Tadhkiratush-Shahadatain

The Two Martyrs

Background

This book comprises two sections—one in Urdu and the other in Arabic—and was written and published in October 1903. The Urdu section gives heart-rendering details how Sahibzada ‘Abdul Latif was charged and stoned to death and the other portion in Arabic is in three parts each dealing with important spiritual issues.

In Urdu section while unfolding particulars of trial and martyrdom of Sahibzada Sahib, he explained in details his beliefs and stated with a majesty that comes only with divine force:

O ye people, listen, this prophecy is from Him Who Created this earth and heaven that He will spread this Jama‘at in all the countries and make it victorious through the power of arguments and reasoning. Those days are coming, rather near, when there will be only one religion in the world which will be respected and valued.1

In Arabic portion in the first part, he advances the argument that Islam is no longer obliged to use sword and the victory will come through prayers of the Promised Messiah(as).

Second portion deals with the origin and significance of revelation and spoke of the attributes that are found in persons who are recipients of the revelations. And the third portion deals with attributes of those who enjoy the closeness to God and are dear to God.

During the period when the Promised Messiah(as) had just announced his Mission that God had commissioned him to undertake the reformation of the society, the Promised Messiah(as) had a revelation informing him of the following:

• Plans would be made by the Promised Messiah(as)’s opponents to murder him but God would foil all such attempts.

• An agitation would be launched against him.

• Two of his followers would face martyrdom.

• These followers would be killed for no cause and it would not be connected with any political crime.

• And after their martyrdom, that country would face destruction.

Certain points were not clear in the prophecy, the name of the country was not identified in it, but the way it was revealed, it appeared that the martyrdom would not take place in the British territory. Almost 20 years passed, but nothing happened. A part of it was, however, fulfilled in 1901, when Maulavi ‘Abdur Rahman of Kabul faced martyrdom, and the other part of the prophecy was fulfilled on July 14, 1903, when Sahibzada ‘Abdul Latif was stoned to death in Kabul.

Sahibzada ‘Abdul Latif was a leading and respected divine of Afghanistan, and sometime towards the end of 1902, he contemplated to perform Hajj. After seeking the permission of the Amir of Afghanistan, he left Kabul via Khost-Peshawar-Lahore and reached Qadian. Soon after his arrival in Qadian, he had a meeting with the Promised Messiah(as) after Zuhr prayer. Giving the first impression about his meeting with Sahibzada ‘Abdul Latif, the Promised Messiah(as) said:

From the moment I met him, I swear by God in Whose hands is my life, I found him (Sahibzadah ‘Abdul Latif) totally lost and submerged in my love and devotion and in the truth of my claim, and it was not possible to see such a deep dedication in any human being.2

The Book

When the martyrdom of Sahibzada took place, it caused a wide spread indignation among all right-minded people. This event occupies an important place in the history of the Ahmadiyya Movement.

The Promised Messiah(as) decided to write a book on the event giving details of the heart-rending event. The Promised Messiah(as) wanted to complete the book by October 16, 1903, before proceeding to Gurdaspur in connection with another case, but then he had a terrible kidney pain and felt, perhaps, he would not be able to complete the work. He prayed in the small hours of the morning, God granted him a miraculous recovery from the pain and the next day, he completed half of the book.

In the book, the Promised Messiah(as) gave a pen-picture of the moving event of the way Sahibzada ‘Abdul Latif faced martyrdom with courage and steadfastness. In the beginning of the book, he accounted for the signs that took place in support of his mission and gave a word of advice.

The book also contains one of the Promised Messiah(as)’s daring and challenging prophecies:

Ye all people, Listen, this prophecy is from the One, Who Created the heavens and the earth, He will cause to spread this Jama‘at to all corners of the world. He will grant supremacy to them with a convincing logic. Those days are coming, nay are near, when there will be only one religion in the world which will be seen with all respect and reverence. God will grant this religion such extraordinary blessings and graces that each and every one who intends to destroy it will remain barren and the supremacy of the Jama‘at will remain for ever till the Doomsday.3

Specimen of Writing

In this book, the Promised Messiah(as) highlighted another important mission of his advent. Hazrat Jalal-ud-Din Shams(ra) in the introduction to the book, on page (jim) said that it was the belief of the Promised Messiah(as) that Islam is no longer obliged to use sword for the spreading the message. God in His Majesty Bestowed upon the Promised Messiah the weapon of prayer and there are prophecies of other prophets that the Promised Messiah will be victorious on the strength of prayers and his weapon will be irrefutable arguments …

Had it been the divine intention that the Muslims in this period of time get engaged in the religious wars, then the Almighty would have equipped Muslims with superior resources of arms manufacturing and warfare techniques.

In Arabic portion of the book, the Promised Messiah(as) made a significant observation:

“This last war with Satan will be fought with pen and not sword.”4

The Promised Messiah(as) writes with a Majesty of a Prophet:

Remember, no one will ever descend from heaven, and all our opponents who are now living will die and none would be able to see ‘Isa Ibn Maryam (Jesus, son of Mary) descending from heaven and their offsprings will similarly die and the offsprings of the offsprings will die and none will see the event of Jesus, son of Mary, coming down from heaven till the time when God will cause anxiety in their hearts that the time of the supremacy of the Cross having passed. Jesus, son of Mary, had not made his descent, then the wise and intelligent will shun this false belief, and the third century from this day will not be completed when the people waiting for the advent of Jesus—the Muslims and the Christians—all will be deeply disappointed. Then they will drop this false belief and there will be only one religion in the world and there will be only one Leader (the Holy Prophet(sa)). I have only come to sow the seed (of virtue) and I have sown that seed, this will grow and prosper and there will be none who could stop its growth.5

The Arabic part of the book consisted of three additional chapters wherein he explained, at length, that this was not the time in engaging the enemy in war or in killing him but a time for prayer. In the last chapter, which is added as a supplement, the Promised Messiah(as) mentioned the signs and qualities that are found in the people who enjoy nearness to God.

The merciless killing of Sahibzada ‘Abdul Latif is a most grievous event; but it is also full of blessings that will be manifested with the passage of time and the land of Afghanistan will see what consequences the shedding of his blood will entail. His blood will not go waste. Before this, poor ‘Abdur Rahman, a member of my Community, was unjustly killed, and God took no action. But after this tragedy He will not remain silent, and grave consequences will manifest themselves. It is understood that soon after the martyrdom of the Sahibzada a severe epidemic of cholera broke out in Kabul, and many notable people, including some near relatives of the Amir, passed out of this world. This was a most merciless killing which has no match in this age. What folly has this Amir committed that he has ruined himself by this merciless killing of such an innocent person. O land of Afghanistan, bear witness that a grave offence has been committed in thee. O unfortunate land, thou hast fallen in the estimation of God in that this great tragedy was enacted in thee.6