Letter of Hakim Karam Dad
[In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. We praise Him and invoke His blessings upon His Noble Messenger.]
To,
The most respected Promised Messiah and Promised Mahdi, Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad—upon him be peace and blessings. May Allah’s peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you.
God Almighty has shown, in our village, two mighty Signs for the truth of Hudur. Every child here knows about them. Of them, the first Sign is about one named Mirza here who thought himself to be a recipient of divine revelation and visions. On the morning of 7 Ramadan AH 1321, he, with some fifteen to twenty persons belonging to his mosque in tow, came to the residence of Hafiz Shahbaz, an Ahmadi, and announced: ‘I have come to compete with you and these gentlemen are my witnesses.’ I, the humble writer of the letter, asked: ‘Faqir Sahib! In what particular respect do you want to compete?’
Faqir Sahib: ‘Do you believe Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian to be the Promised Mahdi and Messiah?’ The writer: ‘Yes’. Faqir Sahib: ‘That man is a liar in this claim.’ The writer: ‘What proof do you have in support of your claim that he is liar?’ Faqir Sahib: ‘My proof is that I am the recipient of divine revelation; I have had the honour of repeatedly seeing the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him [in visions]; and I was informed that I am one of the earliest of the devotees of Mahdi Akharuz-Zaman [the Guided One of the Latter Days]. Because a long time has passed since Mirza Sahib’s claim and I am still opposed to him, therefore, on the basis of my own revelation, I consider this man to be an impostor. Furthermore, I have also been shown a sign pertaining to the time of the Mahdi’s advent that, I was shown a light that has appeared in the East and, having reached the West, has spread all over. But I haven’t so far observed this light either so as to help me accept Mirza Sahib.’
The writer: ‘Faqir Sahib, this revelation and the vision of yours, indeed, affirm and support Hadrat Mirza Sahib’s claim. Why then do you consider him an impostor as your own revelation proves that the Mahdi’s advent shall take place in the Punjab, otherwise, how can you ever be one of his earliest devotees? If it is accepted that the advent of the Mahdi is to take place in Arabia, in that case your number would come much later. Either you would go to the west on hearing about the advent of the Mahdi or your spiritual pull would draw the Mahdi to the Punjab. In either case, you could not achieve the status of being the first. As for the light you have seen its interpretation is that Qadian lies in the East; and it is on account of the teaching of the Honourable Mirza Sahib, that the light of Islamic Tauhid [Oneness of God] is spreading in the countries of the West. You should, therefore, enter the fold of Hadrat Mirza Sahib’s devoted followers.’ Faqir Sahib: ‘No, I will not because last night I saw myself standing close to the throne of God and I was told that by the 27th of this Ramadan, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian would be visited by a terrible calamity. I wonder if it is death or some humiliation resulting in the disarray of his mission and his name and fame would be wiped out and the entire world shall witness this state. If this prophecy of mine turns out to be false, I am ready to suffer any kind of punishment. You should get this prophecy of mine published in the newspapers Al-Hakam or Al-Badr and get a written declaration from me. If you do not do so, then let all present hear that you people are following an impostor.’ On the insistence of those present, I, the writer of this letter, got this claimant of revelation to write an affidavit which is the following: