Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih IV (rta) arrives at London after the historic migration. In this photograph local missionaries and Ahmadis are greeting Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (rta) upon his arrival.
After praying to God and seeking advice from the elders of the Community, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih IV (rta) decided the best plan would be to leave Pakistan. However, Zia-ul-Haq had ordered the Khalifah to be arrested and there was an order throughout Pakistan to prevent the Imam of the Ahmadiyya Jama’at from leaving the country.
Little did they know, Allah had a plan of His own! The order which they issued, had the wrong name on it. It said not to allow Mirza Nasir Ahmad (rta) to leave the country. Now, Mirza Nasir Ahmad (rta) was the previous Khalifah who had passed away two years ago. The order was supposed to have the name of Mirza Tahir Ahmad (rta) on it, but Allah caused them to make this enormous mistake on their own.
A couple of hours after midnight—at 2:00 a.m.—Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad (rta) was at the Karachi airport to board his plane to leave Pakistan. The Karachi airport security officers noticed that his passport listed that he was the Imam of the Ahmadiyya Jama’at, but because his name was different from the name on the arrest warrant, they needed to verify that he was the one they should arrest. However, because it was so late into the night, there were no offices open that they could get verification from. The airport security officers held the KLM airlines flight for an hour, but because they couldn’t arrest a man whose name was different than the arrest order, they were forced to give permission to Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih IV’s flight to leave. The airplane took off and by the grace of Allah, passing through Holland, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih IV (rta) arrived in London on 30 April 1984.
The enemy’s plan failed miserably. They had planned, but Allah also planned, and Allah is the Best of Planners. Even though all of Pakistan’s security forces and secret services had been on high alert to arrest Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad (rta), Allah devised a plan to allow him to leave Pakistan in full comfort and safety. This indeed was a huge sign regarding the truth of Ahmadiyyat. It reminds us of the Migration of our beloved Holy Prophet (sas). When he left his home right under the nose of his enemies who had surrounded his house, Allah caused them to slumber and they didn’t even notice the Holy Prophet (sas) leave. He was then able to travel 250 miles from Makkah and arrive safely in Madinah. The disbelievers of Makkah were left frustrated and empty-handed, just as Zia-ul-Haq and his forces were. In the Friday sermon of 12 August 1988, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih IV (rta) warned Zia-ul-Haq, in the form of a prophecy, that the decree of Allah the Almighty would soon shatter him into pieces.
Only five days after this sermon, on 17 August 1988, General Zia-ul-Haq and his senior officials boarded a flight that would crash and kill them all. The C-130 military airplane was mid-air when it exploded for unknown reasons, falling into pieces and killing all on board. Thus, the mighty word of Allah the Almighty was manifested for all to behold, as Zia-ul-Haq was blown away into pieces.
Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih IV (rta) arrives at London after the historic migration. In this photograph local missionaries and Ahmadis are greeting Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih (rta) upon his arrival.
Another event had occurred in 1983 before the migration of Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad (rta) to United Kingdom when someone named Aslam Qureshi disappeared from his home. Aslam Qureshi was a lift operator but because of his hatred towards the Ahmadis, he had been given the respectable title of a Muslim scholar, Maulana, by the enemies of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. In a secret plan, the enemy clerics falsely accused Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad of ordering Ahmadis to kill Aslam Qureshi. This false accusation was publicised widely. The clerics repeatedly accused Ahmadis of this in their gatherings. Further aggressive plans for punishing Ahmadis and our Khalifah were being mapped out.
The government officials of Pakistan started preparing to implicate and arrest Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih IV (rta). Fortunately, with the special help of Allah the Almighty, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih IV (rta) was able to leave the country and migrate to London. Nevertheless, the clerics still did not stop their babbling. After the prayer duel, Allah the Almighty once again revealed His help when one day, Aslam Qureshi was shown on PTV (Pakistan’s state television channel) with a police officer. The officer said that Aslam Qureshi had been found in Iran and he had confessed going to Iran on his own will. No one had kidnapped him. In this way Allah proved the innocence of the Ahmadis by revealing they had nothing to do with Aslam Qureshi’s disappearance.
One year later on 23 March 1989, the Ahmadiyya Jama’at celebrated its 100 year anniversary called a Centenary, because a hundred years earlier on 23 March 1889 the Promised Messiah (as) had taken the first bai‘at and established the Ahmadiyya Community. In the span of a hundred years, the call that was made in the small town of Qadian by a lone individual had now reached many countries of the world. God, through victory upon victory, delivered His verdict on the prayer duel in favour of Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad (rta) and the Ahmadiyya Jama’at for the whole world to see.