Hypocritical Tactics of the Muslim Ulama

So this is the character and conduct as well as the past of those who are now vying with each other to malign Ahmaddiyyat. The Promised Messiah (as) was motivated by his good disposition to express his gratitude towards a beneficent government. But that was not all. There were certain other causes of this as well which were of the making of his opponents.

On the one hand, these ulama were instigating the Muslims against the Promised Messiah (as), alleging that he praised the British government and opposed the idea of Jihad against it, whereas that government deserved to be destroyed and eliminated through Jihad. But on the other hand, they were engaged in heaping praises on the British government and publishing the kind of flattery, some excerpts of which I have just read out to you. On a third front, they were submitting memorandums, both covertly as well as through overt publications, to the British government, cautioning them against the Promised Messiah (as) whom they described as a very dangerous man and warned the Government not to be taken in by him. They alleged that, though he was the claimant to being Imam Mahdi, yet in fact he was a Bloody Mahdi whose purpose was to destroy the British Empire.

What a great hypocrisy, transgression and a pack of lies! On the one hand they were announcing to the Muslims that he was khud kashta pauda of the British, and on the other hand they were informing the British that he was an enemy of their nation and his mission in life was to destroy them [the British]. Hence the latter must destroy him. In this context, Maulawi Muhammad Hussain Batalwi wrote in his Isha‘atus Sunnah, Vol. 16, footnote 4, as follows:

“[Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani’s] being deceptive is proven by the belief in his heart that it is permissible, and lawful to commit murder against, and rob the property of, a government which subscribes to a different religious belief. [What a robust ‘proof’ this is, indeed: ‘ … the belief in his heart … ’!] So it would not be prudent for the Government to trust him, and it is essential to remain wary of him. Otherwise, this Mahdi Qadiani will wreak such havoc which even the Mahdi Sudani did not cause.”

It was this picture of the Promised Messiah’s ‘heart’ which their own hearts were painting in those days.

Munshi Muhammad ‘Abdullah warned the British government about the Promised Messiah (as) in the following words:

‘Similarly, there are other Quranic verses which he keeps on repeating for his companions in an attempt to organize them to go to war against this government.’1

These submissions and observations were taken by the opponents quite seriously. For instance, the only English language daily of that time, the Civil and Military Gazette, Lahore, which was held in high esteem and remained in publication for a very long time, wrote an editorial in which it instigated the British against the Promised Messiah (as) and cautioned them not to be taken in by the facade of peacefulness maintained by the Promised Messiah (as). It alleged that this dangerous man will destroy the British government.