Question (9)

What should we think of those who opposed the Holy Prophet(sa) with good intentions, or still do; that is, those who do not acknowledge him as the Messenger, but believe in the Oneness of God, do good deeds, and abstain from evil deeds?

Answer: The proof of a person’s good intentions lies in the resultant satisfaction. Since one cannot find satisfaction in any religion other than Islam, what would be the proof of good intention? Look at Christianity for example; they are so openly making a human being into ‘God’1—and that human being, too, who is the object of unrelenting suffering.

As for the Aryah Samajists, they have produced no argument in support of the existence of their Parmeshwar. For, in their view, He is not the Creator and as such the Creator cannot be recognised through the study of His creation; according to their religion, God Almighty does not show miracles, nor did He show any miracles at the time of the Vedas, and as such Parmeshwar cannot be proved by means of miracles. And they have no evidence to prove that the attributes ascribed to Parmeshwar— namely, knowledge of the unseen, hearing, speaking, being all-powerful, and being the bestower—are, in fact, present in Him. Hence, their Parmeshwar is merely an imaginary Parmeshwar. The same is the condition of the Christians. A seal has been placed on the revelation of their ‘God’ too. Therefore, how can belief in such a ‘God’ or Parmeshwar be reassuring? And how can anyone who does not have complete conviction in his God love God fully, and how can he be cleansed of idolatry?

God Almighty has not held back from establishing the truth of His Noble Messenger. He came like a sun and manifested his light in every respect. Therefore, he who turns away from this true Sun will not come to a good end. We cannot say that he has good intentions. Can one who is afflicted with leprosy and whose limbs have been eaten by leprosy, claim that he is not a leper or that he is not in need of treatment? Should he say so, can we say that he has good intentions? Should there be such a person who could not arrive at the truth of Islam, despite complete good faith and despite every effort such as he puts forth in seeking the world, his matter rests with God; but I have not come across any such person in my entire life.2 Therefore, I consider it absolutely impossible that anyone can prefer some other faith to Islam on the basis of reason and fairness.

Naive and ignorant people learn under the dictates of their lower selves that Tauhid is enough, and that it is not necessary to follow the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him; but it is to be borne in mind that it is a Prophet who is the mother of Tauhid from whom Tauhid is born, and the existence of God is inferred from him indeed. Who is better than God Almighty to bring the argument to perfection? He has filled heaven and earth with Signs to prove the truth of His Noble Prophet; and, now in this age also, by sending this humble servant, God has displayed thousands of Signs like heavy rain to affirm the truth of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. What then is lacking in completing the argument? He who has sense enough to oppose, why can he not think of a way to agree? He who can see at night, why can he not see on a bright day? Indeed, the way of acceptance is much easier than the ways of rejection.

However, the case of a person who is like an imbecile and whose faculties are subnormal rests with God, and I cannot talk about him. He is like those people who die as infants or in childhood. But a wicked denier cannot excuse himself on the basis that he is rejecting with good intentions. It should be considered whether his faculties are capable of comprehending the questions of Oneness of God and Prophethood or not. If it appears that he is capable of comprehending them and denies out of mischief, how can he be excused? Can we excuse a person who observes the light of the sun and yet persists in asserting that it is not day but night? In the same way, can we excuse those who deliberately indulge in spurious reasoning and are unable to refute the arguments of Islam? Islam is, indeed, a living faith. Why will a person who can distinguish between the living and the dead forsake Islam and accept a dead religion?3

In this age, too, God Almighty manifests great Signs in support of Islam, and I say this from my own experience. If all the nations of the world were to unite against me and a comparison be made as to whom God reveals the unseen, whose prayers He accepts, whom does He help, and for whom does He manifest great Signs, I call God to witness that I would be victorious. Is there anyone who will step forward against me for such a trial!!? God has bestowed thousands of Signs upon me just to let the opponents know that Islam is indeed the true faith. I do not seek any honour for myself but I seek honour for the one for whom I have been sent.

Some foolish people say that such and such prophecy [of mine] has not been fulfilled and, on account of their ignorance, cite one or two prophecies ‘that were not fulfilled’ just as the mischievous people had done in the times of earlier Prophets, but they merely desire to spit at the sun and they deceive people by enhancing their accounts with lies and fabrication. They know nothing of the ways of God Almighty. They have no knowledge of the Scriptures; or, someone has the knowledge, but says so out of sheer mischief. According to them, Prophet Yunus [Jonah] would be deemed an impostor because his definitive prophecy, which had no condition attached to it, was not fulfilled. But the two prophecies of mine which they quote again and again—namely, the ones about Atham and the son-in-law of Ahmad Baig—have been fulfilled. Since they had conditions attached to them, there were delays in accordance with those conditions. These people do not know that it is not necessary for the prophecies of warning to be fulfilled. All the Prophets are agreed on this. I do not want to write more about it, for my books are full of the relevant details. Indeed, Atham died in keeping with the prophecy and Ahmad Baig died as well, in keeping with the prophecy. Now they complain about his son-in-law, but they overlook the practice of God that is established concerning prophecies of warning. If they have modesty, decency, and fairness they ought to prepare two lists; in one they should document the prophecies which they consider unfulfilled, and in the second list I shall write those prophecies whose fulfilment cannot be denied by anyone. Then they will realize that they are presenting a mere drop that is—in their opinion—impure, before an entire ocean of limpid water.

In short, it is a point worth considering that so much of their crying and clamour is simply over two prophecies! On the contrary, there are thousands of prophecies that have been fulfilled and hundreds of thousands of people are witness to them. If they fear God, why do they not avail of them? Even the Jews continue to insist, in the same fashion, that a majority of the prophecies made by Hadrat ‘Isa [ Jesus], peace be upon him, have not been fulfilled; for instance, the prophecy regarding the twelve thrones of the twelve disciples, and the prophecy concerning his second coming in that very age.4

In sum, the truth of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has been established for the entire world. The rays of his light are shining brighter than those of the sun. How then can good intentions combine with disbelief! How can we ever say about a person—who is guilty of rejecting a manifest truth—that he performs virtuous deeds? For the last 1,300 years, the proclamation is being made, and thousands of those who were gifted to perform miracles and marvels have, in their own day and age, furnished the proof. Has the point not been established yet? After all, a disbeliever is excusable to a certain extent, but not to the extent that—despite witnessing thousands of miracles, marvels, and Signs, and in spite of realizing the excellence of teaching and beholding pure Tauhid in Islam5—he should go on saying: ‘I am still not satisfied.’6

At the end of this Postscript, I conclude this dissertation by stating some important issues. One of them is that Dr. ‘Abdul-Hakim Khan, in his booklet al-Masihud-Dajjal etc., accuses me as if I have written in a book of mine that whosoever does not believe in me shall become a disbeliever and be cast into Hell even if he is unaware of my name and even if he is in a land where my message has not reached. This is a totally false imputation on the part of the said doctor. I have not written so in any book or announcement. It is incumbent upon him to produce any one of my books which contains this statement. It should be known that he has levelled this false allegation against me out of sheer cunning, as is his wont. It is something which certainly no reasonable person can ever accept. How can a person who is totally unaware of even my name be considered accountable? However, I do say that, since I am the Promised Messiah and God has openly manifested heavenly Signs in my support, everyone who in the estimation of God has been furnished with sufficient evidence regarding my advent as the Promised Messiah and has become aware of my claim, shall be held accountable, for no one can deliberately turn away with impunity from those who have been sent by God. The call for justice against this sin is not for myself, but is for the one for whose support I have been sent, that is, Hadrat Muhammad Mustafa [the Chosen One], may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. He who does not accept me is disobedient not to me but to him who had prophesied my advent.

I hold the same belief with regard to believing in the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. He who has heard the call of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and has become aware of his advent and who, in the estimation of God, has been furnished with sufficient evidence regarding the Prophethood of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and dies as a disbeliever, he would be condemned to eternal Hell.

The knowledge whether sufficient evidence has been furnished lies with God Almighty alone. However, reason demands that, since people are endowed with different capabilities and understanding, the furnishing of ‘sufficient evidence’, too, shall not take place in only one way. Therefore, if those who, on account of their intellectual capacity, can understand and recognize quite easily the divine arguments and Signs and the merits of a faith, but reject the Messenger of God, they will belong to the foremost degree of kufr [disbelief ]. Those who do not occupy the same level of understanding and knowledge, but if, in the estimation of God, sufficient evidence has been furnished to them, in keeping with the level of their understanding, they too will be accountable for their disbelief in the Prophet, albeit to a lesser degree than the disbelievers of the first kind. Anyway, it is not for me to determine the disbelief of each and every individual or whether sufficient evidence was furnished. Rather, it is the prerogative of the One who is All-Knowing. We can say this much that whosoever, in the estimation of God, has been furnished with sufficient evidence and, in the estimation of God, has been assessed to be a disbeliever, shall be culpable. Of course, since the Shariah is based on what is overt, we cannot declare one who rejects the message to be a believer, nor can we say that he is exempt from accountability. Someone who repudiates is indeed called kafir [disbeliever]; because the word ‘kafir’ is opposite to ‘mu’min’ [believer]. Kufr is of two kinds:

(First) the kufr that a person rejects even Islam and does not accept the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, as the Messenger of God.

(Second) the kufr that a person, for example, does not accept the Promised Messiah, and despite the sufficient evidence of his truth, considers him to be an ‘impostor’, although belief in him and his truthfulness has been emphasized by Allah and His Messenger and by the Books of earlier Prophets too and hence, since he repudiates the imperative of God and the Messenger, he is a kafir.

On closer examination, the two kinds of kufr are essentially of the same nature. The reason is that if a person, after recognizing the truth, does not accept the injunction of God and the Messenger, then, he, in accordance with the explicit verdict of the Holy Quran and hadith, also does not accept God and His Messenger. Without doubt, anyone against whom the argument vis-à-vis the first or the second kind of kufr has been incontrovertibly established in the estimation of Allah, will be culpable on the Day of Judgment. However, one to whom sufficient evidence has not been furnished in the estimation of God, and who is a disbeliever and a denier—and even if the Shariah (based as it is upon what is overt) calls them a kafir, and we, too, in our subservience to the Shariah, call them a kafir—he will not be deemed culpable in the estimation of God in the context of the verse:

7

Of course, we do not have the right to pronounce verdict regarding his salvation. His case rests with God; it is not for us to impose our judgement upon it. As I have just pointed out, only God Almighty knows that—despite the arguments based on rationality and Scriptures, excellence of teachings, and heavenly Signs—who it is to whom the arguments have not been incontrovertibly conveyed. We should not claim with conviction that sufficient evidence has not been furnished to a particular person. We have no knowledge of the inside of a person. By presenting arguments covering all dimensions and by displaying Signs, every Messenger of Allah has meant to furnish sufficient evidence of his truth to the people at large; and God, too, has been his Supporter in it. Therefore, anyone who claims that he has not been provided sufficient evidence8 is himself responsible for his denial, and the onus of its proof is upon him alone. He alone will be answerable as to how sufficient evidence was not furnished to him despite all the evidence based on reason and historical record, excellence of teachings, heavenly Signs, and guidance of every kind.

It would be simply senseless and absurd to contend that whoever was not furnished with complete arguments, despite knowing about Islam, would attain salvation in their state of denial. Rather, such prattle is an affront to God Almighty, for it would be insolence to the exalted station of the Almighty who sent His Messenger. Moreover, it inherently implies the breach of promise, that, despite the fact that He promised that He would furnish sufficient evidence, He could not do so vis-à-vis those who rejected Him; and they rejected His Messenger, and yet attained salvation. And when we evaluate the Signs which God manifested in support of Islam, and note the evidence based on reason and record, and discover thousands of excellences in Islam of which other religions are bereft, and when we realize that the door for making progress towards God is open only in Islam, and when we find other religions to be in a state in which they are either caught in creature worship or they do not believe that God Almighty is the Creator and Originator of all and the Fountainhead of all blessings, we pity those who spread such preposterous thinking in the world that a person who knew of Islam, but had not been furnished with ‘complete arguments’, will attain salvation.

It is obvious that the rejection of facts, even when unintentional, is still harmful. For instance, suppose that doctors have issued a warning about going near women who are infected with syphilis, but someone has consorted with such a woman. Now it would be no use complaining on his part that he was unaware of this warning of the physicians so why did he contract syphilis. Bava Nanak spoke the truth when he said 9.

O ignorant ones! Now that God, in keeping with His own practice, has perfected the argument in favour of His upright Faith, what good is there in entertaining doubts in it and reiterating absurdities despite God having perfected the argument? If at all there is someone in the knowledge of God concerning whom the argument still remains incomplete, his case rests with God; it is not for us to debate the issue. Of course, if a person who is totally unaware of Islam, dies in the state of unawareness— for instance, the minors, the insane or the residents of a country where the message of Islam has not reached—then they stand excused.

It is worth mentioning, among other things, that ‘Abdul-Hakim Khan, like his ilk, has accused me that I have been telling lies and that I am a dajjal [deceiver], corrupt, and an embezzler. In his booklet, al-Masihud-Dajjal, he has listed a number of my ‘vices’. Thus, he has called me selfish, egotistical, arrogant, Antichrist, Satan, ignorant, insane, great liar, lazy, corrupt, one who breaks his word, and an embezzler. He has accused me of many other vices which are written in his booklet al-Masihud-Dajjal. Indeed, these are the same vices which the Jews still impute to Hadrat ‘Isa. It is indeed an occasion for rejoicing that the Jews of this ummah have attributed to me exactly the same vices. But I do not want to reply to all these allegations and abuses. Instead, I leave all this to God. If indeed I am what ‘Abdul-Hakim and his ilk think I am, then who would be a greater enemy of mine than God Almighty? But if, in the estimation of God, I am not like this, then to my mind, the better course would be to leave it to God Almighty to rebut these allegations. Such is always the way of God that when no decision can be reached on earth, He assumes charge of the dispute regarding any of His Messengers and decides the issue Himself. Were any of my opponents to reflect, their allegations, too, prove to be a miraculous Sign in my support. I am [according to them] such a depraved and wicked man that, on the one hand, I have been fabricating lies about God Almighty for as many as twenty-five years, that during the night I concoct a few things and in the morning pronounce them to be the revelation from God, and on the other, I have been cruel to God’s creatures in that I have misappropriated thousands of rupees of their money, I break promises, I tell lies, harm their interests for my egotism and I possess within me all the vices of the world; yet still, the grace of God—not His wrath—descends upon me. God keeps my enemies frustrated in every plot that is hatched against me, and in spite of thousands of those sins, fabrications, injustices, and corrupt practices, I am neither struck by lightning nor made to sink in the earth. On the contrary, I am the beneficiary of assistance during [every] confrontation with all enemies. As a result, I have been saved despite the multitude of their attacks.10 And despite thousands of obstructions, God has increased the number of my followers to hundreds of thousands. Therefore, if this is not a miracle, then what is it? Let my opponents produce an example equal to it if they have one; otherwise, what can I say other than [The curse of Allah be upon the liars]. Do they have any precedent of a fabricator of lies for twenty-five years, who was granted hundreds of Signs of Allah’s assistance and support despite his fabrication of lies for such a long time, and was saved from each and every attack of his enemies? [Then produce it, if you are truthful].

In short, the dispute between us and the opponents has now reached the limit. He who has sent me will now Himself adjudicate this case. If I am truthful, the heavens will certainly bear such strong testimony for me that people will tremble. But if I have been an offender for twenty-five years who concocted lies against God for this prolonged period, how can I escape? In such a case, even if all of you should befriend me, I am still ruined because God’s hand is against me.

O ye people! Bear well in mind that I am not the fabricator; I am the oppressed—I am not the impostor; I am the truthful. I have been wronged far too long. This is what God Almighty said twenty-five years ago and was published in Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, namely, the revelation of God that:

A Warner came unto the world, but the world accepted him not; yet God shall accept him and demonstrate his truthfulness with mighty assaults.

This revelation belongs to the time when there was neither any invitation on my part nor was there any denier. These words were merely in the form of a prophecy which have been fulfilled by the opposing clerics. Thus they have perpetrated what they pleased. Now is the time for the manifestation of the second sentence of this prophecy; namely, the sentence that ‘yet God shall accept him and demonstrate his truth with powerful assaults.’

What a pity that they did not benefit at all from the Signs of Almighty God which were so openly manifested, whereas some of the Signs which they could not understand were used as the basis of objection. I, therefore, now know that this verdict will not take long. Great injustice was committed under heaven in that these people perpetrated whatsoever they wished and wrote whatsoever they liked against an Appointee of God. It is strange that on page 45 of his booklet Dhikrul-Hakim, ‘Abdul-Hakim Khan writes about me: ‘I have no equivocation about you, I still believe that you are the like of the Messiah, that you are the Messiah, and that you are the like of Prophets.’ Again, on page 12 of the same book, from line 15 to 20, there is a passage affirming my claim, which is reproduced here in bold letters:

There was one Maulawi, Muhammad Hasan Baig, a maternal cousin of mine who was bitterly opposed to your gracious self. I was informed concerning him, in a dream, that if he persisted in his opposition of the Messiah of the Age, he would die of plague. His residence was outside the city in a well-ventilated and commodious house. I had related this dream to his real brother, uncle, and other relatives. A year later, he did die of plague. See ‘Abdul-Hakim’s booklet Dhikrul-Hakim, page 12.

Now take note that, on the one hand, he not only acknowledges that I am the Promised Messiah, but also quotes a dream—which turned out to be true—as testimony to my truthfulness.

Thereafter, at the end of the same book, as well as in his booklet al-Masihud-Dajjal, he names me as a dajjal and satan and denounces me as being an embezzler, a rogue, and an impostor. It is rather strange that ‘Abdul-Hakim Khan has not cared to space these two contradictory statements even by a few days. On one hand, he called me the Promised Messiah and testified to my truthfulness with his dream, and on the other, he called me a deceiver and an impostor. I do not care why he did this, but let everyone ponder that the condition of this man is like one who is not in his senses in that he has a glaring contradiction in what he affirms. On the one hand, he pronounces me the true Messiah and even quotes a true dream of his which was fulfilled as testimony to my truthfulness. On the other, he considers me worse than all the disbelievers. Could there be a more egregious contradiction?

As for the faults that he attributes to me, he should have pondered that whereas the dream had already testified to my truthfulness to him and God Almighty had even caused Hasan Baig to die of plague as testimony to my truthfulness;11 then did God kill him for the sake of a dajjal and did God not know the faults which he [‘Abdul-Hakim] came to know twenty years later?12 His excuse that he might have had satanic dreams and that this dream was also satanic in nature would not be acceptable. I can accept this much that, on account of his innate compatibility [with Satan], he might have been experiencing satanic dreams and satanic revelations13, but I cannot accept that this dream [cited above] was a satanic dream for the simple reason that Satan has not been granted the power to kill anyone. But of course, satanic dreams and satanic revelations are what he currently experiences in his present state of hostility towards me, for they do not have any sign of the power of God with them. Therefore, he must try his best to ward Satan off.

Among other things worth mentioning is the fact that, quite like the rest of my opponents, ‘Abdul-Hakim Khan, in his booklet al-Masihud-Dajjal, has tried to deceive the public by suggesting that my prophecies have been proving false. Accordingly, after quoting the prophecy about ‘Abdullah Atham, and the one about Ahmad Baig’s son-in-law and the one about Muhammad Husain Batalavi and some of his companions, he has claimed that they were not fulfilled. However, I have written a number of times concerning these prophecies, that they have been fulfilled in conformity with divine practice. I have explained hundreds of times concerning ‘Abdullah Atham and also about Ahmad Baig and his son-in-law that both these prophecies were conditional in nature. The prophecy regarding ‘Abdullah Atham stated, in as many words, that he would die within fifteen months provided he did not turn to the truth; and, additionally, it did not have the explicit wording ‘provided he became a Muslim’. ‘To turn to’ is a phrase which relates to [the condition of ] one’s heart.14 Accordingly, ‘Abdullah Atham, in the same meeting comprising of about sixty to seventy persons, displayed signs of ‘turning to truth’ after hearing the prophecy. That is, when I informed him after reading out the prophecy, that: ‘In your book, you have used the term dajjal about our Noble Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him; in retribution thereof, it is prophesied that your life shall end within fifteen months.’ At this, he turned pale, hung his tongue out, placed both his hands on his ears and said aloud that he had never given the name dajjal to the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.15 From amongst the Muslims present at the meeting, there was a prominent citizen of Amritsar, perhaps named Yusuf Shah. Also, there were a large number of Muslims and Christians; in particular, there was Dr. Martyn Clark from among the Christians who later filed a murder case against me. They should be asked to testify on oath whether this incident did or did not occur. If these words were, in fact, uttered by ‘Abdullah Atham, then consider whether these words were of haughtiness and mischief, or of humility, submission, and recantation. As for myself, I have never heard a Christian utter such words of humility and cordiality in all my life. On the contrary, I have seen most of their books to be full of invective against the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. When an adversary [i.e. ‘Abdullah Atham] denied ever uttering the word dajjal with such submission and humility in the midst of the debate and thereafter remained silent for as many as fifteen months—rather, he continued to weep—then, did he not have the right in the estimation of God Almighty that God should grant him a reprieve in keeping with the stipulation?16

Even so, he did not survive for long and died only a few months later. He never displayed any audacity after recantation. Whatever is attributed to him is the Christians’ own trickery. In short, the essence of the prophecy related to his death, in keeping with which, he indeed died during my lifetime. God Almighty prolonged my life whilst He terminated his life. How unjust and bigoted it is to keep on insisting that he did not die during the prescribed period.

O ignorant one! Are you unaware of the story of Yunus [ Jonah] as mentioned in the Holy Quran? There was no condition attached to the prophecy of Yunus; even then, with repentance and remorse, his people were spared, despite the definitive divine promise about his people that they would certainly perish within forty days. But did they perish within forty days in keeping with this prophecy? You can, if you so desire, study their account in Durr-e-Manthur or even review the Book of Jonah. Why are you so exceedingly impertinent? Will you not die one day? Impertinence and dishonesty can never coexist with faith. As for Ahmad Baig’s son-in-law, I have pointed out again and again, as well, that this prophecy, too, was conditional. The wording of the condition, already published in my announcements, was as follows:

These are revealed words and the addressee therein is the maternal grandmother of the woman with whom the prophecy is concerned. Once at Hoshiarpur I read out this revelation to a member of Maulawi ‘Abdullah’s children. Perhaps the person’s name was ‘Abdur-Rahim or ‘Abdul-Wahid. The translation of these revealed words is: ‘Woman, be penitent, be penitent, for the calamity is about to befall your daughter and the daughter’s daughter.’ This prophecy contained a warning regarding Ahmad Baig and his son-in-law. Accordingly, Ahmad Baig died within the [stipulated] time frame17 and that woman’s daughter was overtaken by the calamity for she was Ahmad Baig’s wife and her relatives were overwhelmed by great fear due to the death of Ahmad Baig; so much so that some of them even wrote letters to me with humility and earnestness requesting prayer. God, therefore, on account of that fear, and so much humility and earnestness of theirs, delayed the fulfilment of the prophecy.

In respect of the prophecy regarding Maulawi Muhammad Husain and his companions that was spelled out in the revelation of God Almighty, no date was fixed. It was merely my words in my supplication and were not the words of revelation. It was only my supplication that sought something to happen within a specified time. Indeed, God Almighty does abide by His Word. He is under no obligation to meticulously observe what is supplicated from Him. This is why the prophecy as published in Arabic does not contain any time frame to the effect that he would be disgraced in a particular month or year. Of course, it is well known that in respect of the prophecies of warning, God Almighty reserves the right to delay them on account of someone’s humility and earnestness or on His own accord.

All Sunnis—in fact, all Prophets, peace be upon them—agree that since a prophecy of warning is a divine decree for an affliction to overtake someone, it can be averted with the help of charity, almsgiving, penitence, and seeking forgiveness. The only difference is that if God Almighty keeps the knowledge of such an affliction to Himself, and does not reveal it to any of His Messengers, it is simply known as an ordained affliction that is hidden in the will of God. But if God bestows knowledge of this affliction upon any of His Messengers, it becomes a prophecy. All nations of the world agree that impending afflictions, whether expressed in the [explicit] shape of a prophecy or hidden in the [implicit] will of God, can be averted through charity, almsgiving, penitence, and seeking forgiveness. This is why people are wont to give alms and charity in times of distress. Otherwise, who would indulge in a futile exercise? All Prophets agree that charity, almsgiving, penitence, and seeking forgiveness wards off calamity. It is my personal experience that God Almighty at certain times informs me of an impending affliction concerning me or my children, or some friend of mine. When prayer is offered for averting it, another revelation comes that, ‘We averted this affliction.’ Hence, if prophecies of warning are inevitable, I can be proved wrong scores of times. If our opponents and ill-wishers are so fond of indulging in rejecting me in this way, I can keep them informed, if they so desire, of many a prophecy of this kind and of their cancellation.

It is recorded in our Islamic commentaries [of the Holy Quran] and in the Bible that once a Prophet prophesied about a king that he had only fifteen days left in his life. But the king cried in supplication throughout the night. At this, the Prophet received another revelation that, ‘We have exchanged fifteen days with fifteen years.’ As I have pointed out before, this incident is recorded in our own books and those of Jews and Christians as well. Now would you say that the Prophet who had prophesied that the king had only fifteen days left of his life and that he would die after fifteen days was proven false in his prophecy?

It is indeed God’s mercy that the system of abrogation, by Him, of the prophecies of warning is in place, so much so that even where the warning of eternal damnation for disbelievers is made in the Holy Quran, it also contains this verse:

18

Meaning that, the disbelievers shall abide in Hell forever, except if your Lord wishes [otherwise]; for whatever He pleases, He has the power to carry it out. But the same was not said about the dwellers of Paradise for [in their case] it is a promise, not a warning.19

Finally, I say with great emphasis and with great assertion and with great discernment that, in response to all the objections Dr. ‘Abdul-Hakim Khan and the clerics of his ilk have raised against my prophecies, I can demonstrate that, of all the great Prophets, there is not a single Prophet who does not have an objection similar to these against one of his prophecies. I will not just present the incident of Yunus; rather, I shall present the like of it from the prophecies of Hadrat Musa, Hadrat ‘Isa, and the Chief of the Prophets, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, or from the Word of God. But I would like to know if all these people would be prepared, at that time, to repudiate all these Prophets; and would they be ready, consequent to the presentation of such evidence on my part, to abuse them as they abuse me and denounce them as impostors as they have denounced me as an impostor? O ignorant and sightless ones! Why do you ruin your Hereafter? Alas! Why do you deliberately fall into the fire, and why have you deviated from faith and righteousness to the extent that you are not even fearful as to which of the holy and sacred ones will be affected by these objections?

God Almighty says in the Holy Quran:

20

Meaning that, if this Prophet is an impostor, he will himself perish, for God does not allow an impostor’s task to be accomplished because otherwise it would render the case of a truthful claimant and that of an impostor indistinguishable. And if this Messenger is truthful, some of his prophecies of warning will certainly come to pass.

The word ‘some’ that figures in this verse clearly indicates that it is not necessary that all the prophecies of warning—i.e. regarding pun- ishment—that a true Messenger makes will be fulfilled. Of course, it is essential that some of them must come to pass as is indicated in the foregoing verse, [‘Some of that which he threatens you with will surely befall you’].

Just open your eyes and see the might and splendour with which the prophecy about Lekh Ram was fulfilled from amongst the few prophecies of warning I had announced! It was even prophesied about him that he would not die of an ordinary death. Instead, the wrath of God would put an end to him by means of a stratagem of some kind. And it was also foretold that his death would take place next to ‘Id. It was also indicated that plague would break out in the country after his incident. Furthermore, it was also disclosed that this was not a mere prophecy; rather, this incident would be a result of my prayer against him, for his invectives [against the Holy Prophet(sa)] had reached their limit. Hence, the wrath of God, who does not want the honour of our Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, to be sullied, overtook Lekh Ram and killed him with an agonizing chastisement.

Also, one needs to consider how clearly the prophecy about Ahmad Baig, who was ever ready to refute me and ridiculed me day and night—manifested itself. He died of typhoid fever in a hospital in Hoshiarpur and his death caused a great tumult among his relatives. He is the same Ahmad Baig about whose son-in-law my opponents are still lamenting and wailing as to why does he not die? They do not realize that Ahmad Baig was indeed the right leg of the prophecy, and, by dying suddenly in his prime, he proved that the prophecy is true. Similarly, as was laid down in the prophecy that close to Ahmad Baig’s death, other deaths of his relatives too shall take place; so this has also been fulfilled inasmuch as Ahmad Baig’s son and two of his sisters died in those very days. Now let my opponents answer whether this part of the verse came true for him or not:

21

Therefore, when they, for their part, have to admit that some of my prophecies of warning have been fulfilled with perfect clarity, why then—despite their claim to being Muslims—can they not keep in view the noble verse . Is it that they are secretly prepared for apostasy? These are strange objections that, after the prophecy, efforts were made to get Ahmad Baig’s daughter’s hand in marriage, and inducement was offered and letters were written. It is true that extreme prejudice turns a person blind. No maulawi can be ignorant of the fact that if the divine revelation discloses something by way of a prophecy and if one can fulfil it without recourse to mischief or illegal means, it is not only permissible but is also laudable; this was the practice of the Holy Prophet to try and bring about the fulfilment of the prophecy. The Holy Prophet’s example is proof enough in this regard. That Hadrat ‘Umar made a Companion wear gold bangles is an added argument. Also, the Holy Quran had a prophecy about the progress of Islam. Why was then such an intense effort made for its progress, so much so that hundreds of thousands of rupees were given away by way of attempts to win the hearts of the people? In the present case, the original move for the acquisition of land etc. was made by Ahmad Baig himself.

Moreover, it is worth pondering that, on the one hand, there are just these two or three prophecies which our opponents, on account of their lack of understanding, quote again and again—the filthy leftovers of which ‘Abdul-Hakim was also forced to eat. But on the other, a river of Signs is flowing from God Almighty in my support, of which these people are not unaware. Hardly a month passes in which no Sign appears. No one casts a glance at these Signs. They do not see what God is saying. On the one hand, the plague is virtually proclaiming that the days of doom are close at hand, and on the other, such extraordinary earthquakes as had never hit this land before are announcing that the wrath of God is raging upon the earth. New calamities descend with great frequency, indicating that there is a change in the world order. It seems God Almighty intends to unleash some great terrible calamity. I am informed beforehand of every calamity that appears and I publicise it through newspaper, periodicals, or poster.

Thus, I exhort again and again towards repentance, for the earth is about to be visited by so many calamities as if a sudden dark sandstorm is approaching as happened in the days of Pharaoh when the initial minor Signs were shown, and, thereafter, that ultimate Sign was shown which upon witnessing even Pharaoh had to proclaim:

22

By way of a Sign, God Almighty shall cause a cataclysm to happen through each of the four elements and the world will be visited by major earthquakes until it will be hit by one that resembles Doomsday. It is then that every nation shall mourn because they failed to recognize their time. This indeed is the meaning of the revelation of God:

A Warner came unto the world, but the world accepted him not; yet God shall accept him and demonstrate his truthfulness with mighty assaults.

This revelation, received twenty-five years ago, was recorded in Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya. It shall be fulfilled in these days. Let him who has ears, hear!23

I have written here only about those two or three prophecies to which our opposing clerics and their new apprentice, ‘Abdul-Hakim Khan, have repeatedly objected. As opposed to it, I wanted to demonstrate how large the number is of heavenly Signs from God that testify for me. But alas! Were all these Signs to be recorded, no book—not even one comprising 1,000 ajza’24 [parts]—would be large enough to accommodate them. Therefore, only by way of specimen, I will record 140 of them. Of them, some are prophecies made by the earlier Prophets which have been fulfilled in my support. Some are the prophecies made by the spiritual elites of this ummah, while there are some Signs from God which were manifested at my hands. Since those prophecies have precedence over my prophecies in terms of time, it was, therefore, considered proper to accord them precedence in recording as well; and all of these prophecies will be enumerated in one series, and are as follows.