“Those who pledge at your hand, pledge with Allah. His hand is above their hands.”
[Divine revelation to the Promised Messiah (as)]
“I am the citadel of security for this age.”
Today, after a long interval, I wish to draw your attention to an important matter concerning the Divine scheme that God Almighty has entrusted to me for the support of Islam. I wish to expound before you the greatness of this Movement and the need for helping this scheme, as far as God Almighty has bestowed upon me the power of speech so that I should discharge the responsibility of propagation that is upon me. In this endeavour I am not concerned with the effect it might produce on the minds of the readers. My only purpose is to discharge adequately the duty that lies upon me and to convey the message, which is an obligation upon me, whether people listen to it with pleasure or look upon it with disdain, and whether they should think well of me in their hearts or otherwise.
… O seekers of truth and true lovers of Islam! You are well-aware that the time through which we are passing is so dark that all matters of faith and conduct have become corrupted and a strong wind of error and misguidance is blowing from every direction. Mere words have taken the place of faith. The term ‘righteous action’ is applied to a few ceremonies, extravagances and vain displays, and there is complete ignorance of true virtue. The philosophy and sciences of this age are also set against spiritual well-being. They have an ill-effect upon their votaries and are proven to pull them towards darkness. They stir up poisonous matters and awaken the sleeping Satan. Those connected with such philosophy and such sciences suffer so much from lack of faith that they ridicule Divinely promulgated principles and the prescribed forms of worship like Prayer and Fasting. Their hearts are devoid of any sense of God’s greatness. Most of them are dyed in heresy and steeped in atheism, and though they are descended from Muslims, they are the enemies of the faith. Most students of colleges withdraw from their allegiance to faith and lose all sympathy for it before they have completed their studies. Here I have only mentioned one branch which, in this age, is loaded with the fruits of misguidance, but there are hundreds of other branches which are no less harmful. Honesty and integrity have departed from the world as if they never existed. Fraudulent and deceptive schemes for earning worldly benefits have multiplied enormously. The most mischievous person is accounted the ablest. All manner of unrighteousness, dishonesty, illegitimacy, deceit, falsehood, cunning and greed are on the increase. Merciless rancour and disputes are multiplying and beastly sentiments and emotions are raging wherever you may look. As people get more and more proficient and cunning with regard to the current sciences and laws, to the same degree, their natural qualities of goodness, modesty, decency, fear of God and honesty are on the decline.
The Christian doctrine is also preparing many schemes to demolish truth and faithfulness. To wipe out Islam, the Christians are diligently inventing and having recourse to all kinds of falsehood and make-belief, and are devising ever new schemes for pushing people into error and misguidance. They grievously defame that Perfect Man (sas) who was the Pride of all holy ones, the Crown of all those who are close to God, and the Chief of all the great Messengers. So much so, that the audience in theatres is regaled with parodies of Islam and its Holy Prophet (sas). Such utterly false aspersions are cast on Islam and its Holy Founder (sas) through these theatres as are meant to insult and defame them.
O Muslims, listen carefully. In order to obstruct the holy effects of Islam, the Christians have pressed into service every kind of complicated imposture and cunning device, and by spending money like water, they are making every effort to give currency to these aspersions, the details of which had better not be described in this article. Such is the magic and sorcery of the Christian people and the supporters of the Trinity, that unless God Almighty displays His powerful hand which possesses the miraculous power to demolish their magic, there can be no hope whatsoever for simple hearts to find deliverance from this European sorcery.
Therefore, in order to frustrate this magic, God Almighty granted to the true Muslims of this age the miracle that He honoured this servant of His with His revelation and special blessings. Having equipped me fully with minute knowledge of His ways, He sent me against the opponents with numerous heavenly gifts, divine wonders, and spiritual verities, so that with this Heavenly stone, the waxen idol prepared by the magic of the Christians might be broken. Thus, O ye Muslims, the appearance of this humble one is a miracle on the part of God Almighty for dispelling the darkness of these magicians. Was it not necessary that the world be shown a miracle in opposition to their magic? Does it appear strange and improbable in your eyes that in response to these cunning devices, which had bordered on magic, God Almighty should display a flash of truth which should have the effect of a miracle?
[Fathe-Islam, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 3, pp. 3-6]
At this point I wish to remove the misapprehension of some who are well-off and account themselves very generous and devoted to the faith, but who are wholly averse to spending their wealth in its proper place. They say, ‘Had we found a righteous one enjoying Allah’s support in this age, who had come from God to strengthen the faith, we would surely have sacrificed ourselves wholly in his cause; but what can we do when there is nothing but deceit and falsehood all around?’
Be it known to you, O people, that one has been sent for the support of the faith but you have not recognized him. He is among you and is the one who is now speaking, but your eyes are under heavy veils. If your hearts seek the truth, it is easy to test the claim of a person who says that God Almighty speaks to him. Come to me and stay with me for two or three weeks so that, if God Almighty should so will, you might be able to observe with your own eyes the blessings that are falling upon me like rain and the light of Divine revelations that are descending upon me. He who seeks is the one who finds, and he who knocks is the one for whom the door is opened. If you shut your eyes and hide yourselves in a dark room and then complain that you cannot see the sun, you complain in vain. O ignorant one, open the door of your chamber and lift the veil from your eyes so that you should not only see the sun but should be illumined by its light.
Some people say that it is enough support for the faith to form associations and establish schools, but they do not know what faith is or what the true purpose of our lives is or how this purpose might be achieved. Let them understand that the ultimate purpose of this life is to establish such a true and certain relationship with God Almighty as should deliver one from one’s selfish associations and bring one to the fountainhead of salvation. The ways of such perfect faith are not opened by means of human schemes and designs, nor can any man-made philosophy be of any avail. Rather it is God Almighty Who, through His special servants, always sends down this light from heaven at the time of darkness. He who comes from heaven leads to heaven.
So, O ye people who are sunk in the pit of darkness and are prisoners of doubts and misapprehensions and have become slaves of your passions, take no pride in your nominal and ceremonial Islam and do not depend upon your plans of forming associations and establishing schools to bring you true welfare and ultimate success. These devices are only of elementary benefit and can be regarded as the first stage of progress, but they are far removed from the true purpose. It is possible that through these devices intellects may be stimulated, or dispositions might become artistic, or logic might be bandied about, or academic distinctions might be acquired, and, perhaps, after a long period of study, they might prove of some help in achieving the true purpose, [but that would be a case of]:
Wake up, therefore, and be alert lest you should stumble and be confronted with the last journey in a condition of heresy and faithlessness. Be sure that any hope for prosperity in the hereafter cannot be based on these conventional sciences. What is needed is heavenly light that removes the dirt of doubts and misapprehensions and puts out the fire of lust and passion and draws one to God’s true love, true devotion and true obedience. If you examine your conscience you will recognize that you have not yet achieved the true comfort and satisfaction which in an instant brings about spiritual transformation. It is a matter of utmost regret that you do not entertain for the heavenly dispensation even a fraction of the eagerness that you show in your ceremonial affairs and for spreading the conventional sciences. You are spending your lives mostly in works which have no connection with faith, or have only a slight connection which is nowhere near the true purpose. If you had possessed the faculties of understanding, which lead to the true purpose, you would not rest until you had achieved it. O people, you have been created for the recognition, love and obedience to your True Creator and your True God. So long as this purpose, which is the ultimate aim of your creation, does not manifest itself clearly in you, you are far away from true redemption. Were you to speak justly, you would be a witness to your own inner condition and would confess that instead of worshipping God, you have installed in your heart a mighty idol of world-worship to which you prostrate yourselves a thousand times every moment. All your time is so devoted to idle and vain pursuits that you have no time for anything else. Do you realize what would be the result of such existence? Where is your sense of justice? Where is integrity? Where is the truthfulness, fear of God, honesty and meekness to which the Qur’an calls you? You do not recall even once in a number of years that you have a God, nor do you ever reflect on that which you owe to Him. The truth is that you have no interest and no relationship with the truly Self-Subsisting One. You hardly even think of Him. You will cleverly contend that this is not so, but God’s universal law puts you to shame when it reminds you that you do not possess the signs of the faithful ones. You claim vehemently that you are wise and serious-minded in your worldly affairs, yet your ability, intelligence and far-sightedness terminates within the sphere of the world. With this intelligence of yours, you cannot perceive even a small corner of that other universe wherein your souls have been created to dwell forever. You are content with the life of this world as if it would last forever; but not once in your lifetime do you recall that other universe whose joys possess true satisfaction and are eternal. How unfortunate it is that you are totally heedless of, and have shut your eyes to, a mighty matter and you run eagerly after passing and temporary things. You are well-aware that you will certainly be overtaken by a moment in which your life and all your desires will instantly come to an end. It is a strange misfortune, however, that despite this knowledge you are wasting the whole of your time in running after the world, and this is not confined to legitimate means but you also resort to all kinds of illegitimate means beginning with falsehood and deceit and extending even to the unlawful shedding of blood. Despite all these shameful offences that are so widespread among you, you assert that you are in no need of heavenly light or a heavenly dispensation. On the contrary, you are set against it. You take the heavenly dispensation of God Almighty very lightly, so much so that you arrogantly and contemptuously find faults with it. You inquire repeatedly: ‘How can we make sure that this Movement is from God?’ I have already replied that you shall know this tree by its fruit and shall recognize this Sun by its light. I have conveyed this message to you and it is for you to accept it or not, to remember my words or to forget them.
A man is not valued while he lives; but, dear ones, you will recall my words after I am gone.
It would be appropriate for every member of the faith to shed tears of blood at the helplessness of Islam and the scarcity of Muslims.
The religion of God is confronted with a dangerous and terrible convulsion; disbelief and rancour have created a great uproar in the world.
Even he whose soul is bereft of all good, finds faults with the person of the Best of Messengers (sas).
Even he who is held in the prison of impurity is critical of the Imam of the righteous.
The ill-starred wicked one shoots his arrow upon the innocent one; it behoves heaven to rain down stones on the earth.
Before your eyes Islam has fallen into dust; how then will you excuse yourselves before God, O ye who live in luxury?
Disbelief is rampant in every direction like the forces of Yazid; and the true Faith is ill and helpless like Zain-ul-‘Abidin.
Men of wealth are occupied with their own enjoyments; keeping company, happy and laughing, with their graceful idols.
The divines are at loggerheads with each other day and night in their ego-driven exchanges; and the ascetics are entirely heedless of the needs of the faith.
Everyone has taken up a position for his mean self; so that the side of the faith is left defenceless, and every enemy has leaped out of his ambush.
[Fat-he-Islam, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 3, pp. 41-45]
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 (as) 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 (as) 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 (sas) 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 (as), 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 (as) and are placing yourselves under the judgement of God Almighty? I tell you truly that it is easier for a non-believer 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.
[Izala-e-Auham, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 3, pp. 103-105]
Has not the time of the last calamity, which was destined for the latter days of Islam, arrived? Can anyone prove from the Holy Qur’an and Hadith that a time is yet to come which will bring greater trials than those that are current today? Brethren, do not wrong your souls and reflect well that the time has arrived when external and internal trials have reached their climax. If you would put all these trials and tribulations on one side of the scale, and for the other side of the scale you would search through the Holy Qur’an and the whole body of Ahadith, you would not find a thousandth part of the tribulations with which Islam is afflicted today. Which then is the time of a greater Dajjal and greater tribulations which is yet to come? Can you point to any tribulation which is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an and in the Ahadith and which is not to be encountered today? You might employ yourselves in this research to your last breaths, but you will not be able to show from the Holy Qur’an and the Ahadith that there will ever be a time of greater tribulations than those with which we are faced today.
Gentlemen! even the father of your supposed Dajjal could not have conceived of all the wickedness and deceit that is spreading in this age. Mankind is being led astray in a thousand ways, which would need volumes to describe, and the opponents have been so successful in their efforts to misguide people that hearts are atremble thereat. Their sciences and their philosophy have sown the seeds of such temerity and audacity that everyone of their votaries claims to be god. Wake up, therefore, and observe what sort of age we are witnessing and reflect how the trend of present thinking is opposed to the pure Unity of God, so much so that the very concept of Divine power is considered absurd, and he who talks of the Divine Decree is accounted a fool. Philosophers and their ilk are spreading atheism and trying to take possession of the whole machinery of Godhead. They want to control epidemics, to avert death, to cause rain, and to cultivate at will. In short, they want everything to be in their power. It is a matter for reflection that there is no end to all this misguidance and both wings of Islam are under assault.
O you who are asleep, awake! O you who are heedless, arise, for you are faced with a great revolution. This is the time for weeping and not for sleeping; and it is the time for supplication and not for mockery, ridicule and charging people with heresy. Pray that God Almighty may grant you sight so that you may perceive fully the present darkness and may see the light which Divine Mercy has prepared to dispel it. Get up during the latter part of the night and seek guidance from God Almighty through weeping and crying and do not waste your time in contriving designs and praying against the Jama‘at set up by God God Almighty will not follow your heedless and misguided designs. He will make manifest to you the follies of your minds and hearts and will help His servant. He will not cut down the tree which He has planted with His own hand. Is there anyone among you who will cut down a tree which he expects to bear fruit? Then why would He, Who is All-Wise and All-Seeing and Most Merciful, cut down the tree, the blessed season of whose harvest He is awaiting? When you, being men, would not do such a thing, why would He do it Who knows all hidden things and reaches the bottom of every heart. Remember that in this confrontation you are striking your swords against your own limbs. Do not thrust your hand into fire lest the fire should flare up and consume it. Remember well that had this been man’s doing, there would have been many who would have destroyed it and it would not have survived for twelve years, which is an age of maturity. Do you recall any impostor who, having falsely claimed converse with God, has survived for such a long time? It is a pity that you do not reflect nor recall the verses of the Holy Qur’an, wherein God says with reference to the Holy Prophet (sas), that had he falsely attributed the smallest thing to God, He would have severed his jugular vein. Who is dearer to God than the Holy Prophet (sas), that he should not only survive such a great imposture, but should be enriched by Divine bounties? Brothers! refrain from self-deception and be not obstinate in matters which are specially in the knowledge of God. Break your habits, become new men and tread along the paths of righteousness so that He may have mercy on you and may forgive your sins. Fear God and restrain yourselves. Is there not one among you who is rightly guided? If you do not desist, God will soon bring help to His servant and will break up his enemies and you will be able to do him no harm.
[A’ina-e-Kamalat-e-Islam, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 5, pp. 52-55]
O ye people, who are being called to goodness and righteousness, be sure that you will be drawn to God and will be cleansed of the evil stain of sin only when your hearts are filled with certainty. You might say that you already enjoy certainty, but you only deceive yourselves. You do not enjoy certainty because you do not possess its essentials. You do not refrain from sin and do not step forward as you should nor do you fear God as you ought to. Consider and reflect that a person who is certain that there is a serpent in a particular hole does not thrust his hand into that hole. He who is certain that a particular food is poisoned does not eat it. He who is certain that a thousand wild tigers abound in a forest will not carelessly wander into it. How can your hands and your feet and your ears and your eyes be daring enough to indulge in sin if you truly believe in God and His judgement? Sin cannot overcome certainty. Can you thrust yourselves into a consuming fire? The walls of certainty rise to heaven, Satan cannot climb over them. Whoever has been purified, has been purified through certainty. Certainty invests a person with the strength to bear pain, so much so that it makes a king relinquish his throne and makes him put on the garb of a mendicant. Certainty makes every pain easy to endure. Certainty makes one behold God. All ‘Atonement’ is false and all ‘Redemption’ is vain. All purity proceeds only from certainty. It is only certainty that rescues from sin, leads to God, and puts a person ahead of the angels in sincerity and steadfastness. Any religion that does not provide the means for attaining certainty is false. Any religion that cannot exhibit God through sure means is false. Any religion that has nothing to offer except ancient tales is false. God is as He ever was, His powers are as they always were, and He has the ability to show signs as He always had; why then are you content with mere stories? The religion is dead whose miracles and whose prophecies are only tales. Ruined is the Jama‘at on which God has not descended, and which the hand of God has not purified.
[Kashti-e-Nuh, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 19, pp. 67-68]
I would like to urge seekers after truth who are fearful of their accountability before God, not to follow the Maulavis of this day without full investigation and to beware of them, since the Holy Prophet (sas) has himself warned against the Maulavis of the latter days. Do not be confused by the fatawa [religious edicts] of these Maulavis, for they are nothing new. If someone is in doubt concerning me and my claim, I proceed to set out an easy way of resolving these doubts, which, God willing, will satisfy a true seeker. Anyone who has such doubts should repent sincerely and offer two rak‘as of prayer at night, reciting Surah Ya Sin in the first rak‘a and Surah Al-Ikhlas twenty-one times in the second rak‘a. Thereafter, calling down Durud [blessings on the Holy Prophet (sas)] three hundred times and asking Istighfar [forgiveness of sins] three hundred times, he should supplicate in the following words:
‘O Powerful and Noble One! You know all hidden things and we do not know. The accepted one and the righteous one, the rejected one and the impostor, none can remain hidden from You. We, therefore, humbly ask You to reveal to us the true standing of this person who claims to be the Promised Messiah, the Mahdi and the Mujaddid [Reformer of the age]. Is he true or false? Is he, in Your estimation, an accepted one or a rejected one? Disclose his reality to us through a dream or vision or revelation, so that if he be a rejected one, we should not go astray by accepting him, and if he is an accepted one and is from You, we should not be ruined by denying and ridiculing him. Guard us against every trial, for You have every power (Amin).’
This supplication should be made for at least two weeks with an uncommitted mind. He whose mind is already full of rancour and ill-thinking and desires to know the truth concerning one whom he detests, is visited by Satan who, in accord with the darkness that fills his mind, injects further dark thoughts into it and his last condition becomes worse than the first. Thus, if you wish to ascertain something from God Almighty, you should first cleanse your bosom of all rancour and enmity and seek the light of guidance after completely emptying your mind both of rancour and of love. Then, according to His promise, God will surely bestow light upon you, which will be entirely free from any smoke of egoistic thoughts. O ye seekers after truth, do not be misled by what these Maulavis say. Arise and strive to seek help from that Strong, Powerful, All-Knowing and Absolute Guide. Listen! I have conveyed to you this spiritual message, and the rest is up to you. Peace be upon him who follows the guidance.
The conveyer of the message
Ghulam Ahmad
[Nishan-e-Asmani, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 4, pp. 400-401]
It is worth bearing in mind that God Almighty will not leave this Jama‘at of His without furnishing proof of its truth. He has Himself said, as mentioned in Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya: ‘A Warner came into the world and the world did not accept him, but God will accept him and will establish his truth with powerful assaults’. Those who have rejected me, or are eager to reject me, are destined to be humiliated and brought low. They do not reflect that if all this had been human imposture, I would have been ruined long ago, for God Almighty has such enmity with an impostor as He has not with anyone else in the world. They do not consider how a liar could possess such steadfastness and courage. They do not realize that only he can speak so splendidly and majestically who enjoys the support of the unseen and only such a one can have the courage to stand up alone against the whole world. Be on the look out, for the days are coming, indeed they are near, when the enemy will be disgraced and friends will be most cheerful.
Who is my friend? It is he who has accepted me before seeing any sign and has offered his life, property and honour in such a manner as if he had witnessed thousands of signs This is my Jama‘at. These are my friends who found me alone and helped me, and found me sorrowful and consoled me, and being unacquainted honoured me like a friend. May God Almighty have mercy on them. If anyone accepts the truth only after witnessing signs, what is that to me and what reward will he obtain and what honour would he find in the presence of the Lord of Honour? Those alone have accepted me in reality who observed me with a discerning eye and weighed my words with intelligence and considered my circumstances, and listened to me, and reflected and, on that basis, God opened their hearts to me and they joined me. He alone is with me who gives up his own pleasure for my pleasure, and makes me an Arbiter in whatever he does, and walks along my path, and is wholly devoted to me, and has discarded his own self. I am compelled to affirm with a sigh that those who seek clear signs will not be honoured by my Lord God with praiseworthy titles and honourable ranks which will be bestowed upon the righteous ones who recognized the hidden secrets and who smelled the fragrance of the servant [of God] who was hidden under His mantle. For example, what merit can be claimed by the one who offers his salutation to a prince whom he observes in his pomp and glory, surrounded by his men? Deserving of merit is the one who encounters him in the guise of a beggar and recognizes him. It is not within my power to bestow such insight upon anyone for it is only the One Who bestows it. Those whom He holds dear, He invests with the discernment of faith. These are the things through which those who are inclined towards guidance are guided and the same things become the cause of more crookedness for those whose hearts are crooked.
[A’ina-e-Kamalat-e-Islam, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 5, pp. 349-350]
Your opposition to me is far removed from righteousness. Your reliance is totally on such Ahadith as are inauthentic and fabricated, or you do not understand their true meaning. As against this, my claim is based on reasoned discernment. I have such faith in the revelation that has informed me of the death of Jesus (as), and of my being the Promised Messiah that was to come, as I have in the Holy Qur’an. This faith is not merely well-intentioned but has been bestowed upon me by the light of Divine revelation which shines on me like the sun. How can I expel from my heart the certainty which has been carried to the extreme by the continuous display of extraordinary signs, certain knowledge and the daily experience of clear and certain converse with God? Shall I reject the bounty of understanding and true knowledge which has been bestowed upon me? Shall I turn away from the heavenly signs that are shown to me? Shall I disobey the commandment of my Lord and Master? What shall I do? Death is a thousand times more welcome to me than that I should turn away from Him Who has revealed Himself to me in all His beauty and majesty. Is this life such a long one, and are the people of the world so faithful to me that for their sake I should abandon the Beloved Friend? I know well that my opponents rely only on a moth-eaten crust and they desire that I too should adopt it and should give up the kernel. They try to intimidate and threaten me but, by the Dear One Whom I have recognized, I attach no weight to their threats. I would prefer sorrow in His company to the joy in the company of another. I would prefer death in His company than enjoy a long life by abandoning Him. Just as you cannot say that it is night when you have seen the day, in the same way I cannot consider the light that has been shown to me as darkness. When you are not prepared to renounce your doctrines which are a collection of doubts and superstitions, how can you expect me to leave the path upon which I perceive that a hundred suns are shining? Am I insane or mad that I should not accept the truth when God Almighty has exhibited it to me with evident signs? I call God Almighty to witness that thousands of signs have been displayed to me for my satisfaction, some of which I have communicated to others and some of which I have not communicated to anyone. I find that these signs are from God Almighty—Who has no associate—and no one else beside Him has the power to exhibit them.
I have also been bestowed knowledge of the Qur’an and the true meanings of Ahadith. Why should I give up the bright path and adopt the path of ruin? What I say is based on reasoned discernment and what you say is only speculation. Speculation does not prevail in opposition to the truth. It is like a blind person plunging along on uneven ground in the darkness, not knowing where his foot falls. How shall I then exchange the light that has been bestowed on me, with darkness? When I find that God hears my prayers, displays great signs in my support, talks to me, and discloses the secrets of the hidden to me, helps me with His powerful hand against my enemies, and bestows victory upon me in every field, and gives me knowledge of the deeper meanings and verities of the Holy Qur’an, how then can I abandon such a Powerful and Supreme God and accept someone else in His place?
I am fully convinced that it is the Powerful God Who has manifested Himself to me and Who has enlightened me of His existence and His Word and His work. I fully believe that the manifestations of His power which I see, and the knowledge of the hidden that He discloses to me, and the Strong Hand from which I receive help at every time of danger; are all the attributes of the Perfect and True God Who created Ahmad (as), and appeared to Noah (as), and showed the miracle of the flood, and helped Moses (as) when Pharaoh was about to destroy him, is the same God Who bestowed complete victory on Muhammad, Chief of the Messengers (sas), guarding him against the designs of the disbelievers and the pagans. This same God has manifested Himself to me in these latter days.
[Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, Part V, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 21, pp. 296-298]
What is true light? It is that which descends from heaven in the guise of convincing signs and bestows comfort and satisfaction on the hearts. This light is needed by everyone who is desirous of obtaining salvation; for he who is not free from doubt is not free from the possibility of chastisement. He who is too unfortunate to see God in this world will also fall into darkness on the Day of Judgement, as He says:
God has indicated many times in His book that He shall enlighten with His signs the hearts of those who seek Him until they are able to see Him, and that He shall manifest His greatness to them until all other greatnesses will become as nothing before them. These are the words that I heard directly from God in His converse, until my soul cried out that this is the way to reach God and that this is the way to overcome sin. To arrive at the truth, it is necessary that we should tread the path of truthfulness. Hypothetical designs and imaginary projects will not help us. I am witness to the fact, and place this testimony before the whole world, that it is from the Qur’an that I have discovered the reality that leads to God. I have heard the voice and have seen the signs of the Powerful Arm of God Who has sent the Qur’an. So I believe that He is the True God and the Master of all the worlds. My heart is as full of this certainty as the ocean is full of water. I, therefore, call everyone to this faith and this light on the basis of reasoned conviction. We have found the true light with which all curtains of darkness are lifted and the heart grows cold to everything beside Allah. This is the only way whereby man emerges from the passions of the self and its darkness, just as a serpent emerges from its skin.
[Kitab-ul-Bariyyah, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 13, p. 65]
Today, for the purpose of conveying the message in a conclusive manner, I have made up my mind to publish forty announcements inviting those who oppose and deny me, so that on the Day of Judgement I should be able to plead before God, the One, that I had fulfilled the purpose for which I had been sent. So, with full respect and humility, I send this announcement to Muslim and Christian divines, and to Hindus and Arya Pundits, informing them that I have been sent to the world for the reformation of moral, doctrinal and spiritual weaknesses and errors. I follow in the footsteps of Jesus (as), and, in this sense, I am called the Promised Messiah. I have been commanded to spread the truth in the world through miraculous signs and holy teachings. I am opposed to the use of the sword in support of the faith and the slaying of God’s creatures in the name of religion. I have been appointed that, so far as it may be possible for me, I should remove all these errors from the minds of the Muslims and should call them to pure morals, perseverance, meekness, justice and righteousness. I proclaim to all the Muslims, Christians, Hindus, and Aryas, that I have no enemy in the world. I love human beings with the love that a compassionate mother has for her children and even more so. I am the enemy only of the false doctrines which slay the truth. Human sympathy is my duty, and discarding falsehood, idolatry, every type of misconduct and wrongdoing, injustice, and immorality, is my principle.
What has roused my sympathy is that I have discovered a gold mine and have been informed of a deposit of precious stones. In this mine I have been fortunate enough to find a shining and priceless diamond. Its value is so great that if I were to divide its price among the whole of mankind, each of them would become wealthier than the person who owns the largest amount of gold and silver in the world. What is that diamond? It is the True God, and to acquire Him means to recognize Him, to believe in Him truly, to establish the relationship of true love with Him, and to receive true blessings from Him. Having found such great wealth, it would be a great wrong that I should deprive mankind of it and that they should die of hunger while I live in luxury. This I will not do. My heart burns at the contemplation of their poverty and hunger. My soul is in travail at the perception of their darkness and privation. I desire that their houses should be filled with heavenly wealth and that they should acquire so many jewels of truth and certainty that they should be filled to their capacity.
Of course everyone loves his own species. Even the ants love their own kind, unless they happen to be overcome by some selfish desire. Therefore, he who calls people to God Almighty has an obligation to love them the most. And I love mankind the most. I have no personal enmity with anyone; I am the enemy only of their misconduct and of the wrongs they commit and of their disobedience and rebellion. Out of my eager love for mankind, I offer them the treasure that I have received, which is the key to all the treasures and bounties of Paradise. The fact that the treasures that have been bestowed upon me comprise of real diamonds, gold and silver can be easily ascertained. All these coins and jewels bear the royal mark, that is to say, I have heavenly testimonies which no one else has. I have been told that of all the faiths, Islam is the only true faith; and that of all guidance, the guidance contained in the Qur’an alone is true in every respect and is free from human interpolation. I have been made to understand that of all the Messengers (as), the one who has brought the most perfect holy and wise teaching and who practically demonstrated human excellences at the highest level is our lord and master Muhammad, the Chosen One (sas). I have been informed through pure and sacred revelation vouchsafed to me by God Almighty that I am the Promised Messiah and the Promised Mahdi sent by Him, and that I am the Hakam [Arbiter] of the internal and external differences. The Holy Prophet (sas) has honoured me by bestowing upon me the names of Messiah and Mahdi. God has also called me by the same names in His direct word. What is more, the condition of the world in the present age also demanded that these should be my names. These are thus the three witnesses to these names of mine. I call to witness my God, Who is the Master of heaven and earth, that I am from Him and He bears witness to me through His signs. If anyone can compete with me in the matter of heavenly signs, then I am false. If anyone can prove himself my equal in the matter of the acceptance of prayers, then I am false. If anyone can prove himself my equal in expounding the verities and the fine points of the Holy Qur’an, then I am false. If anyone can prove my equal in disclosing that which is hidden and foretelling, with the mighty Power of God, the mysteries before their time, then I am not from Him.
Where now are the Christian ministers who have said that, God forbid, no prophecy or miraculous matter was disclosed by our lord and the lord of mankind, Muhammad, the Chosen One (sas)? I say truly that he alone is the perfect man whose prophecies and acceptance of prayers and display of other miraculous matters is something which even now rages like the ocean through his true followers. Which other religion beside Islam possesses this quality and this power? Where are the people, and in which country do they dwell, who can compete with Islam in the matter of Divine blessings and signs? A person who follows a religion which does not partake of the heavenly spirit, wastes his faith. That religion alone is worth the name which is alive and possesses the spirit of life and leads one to the Living God. I claim not only that the hidden is disclosed to me through the holy revelation vouchsafed to me by God Almighty and that miraculous signs are shown to me, but I also say that whoever follows me with a pure heart and with true love for God and His Prophet (sas), will also receive this bounty from God Almighty. But remember that this door is closed upon all opponents; otherwise let someone from them compete with me in the matter of heavenly signs. I affirm that no one will be able to do so. This is a living proof of the truth of Islam and the truth of my claim….
Peace be upon him who follows the guidance.
Announced by:
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian
The Promised Messiah
July 23, 1900
[Arba‘in No. 1, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 17, pp. 343-346]
Repent and fear God and do not transgress. If the hearts have not hardened, then why is there such daring to declare a person to be an infidel while he believes that the Holy Prophet (sas) is Khatam-ul-Ańbiya’ in the true sense of the words, accepts the Qur’an as the Khatam-ul-Kutub, believes in all the Prophets (as), adheres to the Qiblah, and accepts as lawful or unlawful whatever is so declared by the Islamic Shariah?
O ye liars! I have not insulted any Prophet, nor have I contradicted any true doctrine. But what can I do if you refuse to take heed. You yourselves confess that an average martyr can be bestowed partial exaltation over a great Prophet. It is true that I enjoy the grace of God no less than the Messiah did, but this cannot be called infidelity, rather it is as gratitude for Divine favour. You consider this an infidelity because you do not comprehend Divine mysteries. What will you say concerning him who said:
If, in your estimation, I am a kafir, then I am a kafir as was the Son of Mary (as) in the estimation of the Jewish Pharisees. I enjoy God’s grace more than he did, but you cannot bear its disclosure. It is not easy to call me a kafir; in doing so, you take upon yourselves a heavy burden and will be called to account for it.
O ye unfortunate people, where have you fallen? Which of your hidden misconduct has overtaken you? If you had the least good in you, God would not destroy you. You have missed a great opportunity of acquiring plentiful merit, but there is yet some time, so desist. Will you fight God like a foolish one who does not retire in front of a powerful opponent until he is beaten and trampled upon and finally falls down half dead with broken bones? What did the Jews gain by fighting that you will?
The Sufis have said a lot about the possibility of a human being attaining high excellences, but today they are asleep. O you who are wise, recognize me through my works! If I do not do the works and do not show the signs which ought to proceed from one who enjoys Divine support, then do not accept me, but if such works and such signs proceed from me, then do not deliberately jump into the pit of ruin. Give up all mistrust and desist from evil conjectures inasmuch as the sky is turning red on account of your defaming a holy one, but you perceive not, and the eyes of angels are shedding blood and you see not. God is exhibiting His glory and the doors and walls are shaking. Where is the intellect that understands and where are the eyes that recognize the time? A command has been promulgated in heaven; are you upset by it? Will you inquire from the Lord of Honour: Why did You do this? Desist, O foolish one, for it is not good for you to stand in the way of the lightening.
[Siraj-e-Munir, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 12, pp. 6-7]
My dear people! no man can fight God in His designs. Take it for certain that Divine revelation, which was vouchsafed to the noble Prophets of God, is the source of perfect knowledge. God, Who is an Ocean of grace, does not intend to seal up His revelation and thus destroy the world. The doors of His revelation and His converse are ever open, but you must search for them in the proper way, only then will they be facilitated for you. The water of life has descended from heaven and has lodged in its proper place. In order to drink this water, you must arrive at the fountain by whatever means possible and put your mouths to it and drink your fill. The whole good fortune of man consists in that he should run in the direction in which he perceives the light and should adopt the way which leads to the Friend Whom he has lost. You observe that light always descends upon the earth from heaven. In the same way, the true light of guidance also descends from heaven. Man’s own devices and presumptions cannot procure true understanding for him. Can you find God without His making Himself manifest? Can you see in the dark without heavenly light? If you can, perhaps you might also be able to see in this respect. But our eyes, though full of sight, are dependent upon heavenly light to be able to see; and our ears, though equipped with hearing, are dependent upon the air which blows from God. False is the god who is silent and has to be discovered by our guesses. The Perfect and Living God is He Who has always made Himself manifest, and in this age too He has willed to make Himself manifest. The windows of heaven are about to open. The dawn is at hand. Blessed are those who will arise and seek the True God, Who is overtaken by no calamity and the flash of Whose glory is subject to no accident. In the Holy Qur’an, God Almighty says:
i.e., God is the light of heaven and earth. He sheds His light everywhere. He is the Sun Who casts His light upon the sun. He is the life of all living creatures in the earth. He is the True Living God. Blessed is he who accepts Him.
[Islami Usul ki Philosophy, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 10, pp. 443-444]
O ye wealthy ones and o ye rulers! there are very few among you who fear God and follow His ways with righteousness. Most of you spend your life in pursuit of worldly domains and worldly possessions and you do not remember death. Every wealthy one who does not observe the daily prayers and is heedless of God carries the burden of all his servants. Every wealthy one who indulges in liquor also carries the sin of those of his dependants who join him in drink.
O ye wise ones! this world is not everlasting. Restrain yourselves and give up all intemperance. Refrain from the use of all intoxicants. Liquor is not the only thing that is destructive for humans, but Opium, Ganja, Hemp, Bhung, Palm-wine and every type of intoxicant which becomes a habit, affects the brain, and ultimately causes ruin. Keep away from all of these. I cannot understand why you should use such things through the evil of which thousands of addicts like you depart from this life every year, and the torment of the hereafter is in addition. Become pious so that you may live long and receive blessings from God. It is an accursed life to indulge excessively in luxury; it is an accursed life to be extremely ill-mannered and uncompassionate; and it is an accursed life to be neglectful of sympathy for God’s creatures. A wealthy one will be called to account about the rights of God and the rights of man as much as, or even more than a beggar. How unfortunate is the person who relies upon this short life and turns wholly away from God and has recourse fearlessly to that which is forbidden by Him as if in his case it were lawful. When angry, he behaves like a mad man and abuses one and wounds another and is ready to kill a third. When he is in the grip of passion, he carries his shameless conduct to the extreme. He will never achieve true happiness even unto his death. Dear ones! you have come into this world for a short time, the greater part of which is past, so do not incur the wrath of your Lord. A human government more powerful than you can destroy you if you offend it; then consider how you can escape God’s displeasure. If you are accounted righteous in the estimation of God, no one can destroy you and He Himself will safeguard you, and your enemy who wishes to destroy you will not be able to overcome you. Otherwise, you will have no guardian and you will pass a restless life in fear of your enemies or afflicted with other calamities, and your last days will be passed in grief and sorrow. God becomes the refuge of those who identify themselves with Him. So come to God and give up every opposition to Him and be not neglectful in the discharge of your duties to Him, and wrong not His creatures by your tongue or your hand and be ever fearful of the wrath of Heaven. This alone is the way of deliverance.
[Kashti-e-Nuh, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 19, pp. 70-72]
Man claims to worship God, but worship does not consist of a lot of prostrations and bowing and standing, or rotating the beads of a rosary countless times. Worship means to be so drawn to God, out of love for Him, that one’s ego should disappear altogether. First, there should be firm faith in the existence of God and a full appreciation of His Beauty and Beneficence. Then there should be such love of God that the heart should ever feel its flame and this condition should be manifest all the time from one’s countenance. God’s greatness should so inspire the heart that the whole world should appear dead in comparison. His being should be the source of all fear. Pain endured for Him should be all joy, His company should be a source of delight, and the heart should find no comfort with anyone other than Him. To reach such a condition is termed ‘worship’; but it is not reached without the special help of God Almighty. That is why He has taught us the prayer:
That is, we do worship Thee, but how can we do justice to Thy worship until we receive Thy special help?
To worship God, having made Him one’s True Beloved, is the essence of sainthood, which is the height of spiritual progress, but this cannot be achieved without His help. The indication of having achieved it is that God’s greatness and love should be established in the heart and the heart should rely completely on Him and love Him alone. And he should prefer Him to everything and make His remembrance the purpose of his life. Such a person would be ready to carry out with the eagerness of love the most testing commands of God, even if, like Abraham (as), he is commanded to slaughter his own son or to jump into the fire. He will leave no stone unturned in obedience to God and in his eagerness to win His pleasure. This door is very narrow and this drink is very bitter. There are few who enter this door and drink of this bitter cup. It is no great thing to refrain from adultery or killing a person unlawfully; nor is it a great achievement to refrain from bearing false witness. But to prefer God to everything and to welcome every bitterness with true eagerness and out of true love for Him, and to create bitterness for oneself in this path, is a status which cannot be achieved by anyone except the truthful. This is the worship which is prescribed for man. When a person performs this worship, God responds to it with something which is called His bounty; as we are taught in the Holy Qur’an:
O Allah, guide us along Thy straight path, the path of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy favour and have singularized them with Thy special Grace.
It is the way of God that when He accepts service, He necessarily bestows some favour in return. Miracles and signs, which cannot be matched by other people, are also bounties of God Almighty which are bestowed upon His particular servants.
[Haqiqat-ul-Wahi, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 22, pp. 54-55]
God Almighty, observing the condition of the earth and finding it filled with disobedience, sinfulness and misguidance, has appointed me for the propagation of the truth and for the reform of the people.
It was when the thirteenth century [of the Hijra] was about to come to an end and the fourteenth was about to begin, that, under God’s command, I sent out a call through written and verbal announcements that I am the one who was to come from God at the turn of this century for the revival of the faith, to re-establish the faith which had disappeared from the earth, to draw the world to reform and righteousness with the power bestowed by God and with the force of His hand, and to remove their errors of doctrine and conduct. Within a few years of this, it was disclosed to me plainly through revelation that I am the Messiah who, from the very beginning, had been appointed for the Muslims, and also the last Mahdi, who had been appointed by Divine decree to come at the time of the decline of Islam and the spread of error. This last Mahdi who was to receive guidance directly from God, and was to present the heavenly banquet afresh to people, and whose advent had been prophesied thirteen hundred years in advance by the Holy Prophet (sas), is none other than my own self.
I continued to receive so many clear revelations and Divine communication in this regard that no room was left for any doubt. Every revelation established itself firmly in my heart like a steel nail. All these Divine revelations were full of great prophecies which were fulfilled as clearly as a bright day. Their continuity and numbers and miraculous power compelled me to confess that they were the word of the same One God, Who has no associate and Whose Word is the Holy Qur’an.
[Tadhkirat-ush-Shahadatain, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 20, pp. 3-4]
I have already proved the death of the Messiah (as) and his spiritual exaltation … Now, after the death of the Messiah (as), the next question is, what are the authorities contained in the Qur’an and Ahadith and other sources from which it is established that the Promised Messiah will appear from among the Ummah? I will set out these authorities below, please read them with care. Hopefully, God the Compassionate will guide you.
One of the arguments which prove that the Messiah who was promised to appear in this Ummah would be from among the Muslims is this Hadith set out both in Bukhari and Muslim 
and 
.
It means that he will be your Imam from among you. Since this Hadith relates to Jesus (as) and it is he who has been described in this Hadith as Hakam and ‘Adal [Arbiter and Judge], it follows, therefore, that the word Imam also refers to him. It is true that the words ‘from among you’ were addressed to the Companions of the Holy Prophet (sas), but we know that none of them claimed to be the Promised Messiah. This, therefore, shows that the words ‘from among you’ are meant for someone who, in the knowledge of God Almighty, would be a substitute for the Companions and is the one referred to in the verse:
This verse shows that he will be instructed through the spiritual power of the Holy Prophet (sas), and will, in this sense, be one of the Companions. This verse is further explained by the Hadith:
Here the quality which was particularized in the Promised Messiah and Mahdi has been attributed to this man from Persia. This quality is to replenish the earth with justice after it has been filled with wrong-doing and has become empty of faith and the belief in the Unity of God. Thus this man is the Promised Messiah and Mahdi; and I am he.
Just as the prophesied eclipse of the sun and the moon in the month of Ramadan has not occurred during the time of any other person claiming to be Mahdi, likewise, during the thirteen hundred years that have elapsed since the time of the Holy Prophet (sas), no one has claimed, on the basis of Divine revelation, to be ‘the Man of Persia’ about whom the Hadith says that he will bring faith down from heaven.
[Tohfah Golarhviah, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 17, pp. 114-115]
One of the authorities that show that the Promised Messiah will appear from among the Muslims, is this verse of the Holy Qur’an:
This means: [O Muslims] You are the best of people who have been raised to benefit mankind and to repel the mischief of all Dajjals and of the Antichrist….
Every religious community is called upon to perform a particular service and has to contend against a particular enemy. It has been decreed that the Muslims would have to fight against the Antichrist. In a Hadith related by Nafe‘ bin ‘Utbah, which is set out in Muslim, it is stated that the Muslims will fight the Antichrist and will be victorious over him. The Companions of the Holy Prophet (sas) did not fight the Antichrist, but, according to the connotation of the verse ‘And from amongst others … ’ the Promised Messiah and his Jama‘at were declared Companions of the Holy Prophet (sas). It is also worth observing that in this Hadith, the Holy Prophet (sas) specified that his Companions are those who would fight the Antichrist and he did not say that the Hebrew Messiah would fight him. The word ‘descent’ is used for respect and honour and indicates in this context that as in that age of turmoil, faith will ascend to the Pleiades and all spiritual leadership, learning, and instruction will fall into decline, the God of heaven will send someone whom He will have trained Himself without the intervention of earthly means, just as rain descends from heaven without the intervention of any human agency.
Another authority which indicates that the Promised Messiah will appear from among this same Ummah of Muhammad (sas):
which means, Allah has promised those people who believe and act righteously that He will make them successors in the earth as He made those successors who were before them.
The previous successors referred to in this verse are the successors from the people of Moses (as) whom God had sent one after the other to establish and maintain the Law of Moses (as). No century was allowed to go by without the appearance of such a successor who came to revive the religion of Moses (as). The Holy Qur’an indicates that there were twelve such successors and that the thirteenth was Jesus (as), who was the Promised Messiah under the Mosaic law. In view of the resemblance which is established by the use of the word kama [just as] in this verse, it is essential that there should be a resemblance between the successors of Muhammad (sas) and the successors of Moses (as). To prove and firmly establish this resemblance, the Holy Qur’an mentions twelve Mosaic successors, each of whom was from the people of Moses (as) and the thirteenth was Jesus (as), who was the Khatam-ul-Ańbiya’ among the people of Moses (as), but did not actually belong to them. Then, pointing out the resemblance between the successors of the Mosaic dispensation and the successors of the Islamic dispensation, God clearly indicated that at the end of the Islamic dispensation there would be a Messiah and twelve successors in between so that figure of ‘fourteen’ should also correspond. Similarly, the Promised Messiah of the Islamic dispensation appeared at the beginning of the fourteenth century, just as the Promised Messiah of the Mosaic dispensation had appeared in the fourteenth century of the Mosaic dispensation. Thus, the distance of the two Messiahs from the Founders of their respective religions is the same….
If the second Messiah who was to come was to be the same Jesus (as), this would contradict the Holy Qur’an, inasmuch as the Qur’an declares the Successors of the two dispensations to be distinct personalities, as is evident from the word kama [just as]. This distinction provides a clear authority which cannot be rejected even if the whole world were to combine against it. If the same person who was the last Successor of the first dispensation was to come back, the distinction between the two dispensations would disappear and the import of the word kama would be falsified. Such a thing would be contradictory to the Holy Qur’an and is, therefore, false.
It is worth remembering that in the verse:
the same kama has been used which is employed in the verse:
[Tohfah-e-Golarhviyyah, Ruhani Khaza’in Vol. 17, pp. 120-127]
According to the Holy Qur’an, the Islamic dispensation resembles the Mosaic dispensation in respect of every vice and virtue. At one place, the Holy Qur’an says concerning the Jews:
And concerning the Muslims it says:
The meaning of both verses is that God will bestow succession and kingdom upon you and will then see whether you remain established on righteousness or not. The same words have been employed both for the Jews and the Muslims. Both are therefore covered by the same verse. Can there be clearer evidence than these two verses in which God has described some Muslims as Jews and has indicated that the vices committed by Jewish divines will also be committed by Muslim divines! The same is indicated in the verse:
All commentators are agreed that the words ‘those who incurred Thy wrath’, refer to the Jews who incurred divine wrath by denying Prophet Jesus (as). The true Ahadith confirm this and the Holy Qur’an bears witness that the Jews were cursed by Jesus (as) and thus earned God’s wrath in this very world. Thus it is established firmly that ‘those who incurred Thy wrath’ means the Jews who had designed to crucify Jesus (as). The fact that God Almighty has taught the prayer, ‘Lord, do Thou safeguard us against becoming such Jews who had designed to crucify Jesus (as)’ is a clear indication that there would appear an ‘Isa among the Muslims also. Otherwise there was no need for this prayer. Besides, when it is established that at some time Muslim divines will completely resemble Jewish divines and will thus become Jews, it would be unreasonable to assert that the Israeli Jesus (as) would descend from heaven for the reform of such Jews. In the first place, the coming of a Prophet from outside the Muslims would break the Seal of Prophethood, and the Holy Qur’an clearly announces that the Holy Prophet (sas) was the Seal of the Prophets. Secondly, Muslim people have been called the ‘best of people’ in the Holy Qur’an, and it would be the height of disgrace for them that part of them should become Jews and that ‘Isa should come from outside Islam. If it is true that the majority of the Muslim divines will at some time become Jews, that is to say, will take on the characteristics of Jews, then this also is true that for the reform of such Jews, ‘Isa will not come from outside, but just as some individuals have been named Jews, in contrast to them, one individual will be called ‘Isa.
It cannot be denied that both the Qur’an and Hadith have named some people from among the Muslims as Jews, as is indicated by the verse:
If it were not destined that some Muslims would take on the characteristics of the Jews, we would not have been taught this prayer. Ever since God has sent down revealed books, it is the Divine practice that if He forbids a people doing certain things as, for instance: do not commit adultery; do not commit theft; or do not become Jews; such commands have latent in them the prophecy that some of them would be guilty of those sins. No one can produce a single instance where God forbade a people from committing an offence and all of them refrained from committing it. Some of them necessarily become guilty of committing it. For instance, God Almighty commanded the Jews not to corrupt the Torah; the consequence was that some Jews became guilty of that offence. On the contrary, nowhere in the Holy Qur’an has God commanded the Muslims not to corrupt the Holy Qur’an, rather it says:
i.e., We have revealed the Holy Qur’an and We shall safeguard it.
For this reason the Holy Qur’an has been safeguarded against corruption. In short, this is the definite and established way of God that when He forbids a people from committing a vice or commands them to conform to good conduct, it means that it is within His knowledge that some of them will contravene that command. Thus, the fact that God Almighty taught the Muslims the prayer in the Surah Al-Fatihah that they should not become the Jews who had designed to crucify Jesus (as), and on account of which they incurred the wrath of God in this very life, this clearly indicates that it was decreed in God’s knowledge that some of the Muslim divines will, on account of their vices and their rejection of the Messiah of the age, take on the character of the Jews. There was otherwise no need for teaching such a prayer. It is obvious that Muslim divines cannot become Jews in the sense that they should become members of the tribes of Israel and contrive to crucify Jesus son of Mary (as), who passed away from this world long long ago, for neither those Jews nor Jesus (as) is present on earth in this age. Instead it is a future event that is indicated in this verse, i.e., in the latter days a person would be raised among the Muslims in the spirit of ‘Isa the Messiah and the Muslim divines of his age will persecute him and revile him as the Jewish divines persecuted and reviled Jesus (as). The true Ahadith show that becoming Jews in this context means that Muslim divines will develop vices and bad habits of the Jews and that, though they will be called Muslims, their hearts will be perverted and become like the hearts of the Jews who had earned Divine wrath by persecuting Jesus (as). Since the resemblance to the Jews will be taken by those who call themselves Muslims, is it not an insult for the Muslims that some of them should become Jews but the Messiah to reform them should come from outside?…
He who will study the Holy Qur’an in the spirit of faith, righteousness, and justice and reflect upon it, it will become to him clear as day that the Almighty and Powerful God has put the Islamic dispensation in a position parallel to the Mosaic dispensation. He has bestowed upon them good and bad in comparison with the good and bad he bestowed on the Jews. Among the Muslims there are some who resemble the Prophets of Israel and there are others who resemble the Jews who earned Divine wrath. This might be illustrated by a splendid mansion which comprises well-furnished chambers where cultured and civilized people sit and lounge, but the same mansion also contains toilets and lavatories. Now, if the owner of the mansion desires to construct another mansion exactly like the first one, it too would contain all the provisions that existed in the first mansion. This second mansion is the Mansion of Islam, and the first one was the Mansion of the Mosaic dispensation. The second is not in any way dependent upon the first. The Holy Qur’an does not need the Torah, and the Muslims do not need any Israeli Prophet. Every perfect one who appears among the Muslims is nurtured in the spiritual grace of the Holy Prophet (sas) and his revelation is a reflection of the revelation of the Holy Prophet (sas). This is the very point that needs to be understood. It is a pity that our opponents, who want to bring Jesus (as) himself back to earth, do not realize that the Divine intent is to grant Islam the pride of resemblance, and not to humiliate it by sending an Israeli Prophet to reform it.
[Tadhkirat-ush-Shahadatain, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 20, pp. 13-17]
The third question is whether or not it is established that the Promised Messiah should have come in our time. The following detailed arguments prove beyond any shadow of doubt that he must appear in our time.
The first argument is that it is stated in Sahih Bukhari—known as the most authentic book after the Holy Book of Allah—that the Promised Messiah will come to break the cross at a time when the world would be rife with intemperance in word and deed. It does not require an investigation to find out that hundreds of thousands have been influenced by Christianity and the country is being greatly affected by heretical teachings. Hundreds of people from every family have not only turned away from Islam but have become sworn enemies of the Holy Prophet (sas). Hundreds of books have been published in refutation of Islam and most of them are full of abuse and vilification. When we look back in the context of this calamity, we are compelled to conclude that no century has been as harmful to Islam as the thirteenth century or the one which is now passing. Reason requires that in this time of peril, when forces of opposition have erupted in the world and the internal condition of Muslims has seriously deteriorated, some reformer should appear to repel the mischief of the cross and to purify the internal condition of Muslims. Experience of the thirteenth century has shown that it is not an ordinary task to purify the poisonous winds that are blowing fiercely and affecting sections of every town and village. This opposition to Islam and the multitude of objections raised against it is in itself not something that can be taken lightly. The earth is in turmoil at this appointed time and is forcefully throwing out its poisons. Heavenly power is needed to repel this poison because only diamond cuts diamond. All this clearly proves that this is indeed the time of the appearance of the Promised Messiah….
The second argument comprises some Ahadith and visions of the honoured saints and great divines which indicate that the Promised Messiah and Mahdi would appear at the turn of the fourteenth century. For instance, the Hadith:
has been interpreted by many of the older and later scholars as meaning that signs would appear after two centuries of the second millennium have passed. This means that the birth of the Messiah and Mahdi, which will be a great sign, will take place in the thirteenth century and that he will make his appearance in the fourteenth century. That is why scholars and divines have held that the Promised Mahdi was bound to be born in the thirteenth century so that he could proclaim himself in the beginning of the fourteenth. Basing himself upon this and several other indications, Maulavi Nawab Siddique Hassan Khan Sahib has recorded in his book Hujaj-ul-Kiramah that he believed on the basis of strong evidence that the Promised Mahdi would appear at the turn of the fourteenth century….
A Hadith of Dar Qutni also proves that the Promised Mahdi would appear at the turn of the fourteenth century. The Hadith says:
The translation of the whole Hadith is: Our Mahdi has two signs which have not appeared for any Messenger, Prophet, or commissioned one, since the creation of heaven and earth. The signs are that in the same month of Ramadan, the moon shall suffer an eclipse on the first of the nights peculiar to such phenomenon, and that the sun shall suffer an eclipse on the middle of the days peculiar to these eclipses.
This means that at the time when the Mahdi will put his claim before the world and the world will reject it, this sign will appear in heaven in his support, and that this sign would be exhibited in the month of Ramadan which is the month in which the Word of God was revealed. The spiritual significance of the darkness would be that great wrong had been committed on the earth, for the one who had come from God had been deemed an impostor. This Hadith clearly determines the fourteenth century as the time of the appearance of the Mahdi and provides great sign for those who deny him, inasmuch as the eclipses of the sun and the moon took place in this century.
[Tohfah Golarhviah, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 17, pp. 128-133]
The next step is to prove that I am the one whose coming as the Promised Messiah was decreed for the beginning of the fourteenth century. This is proved by the fact that the eclipse of the sun and the moon has taken place at the time of my claim; and the mischief of the cross has assumed a special significance in my time. Through me God has established that the Promised Messiah was to appear from among the Muslims.
God Himself has strengthened me, so that no clergyman can stand against me in debate, and God has so overawed Christian divines that they dare not confront me. This is because God has supported me with the Holy Spirit and has appointed His angel to accompany me. Therefore, no Christian priest can confront me. These are the people who used to say that the Holy Prophet (sas) exhibited no miracle and made no prophecy. Now they are challenged but they do not come forth. This is because God has put it in their minds that if they enter the field against me they can look forward to nothing but defeat. Just consider, who was it that stood up against the Christian clergy when the deification of the Messiah (as) was at its height and it was alleged that the Holy Prophet (sas) did not have the support of the Holy Spirit and his miracles and prophecies were denied? Who was it in whose support God Almighty showed such great miracles? Although hundreds of stories have been put forward which have no support, read my book Tiryaq-ul-Qulub and then say honestly who it is that has shown signs and the prophecies which are proved by the testimony of hundreds of thousands of witnesses who are still living. Who is it that challenges his opponents and puts them to shame every morning by inviting them to compete with him and show if they enjoy the support of the Holy Spirit? Is there anyone from amongst the Christians and Hindus and Aryas who can assert before me that the Holy Prophet (sas) displayed no sign? Thus God has perfected His argument. Denying the truth is not the sign of honesty and integrity. God has made the truth crystal clear to every people and there is none under the sky who can compete with me with regard to the support of the Holy Spirit.
[Tohfah Golarhviah, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 17, pp. 148-150]
Among the arguments which prove that I am the Promised Messiah, there are some signs that are personal to the Promised Messiah. A major sign among them is that the Promised Messiah must appear in the latter days as set out in the Hadith:
There are two kinds of indications to prove that these are the last days in which the Messiah should appear.
The signs set out in the Qur’an and the Ahadith which indicate the approach of the Day of Judgement and which have been clearly fulfilled. As, for instance, the eclipse of the sun and the moon in the month of Ramadan which is indicated in the verse:
Then there is the discarding of camels as a means of transportation, as is clearly indicated in the verse:
And the multiplication of irrigation canals which is obvious from the verse:
And the continuous falling of stars as indicated in:
And the occurrence of famines and the spread of epidemics and the scarcity of rain as contained in:
And a total eclipse of the sun; thus spreading darkness as stated in:
And the moving of the mountains as is generally understood to be the meaning of the verse:
And the rising of the fortunes of the people who are wild, lowly, and unacquainted with noble Islamic virtues, as is obvious from the verse:
And the multiplication of the means of communication and travel, whereby it will become easy for people to meet one another, which is an accepted interpretation of the verse:
And publication of books, pamphlets and letters in all countries, as indicated in:
And the corruption of the inner condition of the divines, who are the stars of Islam, which is a clear purport of the verse:
and the spread of innovations, errors, and all kinds of disobedience and vices, as indicated in the verse:
37All these signs of the approach of the Day of Judgement have been manifested and the world is in the grip of a great revolution….
Then there is the verse in Surah Al-Mursalat which indicates that a great sign of the approach of the Day of Judgement is that someone should appear and with his coming the number of Messengers should be determined. This means that the last Khalifah in the chain of successors in the Islamic dispensation, whose name is the Promised Messiah and the awaited Mahdi, shall make his appearance in the last days. The verse is:
i.e., the time when number of the Messengers will be determined. This means that with the appearance of the last Khalifah, the number of Messengers which had been determined by Divine decree and had been hidden, shall become manifest. This verse also clearly shows that the Promised Messiah will be from among the Muslims.
[Tohfah-e-Golarhviyyah, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 17, pp. 241-244]
In the Mosaic dispensation, there were sixteen distinctions assigned to Prophet Jesus (as). When God Almighty brought the Mosaic dispensation to an end and established the dispensation of Muhammad (sas), the All-Wise and All-Knowing designed a perfect resemblance between the beginning and the end of both these dispensations, as had been promised in the scriptures of the Prophets (as). First, He raised the Holy Prophet (sas) and described him as the like of Moses (as), as is evident from the verse:
… But it was necessary that the last Khalifah of the dispensation of Muhammad (sas) should also resemble the last Khalifah of the Mosaic dispensation, so that the saying of God Almighty that the dispensation of Muhammad (sas)—with regard to both its Founder and its successors—would have a close resemblance with the Mosaic dispensation, may be fulfilled. Resemblance is always sought between the beginning and the end, for the middle period is a long one and cannot be analysed in detail. But similarity between the beginnings and the ends shows that there must also be similarity in the intervening periods, though the eye of reason may not fully comprehend it.
As I have already said, Jesus (as) possessed sixteen religious qualities which must also be found in the last Khalifah of Islam, so that a perfect resemblance may be established between the two.
The first similarity between the two is that that they are both promised. There have been thousands of saints and men of God in Islam, but the advent of not even one of them was promised. It was only the advent of the one who was to come with the name of the Messiah that was promised. In the same way, before Jesus (as) there was no Prophet in Israel whose advent was promised, only the Messiah’s advent had been promised.
The second similarity is the loss of kingdom. There is no doubt that a short while before the advent of Jesus son of Mary (as), the Israelite kingdom had been lost. In the same way, before the birth of the last Messiah, the Islamic kingdom in India had disappeared from this country due to all sorts of misconduct, and the British kingdom had been established in its place.
The third similarity is that in the time of the first Messiah (as) the Jews had become divided into many sects and were in need of an Arbiter who would decide between them. Likewise, at the time of this last Messiah, the Muslims have become divided into many sects.
The fourth similarity is that just as the first Messiah (as) was not commissioned to fight with the sword, the last Messiah has also not be commissioned to fight with the sword. In fact there can be no question of such a thing when the age has shown that no heart can be convinced with the sword and no civilized person now takes up the sword for the sake of religion….
Fifth: In the time of the first Messiah (as), the character of the Jews had become thoroughly corrupt. Their divines in particular were deceitful, worshippers of the world, and greedy for worldly gain and honour. The same is the case with common Muslims and the majority of the Muslim divines in the time of the last Messiah. This needs no detailed exposition.
Sixth: The first Messiah (as) was raised under the Roman Caesar. This distinction is shared by the last Messiah, in that I too have been raised under Caesar—only this Caesar is better than the Caesar who ruled in the time of the Messiah (as)….
Seventh: The Christian faith ultimately penetrated into the people of Caesar. I too partake of this inasmuch as I perceive that both in Europe and America great interest is taken in my claim and arguments. Hundreds of journals and newspapers have published my claim and the reasons in support thereof. Some of them have said things in my support which it is difficult for a Christian to say, so much so that they have clearly said concerning me that to them I appear to be true….
Eighth: A comet had appeared in the time of Messiah (as) and the same comet has appeared again in my time. Some European newspapers have referred to this as evidence that the time of the advent of the Messiah is near.
Ninth: When Jesus the Messiah (as) was put upon the cross, the sun suffered an eclipse. Likewise, when I was denied, not only did the sun, but the moon also suffered an eclipse in the month of Ramadan, and not once but—in accordance with the Hadith—twice. These eclipses were mentioned in the Gospels, the Holy Qur’an, as well as Ahadith (e.g. in Dar Qutni).
Tenth: After the persecution of Jesus (as) by the Jews, there was a severe outbreak of the plague among them. Likewise, there has been a severe outbreak of the plague in my time.
Eleventh: The Jewish divines tried to condemn Jesus (as) as a rebel. He was persecuted and the Jews sought to have him sentenced to death. The Divine decree has associated me with him in this regard as well. I too was charged with conspiracy to murder and attempts were made to show that I was a rebel. This was the case in which Maulavi Abu Sa‘id Muhammad Hussain of Batala appeared as a witness against me.
Twelfth: When Jesus (as) was put upon the cross, a thief was also put upon the cross at the same time. I have been associated with him in this incident as well. On the day that I was discharged from the case of conspiracy to murder, in accordance with a categorical prophecy that I had published widely in advance, a Christian thief had also been produced in the same court. This thief was a member of the Christian Salvation Army who had stolen some money. He was sentenced to a three months’ imprisonment, and not to death, like the companion of the first Messiah (as).
Thirteenth: When Jesus (as) was produced before Pilate and it was demanded that he should be sentenced to death, Pilate declared that he had not found any sin in Jesus (as) which should make him deserving of death. In the same way, Captain Douglas, the District Magistrate, in answer to one of my questions told me that he did not charge me with any offence.
It appears that Captain Douglas was more steadfast and had greater regard for justice than Pilate, inasmuch as in the end Pilate exhibited cowardice and became afraid of the vicious divines of the Jews, but Captain Douglas showed no such fear … My Jama‘at and I will always remember these good qualities of Captain Douglas and his name will always be mentioned with honour till the end of time.
Fourteenth: Jesus (as), having been born without a father, was not an Israelite and yet he was the last Prophet in the Mosaic dispensation who appeared in the fourteenth century after Moses (as). I too am not one of the Quraish and have been raised in the fourteenth century after the Holy Prophet (sas) and have appeared at the end.
Fifteenth: The world in the time of Jesus (as) had taken on a new aspect. Roads had been built, the mailing system had been regulated, the military structure had been improved, facilities had been created for travellers, and the system of justice had been made much more transparent. Similarly, in my time, life has become much more comfortable. Railways have also been built, an indication of which is given in the Holy Qur’an. I leave the rest to the reader to understand.
Sixteenth: Jesus (as) resembled Ahmad (as) as he was born without a father. I also resemble Ahmad (as) as I was born a twin. Muhy-ud-Din Ibn-e-‘Arabi has recorded that the last Khalifah in Islam would be of Persian origin (i.e., would be a Mughal) and would be born a twin. A girl would be born first and then he would be born. That is how I was born, on a Friday morning. A girl was first and I was born after her. I am not aware of the source upon which this prophecy of Ibn-e-‘Arabi, which has been fulfilled, is based, but it is to be found in his books to this day.
These are the sixteen resemblances between me and the Messiah (as). It is obvious that had my claim been the product of my own imagination, there would not have been so many resemblances between the Messiah son of Mary (as) and myself. Denial of truth has, from ancient times, been the characteristic of those who have not been blessed with good fortune, but my denial by the Maulavis of this age is simply beyond comprehension. I am the one who has appeared right on time and for whom the sun and the moon were eclipsed in the month of Ramadan in accordance with the prophecies of the Qur’an, the Hadith, the Bible and other Prophets (as). I am the one in whose time, according to the prophecies of all the Prophets (as) and of the Holy Qur’an, the plague broke out in this country in an extraordinary manner. I am the one in whose time the pilgrimage was stopped in accordance with true Ahadith. I am the one in whose time the comet appeared which has appeared in the time of the Messiah son of Mary (as). I am the one in whose time the advent of the railway caused camels to be discarded as a means of transportation. The time is approaching, indeed it is very near, when the railway will run between Mecca and Medina and all those camels will be discarded which have performed this blessed journey for thirteen hundred years. Then will be fulfilled this Hadith of Sahih Muslim:
which means that in the time of the Messiah camels will be discarded and no one will travel by them. I am the one at whose hands hundreds of signs have been shown. Is there anyone alive who can compete with me in the exhibition of signs and defeat me? I call to witness God, in Whose hand is my life, that more than two hundred thousand signs have been exhibited at my hands. Approximately ten thousand people or perhaps even more have seen the Holy Prophet (sas) in their dreams and he confirmed the truth of my claim. Some well-known persons in this country who had experience of visions and the number of each of whose followers exceeded three hundred thousand, were informed in their dreams that I had been sent by God….
Despite all this testimony and miracles and extraordinary signs, the Maulavis call me false and it was necessary that they should do so, so that the prophecy implied in the verse:
may be fulfilled. At the root of all this opposition is the stupid desire of the Maulavis that all the signs of the Promised Messiah, which they find set out in their books and which are a mixed bundle of truth and falsehood, should be fulfilled; and that no one claiming to be the Messiah or Mahdi should ever be accepted if he is not borne out by each of the many Ahadith they possess, although such a proposition has always remained an impossibility. The signs which the Jews had announced and formulated in their books concerning the advent of Jesus (as) were not fulfilled. Then the same wretched people formulated a number of signs for the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sas), and only a few of them were fulfilled. For instance, they had imagined that this last Prophet would be from among the Israelites … but the Holy Prophet (sas) appeared from among the Ishmaelites. Had God Almighty so willed, He could have recorded in the Torah that the name of that Prophet would be Muhammad and that the name of his father would be ‘Abdullah and that the name of his grandfather would be ‘Abdul Muttalib and that he would be born in Mecca and would migrate to Medina. But God did not record all this, because such prophecies have to be the test of faith. It has been specified for the Promised Messiah in advance that he would be an Arbiter between the different sects of Islam. Now, when each sect has a collection of its own Ahadith and how can it be possible for him to conform to the ideas of everyone? If he confirms the Ahl-e-Hadith, the Hanafis would be disgruntled, and if he confirms the Hanafis, the Shafi‘is would be annoyed, and the Shi‘as would insist that he should have appeared in accordance with their doctrine. How could he please everyone? The very word ‘Arbiter’ indicates that he would arrive at a time when all sects would have departed from the truth to some degree. In these circumstances, it would be a great folly for each sect to test him on the touchstone of its own Ahadith. The right course would be to take advantage of those signs and conditions which are fulfilled in his time and to reject the others as false and human fabrications. This is the course that was followed by the righteous Jews who became Muslims. They accepted those traditions of the Jews which confirmed the truth of the Holy Prophet (sas) and rejected the rest as false. Had not this been done, neither the Prophethood of Jesus (as) nor that of the Holy Prophet (sas) could have been established satisfactorily for the Jews. Those of them who became Muslims had to reject hundreds of false Jewish traditions. When they found that some of the conditions laid down had been fulfilled and that there was an ocean of Divine support for the Holy Prophet (sas), they took advantage of those traditions which had been fulfilled. Otherwise, not one of them would have become a Muslim….
Now comes the question of my claim. This is supported by so many reasons that unless a person is altogether without shame, he has no way open to him other than to accept my claim in the same way as he has accepted the advent of the Holy Prophet (sas). Are these arguments not enough proof of my claim that the Holy Qur’an has given so many signs and indications concerning me that it has virtually specified my name, and the Ahadith mention Kad‘ah as the name of my village. The Ahadith also show that the Promised Messiah would be born in the thirteenth century and would appear in the fourteenth. Sahih Bukhari gives my full description. With regard to the first Messiah (as), his great centre is described as in the East, i.e., India. It is also related in the Ahadith that the Promised Messiah will appear East of Damascus; and Qadian is to the East of Damascus. The following signs and conditions should be enough for a God-fearing person to accept my claim:
The eclipse of the sun and the moon occurred in the month of Ramadan after the announcement of my claim, but people rejected this sign; the plague spread over the country; the railway was started in accordance with the prophecies in the Ahadith and the Qur’an; camels were discarded; the Pilgrimage was stopped; the time came for the spread of the doctrine of the cross; hundreds of signs were shown at my hands; the time of my appearance was appointed by the Prophets (as); I was raised at the beginning of the century; thousands of pious people saw dreams confirming my claim; the Holy Prophet (sas) and the Holy Qur’an announced that the Promised Messiah would appear from among the Muslims; I have been accorded the support of God Almighty; approximately two hundred thousand people have made covenant of Bai‘at with me and have become righteous and pure-hearted; the Christian faith has been shaken in my time so much so that the magic of the Trinity is melting like snow; Muslims have gone into decline having been divided into many sects; the world has undergone a revolutionary change in which innovation, idolatry, drunkenness, illicit sex, dishonesty, and lying have become rife; in every aspect this world has undergone a tremendous change; according to the testimony of every wise person the world needs a reformer; my victory against everyone through miraculous writings and heavenly signs and the fulfilment of hundreds of thousands of Divine prophecies in my support.
[Tadhkirat-ush-Shahadatain, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 20, pp. 30-41]
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 (as) 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.
[Izala-e-Auham, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 3, p. 179]
Do remember that the person who was to descend has come at his proper time and all prophecies have been fulfilled. The books of all the Prophets (as) indicate this age … After all these signs, he who rejects me rejects all Prophets (as) and not me alone, and fights God Almighty. It would have been better for him that he had not been born.
[Tadhkirat-ush-Shahadatain, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 20, pp. 24-25]
41O leaders of the faith and Allah’s righteous servants, in order to do away with all mischief and disorder, it is incumbent on you to pay attention to a request that I am submitting to you in the name of Allah the Glorious, for you possess understanding and insight and you look at things not by conjecture but with the help of Divine light. Although a matter of such importance, which involves the welfare of all Muslims and would eradicate a great dissension would not seem to require an oath, but there are some people who prefer to remain silent on account of some personal consideration, or because they think that to testify to the truth will displease the people, while it is also sinful to lie. What they do not understand is that concealing a testimony is also a sin. Therefore, in order to attract the attention of such people, it has become necessary to call for their testimony on oath.
O leaders of the faith, the task which I urge you to perform in the name of Allah, glorified be His name, is that at a time of error and disorder and at the beginning of the fourteenth century, God Almighty has sent this humble one as a Reformer for the reformation of the people. As the great evil of this century, which has done great harm to Islam, was the mischief of the Christian ministers, God Almighty has named this humble one the Promised Messiah … I was sent at the beginning of the fourteenth century and God has furnished me with a heavenly weapon whereby I should break the religion of the cross, but it is a pity that the short-sighted divines of this country have not accepted me and have put forward silly excuses, which have been repelled from every point of view … Allah, the Glorious has shown many signs in testament of my claim. He has caused the eclipses of the sun and the moon in the month of Ramadan to testify to the truth of my claim, and has given me victory against my opponents in a miraculous manner in every field of contest. He has also shown many other signs which are set out in detail in Siraj-e-Munir and other books. Despite the testimony of the Qur’an and the Ahadith and the testimony of reason and heavenly signs, my cruel opponents did not refrain from their hostility and still continue to deny me with the help of all kinds of imposture. Therefore, for the sake of carrying the matter to a definitive conclusion, I have thought of another plan, hoping that God Almighty will bless it, and this dissension which has created fierce hostility between thousands of Muslims might be set at rest.
The plan is that all Masha’ikh42, mendicants, divines and righteous ones in Punjab and India be entreated in the name of Allah, glorified be His name, that they should supplicate before Him with regard to me and my claim and seek guidance from Him. Then, if the majority of their revelations and visions and true dreams, which shall be published on oath should bear out that this humble one is a liar and an impostor, then everyone should hold me as a rejected one, a humiliated one, an accursed one, an impostor and a liar; and they may curse me as much as they like and no sin shall be upon them. In such case it would be incumbent upon every believer to keep away from me. By this means my Jama‘at and I would be easily destroyed. But if the majority of the revelations and visions and true dreams should indicate that I am from God and my claim is true, then it would be incumbent upon every God-fearing person to follow me and to refrain from calling me a Kafir and a liar. Everyone has to die one day. Thus even if one encounters worldly humiliation in accepting the truth, it is much better than facing humiliation in the hereafter. Therefore, I approach all the leaders of the faith and the righteous ones of Punjab and India and put them on oath in the name of Allah, the Glorious, for Whose name’s sake every faithful one should be ready to offer any sacrifice, that they should supplicate the Divine concerning me for at least twenty-one days, unless something is disclosed to them sooner than that, and they should seek to learn from God the truth with regard to me whether I am a liar or am from Him. Again and again I ask the leaders of the faith, in the name of Allah, that they should, for the sake of removing this dissension, supplicate for twenty-one days unless the truth is disclosed to them earlier. I know for certain that it is not the way of the righteous to not pay attention to a request made in the name of God Almighty, and I appreciate that every purehearted one and everyone who is fearful of the glory of God, upon hearing the oath will certainly pay attention to my plea. When this testimony has been classified, that which is supported by preponderance will be considered as being from Allah. If in truth I am a liar and a Dajjal, it is a great misfortune for the Muslims that in this age when there is a deluge of disorder and religious innovations and tribulations, a Dajjal should have appeared at the turn of the fourteenth century instead of a Reformer and a Mujaddid.
It should be remembered that every person, whom a group of Muslims possessing insight considers to be righteous and pure-hearted, has been addressed by me in this announcement. Those who have not a great reputation in this respect and are considered of lower rank are not so regarded by me, for it is possible that in the sight of God Almighty they might be better than those who are better known. In the same way, I do not consider righteous women inferior in comparison with men. It is possible that some of them may be more righteous than some well-known righteous men. It will be necessary that every person who puts down a revelation or a vision or a dream concerning me, should send me a written statement on oath, so that all such testimonies can be collected in one place and published for the benefit of seekers after truth. This scheme will, God willing, be of great benefit for the servants of God and the hearts of the Muslims shall be comforted and delivered from trial by the volume of testimony. It appears from the Ahadith that the Mahdi of the latter days will first be rejected as Kafir and people will turn against him and will revile him, but in the end the righteous servants of God Almighty will be informed of his truth through dreams and revelations and other heavenly signs will also appear. Then the divines and clerics of the time will accept him willy-nilly. O dear and respected ones, for the sake of God, turn to the Knower of the Unseen; I call you in the name of Allah, glorified be His name, to accede to my request and not to reject it, as I have put you on oath in the name of the Mighty and the Lord of Majesty.
Plea made by the humble servant of God,
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian,
District Gurdaspur, Punjab, July 15, 1897.
[Majmu‘ah Ishtiharat, Vol. 2, pp. 443-451]
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 concerning 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 fulfilment 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 (sas). 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 Khatm-ul-Mursalin [Seal of the Messengers], Ahmad of Arabia (sas), 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 (as) was to actually descend bodily from heaven, then:
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 (sas)? 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.
[Izala-e-Auham Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 3, pp. 186-189]
It appears to be a matter of destiny that the ill-wishers among the people can always find some excuse to give expression to their hidden rancour. My opponents have found a new pretence for reviling me. Having misconstrued an announcement of mine, they have given out as if I am bitterly opposed to the Sultan of Turkey and his government and desire their decline, and that I flatter the British outrageously and pray constantly for the glory of the British government. It appears that much publicity has been given to these ideas in the greater part of the Punjab and India by means of announcements filled with false accusations and some extracts from my announcement have been misquoted to deceive the populace. Thus efforts have been made to incite and inflame ignorant people. I have no power to silence the forgers and liars, nor is it open to me to compete with them in their abuse and vilification and derision. However, it appears to be proper that I should commit their wrongful abuse to the jealousy of God Almighty and should frustrate their true purpose, which is to deceive the masses. This is the object that I have in mind in making this announcement.
Every reasonable and good-natured Muslim who, on account of his innate ability, is ready to accept a true statement, should listen carefully that I have no rancour even against the lowest Muslim, let alone that I should entertain rancour against a person under whose protecting rule millions of Muslims lead their lives and to whom God Almighty has committed the protection of His holy sites. I have never discussed the person or the circumstances of the Sultan, nor is it my purpose to do so now. Indeed, Allah the Glorious is aware that I have a better opinion of the present Sultan than I had of his forefathers. It is true, however, that in my past announcements I have said certain things about some influential and corrupt members and ministers of the Turkish government, on the basis of the God-given light and intelligence and revelation which has been bestowed upon me, and the contemplation of their dangerous implications troubles and pains my heart. That writing of mine, contrary to what the evil-minded ones have imagined, was not based on any personal ill-will, but proceeded from the fountain of light which Divine grace has bestowed upon me. If my narrow-minded opponents had not been bent upon thinking ill of me, they would have realized that the true well-wishing of the Sultan did not demand that they should have resolved to abuse me as is the wont of people of low caste. Instead, keeping in mind the verse:
and reminding themselves of the verse:
they should have expressed their sympathy for the Sultan through sincere supplication for him. The only purpose of my announcement was that the Turks should adopt the ways of purity and righteousness, for nothing is so effective in holding back heavenly decree and torment as piety, repentance and righteous conduct. But the foolish well-wishers of the Sultan started reviling me, and some of them said: ‘Is the Sultan guilty of all sins and is Europe so holy and pure that no prophecy is made in respect of its chastisement?’ They do not understand that for the punishment of disbelievers because of their disobedience and idol-worship and deification of human beings, God Almighty has appointed another world which will be encountered after death. It is not the practice of God Almighty to subject to chastisement in this very world people who do not believe in Him, except in cases when they transgress all limits in their sinfulness and are accounted tyrants and cruel and mischief-makers in the estimation of God, as the mischievous people of Noah (as), Lot (as), and Pharaoh brought punishment upon themselves by their prolonged misconduct. But God does not leave the chastisement of the Muslims for their misconduct for the other world. The Muslims are admonished in this very world for even their slight offences. In the estimation of God Almighty, they are like children whose mother rebukes them at every step for the sake of their proper upbringing. God Almighty, out of His love, desires that they should depart this world in a state of purity. These are the things that I had explained to the Turkish Vice-Consul in good faith; but alas! the foolish Muslims have pulled them out of their context. They are like the heirs of a person concerning whom an expert physician, who is well-versed in diagnosis, expresses the view in complete good faith that some kind of ulcer is growing in his stomach and if it is not operated upon immediately it will put his life in serious danger; and hearing this they are wroth with the physician and try to kill him, but neglect the ulcer altogether until it grows and spreads through the stomach and puts an end to the life of the patient. This is the case with these people, who, in their own estimation, are well-wishers of the Sultan.
Then also ponder that while I am the person who claims to be the Promised Messiah concerning whom the Holy Prophet (sas) has said: ‘He will be your Imam and Khalifah, and there is for him the greeting of peace from God and His Prophet (sas), and his enemy would be accursed and his friend would be the friend of God, and he will be an Arbiter for the whole world and will be just in all his sayings and doings.’ Then was it the way of righteousness that hearing my claim and witnessing my signs and observing my proofs they should have reviled me and treated me with derision? Have signs not appeared? Has divine support not been manifested? Have not the times and the seasons been ascertained which had been stated in the Ahadith? Why then have I been mistreated with such daring? If there was still some doubt concerning my claim or there was some suspicion with regard to my arguments and signs, they should have tried to remove these doubts with meekness, goodwill and fear of God. But instead of research and investigation they reviled me and cursed me so much that they exceeded even the Shiites. Was it not possible that what I had stated with regard to the inner machinery of the Turkish government might be true, and that there might be elements in the Turkish government which would prove treacherous at a time of trial?
My opponents should reflect in their hearts that if I am the Promised Messiah, can it be permissible that, for the sake of a mere monarch, they should revile and curse one whom the Holy Prophet (sas) had described as one of his arms and whom he had sent the greeting of peace and whom he called the Arbiter, the Judge, the Imam and the Vicegerent of God? Let them restrain their anger and reflect, not for my sake but for the sake of Allah and His Messenger (sas), whether such treatment of such a claimant was proper? I do not wish to enlarge upon this because my case against you is pending in heaven. If I am the same person who had been promised through the holy lips of the Holy Prophet (sas), then you have sinned, not against me but against God. Had it not been mentioned in the Ahadith that he will be persecuted and cursed, you would not have dared to persecute me as you have done, but it was necessary that all that was destined and decreed by God and which is still to be found in your books should be fulfilled, and that you should be proved guilty. You read those books and then, by continuing to declare me a kafir and cursing me, you affirm that you are the evil divines and their ilk who were to declare the Mahdi a Kafir and oppose the Messiah.
I have invited you time and again to come to me so that your doubts may be removed, but none of you has come forward. I invited everyone to a final decision but no one paid any attention. I suggested that you should supplicate to God and beseech Him with tears so that He may disclose the truth to you, but you did nothing and persisted in your denial. Truly has God said concerning me:
Is it possible that a person should be true and yet should be destroyed? Is it possible that a person should be from God and should be ruined? O ye people, fight not God. This is an affair which God has designed for your sake and for the sake of your faith, so do not lay obstacles before it. You might stand before the lightening but you have not the strength to confront God. If all this had been man’s doing, none of your attacks would have been needed. God Himself would have destroyed me. Alas! Heaven is bearing witness and you do not hear; the earth is crying out: One is needed, one is needed, and you pay no attention! O unfortunate people! arise and see that in this time of distress, Islam has been trodden underfoot and has been maligned like criminals. It has been counted among liars and has been written down among unholy ones. Then would not God’s jealousy be aroused at such at time? Understand then that heaven is drawing close and the days are near when every ear shall hear the affirmation:
We have suffered a lot at the hands of the disbelievers and now God also desires to show something. Do not deliberately invite the wrath of God. Have you not perceived the beginning of the century of which fourteen years have already passed? Has the eclipse of the sun and the moon not taken place before your eyes? Has the prophecy concerning the appearance of the comet not been fulfilled? Have you received no intimation of the dreadful earthquake, which came in these very days according to the prophecy of Jesus (as) and ruined many towns? It had been prophesied that that would be the time of the appearance of the Promised Messiah. Have you not witnessed the sign concerning Atham which was fulfilled according to the prophecy of our lord and master, the Messenger (sas) of Allah, which had also been announced seventeen years in advance in the Brahin-e-Ahmadiyya? Have you not yet heard the prophecy concerning Lekh Ram? Has anyone ever seen such a manifest sign as that regarding Lekh Ram, which was shown after the contest had been announced to millions of people— like a wrestling match—and had been circulated through hundreds of announcements and newspapers? Do you not feel ashamed before God, Who, observing your sorrow and grief of the thirteenth century, came to your support in the very beginning of the fourteenth? Was it not inevitable that God’s promises should be fulfilled at their proper time? Seeing all this, what has happened to you and what has sealed up your hearts? O people of crooked hearts! God would give you every satisfaction if your hearts were clean. He can draw you [to Himself] if you are ready to be drawn. Look at the age, and the needs that Islam is confronted with. Does your heart not testify that this is the time for God to show His mercy? There is eagerness in heaven for the guidance of mankind, and the case of the Unity of God is now under hearing before the One God. But the blind of this age continue to be heedless. The heavenly dispensation has no honour in their estimation. Would that their eyes could open and they could see how all kinds of signs are descending and heavenly support is being proclaimed and light is spreading. Blessed are those who perceive it.
[Kitab-ul-Bariyyah, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 13 , pp. 325-331]
Allah, the Lord of Honour and Glory has said:
Tell them, what would my Lord care for you if you do not worship Him and do not remain absorbed in supplications.
Friends! may God Almighty have mercy on you. You will remember that approximately nine months ago, I announced the revelation that was vouchsafed to me in Al-Hakam and Al-Badr—which are published from Qadian:
This means that this country will be destroyed by Divine chastisement. There will be no security in permanent residences or in temporary dwellings.
This is an indication that the plague would spread everywhere and its impact will be severe … and I see that the time is drawing near. Just now at 4.00 a.m. I have seen painful deaths in a vision and heard strange and heart-rending cries. When I woke up I was reciting the revelation:
I have immediately started writing this announcement while a part of the night is still left. Friends! arise and become alert, for a time of great turmoil has arrived for the people of this age. There is no vessel, other than righteousness, to cross this river. A believer should, at a time of fear, lean towards God, as there is no peace without Him. Make your own atonement through crying and supplicating. Make your own sacrifice by devoting yourselves to the truth. Carry your own burden with the help of complete righteousness. Our God is Merciful and Compassionate. His wrath is averted from those who weep before the time of chastisement, and not when they behold the corpses of the dead. He has the power to avert a prophecy of chastisement from those who fear Him … Work righteously and hope for the mercy of God. Move with your full strength towards God Almighty, and if you cannot do this, drag yourselves willy-nilly to the door of His pleasure, and if you cannot do even that then seek your revival from spiritual death through charity and almsgiving. These are hard days and the wrath of God is aflame in heaven. Today you cannot achieve your purpose with empty words and boasting. Bring about such change in yourselves and tread along the path of righteousness so that the Merciful and the Compassionate should be pleased with you. Let your private chambers be filled with the remembrance of God. Remove the rust of impurities from your hearts. Avoid rancour, miserliness and evil talk. Before you are overtaken by the time which would afflict people with insanity, be madly absorbed in your anxious entreaties. Most unfortunate are the people who consider faith to mean only the dexterity and adroitness of the tongue, while their hearts are dark and impure and they are worms of the world. If you care for yourselves, be not like them. Most unfortunate is the person who casts not a glance at his sinful ego and, because of his evil-smelling bigotry, reviles others. He is doomed to ruin. Partake wholly of righteousness and bear the full burden of the fear of God and be constant in supplication so that you may be shown mercy….
Listen, I have discharged my duty and I have warned you before the onset of difficult times.
[Majmu‘ah Ishtiharat, Vol. 3, pp. 515-517]
As my mission is to invite and propagate, I make it clear once again, calling God to witness, that He has disclosed to me through His revelation that His ire has been aroused on earth, for the majority of people have become so sunk in sinfulness and worship of the world that they have no faith left in God Almighty. And he who has been sent by Him for the reform of people is mocked at and their mocking and derision have exceeded all bounds. Therefore, God announces that He will fight them and will attack them in such manner as they cannot conceive of, for such is their love of falsehood that they have sought to trample the truth underfoot. God says: I am now determined to safeguard My poor Jama‘at against the attacks of these wild beasts and to display manifold signs in support of the truth. And He says: A Warner came into the world and the world did not accept him; but God will accept him and will establish his truth through powerful assaults.
[Majmu‘ah Ishtiharat, Vol. 3, p. 518]
God Almighty says: Save yourselves by doing good before the dreadful day which will bring about instant destruction. He says that He is with those who do good and shun evil. He has addressed me in the words: My grace has approached thee, i.e., the time has come that thou might be fully recognized. Truth has arrived and falsehood has vanished.
To sum up, the purpose of the signs that have appeared and will appear is that people should shun evil and should recognize the Messenger of God who is among them. Dear ones, quickly shun every evil, for the day of being seized is near. Whoever does not discard associating partners with God will be seized. Whoever is involved in disobedience and impurity will be seized. Whoever has exceeded the bounds in his worship of the world and is wholly occupied with worldly concerns will be seized. Whoever denies the existence of God will be seized. Whoever reviles the Holy Prophets and Messengers of God and does not desist will be seized. Beware! I have warned you today. The earth hears and so does heaven that whoever abandons the truth and inclines to mischief and whoever renders the earth impure with his vices will be seized. God announces that His wrath is about to descend upon the earth inasmuch as it has been filled with sin and transgression. Then arise and be alert that the end of time, which had been foretold by the Prophets (as), is near. I call Him to witness Who has sent me that all this is from Him and not from me. Would that these things were viewed in good faith. Would that I had not been held a liar in their estimation so that the world might have been saved from ruin. These words of mine are not casual utterances, rather they are full of heartfelt sympathy. If you will bring about a change in yourselves and will safeguard yourselves against every evil, you will be delivered, for God is Gentle as well as Severe. Mercy will be shown even if a portion of you reforms itself; otherwise the day is approaching that will render people insane. An unfortunate, foolish one will say that all this is false. Alas! why is he in such deep slumber when the sun is about to rise?
[Majmu‘ah Ishtiharat, Vol. 3, pp. 523-524]
On 9th April 1905, God Almighty has informed me again of a severe earthquake which will be an example of the Day of Judgement and will render people senseless. As the All-Knowing One has twice informed me of this future event, I believe that this mighty calamity, which will be a reminder of Doomsday, is not far. The Lord of Honour and Glory has also informed me that both these earthquakes are signs in support of my truth, like the signs which Moses (as) exhibited to Pharaoh and Noah (as) exhibited to his people. Bear in mind that this will not be the sum total of such signs, rather sign will follow upon sign until people’s eyes will be opened and they will cry out in bewilderment: What is going to happen? Each day will be harder than the last. God says that He will exhibit wondrous works and will not desist until the people reform themselves. As there was such severe famine in the days of Joseph (as) that even the leaves of trees were not available for food, in the same way calamity will be encountered. As Joseph (as) saved the people by storing corn, in the same way God has appointed me the administrator of spiritual food to save the people. Whoever partakes of this food in full measure and with a sincere heart will, I am sure, be shown mercy.
[Majmu‘ah Ishtiharat, Vol. 3, pp. 526-527]
Today—29th April 1905—God Almighty has apprised me of the second severe earthquake. Therefore, out of sympathy for God’s creatures I inform the world at large that it has been determined in heaven that a severely destructive calamity will overtake the world, which God Almighty has repeatedly referred to as an earthquake. I know not whether it is near or God Almighty will display it later. Its repeated intimation indicates that it is not very far. This is the tiding conveyed by God and is the revelation of God Almighty Who knows all that is hidden. On the other hand, those people who are announcing that no such severe earthquake is anticipated, whether they are astrologers or make conjectures on the basis of some other science, they are all false and are trying to deceive the people. It is an absolute truth that an earthquake will overtake this country which no eye has seen and no ear has heard nor has any mind conceived it. No remedy is effective against it except repentance and purification of the hearts. Is there anyone who would believe in what I say and would listen to me carefully? It is a misfortune for the country that God’s word is derided and made fun of, and the hearts show no fear. God says:
I shall come secretly; I shall come with My hosts at a time when no one will imagine that such an event is pending. Its time might be the morning or sometime at night. Then, O’ dear ones who believe in the revelation of God Almighty, be warned and wash clean the garment of your repentance, for the wrath of God is aflame in heaven and He designs to show His face to the world. There is no refuge, save in repentance. Ruined are those who indulge in mockery and laughter and do not refrain from sin and disobedience. Their gatherings are full of impurity and heedlessness and their tongues are worse than corpses. They rouse the ire of God with repeated insolence. Their hearts are blind. God Almighty says that on that day He would have mercy on those whose hearts are full of fear of Him, who indulge in no evil and do not keep company with evildoers. God has also said: Manifest victory will appear for thee on that day for God will exhibit all that the world was foretold. Fortunate is the one who will understand now….
Announcement by:
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian
[Majmu‘ah Ishtiharat, Vol. 3, pp. 535-536]
Dear ones! you must have witnessed the earthquake that occurred after 1.00 a.m. on 28th February, 1906. This was the earthquake concerning which God Almighty had announced in His revelation: Spring has arrived again and God’s word has again been fulfilled … This was the earthquake which was bound to come in the spring according to Divine revelation, and so it came. It is possible that the promised earthquake, which will be a sample of the Day of Judgement, may also occur in the spring. I, therefore, announce once more and warn that, in my estimation, the day is not very far. Repent and create pure and perfect faith in your hearts and do not sit with those who mock at these things so that you may be shown mercy. Do not imagine that [you will be saved merely because] you have joined this Movement. I tell you truly that whoever is saved will be saved on account of his perfect faith. Can you assuage your hunger with one grain of corn or can one drop of water slake your thirst? In the same way, defective faith cannot benefit your soul. Those alone are accounted believers in heaven who affirm their faith with fidelity, sincerity, perfect steadfastness, and giving preference to God above everything else. I am in great anxiety as to how I should make these things enter your hearts and how I can put my hand into your hearts to rid them of all evil. Our God is Most Compassionate, Merciful and Faithful, but if someone’s heart is afflicted with depravity and does not demonstrate his fidelity in practice, he cannot save himself from His wrath. If you entertain a hidden seed of mistrust in your hearts, your joy is vain. I tell you truly that in such a case you will be seized equally with those who do evil deeds in the sight of God Almighty. Nay, you will be seized with ruin before the other people. Let not the life of comfort deceive you, for comfortless days are near when all that the Prophets of God have been telling from the beginning will be fulfilled. Fortunate is the person who believes in what I say and brings about a change in himself.
[Majmu‘ah Ishtiharat, Vol. 3, pp. 548-549]
I inform you and convey to you the glad tidings that the Sailor, Who is the Lord of the heaven and the earth, has heard the supplication of those confronted with the tempest and has fulfilled the promise He made in His Holy Word to save His vessel at the time of the tempest. He has appointed one of His servants that is to say, this humble one who is now speaking to you, and has explained to him the devices to weather the storm and that would render it unnecessary to throw overboard the boxes of valuables. The time is near when heaven will call out:
But right now the flood is at its height. At the approach of this flood God Almighty appointed this humble one and commanded:
That is, build thou the Ark under Our eyes and according to Our directions. This Ark would be in no danger from the tempest. It would be supported by God’s hand. This then is the Ark of pure Islam to which I call the people to board. If you are awake, arise and board this Ark quickly for the flood is raging upon the earth and every life is in danger.
[A’ina-e-Kamalat-e-Islam, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 5, pp. 261-262, footnote]
I convey another message to mankind in general and to my Muslim brethren in particular, that I have been commanded that those who seek the truth should enter into a covenant with me for learning the way of true faith and purity and love of God, and for discarding impure life, sloth and treachery. Therefore, it is incumbent upon those who find strength in their hearts to come to me; I shall be their comforter and shall try to lighten their burden. God Almighty will bless my prayers and my care for them provided they are ready with their heart and soul to fulfil His requirements. This is a Divine commandment which I have hereby conveyed. The relevant revelation in Arabic is as follows:
Peace be on him who follows the guidance.
Ghulam Ahmad
1st December, 1888
[Sabz Ishtihar, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 2, p. 470]
What is the significance of Bai‘at? The meaning of the word is to exchange one thing with another by mutual consent. The purpose of Bai‘at is that one who enters into the covenant sells his self together with all its capacities to a guide so that in return he should obtain the true understanding and the perfect blessings which should become the means of acquiring cognition, salvation, and attaining the pleasure of God Almighty. It is thus obvious that Bai‘at does not mean simple repentance, because man can bring it about by himself. Rather, it denotes the understanding, blessings and signs which pull one in the direction of true repentance. Its real purpose is to commit one’s ego to the service of one’s guide and to acquire in return the knowledge, the understanding and the blessings which should strengthen faith and increase true understanding, so that a pure relationship may be established with God Almighty; and thus, having obtained deliverance from worldly hell, one might be delivered from the hell of the hereafter; and, having been cured of blindness in this world, one might be secure against blindness in the hereafter.
[Darurat-ul-Imam, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 13, p. 498]
Below is a summary explanation of the conditions of Bai‘at to which the seekers of truth are called in a pamphlet on 1st January, 1888, on the subject of propogation.55
A person entering into the covenant of Bai‘at would sincerely undertake that up to the day of his death he shall abstain from associating any partner with Allah;
That he shall keep away from falsehood, adultery, treachery of the eye, disobedience, vice, wrongdoing, dishonesty, disorder, and rebellion and that he shall not permit himself to be carried away by his egoistic passions, however strong they might be;
That he shall perform the five daily prayers without fail, according to the command of God and His Messenger (sas), and, to the best of his ability, shall try to offer Tahajjud prayer and will constantly invoke the blessings of Allah upon the Holy Prophet (sas), and will continuously seek forgiveness for his sins and out of sincere love for God, reminding himself of the bounties of God Almighty, will occupy himself with His praise and glorification;
That he shall in no way harm Allah’s creatures in general and Muslims in particular by giving way to his passions, neither with his hand nor with his tongue or by any other means;
That in all circumstances whether of joy or sorrow, prosperity or adversity, bounty or trial, he shall prove himself faithful to God Almghty, and that in every condition he shall submit to God’s decree, being ready to endure every kind of insult and pain in His cause, and that in the hour of any misfortune he will not turn away from Him but will rather draw closer;
That he shall not conform to vulgar customs and shall guard against evil inclinations and shall submit himself wholly to the authority of the Holy Qur’an and shall make the Word of Allah and the word of the Holy Prophet (sas) the guiding principles of his life;
That he shall discard pride and arrogance and shall pass his days in meekness, humility, courtesy and lowliness;
That he shall hold his faith, its honour, and the welfare of Islam dearer than his own life, property, honour, children and everything else;
That for the sake of winning Allah’s pleasure, he shall occupy himself with sympathy for Allah’s creatures, and that, as far as possible, he shall employ his natural gifts and faculties for promoting the welfare of mankind;
That, for the sake of Allah, he shall establish the relationship of brotherhood with me, on the condition of obeying me in all that is good, and shall maintain this relationship to the day of his death, and shall set such a high example in respect of it that the like of it shall not be found in any worldly relationship, whether of kinship or that of master and servant.
These are the conditions that are binding upon everyone who enters the covenant of Bai‘at….Whoever, responding to my invitation, enters into the covenant and joins this blessed Jama‘at will be considered a member of our Community and will be counted among my sincere friends. These are the people concerning whom God Almighty has said to me that He will place them above the others until the Day of Judgement and that they will be endowed with blessings and mercy. He commanded me: Build the Ark under My eyes and according to My instructions. God’s hand will be above the hands of those who enter into a covenant with thee. He has commanded: Present yourself to God Almighty with all your faculties and do not leave your Noble Lord alone. He who leaves Him alone will be left alone himself.
According to Divine behest, this general invitation is issued for entering into the covenant of Bai‘at. Those who are prepared to abide by the conditions set out above are free to come to me for entering into the covenant after having performed the prescribed Istikharah56 as taught by Holy Prophet (sas). May God Almighty be their helper and bring about a pure change in their lives and bless them with the spirit of truth, piety, love and enlightened conscience (Amin).
The humblest of the servants of Allah,
Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian,
District Gurdaspur, Punjab.
[Majmu‘ah Ishtiharat, Vol. 1, pp. 189-192]
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 brining 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 Satan and Nafs-e-Ammarah [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. 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.
Ghulam Ahmad,
Ludhiana, 4th March, 1889.
[Izala-e-Auham, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 3, pp. 560-563]
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 way 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 Wudu’ [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 an Iblis [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 is: Shun the abomination of idols and shun all words of falsehood, because falsehood is no less than an idol. 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.
[Izala-e-Auham, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 3, pp. 546-550]
The members of my Jama‘at, whether they are present here or whether they are in their own places, should listen carefully to this admonition. The purpose of their joining the Movement and establishing with me a relationship like that of a disciple is that they should achieve a high degree of piety and righteousness. No wrongdoing or mischief should ever come near them. They should offer the five daily Prayers regularly and with congregation, and should not lie nor hurt anyone by their tongues. They should not be guilty of any kind of vice and should not let even a thought of mischief, wrongdoing or transgression pass through their minds. They should shun every type of sin, offence, undesirable speech and action, as well as all egoistic passions and unruly behaviour. They should become pure-hearted, harmless and meek servants of God Almighty, and no poisonous germ should flourish in their beings. They should be sincerely loyal and obedient to the British Government, under which their properties, lives and honour are secure. Sympathy for the entire mankind should be their motto and they should fear God Almighty. They should safeguard their tongues, their hands and their thoughts against every kind of impious and disorderly behaviour and against dishonesty. They should establish the five daily Prayers with utmost regularity. They should refrain from every kind of wrong, transgression, embezzlement, bribery, encroachment of other people’s rights and undue partiality. They should not participate in evil company. If it should be proved that one who frequents their company does not obey God’s commandments, or is not loyal to the benevolent government, or is not mindful of people’s rights, or is cruel or mischievous or of a loose character, or is seeking to deceive the servants of God Almighty by continuing in the habit of abusing, or making false allegations against the person with whom they have entered into a covenant of Bai‘at, it will be their duty to remove such evil from among them and to keep away from such a dangerous person. Do not contrive to harm the followers of any religion or the members of any caste or group. Be true well-wishers of everyone, and take care that no mischievous or vicious person, or disorderly one or ill-behaved one should ever be of your company, or should dwell among you; for such a one will, sooner or later, cause you to stumble.
These are matters and conditions that I have been urging from the beginning and it is the duty of every member of my Jama‘at to act upon all these admonitions. Let there be no impurity or mockery or derision in your meetings. Walk upon the earth with pure hearts and pure tempers and pure thoughts. Remember! Not every evil is worth fighting, so cultivate the habit of forgiveness, and practice toleration and forbearance. Do not attack anyone improperly and keep your passions under complete control. If you take part in a discussion or exchange views on a religious topic, express yourself gently and be courteous. If anyone misbehaves towards you, withdraw from such company quickly with the greeting of peace. If you are persecuted or reviled, be mindful that you should not meet stupidity with stupidity, for otherwise, you will be accounted in the same category as your opponents. God Almighty desires that you should become a Jama‘at that should set an example of goodness and truthfulness for the whole world. Therefore, hasten to exclude everyone from your company who sets an example of mischief and provocation. He who cannot dwell among us in meekness and piety, and is not gentle in his speech and righteous in his conduct, should promptly leave us, for God does not desire that such a one should dwell among us. He will surely die in misery, for he did not adopt the way of goodness. Be alert, therefore, and be truly good-hearted and gentle and righteous. You will be known by your regular attendance at Prayer and by your high moral qualities. He who has the seed of evil embedded in him will not be able to conform to this admonition.
Your hearts should be free of deceit, your hands should be free from transgression and your eyes should be free from impurity. There should be nothing inside you except truth and sympathy for mankind. I trust that my friends who dwell with me in Qadian will set a high example in respect of all their faculties. I do not desire that there should ever be anyone in our pious Jama‘at whose character is suspect or to whose behaviour any exception might be taken, or who should be inclined towards disorderliness or suffer from any other kind of impiety. If we hear any complaint against anyone that he deliberately disregards the obligations due to God Almighty, or sits among people who indulge in mockery or indecency, or is guilty of any kind of misconduct, he will be immediately excluded from the Jama‘at and will no longer be able to remain with us and our friends…. The fact is that the field which is cultivated with much labour and is ripened also contains some weeds that have to be cut down and burnt. Such is the law of nature, and our Jama‘at is no exception. I know that those who have joined my Jama‘at with all sincerity have been bestowed hearts by God Almighty which instinctively hate evil and love goodness, and I do hope that they will set a good example for the people.
[Majmu‘ah Ishtiharat, Vol. 3, pp. 46-49]
The world is a passing panorama. If a person does not exert himself fully to carry out a good deed at its proper time, he cannot thereafter recover the lost time. I am aware that I have lived the greater part of my life, and it appears from Divine revelations and also from my own estimation that only a small part of it remains. Therefore, whoever helps me in the attainment of my objectives according to my aspirations and during my lifetime and in my presence will, I trust, be with me on the Day of Judgement also. And I do not perceive that he who spends money in such important matters will suffer any loss in his wealth because of this spending. Indeed his wealth would be blessed. Therefore, trusting in God Almighty, you should act with full sincerity and eagerness and courage, for this is the time of fruitful service. Thereafter a time will come when spending a mountain of gold in this cause will not equal in merit the spending of one paisa now. This is the blessed time in which he who has been sent by God and whose advent had been awaited by the nations through centuries is present among you, and every day God is granting fresh revelations which are full of fresh glad tidings. It has been made clear throughout by God Almighty that only he alone will be considered as having truly and definitely joined this Jama‘at who spends his property, which he holds dear, in this cause…. Do not imagine that you gain your wealth by your own efforts, it is instead bestowed upon you by God Almighty, nor should you ever imagine that by spending a portion of your wealth or by serving in some other way, you put God Almighty or the one He has sent under any obligation. In fact, it is He Who puts you under obligations by calling you to serve Him. I tell you truly that if all of you should desert me and should hold back from service and help, He will create another people who will render Him the needed services. Be sure that all this is from heaven and your service is for your own good, so let no pride enter your heart, nor should you imagine that you are helping financially or otherwise. I tell you again and again that God is in no need of your service, and it is His grace upon you that He provides you with the opportunity to serve. A few days ago, I received a revelation in Gurdaspur, in which God says:
i.e., I alone am the Accomplisher of every task, so take Me alone as the Accomplisher, and do not consider others to be helping your cause in any way.
When I received this revelation, my heart trembled with the realization that my Jama‘at had not yet arrived at a stage where God Almighty should have even mentioned them. I have no greater anxiety than that I should die and leave this Jama‘at in such a state of inadequacy and imperfection. I know for certain that miserliness and faith cannot coexist in a heart … I will not remain long among you and the time is coming when you will not see me anymore. Many will wish that they had performed some valuable service in my presence. Now is the time to provide against such a possibility. Just as previous Prophets and Messengers (as) did not dwell forever among their followers, I too shall not remain among you, so value the time you have. Even if you perform such service for which you have to sell all your immovable property, it would be disrespectful of you to imagine that you have performed any service. You are not aware how Divine Mercy is eager in support of this faith, and how His angels are descending upon the hearts. Every matter of reason and understanding that arises in your hearts is not from yourselves but from God. Wonderful light and knowledge is descending from heaven. I admonish you repeatedly to serve to the utmost limit of your capacities, but let not a thought pass through your minds that you have done something. If you ever think so, you will be ruined. All such thoughts are disrespectful. A disrespectful one is ruined much quicker than anyone else.
[Majmu‘ah Ishtiharat, Vol. 3, pp. 496-499]
Let me make it clear that to affirm the covenant of Bai‘at with the tongue alone amounts to nothing unless it is practiced with full resolve. He who acts fully on my teachings enters that house of mine, concerning which there is a promise in Divine revelation:
It means that I shall safeguard everyone who is within the walls of your house. This should not be taken to mean only such people as dwell in my house made of bricks. Rather it refers to all those who follow me completely and dwell in my spiritual house. To follow me, it is necessary for them to believe that they have a Mighty, Self-Existing and All-Creating God, Whose attributes are eternal, everlasting and unchangeable. He has no father and no son. He is much above being put upon the cross and being killed. He is such that despite being far, He is near; and despite being near, He is far. Despite being One, His manifestations are diverse. For a man who brings about a change in himself, He becomes a new God and deals with him with a new manifestation. Thus, a person experiences a change in God according to the change in himself. Yet no change takes place in God, for He is eternally Unchangeable and Most Perfect, but when a person moves towards goodness, God manifests Himself to him in a new way. At the time of every improved condition that manifests itself in a person, God’s manifestation of Power also reveals itself in an improved manner. He manifests His might in an extraordinary way only when an extraordinary change takes place in a person. This is at the root of all extraordinary happenings and miracles. This is the God our Jama‘at has to believe in. Believe in Him and prefer Him to your own souls and to your comforts and all your relationships; and show practical sincerity, courage and loyalty in His cause. People of the world do not prefer Him to their resources and their kith and kin, but you must prefer Him above everything else so that you might be recorded in heaven as belonging to His Jama‘at.
To display signs of His mercy is the eternal way of God, but you can participate of it only when nothing separates you from Him, your will is subordinate to His will, your desire is identified with His desire, and your head lies prostrate at His threshold at all times and in all conditions—whether of success or failure— so that He may do whatever He wills. If you do so, then God, Who has hidden His countenance for a long time, will manifest Himself in you. Is there anyone among you who is prepared to act in this way so as to seek His pleasure and not to be disquieted by His decrees? When you encounter misfortune, you should step forth even more eagerly, for this is the only means of your progress. Try with all your might to spread His Unity on earth, have mercy on His creatures, do not wrong them by your tongue or your hand or by any other means and strive to promote their welfare. Entertain no pride against anyone, even if he were your subordinate, and revile not anyone, even if he should revile you. Become meek and tolerant and well-intentioned, and sympathetic to God’s creatures so that you may be accepted.
There are many who show meekness, but they are wolves inside. There are many who appear clean but are serpents within. You, therefore, cannot be accepted by Him unless you are the same inside and out. Being great, have mercy on the lowly and do not look down upon them. Possessing knowledge, admonish the ignorant ones and do not humiliate them by self-conceit. Being wealthy, serve the poor and behave not arrogantly towards them.
Dread the ways of ruin and always be fearful of God. Adopt the ways of righteousness and worship no creature and cut asunder from everything to turn to your Lord. Turn your hearts away from the world and become wholly His, and live for Him alone and, for His sake, hate every impiety and sin, for He is Holy. Let every morning bear witness that you have spent the night in righteousness, and let every evening bear witness that you have spent the day in His fear. Be not afraid of the curses of the world, for they are apt to disappear like smoke and cannot turn day into night. But be fearful of God’s curse which descends from heaven and upon whomsoever it falls it consumes him in both worlds. You cannot save yourselves with hypocrisy, for the eye of the God you believe in penetrates you through and through; can you then deceive Him? Become straightforward, clean, pure and truthful. If even a particle of darkness is left in you, it will dispel all your light. And if you have any portion of arrogance, or hypocrisy, or self-love, or sloth, you are not something worthy of acceptance. Do not deceive yourselves with your few accomplishments, and do not imagine that you have done all that was required of you, for God desires a complete revolution in your beings and He demands from you a death whereafter He should revive you. Hasten to make peace with one another and forgive your brethren their sins, for he who is not inclined to make peace with his brother is wicked and will be cut off because he is the cause of dissension. Part with your ego in every way and do away with mutual grievances. Being in the right, show humility like the one who is in the wrong, so that you may be forgiven. Discard the obesity of your ego, for a fat one cannot enter through the door to which you have been called.
How unfortunate is the one who does not believe in that which has come from the mouth of God and which I have set forth. If you desire that God should be pleased with you in heaven, be to each other like brothers born of the same mother. The more venerable among you is he who forgives his brother more, and unfortunate is the one who is obstinate and does not forgive. Such a one has no part in me. Be very fearful of God’s curse for He is Holy and Jealous. An evildoer cannot attain nearness to God, nor an arrogant one, nor a wrongdoer, nor a dishonest one, nor one who is not jealous for the sake of His name, nor those who fall upon the world like dogs and ants and vultures and find their whole comfort in the world. Every impure eye is far from Him, every impure heart is unaware of Him. He who is afire for His sake will be delivered from the fire; he who weeps for His sake will laugh; and he who cuts asunder from the world for His sake will find Him. Become the friends of God with a true heart and full sincerity and complete eagerness, so that He should become your friend. Have mercy on your subordinates and your wives and your less fortunate brethren so that you may have mercy from heaven. Become truly His so that He should become yours. The world is full of calamities, one of which is the plague. Hold fast to God with sincerity so that He should safeguard you against all calamities. No calamity overtakes the earth until there is a command from heaven, and no misfortune is repelled until mercy descends from heaven. Wisdom demands that you should take hold of the root and not of the branch. You are not prohibited from having recourse to the necessary means and appropriate remedies, but you are forbidden to rely upon them. In the end, only that will come about which will be decreed by God. Complete trust in God, if one has the strength for it, is greater than anything else.
An essential teaching for you is that you should not abandon the Holy Qur’an like something forsaken, for therein is your life. Those who honour the Qur’an will be honoured in heaven. Those who prefer the Qur’an to every Hadith and every other saying will receive preference in heaven. For mankind, there is no book on the face of the earth except the Qur’an, and for all children of Adam, there is no Messenger and Intercessor but Muhammad, the Chosen One (sas). Endeavour to cultivate true love for that Prophet (sas) of dignity and majesty, and do not give anyone else any kind of preference over him, so that in heaven you may be counted as those who have attained salvation.
Remember that salvation is not something that will only be manifested after death, for true salvation is that which exhibits its light in this very world. Who is it that attains salvation? It is only he who believes that God is true, that Muhammad (sas) is the Intercessor between God and all His creatures and that there is no Messenger equal to him in rank under heaven, nor is there any book equal in status to the Holy Qur’an. God did not desire immortality for anyone, but this Chosen Prophet (sas) lives forever.
[Kashti-e-Nuh, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 19, pp. 10-14]
I repeat that you should not be content with having made the covenant of Bai‘at as a matter of form, for that amounts to nothing. God looks at your hearts and will deal with you accordingly. Look, I hereby discharge my obligation of conveying my message by warning you that sin is a poison, so do not swallow that poison. Disobedience of God is a filthy death, so safeguard yourselves against it. Supplicate that you might be granted strength. He who at the time of supplication does not believe that God has the power to do everything—except that which might be contrary to His promise—is not one of my Jama‘at. He who does not give up lying and deceit is not one of my Jama‘at. He who is caught up all the time in worldly attractions and does not lift his eye to look at the hereafter, is not one of my Jama‘at. He who does not in truth prefer the faith to the world is not one of my Jama‘at. He who does not shun every vice and every evil deed, i.e., liquor, gambling, evil looks, deceit, bribery and every misappropriation, is not of my Jama‘at. He who does not take it upon himself to perform the five daily Prayers is not one of my Jama‘at. He who is not constant in supplication and does not remember God with humility is not one of my Jama‘at. He who does not discard the company of an evil one who influences him towards vice is not one of my Jama‘at. He who does not honour his parents and does not obey them in all matters that are not contrary to the Qur’an, and is careless in serving them diligently, is not of my Jama‘at. He who does not treat his wife and her relatives with gentleness and benevolence is not one of my Jama‘at. He who refrains from doing even the least bit of good to his neighbour is not of my Jama‘at. He who does not desire to forgive an offender and entertains rancour is not one of my Jama‘at. Every husband who deceives his wife, and every wife who deceives her husband, is not of my Jama‘at. He who breaks the covenant of Bai‘at in any respect is not one of my Jama‘at. He who does not truly believe in me as the Promised Messiah and Mahdi is not one of my Jama‘at. He who is not willing to obey me in all good matters is not one of my Jama‘at. He who consorts with my opponents and endorses what they say, is not of my Jama‘at. Every adulterer, disobedient one, winebibber, murderer, thief, gambler, deceiver, bribe-taker, usurper, tyrant, liar, forger and their companion, and everyone who calumniates his brothers or sisters and does not repent of his vices and does not abstain from joining evil company is not of my Jama‘at.
All these are poisons. You cannot swallow poison and survive; light and darkness cannot exist together. Everyone who has a crooked disposition and is not straightforward with God can never achieve the blessing that is bestowed on the pure-hearted. How fortunate are those who cleanse their hearts and purify their hearts of every impurity and take a pledge of faithfulness to their God, for they will never be destroyed. It is not possible that God should humiliate them, for they are God’s and God is theirs. They will be safeguarded at the time of every calamity. Foolish is the enemy who moves against them, for they are in the lap of God and enjoy His support.
Who is it that truly believes in God? Only those who are such as we have just described. Similarly, he who pursues a fearless sinner, vicious and evil-minded, is foolish, for such a one will destroy himself in due course. Ever since God has created the heaven and the earth, it has never happened that He should have ruined or destroyed or obliterated the good. On the contrary, he has always shown wonders on their behalf and will also show them now. God is very Faithful and, for the faithful, He manifests wondrous works. The world desires to devour them and every enemy grinds his teeth at them, but He Who is their friend, delivers them from every place of danger and bestows victory upon them in every field. How fortunate is the person who never lets go the mantle of God. We have believed in Him and we have recognized Him. The God of the whole world is He Who has sent down His revelation to me, Who has shown mighty signs in my support and Who has sent me as the Promised Messiah for this age. There is no God beside Him, neither in heaven nor in earth. He who does not believe in Him is bereft of all good fortune and is caught in humiliation. I have received God’s revelation which is as bright as the sun. I have seen that He is the God of the world and that there is none other. How Mighty and Self-Supporting is the God Whom we have found. How great are the powers of Him Whom we witnessed. The truth is that nothing is beyond Him except that which is contrary to His books and His promise. Therefore, when you pray, do not be like the ignorant ones who pretend to follow nature and have devised a natural law which does not bear the seal of God’s Book. They are the rejected ones whose prayers will not be accepted. They are blind and not seeing. They are dead, not alive. They present to God their self-devised law and presume to limit His limitless powers and deem Him weak. So He will treat them according to their condition. But when you stand up in prayer, you should have full faith that your God has power to do all that He wills. Then your prayer will be accepted and you will experience the wonders of God’s power that I have experienced. My testimony is based on actual experiences and it is not a tale.
[Kashti-e-Nuh, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 19, pp. 18-21]
If you become God’s then be sure that God is yours. You will be asleep and God Almighty will keep awake for you. You will be unmindful of the enemy and God will watch him and will frustrate his designs. You still do not know the extent of God’s powers. Had you known it, not a single day would you have grieved after the world. Does he who owns a treasure weep and cry and become sorrowful unto death by losing a paisa? Had you been aware of the treasure, that at every time of need God will do the needful, you would not have been so restless after the world. God is a lovely treasure, value Him accordingly. He is your Helper at every step; without Him you are nothing, nor do your resources and your devices amount to anything. Do not follow other people for they have become wholly reliant upon the means … I do not forbid you to employ means within moderation, but I do forbid you to become slaves of means like other people and to forget the God Who provides the means. Had you possessed the eye, you would have seen that God is everything and all else is nothing. You can neither stretch forth your hand nor hold it back, but under His command. A [spiritually] dead one might laugh at this, if he had truly died, it would have been better for him than this laughter. Beware! Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of other people thinking that they have progressed far in the world. Lend ear and realize that these people are totally unaware and heedless of God Who calls you to Himself. What is their god? Only a helpless human being! They are, therefore, languishing in ignorance. I do not forbid you the pursuit of worldly vocations and trade, but I forbid you to follow those whose world is their all. Continue to supplicate God for strength and ability in all your endeavours whether they are worldly or relate to the faith. Your supplications should not be confined to your lips, but you must believe truly that every blessing descends from heaven. You will become righteous only when you become such that whenever you are in need or are faced with some problem, you shut your door and fall down at the threshold of the Divine with your difficulty and supplicate to Him so that He may resolve it by His Grace. You will then be helped by the Holy Spirit and a hidden path will be opened for you. Have mercy on your souls and do not follow those who have cut asunder altogether from God and depend wholly upon means, so much so that they do not even seek strength from Allah by saying Insha’Allah61. May God open your eyes so that you should realize that He is the crossbeam of all your plans. If the cross-beam should fall, can the rafters continue to support the roof? Indeed not, they would suddenly fall and might even cause loss of life. In the same way, your plans cannot succeed without the help of God. If you will not supplicate Him for help, and will not make it your rule to seek strength from Him, you will achieve no success and will die in sorrow. Do not wonder why other people seem to succeed, while they are not even aware of the existence of God Who is your Perfect and Mighty Lord. It is because they have been subjected to the trial of the world on account of their abandoning God. He sometimes tries a person, who abandons Him and seeks the attractions and the joys and pleasures of the world and runs after its riches, by opening the doors of the world to him. Such a one is wholly deprived of faith. In the end, he dies with his mind devoted wholly to the world and is cast into eternal hell. Sometimes, such a person is tried by being deprived of the world also. But this latter kind of trial is not as fearful as the former, for the one who is subjected to the former becomes more arrogant. In any case, both these paths earn the wrath of God. The fountainhead of true prosperity is God. How can these people attain true prosperity when they are unaware of the Ever-Living and Self-Supporting God and are heedless of Him and turn away from Him? Blessed is he who understands this mystery and ruined is the one who does not.
You should similarly not follow the philosophers of this world, nor look upon them with honour, for they only pursue follies. The true philosophy is that which God has taught you in His Word. Those who are in love with the secular philosophy are in ruin and truly successful are those who have sought true knowledge and true philosophy in God’s Book. Why do you follow the paths of foolishness? Will you teach God that which He does not know? Will you run after the blind so that they should guide you? O foolish ones, how will he, who is himself sightless, guide you? True philosophy is acquired through the Holy Spirit which you have been promised. Through it you will be carried to the pure knowledge to which others have no access. You will obtain such knowledge if you sincerely seek it. You will then find that it is the knowledge which freshens and revives the heart and guides you to the pinnacle of certainty. He who feeds upon carrion cannot bring you pure food. He who is sightless cannot show you the path. All pure wisdom descends from heaven; then what is it that you are seeking from the earthly ones? Those whose souls ascend to heaven are the true heirs of wisdom. He who is not satisfied himself cannot bestow satisfaction upon you, but the purity of heart is the primary condition. Sincerity and purity are the pre-requisite, after which everything will be bestowed upon you.
[Kashti-e-Nuh, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 19, pp. 22-24]
Now you should reflect and decide in your own minds that, having made the covenant of Bai‘at with me and having accepted me as the Promised Messiah, and as the Arbiter and Judge, if your heart feels constrained or anguished over any decision or action of mine, you should be concerned about the sincerity of your faith. No good can be expected from faith that is full of doubts and suspicions. If you have accepted truly that the Promised Messiah is in fact the Arbiter, then submit completely to his command and look upon his decisions with respect so that you may be counted among those who honour the word of the Holy Prophet (sas) and esteem it highly. Sufficient is the evidence of the Holy Prophet (sas). He assures you that the Promised Messiah will be your Imam and Arbiter and Judge. If this is not enough to satisfy you, how then will you be satisfied?
[Malfuzat, Vol. 3, pp. 73-74]
Be it known to all sincere ones who have entered into the covenant of Bai‘at with me, that the purpose of the covenant is that the love of the world should grow cold and the love of God and of the Holy Prophet (sas) should fill the heart, and the soul should be so weaned away from the world that the journey to the hereafter should not appear disagreeable. But for the achievement of this purpose it is necessary to stay in my company and to spend some time of your life in this way, so that, if God should so will, by witnessing some sure sign all weakness and indifference may be removed and perfect faith may be generated, resulting in eagerness, enthusiasm and passionate love. You should always keep this in mind and supplicate that God Almighty should make this possible. Until such an opportunity arises, advantage should be taken of such meetings off and on, for to enter into the covenant of Bai‘at and not to be eager to seek opportunities for meeting would reduce the covenant to a mere ceremony which would be devoid of all blessings.
[Asmani Faislah, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 4, p. 351]
The human heart is like Hajr-e-Aswad [the Black Stone] and a man’s bosom is like Baitullah [the House of Allah]. The thoughts of that which is beside Allah are the idols installed in the ka‘bah of his heart. The idols of the Holy city of Mecca were obliterated when our Holy Prophet (sas), accompanied by ten thousand saints, arrived at Mecca and Mecca surrendered … To defeat and obliterate the idols that are beside Allah, it is necessary that they should be invaded in the same manner … A Jihad is needed for clearing this house of its idols and I teach you the way of this Jihad, and assure you that if you follow it you will succeed in breaking those idols. This way is not devised by me. God has appointed me to disclose it to you. What is that way? It is that you should follow me and obey me. This is not a new call. To clear Mecca of idols, the Holy Prophet (sas) also announced:
In the same way, if you will follow me you will be able to break the idols that are inside you and you will be able to purify your bosoms which are filled with idols of many kinds. No hard disciplines are needed for the purification of the self. The Companions of the Holy Prophet (sas) did not subject themselves to any hard disciplines nor to any purposeless repetition of formulas. What they possessed was something very different: they were wholly committed to obedience of the Holy Prophet (sas). The light that was in him passed through the duct of obedience and fell upon the hearts of his Companions (ra) and wiped out all thoughts of everything beside Allah. Their bosoms were filled with light in place of darkness. Remember well that the same is the situation today. You cannot be purified until the light which comes through the Divine duct falls upon your hearts. The human bosom is the place of descent of Divine light; that is why it is called the House of Allah. The grand design is that the idols that fill it should be broken and Allah alone should dwell in it.
[Malfuzat, Vol. 1, pp. 187-188]
Although our Jama‘at has not yet spread in large numbers in different parts of the world, my followers are to be found in many places, from Peshawar to Bombay, Calcutta, Hyderabad Deccan, and even in Arab countries. This Jama‘at initially spread and increased in the Punjab and now I find that it is progressing in most parts of India. Its membership is composed more of learned people and less of others … The grace and power of God Almighty have frustrated the plans of Maulavis and has increased our Jama‘at in an extraordinary way and is increasing it continuously. In this Jama‘at will be found largely people who are disposed to virtue, fear God, show compassion for mankind and strive heart and soul for the success of the faith. Their hearts are filled with the greatness of God Almighty; they are sensible and intelligent; they are men of high resolve, and have true love for God and His Messenger (sas). I perceive that it is the Divine design to foster this Jama‘at and to bless it and to bring into it fortunate people from the ends of the earth.
[Kitab-ul-Bariyyah, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 13, pp. 204-205, footnote]
Just consider whether, during the last thirteen hundred years, anyone has experienced a time which is so similar to the time of the Holy Prophet (sas). Our Jama‘at, which has been established in this age, resembles in many respects the Companions (ra) of the Holy Prophet (sas). Our people witness miracles and signs such as the Companions (ra) witnessed and gain light and certainty from fresh heavenly signs and support as the Companions (ra) did. They endure, in the cause of Allah, the mockery and derision and reproaches of people, and bear persecution and boycotts, just as the Companions (ra) endured. They lead pure lives helped by clear heavenly signs and supports and wise teachings, as did the Companions (ra). There are many among them who weep during their Prayers as the Companions (ra) wept—so profusely that their places of prostration were dampened. Many of them see true dreams and are honoured with Divine revelations, as was the case with the Companions (ra). Many of them spend their hard-earned money in promoting the activities of the Jama‘at, purely for the sake of winning the pleasure of God Almighty, as did the Companions (ra). Many among them keep death in mind and are gentle of heart and tread the path of true righteousness, as was the practice of the Companions (ra). They are the party of God who are supported by God Himself and whose hearts He is purifying daily and whose bosoms He is filling with the wisdom of faith and whom He is drawing towards Himself through heavenly signs, as He did with the Companions (ra). In short, this Jama‘at exhibits all those signs which are implied in the verse:
The Word of God Almighty was bound to be fulfilled.
[Ayyam-us-Sulh, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 14, pp. 306-307]
God, Who is hidden from the eyes but is shining brighter than anything else, and of Whose majesty even the angels are afraid of, does not like insolence and cunning. He has mercy upon those who fear Him, so be fearful of Him and say everything after deliberation. You are His Jama‘at whom He has chosen to set an example of goodness. He who does not discard vice, whose lips do not shun falsehood and whose heart does not exclude impure thoughts, will be cut off from this Jama‘at. O Servants of God! cleanse your hearts and wash your inner self. You can please everyone with hypocrisy and double dealing, but you will only earn the wrath of God by this habit. Have mercy upon yourselves and safeguard your progeny against ruin. It is not possible that God should be pleased with you while in your hearts there is someone who is dearer to you than Him. Spend yourselves in His way, and be devoted to Him, and become wholly His if you desire that you should see Him in this very life.
[Raz-e-Haqiqat, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 14, pp. 156-157]
The purpose of God Almighty in setting up this Jama‘at is that the true understanding of God, which has disappeared from the world, and true righteousness and purity, which are not to be found in this age, might be re-established. Arrogance is rife throughout the world. The divines are caught in the pride and vanity of their learning. You find that the condition of the mendicants belies their objectives. They are wholly unconcerned with self-improvement, and all the disciplines which they have devised are error and innovation. They are only words and form and have no spiritual reality. Their exercises and devotion have a different form altogether like meaningless repetitions which cannot be traced back to the Holy Prophet (sas). I find that they pay no attention to inner purification, nor can their artificial disciplines purify their hearts, nor can they acquire the light of true understanding through them. This age has become empty of true righteousness and purity. The way of the Holy Prophet (sas), which is the means of purification, has been discarded. Now God Almighty desires that the time of Prophethood should be revived in this age and the same righteousness and purity should be reestablished. Thus, the purpose of God Almighty in setting up this Jama‘at is that through it the lost understanding might be re-established in the world.
[Taqrireiń, pp. 21-22]
O ye people, fear God and make true peace with Him and put on the garments of righteousness. Let every mischief depart from you. God has unlimited wondrous powers. He has limitless mercy and grace. He it is Who can dry up a terrible flood in an instant. He it is Who can cast away fatal calamities with a single stroke of His hand. But these wonderful powers of His are manifested only to those who become wholly His. Only those witness these extraordinary manifestations who, for His sake, bring about a holy change in themselves and fall down prostrate at His threshold; who become pure like the drop of water which develops into a pearl; and who, being melted by the heat of love and sincerity and devotion, begin to flow towards Him. He takes care of them in misfortunes and delivers them in a wonderful manner from the conspiracies and designs of their enemies and safeguards them against situations of ignominy. He becomes their guardian and their ally and helps them in their difficulties when no human being can render them any help and His hosts descend in their support. How grateful should we be that our God is Beneficent and Powerful! Will you then desert such a Dear One? Will you transgress His limits for the sake of your unholy selves? It is better for us to die seeking His pleasure than to continue living impure lives.
[Ayyam-us-Sulh, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 14, pp. 341-342]
O my friends! O my dear people! O ye the flourishing branches of the tree of my being, who enjoy the mercy of God Almighty for having entered into the covenant of Bai‘at with me, and are devoting your lives, your comfort and your properties to this cause! Though I am aware that you will deem it your good fortune to do whatever I say to the best of your abilities, I do not desire to lay down anything by myself as an obligation upon you, so that your service should not be the result of my directive, but should proceed out of your own free will. Who is my friend and who is dear to me? Who is it that recognizes me? Only he who believes that I am one commissioned by God and accepts me as such people ought to be accepted. The world cannot accept me because I am not of the world, but those whose nature has been invested with a portion of the other world accept me and will continue to accept me. He who turns away from me turns away from Him Who has sent me, and he who establishes a relationship with me, establishes a relationship with Him from Whom I have come. I hold a lamp in my hand. He who comes to me will surely partake of its light, but he who turns away, out of suspicion and ill-will, will be cast into the darkness. I am the citadel of security for this age. He who enters in it will become secure against thieves, robbers and wild beasts. But he who seeks to remain away from my walls will be confronted with death from every side and even his dead body will not be in peace. Who is it who enters my citadel? Only he who discards evil and adopts piety, and gives up crookedness and treads the path of righteousness, and frees himself from the bondage of Satan and becomes an obedient servant of God Almighty. Everyone who does so, is in me and I am in him. But only he has the power to attain to this status whom God Almighty puts under the protections of the Purifying Self. The Purifying Self puts its foot in the hell of such a one’s ego and it cools down as if there had never been any fire in it. He then marches forward until the spirit of God Almighty dwells in him, and, with a special manifestation, the Lord of the worlds establishes Himself in his heart. His old humanity is then consumed and a new and pure humanity is bestowed on him, and God Almighty too becomes a new God and establishes a new and special relationship with him, and he is provided in this very life with all the pure necessaries of heavenly life.
[Fathe-Islam, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 3, pp. 34-35]
O my Jama‘at, may God Almighty be with you. May that Mighty Benefactor prepare you for the journey to the hereafter as the Companions (ra) of the Holy Prophet (sas) were prepared. Bear in mind that this world is nothing. Cursed is the life which is only for this world and unfortunate is the person all whose grief and sorrow is for the world. If there is such a one in my Jama‘at, it is in vain that he considers himself to be in my Jama‘at, for he is like a dry branch that will not bear fruit.
O fortunate ones! Follow with eagerness the teaching which has been given to me for your salvation. Believe in God as One and without associate, and do not associate anything with Him either in heaven or in the earth. God does not forbid you to employ means but he who turns aside from God and depends entirely upon means is an idolater. God has ever affirmed that there is no salvation without a pure heart, so become pure-hearted and cast aside egoistic rancour and fury. Man’s ego has many impurities but the greatest of all is the filth of arrogance. Had there been no arrogance, no one would have disbelieved. So become meek of heart and have sympathy for all mankind. You preach to them about paradise, but how can your preaching be honest if you should wish them ill in this transient world? Discharge your obligations to God Almighty with fear in your hearts for you will be called to account in respect of them. Supplicate earnestly in your Prayers so that God may draw you to Himself and purify your hearts. Man is weak and sin can only be overcome by the power of God Almighty, and unless one is bestowed power by God, one cannot succeed in overcoming sin. Islam does not teach that you should merely recite the Kalima as a matter of form, rather the reality of Islam is that your souls should fall prostrate at the threshold of God Almighty, and that in every respect you should give preference to God and His commandments over your worldly affairs.
[Tadhkirat-ush-Shahadatain, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 20, p. 63]
My repeated admonition to my Jama‘at is that man’s life is short and transitory. It cannot be depended upon. Before you is a great task. Try by every means that your end should be good.
In trying to achieve a good end, one encounters many obstacles. When a person arrives in the world, the first part of his life passes unconsciously, for he is then a child and has little knowledge. When he arrives at the age of discretion, he enters into another stage in which, though he is not unconscious as he was in his childhood, he is positively overtaken by a condition of unconsciousness, which is caused by the frenzy of youth and passions of Nafs-e-Ammarah64. These cause negligence in these days of awareness and he is so lost in his self as if he were unconscious. Thus these two periods of mans’ life are lost. Then comes the third period when old age overtakes man and, having obtained knowledge, he becomes without knowledge, as it were. His senses and other faculties start declining. Some people, as soon as they enter upon old age, begin to exhibit signs of insanity and seem to have lost all their senses and begin to behave like children. In many families, after the age of sixty or seventy years the senses become useless. Even if that should not be so, there is a decline in the faculties and powers of man, and even in consciousness a person behaves as if he were unconscious, and weakness and listlessness become apparent. Human life is divided into these three periods and each has its own difficulties. Just consider how many obstructions man has to encounter in order to achieve a good end.
[Taqrireiń, pp. 1-2]
As I have often admonished, it is essential that a person should not deliberately push himself into the pit of sin, for that means certain ruin. He who swallows poison knowingly or jumps into a well does not deserve the sympathy of his fellow beings or the mercy of God Almighty. It is therefore necessary, indeed it is essential for [members of] our Jama‘at (which God has chosen as an example for future generations) that they should shun evil companions and friends who are likely to have an ill-effect upon their spirituality. They should devote themselves to piety and should take care that in all their actions and under all circumstances they should be a guiding example for others. For this purpose, they should devise every necessary scheme to shun evil company and sinful habits. Bear in mind that to pursue plans for the acquisition of righteousness and goodness is also a subtle form of worship. Do not hold it of little account. When a person occupies himself with such an effort, it is God’s way that He opens a path for him which secures him against sin. But he who makes no plan to avoid sin and to do good, would seem to be content with sin. God Almighty withdraws from such a one and it becomes impossible for him to discard sin. I tell you truly that when a person, despite being caught in the wiles of his Nafs-e-Ammarah65 constantly plans to get rid of it, then, by the grace and mercy of God Almighty, his evil-directing Self liberates itself from its evil direction and becomes Nafs-e-Lawwamah66 and undergoes such a remarkable change that from being Nafs-e-Ammarah, which was accursed, the Self now achieves such honour that even God Almighty calls it to witness.
[Taqrireiń, pp. 5-6]
O ye people who consider yourselves members of my Jama‘at! you will be accounted as such in heaven when you truly tread upon the path of righteousness. So offer the five daily prayers in such fear and with such complete attention as if you are actually beholding God Almighty. Observe your Fasts in full sincerity for the sake of God. Let everyone who is assessable to Zakat, pay the Zakat. Let him upon whom the Pilgrimage is obligatory and there is no obstruction in his way, perform the Pilgrimage. Do good in a handsome way and discard vice with disgust. Bear well in mind that no action of yours which is empty of righteousness can reach God Almighty. Righteousness is the root of all goodness. No action that is rooted in righteousness will go in vain. It is inevitable that you should also be tried with all kinds of anguish and misfortune, just as the faithful before you were tried. Be alert, therefore, lest you should stumble. So long as you have a firm relationship with Heaven, the earth can do you no harm. Whenever harm befalls you, it will be through your own hands and not through your enemy. Even if you lose all honour on earth, God will bestow eternal honour upon you in heaven. So do not leave Him.
It is inevitable that you will be persecuted and will suffer many disappointments, but do not lose heart in such situations for it is your God Who tries you whether you are steadfast in His cause or not. If you desire that angels should praise you in heaven, then endure beating and be joyful, hear abuses and be grateful, experience failure and do not sever your relationship with God.
You are the last Jama‘at of God, so practice virtue at its best. Everyone of you who becomes slothful will be cast out of the Jama‘at like a foul thing and will die in regret and will be able to do no harm to God. I am very glad to inform you that your God truly exists. All are His creatures but He chooses the one who chooses Him. He comes to the one who goes to Him. He bestows honour upon him who honours Him. Approach Him with straight hearts and pure tongues and eyes and ears; He will then accept you. What God desires from you by way of faith is that He is One and Muhammad (sas) is His Prophet and that he is Khatam-ul-Ańbiya’ [Seal of the Prophets] and above all the other Prophets (as). There is no Prophet after him except one who, by way of reflection, is clad in the mantle of Muhammadiyyat, for a servant cannot be considered separate from his master, nor a branch from the trunk.
[Kashti-e-Nuh, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 19, pp. 15-16]
A true Muslim loves God Almighty dear, saying and believing that He is my Beloved and Master and Creator and Benefactor. Therefore, he places his head at His threshold. If a true Muslim is told that he will receive nothing in return for his good deeds, that there is no heaven and no hell, and no comfort and no delight, he would still not give up his righteous deeds and his love for the Divine. This is because all his worship, his relationship with God Almighty and his obedience to Him and his losing himself in submission to Him is not because he expects any reward or punishment. He regards his own being as something which has been created solely for the recognition of God Almighty and for His love and obedience and for no other purpose whatsoever. When he employs his faculties to achieve this purpose, he beholds the countenance of his True Beloved. He does not look solely towards heaven or hell. Let me say that if I were to be told that in return for my love of God Almighty and for my obedience to Him I would be subjected to the severest torments, I can affirm on oath that such is my nature that it would be prepared to endure all these pains and torments with the eagerness that comes of love. Despite the certainty of pain and torment that might be meted out to me, I would regard going one step outside the obedience of God as worse than a thousand, rather countless deaths, or a host of calamities.
[Malfuzat, Vol. 3, pp. 182-183]
It is incumbent upon the members of our Jama‘at that they should now adopt the ways of righteousness and should try to become Allah’s friends. Today earthly resources will not avail, nor will your schemes or excuses be of any use. Why should you love the world, and why should you depend upon it? It is more than enough that one should make peace with God Almighty and now is the time for it. They should take advantage of this opportunity to make their peace with God through Himself. There are many illnesses which operate as go-betweens and lead man to God. The members of our Jama‘at should carry out in one stroke the change that they would otherwise have achieved in ten years. They have no other place of refuge. If they supplicate God Almighty, relying fully upon Him, they will surely receive glad tidings from Him and peace and tranquillity will descend upon them just as it descended upon the Companions (ra) of the Holy Prophet (sas). The Companions (ra) did not know what would happen, but they were sure in their hearts that God Almighty would not let them be destroyed. This feeling of assurance is the source of tranquillity. If I were to be afflicted with the plague and my life seemed to be coming to an end, I would still never imagine that I would be destroyed. Why? It is because of my strong relationship with God. This is a God-given opportunity for you to reform yourselves. Wake up in the nights and occupy yourselves with prayers and also rest awhile. But he who is slothful is doing great wrong to his progeny and his family, for he is like the root and they are his branches.
Some trial is inevitable, as is written:
In Mecca, the Holy Prophet (sas) was being given tidings of victory while even his own life was not secure. Only God knows what would have happened if it was not the heart of a Prophet that sustained him. Some trials are sent only to bring about a change. Our own practical example should also be such as to induce positive change in others. The change should be such that the person concerned should feel that he is not the same as before, rather he should become a totally different person. Win the pleasure of God Almighty now so that you might receive glad tidings. While writing yesterday, I came across an old revelation:
‘Those who adhere to good’ means the ones who furnish practical proof of their sincerity. The faith that is confined to the tongue is no good. The Companions of the Holy Prophet (sas) proved their sincerity by being ever ready to lay down their lives and even the lives of their children. Today if we ask someone to travel a hundred miles, he puts forth all sorts of excuses with regard to his preoccupations with his business or some matter of honour and prestige, so that he may not have to undertake the journey. But the Companions (ra) attached not the least importance to their lives, their properties or their honour and prestige.
Some people complain that even though they have entered into the covenant of Bai‘at, they have had to endure such and such hardships. I have repeatedly admonished our Jama‘at that mere verbal affirmation and mere Bai‘at is of no use. What is required is that they should lose themselves in God and take on a new existence. Nowhere in the entire Qur’an are we asked to merely believe. Everywhere, we are called upon to prove our faith with righteous actions. In short, God requires from us a death. It is my experience that God never imposes two deaths upon a believer, one for His sake and one for the abuse and derision of the world. At this critical juncture, our Jama‘at should realize its responsibility and become straight like an arrow. Should thousands die of the plague, I would never blame God and would only affirm that it is they who have departed from the path of righteousness.
[Malfuzat, Vol. 4, pp. 279-281]
Partake of the Holy Spirit through sympathy and purification of your selves, for true righteousness cannot be achieved without the Holy Spirit. Leaving all carnal passions, adopt, for the sake of winning the pleasure of God, the path narrow than which there should no other. Do not be infatuated with the pleasures of the world, for they estrange man from God. Adopt a life of hardship for the sake of God. The pain with which God is pleased is better than the pleasure which displeases Him. The defeat which pleases God is better than the victory which should become the occasion of His wrath. Give up the love which brings you close to God’s fury. If you come to Him with a pure heart, He will help you in every situation and no enemy will be able to harm you. You cannot win the pleasure of God except by giving up your own pleasure, your joy, your honour, your property and your life, and enduring for His sake such bitterness as should bring you virtually face to face with death. If you will endure bitterness, you will be taken up into the lap of God like a dear child and you will become heirs to the righteous ones who have passed before you, and the doors of every bounty will be opened for you. But few are such people. God has addressed me and said that righteousness is the tree that should be planted in the heart. The water that nourishes it irrigates the whole garden. Righteousness is a root without which nothing is of any value, but if this root flourishes, everything flourishes. What shall it profit a man to claim by word of mouth that he is seeking God, when he does not step forth with sincerity? Reflect, for I tell you truly that the person who pollutes his faith with the least desire for the world will be ruined. Hell is very close to him all whose designs are not for God, but some are for God and others are for the world. If you have the least amalgamation of the world in your objectives, all your worship is in vain. In such a case, you do not follow God but Satan, and you should never expect God to help you, for you would be like an insect of the earth, and within a few days you would be destroyed like an insect. God will not be in you. Indeed, it will please Him to destroy you. If you truly impose a death upon yourself, then you will appear in God and God will be with you. The house wherein you dwell will be blessed, and God’s mercy will descend on the walls of your house, and the city wherein you reside will be hallowed. If your life and your death and your every movement and your mildness and your wrath will become solely for the sake of God, and you will not seek to try God at the time of every hardship and misfortune, and will not cut asunder from Him but will ever go forward, then I tell you truly that you will become a chosen people of God. You are human beings as I am, and my God is your God. Do not waste your pure faculties. If you will lean wholly towards God, then I tell you, according to God’s will, that you will become an exalted people of God. Let the greatness of God be established in your hearts, and affirm His Unity not only with the tongue but also in practice, so that God too should practically manifest His grace and beneficence for you. Shun all rancour and have true sympathy with mankind. Adopt every way of goodness, for you do not know by which way you may be accepted.
I give you the glad tiding that the realm of achieving nearness to God is empty. All people have fallen in love with the world and no one pays attention to that which would please God. Those who wish to enter through this door with full eagerness, have the opportunity to prove their mettle and to be bestowed special favour from God.
[Al-Wasiyyat, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 20, pp. 307-309]
Remember that true and pure morals are the miracles of the righteous in which they have no equal. Those who are not lost in God are not bestowed strength from above. They cannot, therefore, acquire the pure morals. Establish a pure and straightforward relationship with God. Discard all mockery, derision, rancour, abuse, greed, falsehood, unchastity, casting evil-glances, sinful thoughts, world-worship, arrogance, pride, self-love, mischief, and vain talk. You will then be bestowed everything from heaven. Until you are strengthened by the heavenly power which should lift you up, and until the Holy Spirit which bestows life enters you, you are very weak and are in darkness. In fact, you are dead and devoid of all life. In such a case, you cannot contend against any misfortune nor can you escape arrogance and pride when in a position of eminence and wealth, and you are overcome by Satan and your own ego in all respects. Your only effective remedy is that the Holy Spirit, which specially descends from the hand of God, should turn your faces towards virtue and righteousness. Become the children of heaven and not the children of earth. And become the heirs of light, not the lovers of darkness, so that you might escape the highways of Satan. Satan is ever concerned with the night and not with the day, for he is an old thief and steps forth in the darkness.
[Kashti-e-Nuh, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 19, p. 45]
Dear people! you are living during a time which had been foretold by all the Prophets (as) and you have seen the person—i.e., the Promised Messiah—whom many Prophets had desired to see. Hence, fortify your faiths, and set right your paths, and purify your hearts and win the pleasure of your Lord. Friends! you are in this temporary abode but for a few days, and you must remember your ultimate abode. Every year some of your friends depart from you, and soon it will be you departing from your friends. So be alert and let not the poison of this corrupt age affect you. Cleanse your morals, purge yourselves of rancour, malice and pride, and display moral miracles to the world.
[Arba‘in, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 17, pp. 442-443]
Remember that a righteous believer entertains no evil in his heart. The more he advances in righteousness, the more he dislikes punishing and chastising others. A Muslim can never entertain rancour, while other people are so full of rancour that they never put it out of their hearts and they ever strive to avenge themselves. We know how our opponents have treated us. They have subjected us to every pain and difficulty within their power. Yet we are ready to forgive them their thousands of mischievous deeds. You who have established a relationship with me, must remember that you must have sympathy for every person of whatever religion he might be, and that you should do good without distinction of caste and creed.
[Taqrirein, p. 29]
It is our principle to have sympathy for the whole of mankind. If a person sees that fire has broken out in the house of a Hindu neighbour and he does not get up to help put it out, I tell you truly that he is not of me. If one of my followers sees a Christian being killed and he does not go to rescue him, I tell you very truly that he is not of us … I say it on oath and in truth that I have no enmity with any people. I do however desire, as far as possible, to reform their beliefs. If anyone abuses me, I refer my plaint to God and not to any other court. Despite all this, it is our obligation to have sympathy with the whole of mankind.
[Siraj-e-Munir, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 12, p. 28]
I particularly wish to admonish my Jama‘at, who believe in me as the Promised Messiah, that they should eschew these impure habits. Since God has sent me as the Promised Messiah and has clothed me in the garb of Jesus son of Mary (as), I admonish you to shun mischief and be sympathetic towards mankind. Cleanse your hearts of all ill-will and rancour. By so doing you will become like angels. Dirty and impure is the creed which does not inculcate sympathy for mankind. How impure is the path which is studded with the thorns of prejudice? You, who are with me, should avoid being such. You should reflect as to what, after all, is to be gained from religion? It is surely not that you should be bent upon inflicting pain on mankind. The purpose of religion is to acquire the life which is lived in God. That life has never been acquired and cannot be acquired except through developing Divine attributes in oneself. Have mercy on everyone for the sake of God so that you might receive mercy from heaven. Come, let me show you the path by following which your light shall prevail over all lights. This path is that you should give up all rancour and envy, be sympathetic to mankind, and lose the self wholly in God, and thereby acquire purity of the highest order. This is how miracles are worked and prayers are heard and angels descend to help. But this is not something you can achieve in a day. You must march on and on. Learn a lesson from the washer-man who first boils dirty clothes over a furnace and continues this process until the fire separates all dirt and filth from the clothes. Then he gets up early next morning and carries the laundry to the water and after wetting the clothes strikes them repeatedly against smooth stones until the dirt, which had stuck to the clothes and had become part of the laundry, begins to depart. As a result of both the boiling and being beaten against stones, the clothes become as white as new. This is also the way of cleansing the human self. Your salvation depends entirely upon acquiring this pristine whiteness. This is what God Almighty says in the Holy Qur’an:
[Government Angrezi aur Jihad, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 17, pp. 14-15]
So long as a person does not set right his affair with God Almighty in every situation and does not discharge fully the two kinds of obligations that he owes, he cannot achieve his purpose. As I have mentioned, obligations are of two kinds: those due to Allah, and those due to His creatures. The latter are of two kinds: those that are owed to brethren in faith— whether they are related as father, son, or brother, they are still brothers in faith—and the other obligation is to mankind in general, by way of true sympathy.
The principal obligation due to God Almighty is that He should be worshipped and this worship should have no personal objective. Even if there were no heaven and no hell, this worship should be carried on, and it should make no difference to the personal love which creatures should bear to their Creator. Thus heaven and hell should be irrelevant with reference to the obligations due to Allah.
As regards sympathy with mankind, it is my belief that until one prays for one’s enemy, one’s mind cannot by wholly cleansed. God in His injunctions:
has not placed any restriction that He will not accept a prayer in respect of an enemy. I believe that to pray for an enemy was also the practice of the Holy Prophet (sas). It was as a result of such a prayer that Hazrat ‘Umar (ra) became a Muslim. The Holy Prophet (sas) had often supplicated in respect of him. One should not harbour personal enmity with anyone based on miserliness, nor should one be cruel. I am grateful to God that I cannot recall even one among my enemies for whom I have not prayed at least two or three times. This is what I also ask of you and teach you. God Almighty is as averse to anyone being persecuted and being unjustly treated with animosity out of sheer obduracy, as He is to someone being associated with Him. In one relationship, He does not desire cutting asunder; and in the other, He does not desire association. He does not desire that mankind should cut asunder from each other and He does not desire that anyone should be associated with Him. This is the channel that opens for us the ways of praying for those who deny us. Thereby one’s mind is cleansed and broadened and one’s resolve becomes fortified. Until our Jama‘at adopts this attitude, there will be little distinction between them and others. I deem it necessary that when a person befriends another for the sake of faith, he should treat the relatives of his friend with love and kindness, even if any of them should be of a low status. It is an attribute of God that:
You, who have established a relationship with me, should become a people concerning whom it has been said:
i.e., they are such that whosoever keeps company with them will not encounter misfortune. This is the purport of the teaching presented in the saying:
[Malfuzat, Vol. 3, pp. 96-97]
Today I have seen an announcement published the Chashma Nur Press, Amritsar, by the Arya Samaj of Qadian and bearing the date of 7th February 1903. It is headed: Kadyani Pope Ke Cheiloń ki eik Ding ka Jawab74. In this announcement, our lord and master, the Honourable Messenger of Allah (sas) and myself and my respected friends have been reviled in such harsh terms that my heart shrank from addressing a reply to such people. But God Almighty, through specific revelation, has commanded me: ‘Write a reply. I am with you in preparing it.’ I was much comforted by the glad tiding that I was not to be alone in this task. So, having been bestowed the strength from God, I got up and composed this booklet with the support of His spirit. God supported me in my design that I should overlook the abuse which had been heaped upon my master the Holy Prophet (sas) and upon me and should compose a gentle answer and then commit the whole matter to God Almighty.
But before I proceed to write a reply to the announcement, I would advise the members of my Jama‘at to endure with patience the harsh language which the publishers of the handbill and their associates have employed for the purpose of causing pain to us and blaspheming our Holy Prophet (sas), and the language that they have employed concerning me, calling me a cheat and a liar and a perfidious one, and their calling the members of my Jama‘at swine, dogs, devourers of carrion, donkeys and apes and dubbing them as Malich [unclean]. I realize fully the provocation and incitation which a person feels when he finds not only himself but his Prophet and Leader and Imam insulted and are referred to with contempt. But I say that if you will not endure all this abuse and foul language steadfastly, then what will be the difference between you and others? After all you have not been called upon to endure something which none before you have experienced. Every true dispensation that was established in the world has always been the victim of the world’s enmity. As you are the heirs of truth, you are bound to be treated with enmity. Then be warned and let not your egos prevail over you. Endure every harshness and reply gently to all abuse so that you may be rewarded in heaven.
Do not use harsh language concerning the Rishis and elders of the Aryas lest they should revile God, the Holy, and His Holy Messenger (sas). As they are not endowed with true understanding, they would not realize whom they are reviling. Bear in mind that a person who is liable to be carried away by egoistic passions is not one whose lips can utter words of wisdom and understanding. Everything that such a one says is full of poisonous germs and nothing else. If you wish to speak under the instruction of the Holy Spirit, then cast out all egoistic passions and fury, then your lips will set forth the mysteries of pure and true knowledge, and in heaven you will be accounted something that is beneficial for the world and you will have long lives. Do not deride and do not indulge in mockery. Your speech should betray no meanness or ribaldry so that the fountain of wisdom may be opened for you. Wise words conquer hearts. Ridicule and use of vulgar language promotes disorder. As far as possible, put forth the truth in gentle language so that the listeners are not hurt. He who does not reflect on the reality and, being prompted by his rebellious spirit, uses vulgar language and designs mischief, is unholy. The way to God is never opened for him, nor do the words of wisdom and truth issue from his mouth. If you desire that the way to God should be opened to you, then keep away from egoistic passions and do not indulge in playful discussions for they amount to nothing and are a waste of time. Do not return evil for evil, neither in word nor in deed so that God should support you. You should present the truth to people with a compassionate heart and not by way of mockery and derision. Dead is the heart that makes mockery and derision its practice, and impure is the soul which does not adopt the way of wisdom and truth, nor does it let others do so. If you wish to inherit pure knowledge, do not utter anything out of anger, for such a thing would be empty of wisdom and true understanding. Do not be persuaded to reply to your opponent in contemptuous and derisive terms as employed by the mean and the low and the vulgar. Return a true and wise answer out of the righteousness of your heart, so that you may become heirs to heavenly mysteries.
[Nasim-e-Da‘wat, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 19, pp. 363-366]
Be happy and jump for joy that God is with you. If you stand firm upon the truth and faith, angels will teach you, heavenly comfort will descend upon you and you will be helped through the Holy Spirit. God will be with you at every step and no one will be able to prevail over you. Wait patiently for the grace of God. Hear abuse and keep silent, submit to being beaten and remain steadfast. Refrain, as far as possible, from challenging evil so that you may be accepted in heaven. Bear in mind that God is with those who fear Him and whose hearts melt in awe of Him. He becomes the enemy of their enemies. The world does not even look at a righteous one but God, Who is All-Knowing and All-Aware, watches him and safeguards him with His Own hand. Do you not love a person who loves you truly and is prepared to lay down his life for you, and does as you wish, and leaves everyone else for your sake? Do you not hold such a one as dearer than any other? So while you, being men, return love for love, will not God do the same? He knows well who is His faithful friend and who is treacherous and prefers the world to Him. If you will become truly faithful, God’s hand will establish a distinction between you and others.
[Tadhkirat-ush-Shahadatain, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 20, p. 68]
Here I consider it necessary to say that not all those who have entered into the covenant of Bai‘at with me are such that I could express a positive opinion about them. I view some of them as dry branches whom my God, Who is my Guardian, will cut off from me and cast into the firewood. There are some who were sincere in the beginning and possessed anguished hearts, but now they are greatly constricted and no longer exhibit the eager sincerity and light of loving discipleship. Like Bal‘am they are only left with their cunning and, like a rotten tooth, they deserve only to be pulled out and cast underfoot. They have become tired and fatigued and this worthless world has caught them in its fraudulent trap. I tell you truly that they will soon be cut asunder from me, except such of them whom the hand of God Almighty should take hold of afresh. Still, there are many whom God has given me forever and they are the flourishing branches of the tree of my being.
[Fathe-Islam, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 3, p. 40]
Though I am grateful to God Almighty for such good friends, yet it is a part of my faith that even if there remains not a single person with me and all of them go their way leaving me alone, I would still have no fear. I know that God Almighty is with me. Even if I am trampled underfoot and crushed and become less than a particle, and experience persecution and abuse and curses from every direction, still I shall ultimately be victorious. No one knows me, but He is with me. I cannot be destroyed. Vain are the efforts of my enemies and useless are the designs of the envious ones.
O ye foolish and blind ones! was there ever a righteous one before me who was ruined so that I should be ruined? Was there ever a truly faithful one who was destroyed by God in humiliation, so that He should destroy me? Listen carefully and remember that my soul is not liable to destruction and that my nature is not prone to failure. I have been bestowed such courage and veracity against which mountains are as nothing. I am not afraid of anyone. I was alone and was not unhappy at being alone. Will God then desert me? Never. Will He destroy me? Never. My enemies will be humiliated and those envious of me will be put to shame, and God will bestow victory upon His servant in every field. I am with Him and He is with me. Nothing can break our relationship. I swear by His honour and glory that I hold nothing dearer in this world and in the hereafter, than that the greatness of His religion may be manifested, His glory may shine forth and His Word may be exalted. By His grace, I am not afraid of any trial, even if I am confronted not with one but with ten million trials. I have been bestowed strength in the field of trials and in the jungle of agonizing persecutions.
He who does not wish to follow me is free to leave me. I do not know how many terrible and thorny deserts I may yet have to traverse. Why do those who are tender-footed put themselves to trouble with me?
Those who are mine cannot depart from me, neither on account of misfortune, nor in consequence of the vilification by people, nor through heavenly trials and tribulations. Those who are not mine, vain are their affirmations of friendship, for they will soon be separated from me and their last state will be worse than their first. Shall we be afraid of earthquakes? Shall we become frightened by trials in the cause of God Almighty? Can we be separated by any trial which comes from our Beloved God? Certainly not, but even this can only be through His grace and mercy. Those who wish to leave me are free to do so, we bid them farewell. But they should remember that after thinking ill and cutting asunder if they should at any time again incline towards me, such inclination would not receive such honour from God as is bestowed upon the faithful, for the stain of ill-thinking and treachery is a colossal stain.
[Anwar-ul-Islam, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 9, pp. 23-24]
I pray earnestly that all members of my Jama‘at should be such as fear God Almighty and are constant in Prayer; they get up at night and fall down before God and supplicate, and discharge their obligations to Him, and are not avaricious, or miserly, or heedless, or worms of the earth. I hope that God Almighty will accept my prayers and will show me that I am leaving such people behind. But those whose eyes commit adultery and whose hearts are filthier than excrement and who do not remember death, I and my God are disgusted with such people. I would be greatly pleased if such people were to leave me, for God desires to make this Jama‘at a model for people to remind them of God. They should be established at the highest level of righteousness and purity and should, in practice and truth, give preference to their faith above the world. But those wicked ones who, having placed their hand under my hand, and having professed that they will give their faith precedence over the world, return to their homes and so occupy themselves with worldly matters that the world becomes their heart and soul, and their glances remain impure as do their hearts, and no good comes from their hands, nor do they move their feet for the achieving of any good; they are like rats who are nurtured in darkness and dwell in darkness and die in darkness. In heaven, they have been cut off from our Jama‘at. Vain is their assertion that they are members of this Jama‘at, for in heaven they are not accounted as such. He who does not comply with my admonition, and does not in truth give preference to his faith above the world, and does not bring about a pure change in his life, and does not become truly purehearted and pure-intentioned, and does not cast aside the garment of impurity and unchastity, and does not sympathize with mankind, and does not become truly obedient to God, and does not follow me abandoning his own impulses, is like a dog who cannot keep away from the place where dead bodies are thrown and carrion is to be found. Do I need people merely to profess with their tongues that they are with me, so that I should have a large Jama‘at for show? I tell you truly that if all people were to abandon me, and not one of them was to remain with me, my God would create another people for me who will be better than them in their sincerity and loyalty. It is a heavenly attraction that is drawing good-hearted people towards me, and no one can obstruct this heavenly attraction. Some people rely more upon their own cunning and deceit than upon God. Perhaps, in their hearts, they secretly entertain the notion that all Prophethood and Messengership is pretence and it is only by chance that such people acquire fame and acceptance. There cannot be a concept more corrupt. He who entertains it has no faith in God, without Whose determination not a leaf falls. Accursed are such hearts and accursed are such dispositions. God will destroy them in humiliation, for they are the enemies of God’s designs. Such people are in fact atheists and possess impure hearts. They live a cursed life and after death they can look forward to nothing but the fire of hell.
[Majmu‘ah Ishtiharat, Vol. 3, pp. 503-505]
I myself have full experience in this regard, and it is purely by the grace and beneficence of God Almighty that I have enjoyed this delight and pleasure. My only desire is that I should devote my life in His path, should die in His path and be revived again and again to serve Him. Each time my eagerness and delight would be multiplied.
Since I have myself experienced it, if I were to be told by God Almighty that there is no merit and no benefit in such dedication and that all will be pain and misery, even then I would not desist from serving Islam. I, therefore, consider it my duty to advise and convey this to my Jama‘at. It is up to them to lend ear to it or not. If anyone seeks salvation and is searching for a pure and immortal life, then let him devote his life for the sake of God. Let everyone strive to attain the status where he can say that his life and his death, his sacrifices and his prayers are all truly for the sake of Allah. Like Abraham (as), his soul should cry out:
So long as a person is not lost in God and does not die for His sake, he cannot acquire new life.
You who have established a relationship with me can perceive that the real purpose of my life is to devote myself in the path of God. Now look into yourselves and see how many are there who would choose this path for themselves and would love to devote their lives to the service of God.
[Malfuzat, Vol. 2, pp. 99-100]
The name which is appropriate for this Movement and which I prefer for myself and for my Jama‘at is Musalman Firqah Ahmadiyya77. It would also be appropriate to call it Muslims of the Ahmadi faith … I have chosen this name because the Holy Prophet (sas) had two names, Muhammad and Ahmad (sas). The name ‘Muhammad’ contained an implicit prophecy that the Holy Prophet (sas) would punish with the sword such enemies who would have attacked Islam with the sword and slaughtered hundreds of Muslims. But the name ‘Ahmad’ represented his beauty, which indicated that he would spread peace and harmony in the world. God so arranged the life of the Holy Prophet (sas) that his Meccan life was a manifestation of his name Ahmad and the Muslims were taught steadfastness and endurance, while in his life in Medina, his name Muhammad was manifested, and God in His wisdom decided to chastise the enemy. But there was a prophecy that the name Ahmad would be manifested again in the latter days and that a person would appear through whom the qualities of beauty, which characterized Ahmad, would be manifested, and all fighting would come to an end. For this reason, it has been considered appropriate that the name of this sect should be the Ahmadiyya Sect, so that everyone hearing this name should realize that this sect has come into being for the spread of peace and harmony and that it would have nothing to do with war and fighting.
[Majmu‘ah Ishtiharat, Vol. 3, pp. 364-366]
Names like Hanafi, Shafi‘i, which people have appointed for themselves, are all innovations. The Holy Prophet (sas) had only two names, Muhammad and Ahmad (sas) … Moses (as) described the Holy Prophet (sas) as Muhammad (sas), for Moses (as) himself was a manifestation of glory. Jesus (as) described the Holy Prophet (sas) as Ahmad (sas), for he himself was a manifestation of beauty. Since our community has been established for the manifestation of beauty and harmony, it has been named Ahmadi.
[Malfuzat, Vol. 2, p. 208]
The best way of holding religious discussions is not to criticize a religion foolishly but to put forward one’s objections respectfully on the basis of the accepted and authentic books and writings of that religion. There should be no mockery or derision or insult and all discussion should be conducted wisely. Nor should such objections be raised against a religion with regard to which the objector’s own faith is open to criticism … Every research scholar can put forward objections pointing out the mistakes of doctrine of any sect in a reasonable and respectful manner. An effort should be made that all objections should be of a scholarly nature so that people may benefit from them, and it should not create any disorder or provocation.
[Kitab-ul-Bariyyah, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 13, pp. 15-16]
I consider Maulavis who are opposed to the acquisition of modern knowledge to be in error. They, in fact, do so to cover up their own errors and weakness. They have convinced themselves that research into modern sciences leads to error and alienates a person from Islam. They seem to hold that reason and science are totally inconsistent with Islam. As they have not the capacity to expose the weaknesses of philosophy, they seek to cover up their own shortcomings by propounding that it is not permissible to acquire modern education. Their souls tremble before philosophy and prostrate themselves before new research. They have not been bestowed the true philosophy which is born of Divine revelation and of which the Holy Qur’an is full to the brim. This philosophy is bestowed only upon those who prostrate themselves at the threshold of God Almighty with extreme humility and self-negation, whose minds and hearts exclude all putridity of pride and who, confessing their weaknesses, implore and affirm humbly that they are the true servants of the Divine.
For the service of the faith and for upholding the Word of Allah, it is essential that you study the modern sciences, and study them diligently. I must, however, warn that it is within my experience that those who pursued this study one-sidedly and were so taken up by it that they had no opportunity of keeping company with anyone who loved God and remembered Him, and who did not themselves possess inner divine light, such people have generally stumbled and turned away from Islam. Instead of subordinating their learning to Islam, they embarked upon a vain effort to subordinate Islam to modern sciences and, in their own estimation, acquired the monopoly of religious and national service. Remember, however, that he alone is capable of performing religious service who is guided by heavenly light.
[Malfuzat, Vol. 1, pp. 68-69]
I wish to admonish the members of my Jama‘at that they should learn Arabic, for without it they cannot appreciate the Holy Qur’an. In order to understand the Qur’an, it is necessary and proper that they should make some effort to learn Arabic. In these days, many easy methods have become available for learning Arabic. It is the duty of every Muslim to study the Holy Qur’an. It does not therefore become a person to pay no attention to the learning of Arabic, while his whole life is devoted to the learning of English and other languages.
[Malfuzat, Vol. 1, p. 297]
I categorically forbid the members of my Jama‘at, wherever they might be, from participating in debates, disputes and confrontations. If they happen to hear something disagreeable, they should overlook it. I say with confidence and full faith that a great preparation is afoot in heaven in our support. We have conveyed the message to the people in full measure and from every point of view. Now God Almighty will carry out His design which He always does after the message has been fully conveyed. I fear that if the members of our Jama‘at should not refrain from harsh language and purposeless discussions, the heavenly design might be delayed or obstructed, for it has ever been the way of God Almighty that His chastisement overtakes those upon whom He has bestowed innumerable favours and bounties, and to whom He has exhibited His signs. He pays no attention by way of chastisement or admonition or reproach to those against whom His final decree is yet to issue. In the Holy Qur’an, the Holy Prophet (sas) was addressed:
This admonition was made because the Holy Prophet (sas) sought a quick decision with regard to the disbelievers, while God Almighty, having regard to His purpose and His ways, proceeded slowly and gently. But in the end He crushed and ground down the enemies of the Holy Prophet (sas) in such a way that all traces of them disappeared. In the same way, it is possible that hearing abuse and impostures and vilifications of all kinds directed against this truthful Jama‘at, some of its members might become impatient and might desire the hasty chastisement of the enemy, but they should always keep in mind the way of God Almighty which He adopted with regard to the Holy Prophet (sas). Therefore, I direct you repeatedly and emphatically to keep away from all occasions of disorder and dissent, because the task that you desire to accomplish—i.e., to fully convey the message to your opponents—has now been taken by God Almighty in His Own hand.
Your task now should be to occupy yourselves with prayers, seeking forgiveness, worshipping God, and the purification and cleansing of your souls. Thus make yourselves deserving of the favours and attention of God Almighty which He has promised. Though God Almighty has made me great promises, and there are many great prophecies which I am sure will be fulfilled, yet you should take no pride in them. Avoid every kind of jealousy, envy, rancour, backbiting, arrogance, pride, all overt and covert ways of evil and vice, sloth and heedlessness. Remember well that the good end is always for the righteous, as God Almighty has said:
Therefore, be concerned to become righteous.
[Malfuzat, Vol. 3, pp. 282-283]
One day you will be brought face to face with death.
No plan can succeed against the decree of God.
You will have to leave this mortal world one day,
Everyone is powerless before the command of God.
You have to carry on faithfully O man,
In face of grief and sorrow, in disappointment and pain, and faced with calamity.
Despair not from God Who resolves all difficulties.
Difficulties amount to nothing for Him Who relieves all difficulties.
Humble human beings cannot fulfil thy needs,
Lay thy needs before Him Who has power to meet all needs.
Wipe out from thy heart all trace of a second one,
Prostrate thyself before the Master of the heaven and the earth alone.
Hate vice and love virtue,
Remember that one day you too have to present yourself before God.
In confrontation with Truth, how can falsehood flourish?
What value has a stone compared to a priceless ruby?
[Durr-e-Thamin as quoted from Alfadl 13 January 1928]
1 I commit my affair to Allah, and Allah is well-aware of His servants. [Translator]
2 By the time the antidote is brought from Iraq, the snake-bitten one would die. [Translator]
3 Follow not that of which thou hast no knowledge. Verily, the ear and the eye and the heart; all these shall be called to account.—Bani Isra’il, 17:37 [Publisher]
4 What has happened to us that we see not the men whom we used to reckon among the wicked?—Sad, 38:63 [Publisher]
5 Whoso is blind in this world will be blind in the hereafter.—Bani Isra’il, 17:73 [Publisher]
6 He will be exalted over some of the Prophets (as). [Publisher]
7 This is for the world, and we shall contend after death. [Publisher]
8 Al-Nur 24:36 [Publisher]
9 Al-Fatihah, 1:5 [Publisher]
10 Al-Fatihah 1:6-7 [Publisher]
11 O thou who are caught in thy desires during thy whole life, how can thou expect help from Him while thy soul is in such darkness.
If you will practise such sincerity as was practised by Moses (as), it would not be a matter for wonder if a Pharaoh should be drowned. [Publisher]
12 And among others from among them who have not yet joined them.—Al-Jumu‘ah, 62:4 [Publisher]
13 Had faith ascended to the Pleiades, it would be brought down by a man from among the Persians. [Publisher]
14 Aal-e-‘Imran, 3:111 [Publisher]
15 Al-Nur 24:56 [Publisher]
16 This is false, and everything that leads to a false conclusion is false. [Translator]
17 As He made Successors from among those who were before them.—Al-Nur, 24:56 [Publisher]
18 As We sent a Messenger to Pharaoh.—Al-Muzzammil, 73:16 [Publisher]
19 That He may see how you act.—Al-A‘raf, 7:130 [Publisher]
20 That We might see how you would act.—Yunus, 10:15 [Publisher]
21 Those who have not incurred Thy displeasure.—Al-Fatihah, 1:7 [Publisher]
22 Those who have not incurred Thy displeasure.—Al-Fatihah, 1:7 [Publisher]
23 Al–Hijr 15:10 [Publisher]
24 Signs will appear after two centuries. [Translator]
25 It will be in the latter days when tribulations will abound and the age will be approaching its end. [Publisher]
26 Al-Qiyamah, 75:10 [Publisher]
27 Al-Takwir, 81:5 [Publisher]
28 Al-Infitar, 82:4 [Publisher]
29 Al-Infitar, 82:3 [Publisher]
30 Al-Infitar, 82:2 [Publisher]
31 Al-Takwir, 81:2 [Publisher]
32 Al-Takwir, 81:4 [Publisher]
33 Al-Takwir, 81:6 [Publisher]
34 Al-Takwir, 81:8 [Publisher]
35 Al-Takwir, 81:11 [Publisher]
36 Al-Takwir, 81:3 [Publisher]
37 Al-Inshiqaq, 84:2 [Publisher]
38 Al-Mursalat 77:12 [Publisher]
39 Al-Muzzammil, 73:16 [Publisher]
40 Those who have not incurred Thy displeasure.— Al-Fatihah, 1:7 [Publisher]
41 In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. We praise Him and call down His blessings on His Noble Messenger (sas). [Publisher]
42 Religious leaders. [Publisher]
43 Dear ones, I put you on oath a hundred times in the name of the Lord of the universe and in the name of the Beloved of the purehearted that you should seek from God a reply in my matter. [Publisher]
44 This is what I have intended for dispelling the darkness. Peace be on him who follows the guidance. [Publisher]
45 My heart is overjoyed and my eyes are lit up with delight. [Publisher]
46 Till the heart of a Man of God is in travail, God does not humiliate a people. [Publisher]
47 And follow not that of which thou hast no knowledge.—Bani Isra’il, 17:37 [Publisher]
48 Suspicion in some cases is a sin.—Al-Hujurat, 49:13 [Publisher]
49 A warner came into the world and the world did not accept him, but God will accept him and will proclaim his truth with powerful assaults. [Publisher]
50 I am present. [Publisher]
51 Al-Furqan, 25:78 [Publisher]
52 Death is busy on all sides. [Publisher]
53 ‘O earth, swallow thy water, and O sky, cease raining.’ And the water was made to subside and the matter was ended. And the Ark came to rest on al-Judi.—Hud, 11:45 [Publisher]
54 When thou hast determined a matter then trust in Allah and build the Ark under Our eyes and according to Our instructions. Those who enter into covenant with thee enter into a covenant with Allah. Allah’s hand is above their hands. [Publisher]
55 The reference is to Sabz Ishtihar, a portion of which is translated above on pp. 235-236 of this book.
56 A prayer to seek guidance from Allah. [Publisher]
57 Our last supplication is that all praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. [Publisher]
58 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. [Publisher]
59 Dear ones! No way can be opened without sincerity and truth; A pure drop is needed so that a pearl may be born. [Publisher]
60 Al-Hajj, 22:31 [Publisher]
61 If God so wills. [Publisher]
62 Say, ‘If you love Allah, follow me; then will Allah love you.—Aal-e-‘Imran, 3:32 [Publisher]
63 Others from among them.— Al-Jumu‘ah, 62:4 [Publisher]
64 The Self that incites to evil. [Publisher]
65 The Self that incites to evil. [Publisher]
66 The self-reproaching Self. [Publisher]
67 Do men think that they will be left alone because they say, ‘We believe,’ and that they will not be tested?—Al-‘Ankabut, 29:3 [Publisher]
68 Days of the wrath of Allah. I am greatly wroth. We shall deliver those who adhere to good. [Publisher]
69 Surely, Allah suffers not the reward for those who do good to be lost.—Al-Taubah, 9:120 [Publisher]
70 He indeed truly prospers who purifies it [the soul].—Al-Shams, 91:10 [Publisher]
71 Pray unto Me; I will answer your prayers.—Al-Mu’min, 40:61 [Publisher]
72 He forgives the evil ones for the sake of the good ones. [Publisher]
73 Adorn yourselves with the qualities of God. [Publisher]
74 Reply to a boast of the disciples of the Qadyani Pope. [Publisher]
75 I am not one whose back you will see on the day of the battle;
I am the one whose head you will espy in the midst of dust and blood. [Publisher]
76 I have submitted to the Lord of the worlds.—Al-Baqarah, 2:132 [Publisher]
77 Ahmadiyya Muslim Sect [Publisher]
78 Have patience, then, as had the Messengers of strong determination; and be in no haste about them. —Al-Ahqaf, 46:36 [Publisher]
79 And be not like the Man of the Fish. —Al-Qalam, 68:49 [Publisher]
80 [Yet, if the turning away of the disbelievers bears hardly upon thee,] then, if thou art able to seek a passage into the earth [or a ladder unto heaven, and bring them a Sign, thou canst do so.] Al-An‘am, 6:36. [Publisher]
81 And the end is for the God-fearing.—Al-A‘raf, 7:129 [Publisher]
