During his morning walk the Promised Messiah (as) said: “A good life is one that is excellent, even if little. The life of our Noble Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was much shorter than Noah (as), but the life of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was extremely beneficial. In a very short span of time he performed hugely beneficial works. The words of Prophets wield an influence, they bring with them a spiritual power. And this power was possessed in greatest measure by the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Just observe how challenging it is to advise just one person and bring them onto the right path. But through the Holy Prophet (sas) tens of millions of people were guided onto the right path. In the world today, compared to all other religions, the Muslims are greatest in number. Certain geographers have understated the world’s Muslim population, but researchers have proven with strong and overwhelming evidence that the Muslims form the largest community in the world by number.
The effect of all things remains in two ways: by way of doctrine and through practice. In terms of doctrine, all the Muslims are firmly established on the holy creed of Islam, which is: لَآ اِلٰہَ اِلَّا اللہُ (There is none worthy of worship except Allah). Then in terms of practice, all Muslims, irrespective of which sect or country they belong to, strictly refrain from consuming the flesh of swine for example. In the matter of wrongdoing, speaking falsehood is the easiest action that one can commit in the least amount of time. In order to commit adultery, theft, etc., one must possess power, money, courage and audacity. However, nothing is required to speak a lie, all one needs to do is move their tongue. Despite this, it is established that the companions were pure of telling lies. Not a single one of the companions of the Holy Prophet (sas) spoke a lie. Now observe how magnificent the effect that was impressed on them. In contrast to this, however, look at the disciples of Jesus (as). They rejected their Prophet at the very time that he was being arrested. One disciple had him apprehended for a mere thirty coins. Another disciple said that the Messiah manifested so many signs that if they were written, they would not be able to fit in the world. What a great lie. Why would events that took place in the world, and which were able to fit in it when they transpired, not fit afterwards? The prayers of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, were the most accepted by God.”
The Promised Messiah (as) said: “There are four prerequisites for the acceptance of prayer; only then is a prayer accepted in one’s favour. The very first condition is righteousness. In other words, the person to whom a request for prayer is made must be righteous. It was the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, who possessed the most excellent and most perfect form of righteousness. He possessed the highest level of piety. The principle in righteousness is for man to leave behind his inherent human nature and become so absorbed in God’s divinity just as wooden planks are nailed to a wall and become one and the same. Nothing ought to stand between a servant and God. All matters can be classified into three categories. Firstly, there are those which are self-evidently certain, and that is to say, it can clearly be observed that particular things are either good or bad. Secondly, there are those that are theoretically certain, which means that one cannot have the same degree of certainty in their respect, but they can still appear to be either good or bad, in theory. Thirdly, there are matters which are ambiguous, or in other words, there is a possibility that a certain thing could be bad. Hence, a righteous person is one who saves themselves even from this possibility and doubt, and who progresses forward through all three of these stages. There is a statement of Hazrat Umar (ra) that in order to be saved from doubt and uncertainty,he would give up nine things out of ten. Doubts ought to be dispelled. In reality, our opponents have witnessed so many examples of divine support and signs that if they possessed righteousness, they would never turn away. Just look at the testimony of Karim Bakhsh, who wept profusely and stated in his old age, when death was nigh, that a saint named Gulab Shah had told him long ago that Jesus has been born in Qadian and he will come to Ludhiana, and you shall see how vehemently the Muslim clerics will oppose him; his name will be Ghulam Ahmad. One may observe how this prophecy made by the saint is so very clear. Hundreds of people have testified to the fact that Karim Bakhsh is a man who adheres to religious injunctions such as Prayer and fasting, and always speaks the truth, as detailed in my book Izala-e-Awham.
Now, does righteousness dictate that one reject this testimony? Once I was composing a few couplets on the subject of righteousness, and one of the verses that I wrote was revealed to me by God. The couplet is:
ہر اک نیکی کی جڑ یہ اتّقا ہے
اگر یہ جڑ رہی سب کچھ رہا ہے
The root of every good is righteousness;
If this root is preserved, everything will survive.
The second verse in this couplet is a revelation from God. Where righteousness does not exist, no good is good and no virtue is virtue. In praise of the Holy Quran, Allah the Exalted states:
هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِيْنَ1
It is a guidance for the righteous.
Even the Quran can only be a guidance for those who embrace righteousness. When a person begins to study the Holy Quran, righteousness means that they should not look at the Holy Quran with ignorance, jealousy and spite; rather, they ought to read the Holy Quran with the righteousness of an enlightened heart and with sincere intention.
The second condition for the acceptance of prayer is that one must feel a pain in their heart for the person for whom they are praying. Allah the Exalted states:
اَمَّنْ يُّجِيْبُ الْمُضْطَرَّ اِذَا دَعَاهُ2
Or, Who answers the distressed person when he calls upon Him.
The third condition is that one finds a time of pure communion with God. A time when there is nothing between a servant and their Lord. The Holy Quran speaks of the Night of Destiny and that it is better than a thousand months. In this instance, the Night of Destiny has three meanings. Firstly, there is a Night of Destiny during the month of Ramadan. Secondly, the era of the Noble Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was also a Night of Destiny, as it were. That is to say, after the darkness of extreme ignorance and faithlessness, there was the dawn of a new age which ushered the descent of angels. For the Prophets do not come to the world alone. They are kings, and they come with an army of hundreds and thousands, nay, tens of millions of angels—angels who take to their tasks and pull the hearts of people towards virtue. Thirdly, a person’s Night of Destiny refers to their time of pure communion with God. All times are not the same. On certain occasions, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, would say:
اَرِحْنَا یَا عَائِشَۃُ
Meaning, O Ayeshah, give me comfort and joy. However, on other occasions, he would become wholly engaged in supplication. As Sa’di says:
وقتے چنیں بو دے کہ بجبرئیل ومیکائیل پر داختے ودیگر وقت با حفصہ وزینب در ساختے
At times the Holy Prophet (sas) would be engaged with Gabriel (as) and Michael (as), and on other occasions he would be busy assisting Hafsah (ra) and Zainab (ra).
The closer a person grows to God, the more such a time of pure communion can be experienced.
The fourth condition is that a person prays for as long as is required, until Allah the Exalted informs them through a dream or revelation. One who possesses love and sincerity must not be hasteful, but rather, ought to wait with patience.”3
On the 26th or 27th of August 1901, or thereabouts, the Promised Messiah (as) said: “I have seen a dream in which a person has vomited, and he is covering it up with a cloth.”
A certain individual in whose family there has been a line of Sufi leaders for quite some time, with thousands of disciples, and who was a spiritual leader himself, but had now abandoned such orders to join this divine community, made a submission to the Promised Messiah (as). He said: “During our time as Sufi leaders, we were renowned for our ‘miracles,’ even though these had been falsely attributed to us. We had many disciples and followers. On one occasion, I mentioned to my brother, and this fear had crossed my mind many times in the past, that the miracles for which our father is renowned are most probably the same in nature as those attributed to us. Then, we began to think that this was probably the same for Sheikh Abdul-Qadir Jilani (rta) and other saints as well. Hence, I became firmer in these thoughts until I well nigh would have begun to think ill of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and God forbid, I would have rejected God Almighty as well, when fortunately I was blessed to meet you, and then I found the truth.”
On this, the Promised Messiah (as) said: “There is no doubt that these custodians of shrines and Sufi leaders are at a risk of losing their faith. However, just because these people in particular are renowned for miracles that are falsely attributed to them and these so-called miracles are famed among the people, one should not conclude that all the saintly are liars, and that the entire chain of saints and holy personages of the Faith were based on deception and falsehood. On the contrary, the existence of these false saints is proof of the fact that there are true saints in the world as well. For until a certain truth exists, an untruth cannot exist. For example, if real and genuine gold did not exist, alchemists would never make false gold. If authentic diamonds and pearls were not found in mines, no one would think to produce artificial diamonds and pearls. The existence of these fabricators is itself evidence of the fact that the truthful are definitely present as well.”
1 al-Baqarah, 2:3
2 an-Naml, 27:63
3 Al-Hakam, vol. 5, no. 32, dated 31 August 1901. pp. 13-14