Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad

In the year 1907, the youngest son of the Promised Messiah (as), Mirza Mubarak Ahmad (ra), fell very ill when he was just eight years old. This child was very dear to the Promised Messiah (as). In one of his poems, he had referred to Mirza Mubarak Ahmad (ra) as ‘a piece of my heart.’ During the illness, someone had a strange dream in which he saw Mirza Mubarak Ahmad (ra) getting married. When the Promised Messiah (as) was told about this, he said:

The meaning of this dream is death, but the interpreters of dreams have also written that if a dream is fulfilled in literal terms, then sometimes the actual [negative] meaning of the dream can be altered. For this reason, let’s get Mubarak Ahmad married, so Allah grants him health and death can be averted.

Hazrat Dr Abdus-Sattar Shah (ra), who was a devoted companion of the Promised Messiah (as) and was treating the illness of Mirza Mubarak Ahmad (ra), had a daughter named Maryam, who was about two and a half years old. The Promised Messiah (as) asked for Maryam’s hand in marriage with Mubarak Ahmad (ra) and Hazrat Dr Abdus-Sattar Shah (ra) happily accepted the proposal. Hence, the nikah or marriage ceremony was held on 30 August 1907.

Islamic law allows such a nikah or marriage in which the bride and groom are children. When they attain adulthood, they may proceed with the marriage or end it if they wish.1

Hazrat Hakeem Maulana Noor-ud-Deen (ra), who would later be elected as Khalifatul-Masih I, announced the nikah of Sayyadah Maryam and Mirza Mubarak Ahmad. However, God Almighty willed something else. A few days after the nikah on 16 September 1907, Mirza Mubarak Ahmad (ra) passed away and Sayyadah Maryam became a widow at the age of two and a half years.

The Promised Messiah (as) expressed a desire for her to stay in his family. Praise God! How He fulfilled the words of the Promised Messiah (as). About fourteen years later, on 7 February 1921, Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Deen Mahmood Ahmad (ra), another son of the Promised Messiah (as), married Hazrat Sayyadah Maryam and brought her into his home. Hazrat Sayyadah Maryam was once again given the great honour of becoming the daughter-in-law of the Promised Messiah (as) as she had now married two of his sons—one after the other.

Hazrat Sarwar Shah (ra) a devoted follower of the Promised Messiah (as) announced the second nikah of Hazrat Sayyadah Maryam (ra). In his sermon he said these prophetic words:

I have become old now and I will leave this world, but it is my belief that the way servants of faith were born to the previous Sayyadah, this Sayyadah will also give birth to children who will become servants of Islam. I have firm faith in this and those living to see this shall realise it.2

God Almighty granted Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Deen Mahmood Ahmad (ra) one son from Sayyadah Maryam who was blessed with a long life. He was named Mirza Tahir Ahmad. He was born on 18 December 1928 in Qadian. Coincidently, the day after Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad (rta) was born, a train arrived for the first time in the remote village of Qadian. The arrival of this new invention opened the door of communication between Qadian and the rest of the world.