There was mention of Munshi Ilahi Bakhsh and his associates, as well as his book Asa-e-Musa. Someone stated that a certain individual makes such and such comments about the conduct and character of these people. The Promised Messiah (as) said: “I will not have a part in such things, nor do I make personal attacks in this manner. This is against the dictates of righteousness.”
Babu Muhammad Sahib mentioned that Munshi Ilahi has written many things in the book Asa-e-Musa which are contrary to the facts. On this, His Holiness (as) said: “I have written in Zururat-ul-Imam that I thought well of him, but it is unfortunate that he has written things which are contrary to the facts, and thus erased the positive view that I had of him. Ilahi Bakhsh Sahib has copied a passage from someone else and used insulting words about me and my revered father, saying that he was a pauper. It is contrary to the demands of righteousness to blindly copy falsehood. After all, the one who quotes is responsible to ensure it is authentic. If my relationship with Ilahi Bakhsh Sahib had not been so long standing, if he had not been acquainted with my family’s circumstances, if he had lived in a place far away from here, if he had not read the section about my revered father in Sir Lepel Griffen’s book The Punjab Chiefs, and if he was unaware of the fact that he provided the British government with fifty horsemen during the Mutiny, I would have considered him worthy of being excused. But now, the level of his righteousness has become very clear.”
The Promised Messiah (as) said: “The entire workings of a person’s health and faith is in the hand of God.”
An individual mentioned that someone raised an objection and said that Maulvi Abdul-Karim Sahib was harsh in something he had written. The Promised Messiah (as) said: “There is an appropriate time for everything. If someone saw a cleric commit fornication in the mosque, the one who witnessed this sight would definitely say that he was a vile man who dishonours the Faith. An individual, however, who cannot determine the appropriateness of time and place, is misled. If there were someone, for example, who for no reason whatsoever, forges lies, slanders and uses abusive language, not once, not twice, not thrice, but again and again, would it be unwarranted to refer to such a person as shameless? What is a man who does not possess indignation for the Holy Quran? God has not created anger in vain; its improper use makes it unlawful. Someone asked Hazrat Umar (ra): ‘When you were a disbeliever, you were a very hot-tempered man. What is the state of your anger now?’ He responded: ‘My anger is the same as before, but before it was unbridled, now it has been channelled in the right direction.’ Otherwise, the objection would fall upon the Maker, as to why He created the faculty of anger. In actuality, no faculty is bad in itself, improper use makes it bad. The Holy Quran does not instruct us, like the Gospel, to suffer beatings for no reason. Our divine law teaches us to consider the occasion at hand. If softness is required, then turn to dust, and if stern measures are required, then be firm. Where forgiveness fosters virtue, show forgiveness. If a good and modest servant commits a mistake, then forgive them. There are certain people who possess such shameless dispositions, that if forgiven one day, they will cause double the disorder the following day. These sorts of people require punishment. Practically, however, the Gospel demonstrates a harsh example, where the Messiah called the opponents faithless, serpents, and a brood of vipers. Even God has cursed those who lie and used words of a similar nature.”
The Promised Messiah (as) said: “The Holy Quran has presented two examples of a believer. One example is of the wife of Pharaoh who sought the refuge of God from her ill-natured husband. This is an example of those believers who succumb to the passions of the self and commit mistakes, but then they are remorseful, they repent and seek the refuge of God. Their inner self constantly disturbs them, like a husband who is similar in nature to Pharaoh. Such people possess a self that reproves itself; they constantly endeavour to safeguard themselves from evil. The second sort of believers are those who possesses a higher rank. Such believers not only abstain from wrongdoing, but perform righteous deeds as well. Allah the Exalted has likened such people to Mary (as).
اَحْصَنَتْ فَرْجَهَا فَنَفَخْنَا فِيْهِ مِنْ رُّوْحِنَا1
Who guarded her chastity—so We breathed into him of Our Spirit.
Each and every believer ought to develop a level of excellence in their righteousness and purity, for such people are a spiritual manifestation of Mary, and God breathes into them of His Spirit, which then transforms into the son of Mary. Zamakhshari has also interpreted this verse in the same sense and states that this verse is general in connotation. We must adopt this interpretation. Otherwise, it is narrated in the Hadith that except for Mary and the son of Mary, no one else is free from the touch of Satan, and this would establish that all of the Prophets were, God forbid, subject to the influence of Satan. Therefore, this verse indicates that each and every believer who reaches a level of excellence has the Spirit of God breathed into them and they become the son of Mary, and this also contains a prophecy that the son of Mary would be born in this ummah. It is strange that people will name their sons Muhammad, Jesus, Moses, Jacob, Isaac, Ishmael and Abraham, and consider it permissible to do so, but do not consider it permissible for God to name someone Jesus or the Son of Mary.”
In response to a question posed by someone, the Promised Messiah (as) said: “A Prayer that is offered behind an opponent of the community cannot be valid in any case. A person finds forgiveness by offering the Prayer behind a person who is virtuous. The formal Prayer is the key to all forms of blessings. Supplications are accepted in the Prayer. The imam is a representative; if his own heart is black, what blessings can he give to others?”
The Promised Messiah (as) said: “The Jews state that on the Day of Resurrection they will put the book of the Prophet Malachi (as) before God and say that in this book You said that the Prophet Elijah would come before the Messiah; You did not say that the likeness of Elijah would come or that John would appear in the form of a spiritual manifestation of him. Now, if this is the truthful Messiah and we did not accept him, then how can this be our fault? This is the very state of the Muslim scholars today also, who are awaiting the Messiah.”
There was mention of the fact that when the Messiah (as) told the Jews that John (as) was the awaited Elijah, they went to John (as) and asked him—in words that we do not know—whether he was Elijah. John (as) denied this and said that he was not Elijah, and in this manner, it appeared that the Messiah had been proven false. The Promised Messiah (as) said: “We have no idea of the deceptive manner in which the Jews may have spoken to him. John (as) would have had no idea about their mischievous way. It is false to claim that Prophets are always present and aware like God. If this was the case, then why would the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, feel perturbed when the incident involving Hazrat Ayesha (ra) took place, to the extent that God Almighty revealed a verse about the entire matter? Sa’di has wonderfully written:
کسے پُرسید زاں پیر خرد مند
کہ اے روشن گہر پیر خرد مند
زِ مصرش بوئے پیراہن شمیدی
چرا در چاہ کنعانش ندیدی
بگفت احوال ما برق جہاں است
دمے پیدا و دیگر دم نہاں است
گہے بَر طارمِ اعلیٰ نشینم
گہے بر پُشتِ پائے خود نہ بینم
Someone asked the one who had lost his son;
O enlightened, wise sage!
You perceived the scent of a shirt from the land of Egypt;
but here you could not see it in the well of Canaan.
He said that our state is like lightning;
one moment it is visible and the next moment it vanishes.
At times I sit on a lofty station;
and at times I cannot even see what is at the heels of my feet.
The Promised Messiah (as) said: “A very strong argument which establishes that the present-day Gospels are not in their original state is that Allah the Exalted states that He sends every Prophet to their respective nation with the language that is spoken by them. Now, it is obvious that Hebrew was the language of the Jews, yet no original Gospel in the Hebrew language exists today. In fact, it is stated that the original language of the Gospels was Greek, which is against the established way of Allah.”
The Promised Messiah (as) said: “Worldly kings and rulers have put tests in place to confer high ranks to various individuals. This is precisely in accordance with the custom of Allah. Allah the Exalted also grants higher ranks to people after they undergo various tests. The tests of adversity and suffering which the Noble Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, passed were ones which no other person could ever bear.”2
1 at-Tahrim, 66:33
2 Al-Hakam, vol. 5, no. 28, dated 31 July 1901, pp. 3-4