs, are carried away by the sight of white loaves of bread, and start proclaiming: ‘The Messiah is our Lord.’
There is no quality of the Messianic Dajjal that is not to be found in them. In a manner, they even revive the dead and kill the living- let him who possesses understating understand- and there is no doubt that these people possess only one eye, which is the left one. If they possessed the right eye as well, they would have feared God Almighty and refrained from deifying Jesus. All previous scriptures mention this Dajjal, as do the Gospels on the authority of Jesus son of Mary. It was only proper that every Prophet should have warned against this Dajjal, and each of them has done so, whether expressly or implicitly, directly or indirectly. From the time of Noah down to the time of our lord and master, Seal of the Prophets s.a.w. we find warnings about this Dajjal, and this is something I can readily prove.
No one can even imagine the extent of the damage that Islam has suffered at their hands and how truth and justice have suffered. Prior to the thirteenth century of the blessed Hijra, there was no trace of such mischief, but around the middle of the thirteenth century this Dajjal-like group suddenly emerged and started to expand progressively, until at the end of this century, according to Reverend Mr. Baker, half a million people had been converted to Christianity in India alone, and it is estimated that every twelve years one hundred thousands new converts enter the fold of Christianity and start to believe in a humble man as God.
No sensible person can be unaware of the fact that Christian missionaries have brought under their sway a large number of poor and needy Muslims by giving them bread and clothes; those who could not be lured by these means were seduced through women; and those who could not be so trapped were exposed to all kinds of atheistic philosophy which now holds captive hundreds of thousands of young Muslims, who make fun of the Islamic prayer and fasting and consider revelation to be a kind of hallucination. For those who are not able to learn European philosophy, a large stock of fictitious tales was cooked up—too easy a job for the clerics’ sleight of hand— which derided Islam in the guise of stories and historical events and was very widely published. In addition, they compiled countless books in refutation of Islam, blaspheming our lord and master the Holy Prophet s.a.w. and widely distributed them free of cost. Most of these have been translated into other languages….
…Allah is Great. If our people still do not consider these missionaries to be Dajjal of the highest order, for whose refutation a Messiah is needed, then the plight of our people is pitiable indeed! Look, ye heedless ones, just look how hard these people are trying to demolish the edifice of Islam and what large resources they have employed for this purpose. In their endeavours they have exposed their lives to danger, spent their wealth like water, and indeed they have carried their human abilities to the limit. They have adopted shameful means and implemented them to undermine righteousness, and they have laid down mines to destroy the truth and honesty. All the finely fabricated details of falsehood and pretence have been strenuously invented to bring ruin to Islam. If people’s minds could not be corrupted by other means, they invented thousands of supposed stories and dialogues to do this.
Is there any method of the ruin of truth that they have not invented? Is there any way of misguidance that they have not adopted? Thus it becomes obvious that all these tricks and charms which the Christians and advocates of Trinity have resorted to, could not proceed from anyone but the great Dajjal and we have no choice but to identify this group of Christian missionaries with him. When we observe to the past history of the greater part of the world, we gain the impression that, as far as it can be ascertained, there has been no precedent of such successful deception and misguidance as undertaken by these people. And as the Ahadith say, the Dajjal will cause such mischief as would be unmatched since the beginning of the world. It follows, therefore, that these people are the great Dajjal who was to come from the church, and to counter whose magic a miracle was needed. He who disputes this should produce a matching instance from the Dajjals of the past.
24- Meaning of Prophecy The Messiah's Sun Shall Rise From The West (p376-377)
We believe in the rising of the sun from the West but it has been disclosed to me in a vision that the meaning of the rising of the sun from the West is that the Western countries, which, from ancient times, have been enveloped in the darkness of disbelief and error, will be illumined by the sun of truth and will partake of Islam and once I saw [in a vision] that I was standing on a pulpit in the city of London and was setting forth the truth of Islam in the English language, in a very well reasoned address. Thereafter, I caught several birds who were sitting upon small trees and were of white colour and their bodies resembled the bodies of partridges. I interpreted this vision as meaning that though I would not be able to travel to that country, my writings will be published among them and many righteous English people will be attracted by the truth. Western countries have so far not been so conspicuous for their spiritual wisdom as God had bestowed greater spiritual wisdom on the East than the wisdom bestowed on Europe and the Americas. All the prophets from the first to the last have appeared in Asia and spiritual men other than the prophets, who attained nearness to God have also been confined to the Eastern people. But God wishes now to extend His beneficence to the West.
...When the people of the West shall enter into Islam in troops, a great revolution will occur in religion. And when this sun will rise to its zenith in the Western countries, then only those on whom the door of repentance is closed will remain bereft of Islam, that is to say, their nature is not at all in accordance with Islam.
...When the people of the West shall enter into Islam in troops, a great revolution will occur in religion. And when this sun will rise to its zenith in the Western countries, then only those on whom the door of repentance is closed will remain bereft of Islam, that is to say, their nature is not at all in accordance with Islam.
25- Revelation Confirming The Death of Jesus (p402-403)
Once you have proved that Jesus has joined the dead and have impressed this fact upon the hearts of the Christians, then do believe that that will be the day of the departure of the Christian faith from the world. Bear firmly in mind that so long as their god does not die, their religion will also not die, and it is futile to indulge in any other argument with them. Their doctrine stands on just one pillar, which is the belief that Jesus son of Mary is alive in heaven. Demolish this pillar and you will not find the Christian faith anywhere in the world.
As God Almighty desires to crush this pillar and to establish His Unity in Europe and Asia, He has sent me and disclosed to me through His own revelation that Jesus son of Mary has died. His revelation is, ‘Jesus son of Mary, Messenger of Allah, has died and you have come in this place and his spirit according to God's promise, which was bound to be fulfilled. You are with Me and you have your stand upon truth and you are the helper and supporter of the truth.’
In this book, I have established the death of Jesus and his having joined the dead with very strong arguments. I have established it as a clear fact that Jesus was never resurrected, nor taken up to heaven in his physical body, but died just as all other Prophets have died. He has left this world forever. He who worships Jesus should realize that he has died and has joined the company of the dead for all times to come. You should take advantage of this book for the support of the truth and should stand firm against the Christian clergy. This question should always be the subject of your attention and you should have full trust that Jesus son of Mary has certainly joined the company of the dead...
...I declare with full confidence and steadfastness that I am in the right and that, with the Grace of Allah, I will emerge victorious in this struggle. As far as I can observe, with my far reaching sight, I see the entire world ultimately covered by the advancing step of my truth. The time is near at hand before I shall gain a resounding victory. It is so because another voice speaks in support of what I speak and there is another hand operates to strengthen my hand. This is not perceived by the world, but I see it. In me vibrates the voice of a heavenly spirit, which instills each word I speak with life. There is commotion and upsurge in heaven, which has fashioned out of a handful of dust a puppet figure whose movements are manipulated from on high. All those upon whom the door of repentance is not yet closed will soon see that I am not of my own accord. Can they be seeing with eyes which fail to recognise a man of truth? Can he bee deemed alive who has no awareness of this heavenly call?
26- Another Qu'ranic Verse Proving the Death of Jesus (p431)
Just see how clearly these verses affirm the death of all those human beings who were worshipped as gods by the Jews and Christians and some of the Arab tribes and to whom they supplicated. If you are still not convinced of the death of Jesus son of Mary, why don’t you simply admit that you are not prepared to believe in the Holy Qur’an?
27- Revelations Prophecising Future Progeny of The Promised Messiah (p441-443)
Allah the Almighty addressed me and said,
Meaning that, he will be granted acceptance and the hearts of a large number will be inclined towards him
This refers to the treasures of wisdom and verities, because the heavenly treasures that are bestowed upon the special servants of God Almighty, which they distribute to the world, are not the worldly riches, but consist entirely of wisdom and verities, as Allah the Almighty says, 'He grants wisdom to whom He pleases, and whoever is granted wisdom has indeed been granted abundant Khair (good).' (The Holy Qu’ran, 2:270). 'Khair' means wealth and in fact pure wealth is the wisdom that has been referred to in the hadith, ‘I am but a distributor and Allah is really the one Who grants’. This is the wealth which is a Sign among the Signs of the Promised Messiah.
28- Meaning of the prophecy the Messiah will distribute treasure (p445-458)
All knowledge is comprised in the Qur’an, but the intellect of people falls short of it.One of the principal causes of people going astray in this age is that in the eyes of most people the greatness of the Holy Qur’an no longer prevails. One group of Muslims has become the follower of misleading philosophy. They seek to decide every matter by reason. They claim that the highest arbiter available to man for the settlement of disputes is reason. When they find that the existence of Gabriel and other angels that are mentioned in religious books, and the existence of heaven and hell as is established in the Holy Qur’an, cannot be proved by reason, they immediately reject them and begin to have recourse to flimsy explanations. They interpret angels as meaning powers, and revelation only as a faculty, and heaven and hell as meaning merely spiritual comfort or pain. They do not seem to realise that reason alone is not the instrument for discovery of the unknown. Indeed high verities and extreme insights are far above the reach of reason and are established only through true visions. If the touchstone for verities were to be reason alone, the great wonders of Godhead would remain hidden and man’s understanding would remain incomplete and imperfect and he would not be rid of doubts and suspicions. The end of this one-sided understanding would be that in the absence of guidance from above and without any knowledge of the lines of thought that are set in motion by the Power on High, all sorts of doubts would arise with regard to the existence of the Creator Himself. The idea that reason alone is sufficient for unraveling all the mysteries of the True Creator is wholly insupportable.
The second group has discarded reason altogether and has also left aside the Holy Qur’an which is the fountain-head of all knowledge of things Divine and has taken firm hold of stories and meaningless sayings. We desire to draw the attention of both these groups to the Holy Qur’an and to urge them to value its greatness and its light, and to make use of reason in the guidance of its light. They should leave aside the sayings of other people, and even if they should find a Hadith which contradicts the Holy Qur’an, they should discard it immediately, as God Almighty has said in the Holy Qur’an: In what discourse, leaving aside the Holy Qur’an, will they believe(Ch.7:V.186)? It is obvious that the Holy Qur’an is an authority of the highest grade which is absolute and certain. Most Ahadith are conjecture, and conjecture does not avail anything in contrast with truth.
Study the following verses care-fully and then consider whether it is proper to leave aside the Word of God and to set up some other guide or arbiter. These verses are:
The meaning of these verses is that this Qur’an guides to the way which is straight. It contains teachings about true worship for people who worship. It reminds the righteous of the perfection of righteousness. It is the acme of wisdom. It is certain truth and contains the exposition of everything. It is light upon light and is a healing for the minds. The Gracious One has taught the Qur’an. He has revealed the Book which is the truth and is a balance for weighing the truth. It is guidance for mankind and contains the exposition of guidance. It discriminates between truth and falsehood by its reasoning. It is a decisive discourse and free from doubt. We have revealed it to thee so that it might decide matters concerning which there is difference and so that believers may be provided with guidance and mercy. It comprises all the verities which were contained in the previous books in a scattered form. Falsehood cannot approach it from fore or aft. It comprises clear proof for people and is a guidance and a mercy for those who have faith. Then leaving aside Allah and His Signs, in what discourse will you believe? (It follows that if a Hadith is contradictory of the Holy Qur’an, it must be rejected. If it can be interpreted as being in accord with the Holy Qur’an, it might be accepted). Tell them that by the Grace and Mercy of Allah this Qur’an is a precious possession which you should accept with joy. It is better than the properties which you gather together.
This is an indication that no property is as valuable as knowledge and wisdom. This is the wealth concerning which it had been prophesied that the Messiah would distribute it so much that people will have their fill of it. The prophecy does not mean that the Messiah would collect together material wealth concerning which it has been said:
and that he would deliberately put people on trial by distributing wealth among them. In his first advent also, the Messiah felt no attraction towards worldly wealth. He has stated in the Gospel that the property of a believer are not gold and silver, but are the jewels of verities and understanding. This is the property that is bestowed by God Almighty on the Prophets, which they distribute. It is concerning this property that the Holy Prophet s.a.w. said, ‘I am a distributor and Allah is the Bestower.’
It is stated clearly in the Ahadith that the Promised Messiah would come into the world when knowledge of the Qur’an will be lost and ignorance will prevail. That is the time which is referred to in the Hadith, ‘If faith ascends to the Pleiades it will be brought down by a man of Persia.’
It has been revealed to me in a vision that the climax of that age will begin in the Hijri year which corresponds to the value of the letters of the verse:
which amounts to 1274. Consider this well and do not pass over it in haste and supplicate God that He should open your minds to it.
A little reflection will make you understand the prophecy contained in the Hadith that in the latter days the Qur’an will be taken away from the world, its knowledge will be lost, ignorance will prevail and the eagerness and sweetness of faith will depart from the hearts. Among them is the Hadith that if faith will ascend to the Pleiades and will disappear from the earth, a man of the Persians will extend his hand and will bring it down. This Hadith shows clearly that when ignorance, faithlessness and error, which are described as smoke in the other Ahadith, will become widespread and true faith will become so rare as if it had been drawn up to the skies, and the Holy Qur’an will be abandoned as if it had been raised towards God Almighty, at that time, a man of Persia will take hold of the faith from the Pleiades and will descend with it to the earth. Be sure, therefore, that he is the son of Mary who was to descend...
O Ye revered clerics though the falsity of your notion that that you are the true believers and I am a disbeliever, that you are truthful and I am a liar, that you follow Islam and I go against it, that you are the accepted ones of God and I am rejected by Him, that you are the heirs of Paradise and I am condemned to hell, has been established by the Holy Qur’an in the estimation of those who are given to reflection, and the readers of this book can well understand who is right and who is wrong, yet there is another way whereby distinction can be made between those who are true and those who are false, and between the accepted ones of God and the rejected ones. It has always been the way of God that if an accepted one and a rejected one both beseech God Almighty for heavenly help, He certainly helps the accepted one and makes His acceptance of him manifest in a manner that is beyond human power.
Since you claim to be in the right, and some of you like Maulavi Mohy-ud-Din and ‘Abd-ur-Rahman Sahib of Lakhoke and Miań ‘Abd-ul-Haq Sahib of Ghazni have denounced me as a disbeliever and as one condemned to hell, it is incumbent upon you to find out through this heavenly method who is designated as the accepted one in heaven and who is the rejected one. I agree that you should supplicate to the Judge of judges for a period of ten weeks that if you are in the right you should be given a sign of your truth or you should be authorized to make a great prophecy or granted a sign as can proceed only from the righteous. On my side I shall also do the same. God the Beneficent and the Powerful has assured me that, if you accept this challenge, victory will be mine….
...What was ours is now wholly of the Beloved.
As of today, we belong to the Beloved and the Beloved belongs to us.
Allah the Almighty addressed me and said,
Meaning that, he will be granted acceptance and the hearts of a large number will be inclined towards him
This refers to the treasures of wisdom and verities, because the heavenly treasures that are bestowed upon the special servants of God Almighty, which they distribute to the world, are not the worldly riches, but consist entirely of wisdom and verities, as Allah the Almighty says, 'He grants wisdom to whom He pleases, and whoever is granted wisdom has indeed been granted abundant Khair (good).' (The Holy Qu’ran, 2:270). 'Khair' means wealth and in fact pure wealth is the wisdom that has been referred to in the hadith, ‘I am but a distributor and Allah is really the one Who grants’. This is the wealth which is a Sign among the Signs of the Promised Messiah.
28- Meaning of the prophecy the Messiah will distribute treasure (p445-458)
All knowledge is comprised in the Qur’an, but the intellect of people falls short of it.One of the principal causes of people going astray in this age is that in the eyes of most people the greatness of the Holy Qur’an no longer prevails. One group of Muslims has become the follower of misleading philosophy. They seek to decide every matter by reason. They claim that the highest arbiter available to man for the settlement of disputes is reason. When they find that the existence of Gabriel and other angels that are mentioned in religious books, and the existence of heaven and hell as is established in the Holy Qur’an, cannot be proved by reason, they immediately reject them and begin to have recourse to flimsy explanations. They interpret angels as meaning powers, and revelation only as a faculty, and heaven and hell as meaning merely spiritual comfort or pain. They do not seem to realise that reason alone is not the instrument for discovery of the unknown. Indeed high verities and extreme insights are far above the reach of reason and are established only through true visions. If the touchstone for verities were to be reason alone, the great wonders of Godhead would remain hidden and man’s understanding would remain incomplete and imperfect and he would not be rid of doubts and suspicions. The end of this one-sided understanding would be that in the absence of guidance from above and without any knowledge of the lines of thought that are set in motion by the Power on High, all sorts of doubts would arise with regard to the existence of the Creator Himself. The idea that reason alone is sufficient for unraveling all the mysteries of the True Creator is wholly insupportable.
The second group has discarded reason altogether and has also left aside the Holy Qur’an which is the fountain-head of all knowledge of things Divine and has taken firm hold of stories and meaningless sayings. We desire to draw the attention of both these groups to the Holy Qur’an and to urge them to value its greatness and its light, and to make use of reason in the guidance of its light. They should leave aside the sayings of other people, and even if they should find a Hadith which contradicts the Holy Qur’an, they should discard it immediately, as God Almighty has said in the Holy Qur’an: In what discourse, leaving aside the Holy Qur’an, will they believe(Ch.7:V.186)? It is obvious that the Holy Qur’an is an authority of the highest grade which is absolute and certain. Most Ahadith are conjecture, and conjecture does not avail anything in contrast with truth.
Study the following verses care-fully and then consider whether it is proper to leave aside the Word of God and to set up some other guide or arbiter. These verses are:
The meaning of these verses is that this Qur’an guides to the way which is straight. It contains teachings about true worship for people who worship. It reminds the righteous of the perfection of righteousness. It is the acme of wisdom. It is certain truth and contains the exposition of everything. It is light upon light and is a healing for the minds. The Gracious One has taught the Qur’an. He has revealed the Book which is the truth and is a balance for weighing the truth. It is guidance for mankind and contains the exposition of guidance. It discriminates between truth and falsehood by its reasoning. It is a decisive discourse and free from doubt. We have revealed it to thee so that it might decide matters concerning which there is difference and so that believers may be provided with guidance and mercy. It comprises all the verities which were contained in the previous books in a scattered form. Falsehood cannot approach it from fore or aft. It comprises clear proof for people and is a guidance and a mercy for those who have faith. Then leaving aside Allah and His Signs, in what discourse will you believe? (It follows that if a Hadith is contradictory of the Holy Qur’an, it must be rejected. If it can be interpreted as being in accord with the Holy Qur’an, it might be accepted). Tell them that by the Grace and Mercy of Allah this Qur’an is a precious possession which you should accept with joy. It is better than the properties which you gather together.
This is an indication that no property is as valuable as knowledge and wisdom. This is the wealth concerning which it had been prophesied that the Messiah would distribute it so much that people will have their fill of it. The prophecy does not mean that the Messiah would collect together material wealth concerning which it has been said:
and that he would deliberately put people on trial by distributing wealth among them. In his first advent also, the Messiah felt no attraction towards worldly wealth. He has stated in the Gospel that the property of a believer are not gold and silver, but are the jewels of verities and understanding. This is the property that is bestowed by God Almighty on the Prophets, which they distribute. It is concerning this property that the Holy Prophet s.a.w. said, ‘I am a distributor and Allah is the Bestower.’
It is stated clearly in the Ahadith that the Promised Messiah would come into the world when knowledge of the Qur’an will be lost and ignorance will prevail. That is the time which is referred to in the Hadith, ‘If faith ascends to the Pleiades it will be brought down by a man of Persia.’
It has been revealed to me in a vision that the climax of that age will begin in the Hijri year which corresponds to the value of the letters of the verse:
which amounts to 1274. Consider this well and do not pass over it in haste and supplicate God that He should open your minds to it.
A little reflection will make you understand the prophecy contained in the Hadith that in the latter days the Qur’an will be taken away from the world, its knowledge will be lost, ignorance will prevail and the eagerness and sweetness of faith will depart from the hearts. Among them is the Hadith that if faith will ascend to the Pleiades and will disappear from the earth, a man of the Persians will extend his hand and will bring it down. This Hadith shows clearly that when ignorance, faithlessness and error, which are described as smoke in the other Ahadith, will become widespread and true faith will become so rare as if it had been drawn up to the skies, and the Holy Qur’an will be abandoned as if it had been raised towards God Almighty, at that time, a man of Persia will take hold of the faith from the Pleiades and will descend with it to the earth. Be sure, therefore, that he is the son of Mary who was to descend...
O Ye revered clerics though the falsity of your notion that that you are the true believers and I am a disbeliever, that you are truthful and I am a liar, that you follow Islam and I go against it, that you are the accepted ones of God and I am rejected by Him, that you are the heirs of Paradise and I am condemned to hell, has been established by the Holy Qur’an in the estimation of those who are given to reflection, and the readers of this book can well understand who is right and who is wrong, yet there is another way whereby distinction can be made between those who are true and those who are false, and between the accepted ones of God and the rejected ones. It has always been the way of God that if an accepted one and a rejected one both beseech God Almighty for heavenly help, He certainly helps the accepted one and makes His acceptance of him manifest in a manner that is beyond human power.
Since you claim to be in the right, and some of you like Maulavi Mohy-ud-Din and ‘Abd-ur-Rahman Sahib of Lakhoke and Miań ‘Abd-ul-Haq Sahib of Ghazni have denounced me as a disbeliever and as one condemned to hell, it is incumbent upon you to find out through this heavenly method who is designated as the accepted one in heaven and who is the rejected one. I agree that you should supplicate to the Judge of judges for a period of ten weeks that if you are in the right you should be given a sign of your truth or you should be authorized to make a great prophecy or granted a sign as can proceed only from the righteous. On my side I shall also do the same. God the Beneficent and the Powerful has assured me that, if you accept this challenge, victory will be mine….
...What was ours is now wholly of the Beloved.
As of today, we belong to the Beloved and the Beloved belongs to us.
God be thanked, I have found that matchless ruby;
It matters not if the heart of the people has turned to stone
29- Revelation Concerning Qu'ranic Prophecy on Jesus' Advent (p460)
God Almighty has disclosed to me in a clear vision that the [second] advent of The Son of Mary is indicated metaphorically in the Holy Qur’an.
30- Revelations Concerning Spiritual Success of The Promised Messiah (p464-467)
He of His sheer grace, without the means of an earthly father, bestowed upon that son of Mary a spiritual birth and a spiritual life, as He Himself conveyed to him in the revelation, ‘Then We brought you to life after we had destroyed the previous generations and made you the Messiah, son of Mary,’ that is to say, after the leaders and the divines had generally suffered a spiritual death...
...This is an age in which thousands of objections and doubts have been raised and Islam has been attacked from many directions. God Almighty has said:
30- Revelations Concerning Spiritual Success of The Promised Messiah (p464-467)
He of His sheer grace, without the means of an earthly father, bestowed upon that son of Mary a spiritual birth and a spiritual life, as He Himself conveyed to him in the revelation, ‘Then We brought you to life after we had destroyed the previous generations and made you the Messiah, son of Mary,’ that is to say, after the leaders and the divines had generally suffered a spiritual death...
...This is an age in which thousands of objections and doubts have been raised and Islam has been attacked from many directions. God Almighty has said:
Thus, this was the age of the disclosure of spiritual and temporal verities that are hidden in the Qur’an which refute and reject every kind of philosophical and unphilosophical faith, for they could not be disclosed without their need having arisen. Now that attacks were made by the new philosophy, the time came for the manifestation of those insights. It was not possible that without the manifestation of those insights, Islam could be victorious against all false religions.
A victory by the sword means nothing and is wiped out by the decline of temporary power. True and real victory is that which is achieved with an army of insights and verities. This is the victory that Islam is now achieving. This prophecy related to this age and it was so understood in the past. This is an age that demands that the Holy Qur’an should disclose all the meanings which are hidden in it ....
…An intelligent person can easily understand that no creation of God the Glorious is without fine and wonderful qualities. If one carries out a research till the Day of Judgement into the qualities and wonders of a fly, they would not come to an end. Then are not the wonders and qualities of the Holy Qur’an even as many as those of a fly? Without doubt, those wonders are in excess of the total wonders of the whole of creation and to deny them would be to deny the Divine origin of the Holy Qur’an for there is nothing in the world which proceeds from God Almighty and does not comprise unlimited wonders…
.... The following revelations were vouchsafed when people were confronted with a serious trial over [my] claim of being the Promised Messiah: ‘Those who will repent and will reform their ways, to them I shall then turn and I am Oft-turning with Mercy, and Ever- Merciful. There are people for whom We have made the guidance easy and there are people for whom punishment has been decreed. They plan and Allah also plans. Allah is the Best of Planners; and the plan of Allah is exceedingly great.
They put you off with mockery [and say], ‘Is this the one whom Allah has raised?’ Tell them, ‘O ye disbelievers! I am of the truthful ones and you will see my Signs after a while’. We shall show them Our Signs all around them as well as in their own lives. Proof will be established and victory will be clear. Allah will decide between you. Allah does not guide a liar who exceeds all bounds. They desire to put out Allah’s light but Allah is determined to perfect His light though the disbelievers might resent it. We intend to send down upon you certain mysteries from heaven and to crush your enemies altogether and to show Pharaoh and Haman and their hosts that which they apprehend. We have set dogs in authority over you and We have caused wild beasts to be incensed at your words and have tried you greatly. So be not grieved at that which they say. Your Lord is on the watch. Allah the Most Gracious issues this commandment about His vicegerent, the Sultan: He shall be bestowed a great kingdom, treasures of knowledge and wisdom shall be opened at his hand and the earth shall be lit up with the light of its Lord. This is Allah’s grace and it is strange in your eyes…
…The verities and fine points which foster understanding are always disclosed according to need. New corruptions call for ever fresh meanings, which are full of wisdom. It is obvious that the Holy Qur’an is a miracle in itself, and the greatness of its miracle is that it is comprehensive of unlimited verities, but they are manifested at their due time. As the difficulties of the time demand, those hidden insights are disclosed.
Look! secular knowledge, most of which is opposed to the Holy Qur’an and is so misleading, is spreading rapidly. Currently, wonderful changes are being brought about in mathematics, physics and philosophy. Was it not necessary that at such a time the door to progress in faith and understanding should also have been opened, so that facilities might become available for repelling every new mischief? Know it for certain then that the door has been opened and God Almighty has determined to disclose the hidden wonders of the Holy Qur’an to the arrogant philosophers of the world.
Half-baked Mullahs, who are the enemies of Islam, cannot frustrate this design. If they do not desist form mischief, they will be destroyed and visited by such Divine wrath that will grind them to dust. These fools do not apprehend the prevailing circumstances. They desire that the Holy Qur’an should appear as defeated, weak, small and insignificant, but it will now march forward like a champion. It will roar like a lion and devour the entire worldly philosophy and shall demonstrate its own supremacy and fulfil the prophecy:
and culminate in the spiritual fulfilment of the following prophecy:
It is not possible to establish faith in the world to its perfection by means of compulsion. Faith is established upon the earth when no other faith remains standing in opposition to it and all opponents lay down their arms. That time has now arrived and cannot be blocked by the ignorant Mullahs. Now the son of Mary, whose spiritual father is none other than the True Teacher, who also resembles Adam on this account, will distribute Qur’anic treasures among the people, so much so, that the people will become satiated and will be unable to accept more, and everyone will have had his fill according to his capacity.
31- The Promised Messiah Not Yet A Prophet (p478-479)
The Promised Messiah has been described in Hadith as a Prophet of Allah which means that he will receive revelation from God Almighty. But here Prophethood does not mean complete and perfect Prophethood, for a seal has been set on such Prophethood forever. The Prophethood I speak of is confined to Muhaddathiyyat, which obtains light from the Muhammadi lamp. This is a special bounty which has been bestowed upon this humble one.
Although everyone partakes oftrue dreams and visions to a certain extent, nevertheless, if my opponents are in doubt, they can test my claim that no other Muslims of this age has been bestowed such plentiful share of true dreams, visions, acceptance of prayers and true revelations that they approximate those of the Prophets, as I have been. This is indeed a great criterion to judge, for there is no method other than heavenly support for testing the truth of a claimant.For a certainty, God Almighty supports one who comes from Him and guides him in an extraordinary way in the fields of contest.
Therefore, I affirm with full confidence and perfect faith that if all the Muslims of the world, be they Punjabis, Indians, Arabs, Turks, Persians, Africans or others, and their clerics, sufis, leaders, and righteous ones, and all their men and women who consider me to be an impostor, should wish to see whether the signs of acceptance by God are found in me or in them, and whether heavenly doors are opened for me or for them, and whether the True Beloved by virtue of His special bounties and the bestowal of His special knowledge and spiritual insights is with me or with them, they would soon discover that the special grace and mercy which descends upon human heart are bestowed on me in much larger measure than on their respective leaders. This should not be taken for an arrogant boast; it is only a declaration of God’s bounty.
This is God’s grace, which He bestows upon whomsoever He wills. This is also indicated by the revelations vouchsafed to me, ‘Tell them, I have been commissioned and I am the foremost of those who believe. All praise belongs to Allah Who has removed from me all grief and has bestowed upon me that which has not been bestowed upon anyone else in the world.’ Anyone else in the world, refers to the people of this age and of the future. Allah Knows Best.
32- Everlasting Power of The Holy Qu'ran (p524-525)
The straight path and the principal means which is full of the lights of certainty, and is the perfect guide for our spiritual welfare and our intellectual progress is the Holy Qur’an which is charged with the settlement of all the religious contests of the world. It contains a large quantity of the water of life for us and comprises many rare and priceless jewels which are hidden in it and are being displayed every day. It is an excellent touchstone whereby we can distinguish between truth and falsehood. It is the one bright lamp which shows the way of truth. Without doubt the hearts of those who have a relationship with the straight path are drawn to the Holy Qur’an.
God has so fashioned their hearts that they lean towards their Beloved like a lover and find no rest elsewhere, and hearing a plain and clear directive from Him, they listen to nothing else. They accept joyfully and eagerly every verity contained in it. In the end it becomes the means of illumination of the heart and lighting up the conscience and of wonderful disclosures. It leads everyone to the heights of progress according to their capacities.
The righteous have always been in need of walking in the light of the Holy Qur’an. Whenever Islam has been confronted with any other religion in consequence of some new condition of the age, the sharp and effective instrument that has immediately come to hand is the Holy Qur’an. In the same way, whenever philosophic thought has been given publicity in opposition to it, the Holy Qur’an has destroyed that poisonous plant and has so humiliated it as to provide a mirror to its students which shows up that true philosophy which is contained in the Holy Qur’an.
In the modern age, when Christian missionaries started their propaganda and made an attempt to draw away unintelligent and ignorant people from the Unity of God and to make them worship a humble creature and employed every kind of sophistry for dressing up their doubtful ideas and thus created a storm in India, it was the Holy Qur’an which repelled them so that they are not now able to face an intelligent person and their extensive apologetics have been folded up like a piece of paper.
33- Importance of Five Daily Prayers (p540)
In order to estimate the degree of a person’s fear of God it is enough to observe his regularity in Salat. I am convinced that a person who observes Salat diligently and is not held back from it by fear or sickness or worldly trials undoubtedly believes truly in God Almighty. But this degree of faith is bestowed mainly upon the poor. Few of the wealthy partake of this bounty.
34- Prophecy Ahmadis will be persecuted and have to sacrafice their lives (p546-550)
Dear ones! No way can be opened without sincerity and truth; a pure drop is needed so that a pearl may be born. O my friends, who have entered into the covenant of Bai‘at with me, may God enable us all to do that which pleases Him. Today you are small in number and are treated with contempt. You are passing through a time of trial. In accordance with the eternal law of God, efforts will be made that you should stumble. You will be persecuted in every way and you will have to hear all sorts of disagreeable things.
Everyone who hurts you by word or deed will imagine that he is helping Islam and you will have to pass through some heavenly trials so that you may be tried in every way. Therefore, listen carefully that your to victory and supremacy will not be through dry logic or returning abuse for abuse, for if you adopt these ways, your hearts will become hardened and you will be left with nothing but words, which God Almighty hates and looks upon with aversion. So do not behave in a manner whereby you would become subject to two curses, the curse of God and the curse of man.
Remember well that if the curse of man is not accompanied by the curse of God Almighty, it amounts to nothing. If God does not wish to destroy us, we cannot be destroyed by anyone, but if He should become our enemy, no one can afford us shelter. How shall we please God Almighty and how shall we win His support? He has repeatedly given me the answer to this question: it can only be done through righteousness.
So my dear brethren, make every effort that you may become righteous. Without action, everything is vain and without sincerity no action is acceptable. Righteousness means that, avoiding all these harmful ways, you should march forward towards God Almighty, and be mindful of the subtlest paths of piety.
First, cultivate humility, straightforwardness and sincerity and become truly meek and submissive and lowly, for every seed of good and ill first sprouts in the heart. If your heart is empty of evil, your tongue will also be empty of evil and so will be your eyes and all your limbs. Every light and darkness takes birth initially in the heart and gradually envelops the whole body. So keep your hearts under constant scrutiny.
Just as an eater of betel leaves constantly rotates the leaves and snips off their rotten parts and throws them away, in the same way, you should keep rotating before your mind’s eye the secret thoughts and habits and passions and hidden capacities of your hearts, and whenever you encounter a rotten thought or habit or capacity, snip it off and throw it out lest it should pollute your whole heart and you may then be cut off. Having done that, strive, and supplicate to God Almighty for strength and courage, that your limbs and all your faculties may become the means for the manifestation of pure intentions and thoughts and passions and your heart’s desires, so that your good actions may attain perfection. For that which springs up in the heart and remains confined to the heart will not lead you to any worthy status. Establish the greatness of God Almighty in your hearts and keep His Glory before you eyes.
Remember that there are approximately five hundred commandments in the Holy Qur’an. God has prepared a spiritual banquet for you with reference to your every limb, faculty, form, age, every stage of your intelligence, your nature, your effort in His path, and your individual and collective conditions. Accept the invitation to this banquet with gratitude and eat of all the dishes that have been prepared for you and derive benefit from all.
I tell you truly that he who evades a single one of these commandments will be accountable on the Day of Judgement. If you seek salvation, adopt the ways of the humble and carry the yoke of the Holy Qur’an with meekness. The wicked will be ruined and the rebellious will be hurled into hell. But he who bends his neck humbly will be saved from death.
Do not worship God Almighty on the condition of worldly benefits, for there is a pitfall in the way of such thinking. Worship Him in the conviction that it is an obligation which you owe to your Creator. Worship of God should become your very life, and the purpose of your good deeds should be that the true Beloved and the true Benefactor may be pleased with you, for anything less is a stumbling block. God is a great wealth. To find Him you should be ready to encounter misfortune. He is a great purpose. To achieve it, be ready to lay down your lives.
Dear ones! do not slight the commandments of God Almighty. Let not the poison of current philosophy affect you. Submit to His commandments like a child. Be constant in Prayer, be constant in Prayer, for Prayer is the key to all good fortune. Do not stand up in Prayer as if you are performing a ceremony. As you make physical ablution in preparation for Prayer, so perform an inner ablution whereby you should wash out from your mind and body all thoughts beside that of Allah. Then stand up in Prayer after both these purifying ablutions, and supplicate intensively in the course of your Prayer and make crying and weeping your habit so that you may be shown mercy.
Be truthful, be truthful, for He is observing the condition of your hearts. Can man deceive Him? Can cunning devices be of any avail against Him? Greatly unfortunate is the person who carries his disobedience to a degree as if there was no God. Such a one is destroyed quickly and God Almighty cares not at all for him.
Dear ones! the bare logic of this world is a Satan and the hollow philosophy of this world is a Satan Personified, who reduces the light of faith and renders a person unduly daring, and carries him to near atheism. Safeguard yourselves against Satan and develop a heart which is poor and meek. Obey the commandments without whys or wherefores, as a child obeys its mother.
The teachings of the Holy Qur’an are designed to carry you to the highest stage of righteousness. Lend ear to them and conform yourselves with them. Unlike the Bible, the Holy Qur’an does not teach that you should not look at a woman—or others who can arouse the lustful passions like women—with a lustful eye. The object of Islam’s perfect teaching is that you should not look needlessly at a woman who is not related to you, either with lust or without lust. You should shut your eyes so that you may not stumble and the purity of your heart may not be affected. Remember well this commandment of your Lord and safeguard yourselves against the adultery of the eyes and be fearful of the wrath of the One Whose wrath can destroy in an instant.
The Holy Qur’an also prescribes that you should safeguard your ears against listening to any discourse concerning women outside the prohibited degree and also against every discourse that is otherwise improper. It is not necessary for me to admonish you not to commit murder for no one except a wholly wicked person advances towards murder. But I do admonish you that you should not insist upon injustice and thus slay the truth. Accept the truth even if it should proceed from a child. If you find your opponent uttering the truth then immediately give up your dry logic. Adhere to the truth and bear true witness. God the Glorious, says:
That which turns you away from the Qiblah of truth is an idol in your path. Bear true witness even if it should be against your fathers or brothers or friends. Let no enmity prevent you from doing justice. Give up all miserliness, rancour, jealousy, ill-will and coldness and be united.
There are two main commandments of the Holy Qur’an. One is to acknowledge the Unity of God and to render love and obedience to Him. Hallowed be His name! The second is sympathy with your brethren and with the whole of mankind.
35- The Purpose of Bai'at at the Hands of The Promised Messiah (p558-563)
I have been told that some of the benefits and advantages of the covenant of bai‘at—that are appointed for all of you— depend upon the arrangement that the blessed names of all of you should be entered in a register together with the names of your fathers and your permanent and present residences, along with a brief description (if possible)...
...God, the Lord of Glory and Honour, is greatly pleased with this arrangement, whereby a large group of the righteous— strung together on the same string—will make its magnificent appearance to other people in the form of a collective unity, and will display the rays of its righteousness—drawn from various sources—in one continuous line...
...If anyone should deliberately contravene the conditions set out in the announcement of 12th January, 1889, and should persist in his rebellious attitude, he will be expelled from this Movement. The system of Bai‘at has been instituted solely with the purpose of bringing together a large group of the righteous, so that they should cast a positive influence in the world, and their unity should be a source of blessing and greatness and good harvest for Islam. Since they will be united for the same cause, they will be readily available for the pure and holy service of Islam. They should not be lazy, miserly and purposeless Muslims, nor should they be like the worthless ones who have done great harm to Islam through their dissention and inequity and have stained its beautiful face by their acts of transgression, nor should they be like the heedless dervishes and those who have withdrawn from the world, who are totally unaware of the needs of Islam and unconcerned with the welfare of their brethren, and who feel no eagerness for promoting the welfare of mankind.
On the contrary, they should have such sympathy for the people that they should become the refuge of the poor and fathers to the orphans and, like passionate lovers, be always ready to sacrifice themselves for discharging Islamic duties. They should make every effort that their blessings should spread in the world and the pure fountain of love for the Divine and of sympathy for His servants should spring out of every heart, and their unity should be seen as flowing like a river.
God Almighty, by His special grace and favour, has designed to make the prayers and the attention of this humble one the means of the manifestation of their pure capacities. That Holy and Glorious One has inspired me with the eagerness to occupy myself with the inner training of these seekers, and to strive day and night to rid them of their impurities, and to beseech God to grant them the light whereby a person is delivered from the bondage of his ego and of Satan and develops a natural love for the ways of God Almighty. I would also solicit for them the Holy Spirit, which is generated by the strong relationship between perfect Providence and undulated service to God. I would also endeavour to secure their deliverance from the vicious spirit which is generated by the intense relationship between the Self that incites to evil.
Thus, with the help of Allah, I will not be lax and lazy and will not be heedless in seeking the reform of my friends who have joined this Movement in full sincerity. Indeed, I shall be ready even to face death so that they might live. I shall solicit for them from God Almighty the spiritual power which, like an electric current should activate their entire beings.
I am sure that all this will come about for those who, having joined the Movement, shall wait steadfastly, for God Almighty has determined to create this group and to promote it for the manifestation of His Glory and His Power, so as to spread in the world love for Himself and sincere repentance and piety and real goodness and peace and prosperity and sympathy for mankind. Therefore, these will be His own people and He will strengthen them with His own spirit. He will purify them from a life of impurity and will bring about a pure change in their lives, as He has promised in His holy prophecies, and will cause them to grow rapidly and will bring thousands of the righteous into it. He Himself will water them and cause them to flourish, so much so that their numbers and their blessings will be looked upon with amazement. Like a lamp that is placed at a height, they will spread their light in every corner of the world and will be seen as the symbols of Islamic blessings. God will cause the prefect followers of this Movement to excel the followers of all other faiths in respect of every blessing, and to the Day of Judgement there will appear among them those who will be blessed with acceptance and help.
God the Almighty has determined out of His pure grace and special benignity to make the supplications of my humble self and the attention of my modest being a means of the appearance and emergence of their pure faculties. His Holy Majesty has filled me with eagerness to occupy myself with strengthening the inner discipline of these seekers.
The Lord of Glory has determined this and He has the power to do all that He wills. All power and all strength belong to Him. All praise is due to Him, the First and the Last and the Overt and the Hidden. We have submitted to Him, He is our Master in this world and in the hereafter; an Excellent Master and an Excellent Helper.
36- Imam Bukhari Interpreted Qu'ran and Ahadith to Mean Jesus is Dead (p583-586)
In the idiom of the Holy Qur’an, the word Tawaffi has always been used in the connotation of death and taking possession of the soul. A minute study of Arabic prose and poetry—both ancient and modern—shows that wherever the expression Tawaffi is used for a human being, and the action is attributed to Allah the Glorious, Tawaffi invariably means death and taking possession of the soul.
In this context, there is not a single instance, where this expression means anything other than taking possession of the soul. Those who are wont to refer to lexicons like Qamus, Sihah, Sarah, etc., have not found a single instance where, in the context that we have mentioned, any other connotation has been attributed to the expression Tawaffi. There is not the slightest indication of the possibility of any other connotation.
Then I studied the books of Hadith to discover whether the Holy Prophet s.a.w. or his companions had on any occasion applied the expression Tawaffi to a human being in any other connotation than that of death and taking possession of the soul. I had to labour hard in this search. What I discovered on checking every page of the compilations of Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Tirmadhi, Ibn-e-Majah, Abu Dawud, Nasa’i, Darimi, Mu’atta’ and Sharh-us-Sunnah etc., was that the expression Tawaffi has been used three hundred and forty six times, and in no single instance has it been used, either by the Holy Prophet s.a.w. or by his companions, to mean anything other than ‘death’, or ‘taking possession of the soul’. I have gone through these books with great care line by line, and I can say that on each and every occasion the expression Tawaffi has been used only in the connotation of death or taking possession of the soul. A careful perusal of these books also establishes that, from the moment of the Call and all through his life, the Holy Prophet s.a.w. never used the expression Tawaffi in any connotation other than death and taking possession of the soul....
...Imam Muhammad Isma‘il Bukhari has made a fine point in his compilation which indicates that the Holy Prophet s.a.w. used the expression Tawaffi at least seven thousand times between his Call and his death, and every time he used it in the connotation of death and taking possession of the soul. Seekers after truth should be grateful to Imam Bukhari for this information...
It is for this purpose that Imam Bukhari has quoted the verse:
in Kitab-ut-Tafsir. In so doing, he intended to convey that the correct interpretation of the word Tawaffaitani is the one which the Holy Prophet s.a.w. attributed to it, that is to say, ‘Thou didst cause me to die’. In the following Hadith the Holy Prophet s.a.w. says that,
The Holy Prophet s.a.w. meant that he would make the same affirmation as Jesus would make when he would be asked whether he had taught his people to take him and his mother as gods. In this manner the Holy Prophet s.a.w. interpreted the expression Tawaffaitani as meaning death.
37- Offer of Cash Prize for Refuting Qu'ranic Evidence on Death of Jesus (p602-603)
Let it be understood by all Muslims that it has been established beyond any doubt, according to the Holy Qur’an and Hadith, that Jesus son of Mary died on earth after fulfilling the span of his life in accordance with the verse:
It is further clear on the authority of sixteen verses of the Holy Qur’an, and a number of Ahadith contained in Bukhari, Muslim and other authentic compilations, that those who die are never sent back to dwell in this world, nor is anyone subjected to death twice, nor does the Holy Qur’an lay down any law of inheritance for anyone who might return to earth after death.
Yet some of the divines insist that Jesus son of Mary has not died but was raised bodily to heaven, and is alive in his physical body. They dare to suggest that the expression Tawaffi, which has been applied to Jesus in the Holy Qur’an, does not connote death, rather it means taking full possession of both body and soul. But this interpretation is utterly false.
In the idiom of the Holy Qur’an, this expression is consistently employed to connote taking possession of the soul and the death of the body. The same idiom is employed in all the Ahadith and sayings of the Holy Prophet s.a.w. Ever since the Arabian peninsula has been populated and the Arabic language has come into use, there is not a single ancient or modern instance of the expression Tawaffi being employed taking possession of the body. Whenever this expression has been employed for the description of the action of God Almighty in relation to a human being, it has always connoted death and taking possession of the soul. No lexicon and no Arabic saying contradicts this. There is not the slightest room for any different interpretation.
If anyone should cite a single instance from the Holy Qur’an or from the Ahadith or from ancient or modern poetry, or ode, or prose of the Arabs, wherein the expression Tawaffi has been employed when indicating the action of God Almighty concerning a human being, as connoting anything beyond death and taking possession of the soul, that is to say, as connoting the taking possession of the body also, I call God to witness that I shall hand over to such a person one thousand rupees in cash and also acknowledge that he possesses expert knowledge of Hadith and the Holy Qur’an.
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