Chapter IV

A description of my personal situation; that is, a description as to which of the three categories the grace and benevolence of God has chosen to place me in.

God Almighty knows this fact—and He is the Best of Witnesses over every single thing—that the first thing which was granted to me in His path was a rightly-inclined heart; that is, such a heart that had no real attachment with anything except the God of Honour and Glory.

There was a time when I was young and now I have grown old, but at no time in my life have I had any real attachment to anyone except the God of Honour and Glory. It seems as if Maulawi Rumi composed these two couplets just for me:

In every company I uttered my wailful notes, I consorted with those who rejoiced and those who were unhappy.

Everyone became my friend from his own opinion, But none sought out my secrets from within me.

Although God has been generous to me in everything and has blessed me with every provision and comfort, so much so that I find my heart and words utterly powerless to thank Him, the nature He has bestowed upon me is such that I have always been disillusioned by the mortal things of this world. Even when I was young and had just arrived at the crossroads of maturity, I was not lacking in the heat of love that one should have for the God of Honour and Glory. Owing to this very heat of love, I was not reconciled to any religion, the doctrines of which were in conflict with the Majesty and Oneness of God, or imputed any kind of insult. That is why I did not approve of the Christian faith, for in its every step, there is insult to the God of Honour and Glory. It had deified a humble man who could not even help himself, and considered him to be the Creator of the heavens and earth.

A temporal monarch whose sovereignty is transitory would never choose to live in humiliation; how then, could the true kingdom of God be accompanied by such humiliation as imprisonment, flogging, being spat on, and finally—as the Christians believe—dying an accursed death, without which it was impossible for him to bring about the salvation of mankind?1

Can there be any confidence in such a weak ‘God’? Does God suffer death like a mortal human? Besides, the Jews made filthy accusations against him and even his mother, but that ‘God’ was unable to exonerate himself by displaying mighty powers. Therefore, reason cannot propose to accept such a ‘God’ who himself died in distress and could do no harm to the Jews. There cannot be anything more absurd than to suggest that he willingly accepted death on the cross in order to redeem the sins of his people. The man who spent the entire night in tearful supplication in a garden to save his life—which was not even heard—and then he was so overwhelmed by panic that he cried out Eli Eli lama sabachtani2 at the time of the crucifixion. He addressed his God as God and forgot to call him ‘Father’ in that extreme anguish. Now, considering all this, can anyone believe that he died by his own volition?

Who can understand the contradictions in Christian theology? On the one hand, they believe Yasu‘ to be God, while on the other, the same ‘God’ is seen praying and crying before another God. Whereas all three ‘Gods’ were inside Yasu‘ and he was the embodiment of them all, to whom did he tearfully supplicate? It appears from all this that there is another mighty God for Christians besides the Godheads of the Trinity, who is distinct from them and rules over them, before whom the three were obliged to supplicate. Furthermore, the purpose for which the ‘suicide’ was committed still remains unfulfilled.3 His death was meant to free his followers from sin, worldliness, and worldly enticements, but the result has been quite the opposite. Before his ‘suicide,’ the followers of Yasu‘ sought godliness to some extent, but the more the doctrine of vicarious sacrifice and atonement was emphasized, the more the Christians became steeped in worldliness, worldly enticements, desire of the world, alcoholism, gambling, licentiousness, and illicit relations. The negative effects of this doctrine have been like the sudden collapse of the dam that had been built on a violent and stormy river with resultant destruction of all surrounding land and habitats.

Remember too that abstinence from sin alone is not an accomplishment of any kind for man as thousands of worms, insects, animals and birds refrain from committing any sin, yet they are not considered to have attained communion with God. The question, therefore, is: ‘How did the Messiah’s expiation serve to enhance human spirituality?’ Man is in need of two things in order to reach God: First, abstinence from evil; and second, the attainment of good deeds. Merely eschewing evil is no great feat. Thus, the crux of the matter is that these two forces have remained present in human beings ever since their creation: On the one hand carnal passions lure them towards sin, while on the other hand the fire of the love of God that is hidden in their nature incinerates the straws of sin much like physical fire incinerates the physical straws and dried leaves. But ignition of this spiritual fire that incinerates sins depends entirely on the cognition of God, because love and adornment for anything depends on acquiring its complete recognition. You cannot love something whose beauty and excellence you are unaware of. The knowledge of the beauty and excellence of the God of Honour and Glory ignites the fire of love for Him, which, in turn, consumes sin. It has always been the practice of Allah to grant such knowledge to mankind through His Prophets. Others get light from their light and acquire all the bounties that are bestowed on the Prophets by following them.

Sadly, Christianity has the door of cognizance of God closed to its followers for it considers communion with God forever sealed and heavenly Signs to have come to an end. How then is one to acquire a fresh understanding? One is left to ruminate past accounts. Surely, a faith whose ‘God’ is weak and helpless, and which is entirely dependent on fables and myths, is of no value to any intelligent person.

In the same way the Hindu faith, one branch of which is the Aryah sect, falls far short of the truth. According to them, every particle of this universe is primordial and without any Creator. Thus, the Hindus do not believe in the God without whom nothing came into existence and without whose support nothing can continue to exist. They also say that their Parmeshwar cannot forgive the sins of anyone. Such a belief implies that His moral condition is worse than of humans, for we are able to forgive those who transgress against us, and we find the strength in us to willingly forgive the one who sincerely admits his fault, shows deep remorse for his action, resolves to bring about a change in his conduct, and repents before us with contrition and humility. In fact, we experience joy in forgiving. How is it then that the Parmeshwar who claims to be God, lacks this noble virtue when those who have sinned are His own creation and their faculties to commit sin are also from Him? And how is it that He is not appeased unless He has punished them for many millions of years for a single sinful act? Is it possible to attain salvation or spiritual excellence under the rule of such a Parmeshwar?

Thus I reflected deeply and found both these religions opposed to righteousness. It is not possible for me to recount in this work all the obstacles in the path of God and the hopelessness that is encountered in these religions. In brief, these two religions offer no guidance to that God who is sought by pure souls and by finding whom man can achieve salvation in this very life and the gates of divine light can be opened for him and perfect love can be generated through His perfect recognition. Instead, they lead to the pit of ruin. There are other religions in the world similar to them, but they all fail to lead to the One God, who has no associate. They leave the seeker in darkness.

These are all the religions in the study of which I spent a great portion of my life. I reflected over their principles with utmost honesty and diligence, but I found them all distant and estranged from the truth. Indeed this blessed religion, the name of which is Islam, is the only religion that leads to God Almighty and is the only religion which fulfils all the holy demands of human nature.

It is obvious that human nature expects perfection in everything and, since man has been created for the eternal worship of God, he cannot be content with some absurd fables concerning God, when his salvation lies in the recognition of that God. He does not wish to dwell in ignorance, but wants comprehensive knowledge of the perfect attributes of God as if to behold Him. This desire of man can be fulfilled only by Islam. Though in case of some, this desire is buried under carnal passions. Being veiled so strongly, those who crave worldly pleasures and are infatuated with the world, being utterly veiled, do not care for God nor seek His communion, because they worship the idol of materialism. But there is no doubt that one who frees himself of the idol of materialism and desires eternal and true bliss, cannot be satisfied by a religion that only has fables nor can he get any satisfaction from it. It is only through Islam that such a person can find his satisfaction. The God of Islam does not shut the door of His grace upon anyone. He is inviting everyone with open arms to come to Him. And the door is opened for those who eagerly run towards Him with all their strength.

I have, by the sheer grace of God, and not by any merit of my own, been accorded a full measure of the bounty, which was bestowed before me on the Prophets and Messengers(as) and the Chosen ones of God. It would not have been possible for me to receive this bounty had I not followed the ways of my lord and master, the Pride of the Prophets, the Best of Mankind, Hadrat Muhammad Mustafa [the Chosen One], may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Therefore, whatever I have attained, I attained due to this following and I know, through my true and perfect knowledge, that no man can reach God except by following the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, nor can anyone have a share of the complete cognition.

At this point I would also like to point out what appears before all else to be the result of sincere and complete obedience to the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Bear in mind that it is the ‘rightly-inclined heart’; that is, the love of the world leaves the heart and it becomes desirous of the eternal and everlasting bliss. Subsequent to this, pure and perfect love of God is achieved as a result of this rightly-inclined heart. And all these bounties are bestowed as a consequence of following the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, by way of his heritage, as Allah says:

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Meaning, tell them that if you love God, obey me, so that God may also love you. Indeed, the profession of one-sided love is a blatant lie and pretence and idle talk. When a person truly loves God, then God loves him too; then the breeze of acceptance swirls in the world for him, his love is put in the hearts of thousands and he is granted a power of attraction, and he is given a light that always accompanies him. When a person loves God with sincerity and adopts Him above all else, when everything besides God ceases to have any esteem or respect for him, indeed when he considers everything else to be worse than even a dead worm, then God, who sees his heart, descends upon him with His mighty glory. Just as a polished mirror reflects the sun perfectly that it can be said figuratively and metaphorically that the same sun which is in the sky also resides in the mirror, in the same way God descends on such a heart and makes his heart the seat of His Throne. This alone is the purpose for which man has been created.

Those who were perfectly righteous have been called sons of God in the previous Scriptures. That, too, does not mean that they were actually the sons of God; such a thing would be blasphemous, as God is above and beyond sons and daughters. Such expressions mean that God had descended as a reflection in the clear mirrors of those righteous personages. The reflection of a person in a mirror is, metaphorically speaking, his son; for as a son is born of his father, a reflection is born of its original. Thus when a reflection of the manifestations of God appears in a heart that is extremely pure without any remnant of stain, the reflection becomes, metaphorically, a son of the original. That is why Ya‘qub [ Jacob] was called the son of God—even the firstborn of God—in the Torah, and ‘Isa Ibn-e-Maryam [ Jesus, son of Mary] was called ‘son’ in the Gospels. If Christians had confined themselves to describing ‘Isa as the son of God, just as Ibrahim, Ishaq, Isma‘il, Ya‘qub, Yusuf, Musa, Dawud, Sulaiman, etc. were metaphorically called sons of God in the Scriptures of God, there would have been no objection to it. Just as these Prophets were metaphorically called sons of God in the Books of previous Prophets, so is the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, called God in some prophecies.

The truth is that all these descriptions are metaphorical as expressions of love; none of those Prophets is a son of God, nor is the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, God. Such expressions abound in the words of God. When a person becomes so absorbed in his love for God Almighty that his self disappears altogether, such expressions are applied to him in this state of annihilation since, in this state, his own person ceases to exist altogether as Allah the Almighty says in the Holy Quran:

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Meaning that: Tell these people, O my servants! Despair not of the mercy of Allah; God will forgive all sins.

It may be noted that in this verse, [O my servants] has been used in place of [O servants of Allah] while people are servants of God and not servants of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. The expression has been used here in the metaphorical sense.

Again God says:

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Meaning that: Verily, those who swear allegiance to you, indeed swear allegiance to Allah. It is the hand of Allah that is over their hands.

In these verses, the hand of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has been described as the hand of God. But obviously, it is not the hand of God [in the literal sense].

Again, Allah says:

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‘Therefore remember Allah as you remember your fathers…’ Thus here God has been likened to a father. This metaphor has been used only to communicate certain similarities.

The Jews have also been quoted in the Holy Quran as saying:

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Meaning that, we are sons of God and His loved ones.

In response, God does not give any refutation of the word ‘sons’ as being a blasphemous foul talk. Instead, He retorts that if they are indeed beloved of God then why does God chastise them? And ‘sons’ is not even mentioned again. This shows that the beloved of God were, in the language of the Jewish Scriptures, referred to as His sons also.

My purport of all this discussion is simply this that Allah the Exalted has laid down a condition that for Him to love anyone, such a one has to follow the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.9 Accordingly, it is my personal experience that to obey the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, with a sincere heart and to love him, ultimately makes a person the beloved of God. God creates in his heart a burning for love for Him. Then such a person renounces everything else and inclines towards God; and his affection and aspiration remain only for God Almighty. Thereupon a special manifestation of the love of God falls upon him and, bestowing upon him the full essence of love, pulls him towards itself with strong passion. He, then, overcomes his corporeal passions, and extraordinary works of God Almighty appear as Signs in his support and assistance in every aspect.

I have presented an example of how to achieve [the love of God] by effort and application. But there are some individuals where effort, application, and hard work has nothing to do with their spiritual ranks. Even in the womb of their mothers, they have such a constitution that, without any effort or striving or hard work, they love God instinctively. And they come to have such a spiritual connection with His Messenger i.e. Hadrat Muhammad Mustafa, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, that anything closer cannot be imagined. As time passes, their inner fire of love and affection for God continues to grow stronger and, with it grows the fire of love for the Messenger of Allah. In all these matters God becomes their Guardian and Guarantor. When that fire of love and affection reaches its climax, they fervently and passionately desire that the glory of God be manifested upon the earth, and this becomes their greatest delight and ultimate purpose. Thereupon, Signs of God Almighty appear on earth for them. God Almighty does not manifest His grand Signs for anyone, nor does He give grand news of the future to anyone except to those who are lost in His love, and are as desirous of the manifestation of His Oneness and Glory as He Himself is. It is unique to them that special divine mysteries are revealed to them and the unseen is disclosed to them with the utmost clarity. This special honour is not given to others.

An ignorant person might think that some ordinary people occasionally see true dreams too. For example, some people dream that a baby girl or a baby boy is born in a particular household and the same happens, or they dream of someone’s death and the person does in fact die, or see other small events in their dreams and they come true. I have already addressed this scepticism that these phenomena are of little significance nor do they depend on any piety. Even many wicked and immoral people see such dreams regarding themselves or others. But true secrets of the unseen are only revealed to God’s special servants. Their dreams and revelations differ from those of ordinary people in four ways: First, the majority of that which is revealed to them is extremely clear and very rarely ambiguous; the case with others is quite the opposite. Second, they experience true dreams and revelations so copiously that to compare them with other people would be akin to comparing the wealth of an emperor and a beggar. Third, the Signs shown at their hands are so magnificent that no one can match them. Fourth, their Signs attest to their acceptance by the Divine and the love and succour of the True Beloved. It is quite evident that, through these Signs, He wishes to reveal to the world how honoured and close to Him those chosen ones are, and to inspire people’s hearts with their dignified status.

However, those who do not have a perfect connection with God lack such things. On the contrary, the truth of some of their dreams or revelations is a trial for them, for it creates arrogance in their hearts and they are ruined by arrogance. They begin to oppose the root that nourishes the branch: O ye the branch! Granted that you are green and that you bear flower and fruit, but do not sever yourself from the root, or you will dry up and you will be deprived of all blessings because you are only a part and not the whole. Whatever you have is not yours but is the grace bestowed by the root.10

Now, under the dictate of the verse:

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I would like to state about myself that by placing me in the third of the aforementioned categories, God Almighty has granted me the blessing which is not on account of my endeavour but was bestowed upon me even as I was in the womb of my mother. He has shown so many Signs in my support that if I were to count them one by one up to this day, 16 July 1906, I can declare in the name of God Almighty that they are in excess of 300,000. And if someone does not believe in my sworn statement, I can provide him with proof.

Some of these Signs are to do with occasions when God Almighty, in keeping with His promise, protected me from the evil of the enemy. Some of the Signs are such that, in keeping with His promise, He fulfilled my needs and expectations at every occasion. And some are of the kind whereby He humiliated and disgraced those who attacked me, in keeping with His promise:

[I shall humiliate him who designs to humiliate you.]

Some Signs are of the kind in which, according to His prophecies, He made me victorious over those who filed lawsuits against me. Some Signs are of the kind that pertain to the length of my ministry for, ever since the world was created, no impostor has ever been allowed such a long period of respite. Some Signs are of the kind that become evident by observing the condition of the age—that this age is in need of an Imam (spiritual head). Some Signs are of the kind which represent the fulfilment of my prayers in favour of my friends. Some Signs are of the kind which represent the effects of my prayer upon malicious enemies. Some Signs are of the kind in which precariously ill patients were cured due to my prayer and their recovery was foretold.

Some Signs are of the nature whereby, for my sake and for my veracity, God caused a number of heavenly and earthly calamities to appear. Some Signs are of the sort wherein many eminent people, who were from among the luminaries and ascetics, saw, in my attestation, dreams, and saw the Holy Prophet(sa). Among them are Sajjadah Nashin [the inheritor of a spiritual endowment] Sahibul-‘Alam of Sindh, who had nearly 100,000 followers, and Khwajah Ghulam Farid of Chachran.

Some Signs are such that thousands of people pledged bai‘at at my hand only because they were informed through dreams of my truthfulness and of my being from God; while some others did so because they saw the Holy Prophet(sa) in a dream, and he told them that the end of the world is near and that this man is the last Khalifah of God and the Promised Messiah. Some Signs relate to certain eminent people who mentioned me by name even before my birth, or before I came of age, and spoke about my being the Promised Messiah. Among these are Ni‘matullah Wali and Miyan Gulab Shah of Jamalpur, District Ludhiana.

Some Signs are such that their scope extends to the people of all nations and all lands and all ages—namely the series of prayer duels, many manifestations of which have been witnessed by the world.12 After observing a fair number, I have for my part ended the call for mubahalahs, but everyone who considers me to be a liar, deceitful, or an impostor, and rejects my claim of being the Promised Messiah, and regards the revelation vouchsafed to me by God Almighty as my fabrication, whether he is a Muslim, Hindu, Aryah or follower of any other religion, he is, of course, at liberty to publish a written mubahalah against me on his own accord. He should announce it in some newspapers, taking oath in the name of God Almighty, that: I am fully convinced that this man (here he should write my name explicitly), who claims to be the Promised Messiah, is indeed a liar and that these revelations, some of which he has written in this book, are not the words of God but are all his fabrication. And I consider him with full conviction, on the basis of my profound insight and comprehensive consideration, to be an impostor, liar, and dajjal [deceiver]. Thus O God Almighty, if in Your estimation this person is true and not a liar, impostor, disbeliever, and faithless, then may You, on account of my rejecting him and insulting him, send down some severe chastisement upon me, otherwise may You chastise him, Amin.

This method of seeking a fresh Sign is open to everyone. And I declare that if, after this prayer of mubahalah that should be publicly announced and published in at least three well-known newspapers, such a person, who engages in this mubahalah under oath and with this stipulation, should escape heavenly chastisement, everyone will have the right to conclude that I am not from God. No period needs to be fixed in this mubahalah. The only condition would be that such an event should take place that affects the hearts.

I will now record some of the revelations from God along with their translation.13 The purpose of writing them is that anyone who wants to enter into a mubahalah with me should clearly reproduce all of these revelations of mine in the body of his mubahalah article (that should be published) and stipulate in the published declaration that all of these revelations are human fabrications and not the Word of God. Also he ought to specify that he has studied these revelations with diligence and that he swears by God that this is human fabrication, i.e. this is fabrication of this man and he has not received any revelation from God, the Exalted. Here ‘Abdul-Hakim Khan, Assistant Surgeon, Patiala, who revoked his pledge of allegiance to me and turned apostate is specifically addressed.

Now I will write those revelations as examples as follows: