Chashma’-e-Ma‘Rifat

The Fountain of Knowledge

Background

Hazrat Jalal-ud-Din Shams(ra) in his introduction to this book says “the Promised Messiah(as) wrote this book on May 15, 1908, in eleven days before his demise. This book also includes an essay on pages 373-436 that the Promised Messiah(as) wrote and which was read at the a religious conference held by Aryah Samaj Movement in December 1907 in Lahore. Wherein the Promised Messiah(as) made a fervent plea to Aryah Samaj Movement for stopping vile attacks on Holy Prophet(sa), but nonetheless they continued attacks, so in this book he drew a comparison between the teachings of Vedas and the Holy Quran and enumerated the signs of a living religion.

The other part of the book stated that Guru Baba Nanak was a Muslim divine and adduced proofs in support of his contention from the holy book of Sikh religion.

The Book

The Promised Messiah(as) started writing the lecture on November 8, 1907, and completed a 69-page long dissertation on the subject by December 2, 1907, Hazrat Maulavi Hakim Nur-ud-Din was selected to read the speech as Maulavi ‘Abdul Karim had died by that time. As agreed, the Promised Messiah(as) also sent a delegation of Ahmadis to take part in the conference. The Promised Messiah’s article was read on December 3, 1907, and despite the pleadings of Maulavis that people should not go to listen to this address, there was a heavy rush. In this speech, the Promised Messiah(as) first discussed the nature of the revelation and the beliefs of various faiths on revelations. He particularly mentioned the group of the people who assert that God does not speak and no revelation could now take place. In this connection, the Promised Messiah(as) explained the beauties of Islam and its world-wide appeal and the advent of prophets taking place in various nations at various times and then mentioned in detail the great advent of the Holy Prophet(sa) and the teachings he brought and the majesty of revelation in Islam. He asserted with all the emphasis at his command that Islam is the only religion which can show the real face of God and introduce the real and living revelation.

Next day, contrary to all promises and commitments of all the people, the Secretary of the Aryah Samaj delivered a filthy lecture in which he heaped vile abuses and obscene attacks on the personage of the Holy Prophet(sa) and what was more offensive, that the lecture was delivered by the man who held out repeated assurances of good behaviour and decency. When the report reached the Promised Messiah(as) about this treacherous attack, the Promised Messiah(as) was extremely angry and enquired as to why the members of the Ahmadiyya delegation continued sitting at the meeting when such a vile and virulent attack was being launched on the noble personage of the Holy Prophet(sa). Everybody, including Hazrat Maulavi Hakim Nur-ud-Din, heard this broadside and upbraiding, then eventually one of the participants, Maulavi Muhammad Ahsan, fell on knees and submitted that they had made a mistake and he should pardon them for this lapse however serious it was. It may be mentioned here that Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad, son of the Promised Messiah(as), who was only 17 years old (later became the Second Caliph), made repeated protestations at the meeting to leave such a gathering.

The Promised Messiah(as) could not bear the idea of letting the attacks of the Aryah Samaj go unchallenged, so he wrote a fitting reply to their unwarranted attacks. To answer the attacks of the Aryah Samaj, the Promised Messiah(as) drew a comparison between the teachings of the Holy Quran and the teachings of the Vedas. He specially mentioned the qualities of a revealed book and enumerated the characteristics of a living religion and thereby established the superiority of Islam. The Promised Messiah(as) gave resounding arguments on the blessings and graces conferred by the Holy Prophet(sa) on humanity, and recounted the signs of Islam as a living religion. This part of the article became the first part of the book, Chashma-e-Ma‘rifat, and the speech delivered at the meeting became the second part of the book. The lecture also included arguments that Baba Guru Nanak was a true Muslim and quoted the teachings of Granth Sahib, which were more or less based on the Holy Quran.

This book remains, to this day, a milestone in rebuttal of the Aryah Dharam and the Vedas. This book is also an outstanding testimony to the deep love, devotion and respect that the Promised Messiah(as) had entertained for his mentor and master, the Holy Prophet(sa). The passages of the book were replete with signs of attachment that he had with Holy Prophet Muhammad(sa).

Specimen of Writing

It is not within the power of man to comprehend all the activities of the Divine. They are above reason and intellect and imagination. A man should not be proud of his pittance of knowledge that he has to some degree comprehended the system of cause and effect, inasmuch as that knowledge of his is very limited, as if it were a millionth part of one drop out of the ocean. The truth is that as God Almighty Himself is unbounded His activities are unbounded also. It is beyond and above human power to reach the reality of every activity of God. Contemplating His eternal attributes we can, however, affirm that as Divine attributes have never fallen into disuse, therefore, in God’s creation some species have always come into existence; but any personal co-existence is false. It is to be remembered that, like His attribute of creation, His attribute of destruction has always been in operation all the time and that also has never fallen into disuse. The philosophers have put forth every effort to bring the creation of heavenly and earthly bodies within the purview of their physical laws and to establish the source of all creation, but they have utterly failed to do so. Whatever they have gathered together as the result of their physical research is quite incomplete and defective. That is why they have not been able to adhere to their theories throughout and have always changed them about. As their research is confined entirely to their reason and speculation and they receive no help from God, they cannot emerge out of their darkness. No one can truly recognize God till he understands that there are numberless activities of the Divine which are far beyond and above human power and reason and speculation. Before reaching this stage of understanding a person is either an atheist and has no faith in God, or if he does believe in God, that God is the result of his own reasoning and is not the God Who manifests His own Being and the mysteries of Whose powers are so numerous that human reason cannot encompass them. Since God has bestowed upon me the knowledge that His powers are wonderful, that they have depth upon depth and are beyond of beyond, and are outside comprehension, I have always held the philosophers as disbelievers and secret atheists. It is my personal observation, and I have had experience of such wonderful Divine powers, that we can only describe them as something coming into existence out of non-existence. I have described some instances of these signs at some other places. He who has not observed this wonder of Divine power has observed nothing. We do not believe in a God whose powers are limited by our reason and speculation and there is nothing beyond. We believe in the God Whose powers, like His Being, are unlimited, unconfined and unending.1