The Promised Messiah (as) said:
The Shia allege that there has been some tampering of the Glorious Quran, but they themselves are the first to face the blow of this criticism. Hazrat Ali (ra) did not become the Khalifah to fight with Mu’awiyah [the first Khalifah of the Umayyad Dynasty]. On the contrary, his duty was to safeguard the Holy Quran which is the foundation of the fundamentals of the Faith. Accordingly, he could have published the original [unadulterated] copy of the Quran during the period of his Khilafat [Successorship]. Was any alteration possible in that Glorious Quran which had been continuously disseminated to thousands of people—friend and foe alike—under the watch of the Noble Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him? What nonsense!
Then, I ask: ‘Why did Hazrat Ali (ra) continue praying behind the very Khulafa [Successors] whom he [allegedly] believed to be usurpers and transgressors?’ Look, my followers will not perform their obligatory Prayers behind others [who are not my followers]. Was Hazrat Ali (ra) even weaker than them in the condition of his faith, causing him to persistently engage in taqiyyah [dissimulation under fear]? God Almighty proclaims that the land of Allah is vast. In such circumstances, one should emigrate [to escape oppression]. He did not do this either, from which it is clearly manifest that he had accepted to follow the three Khulafa [who preceded his Khilafat].
The Promised Messiah (as) said:
شَرُّ الْفُقَرَآءِ مَنْ عَلٰی بَابِ الْاُمَرَآءِ [The worst of the poor are those who sit at the door of the rich.] These people [Prophets, saints, ascetics, etc.] attain bounty from God Almighty. So what need do they have to go to the rich? Verily, the rich are in dire need of them.
The Promised Messiah (as) said:
By embracing the Religion of Truth [Islam], people think they are conferring a favour upon the one who called them to Allah, whereas Allah Almighty has said that this is actually My favour upon you that I have saved you from destruction. Instead of showcasing your ‘favours’, fulfil your obligation of gratitude to the Prophet.
The Promised Messiah (as) said:
Many people squander their lives, constantly preoccupied with alchemy. Instead of gaining anything, they end up losing whatever they had to begin with. There was a man who lived in Batala and was somewhat poor. The house that he had built for his residence was made of brick on the outside while the inside was all made of mud. One day he met a faqir [ascetic] who indulged in prolonged supplications and appeared to be very pious. On account of this apparent holiness, that simpleton [of Batala] would often sit with him and started associating with him. After a while, the faqir asked him earnestly why he had constructed his house that way and why he did not use all bricks. He replied that he was poor and did not have enough money. The faqir nonchalantly said that money was no big deal and then became quiet after saying that.
This dubious reply intrigued the man, giving rise to some suspicion, so he asked the faqir if he had some familiarity with alchemy. The faqir responded to his inquiry by saying that his mentor knew it. And after much insistence, admitted that he also knew it but would not tell anybody, but since the man was so insistent, he would be willing to share it only with him. The faqir asked the man to collect all the jewellery in his household and then went to an open area and started his ritual invocations and occupied himself with it for a while.
One day, the faqir took the jewellery and, while pretending to put it in a pot, stole it and somehow placed some stones and pebbles in the pot instead. He went outside with excuse to perform his ritual invocations and told the man to keep heating the pot on the fire by using lots of dried cakes of cow dung and to make sure it was not removed from fire till properly cooked. He further cautioned him not to remove it from the fire till he returned.
The man cooked the pot on the fire for a long time as directed till the house started filling with smoke and neighbours got worried. They made him open the door. When he informed them that it was alchemy, they made him understand that he had been robbed by the faqir. When the pot was opened, it only had stones. Later, when this person went to Gurdaspur for some engagement, he learned that the same man had deceived someone else and there, too, was a pot on fire. He told them that he had been duped as well. There too, upon opening the pot, they similarly discovered mere stones.
Similarly, there is a village near Qadian where an alchemist came and stayed in the local mosque. He asked the custodian of the mosque as to why they did not repair it as it was in bad shape. He replied that the mosque was built in the time of his forefathers, and that he was poor and did not have sufficient funds for the repairs. The alchemist said that money was not a problem and he could arrange it. Upon inquiry, he replied that he could make silver. The custodian gave him twenty-five rupees. The alchemist took him to Batala and handed him some polished tin. The man was a simpleton and could not tell the difference. Upon returning to his village he showed it to the jeweller only to discover that it was totally worthless.
Similarly, there was a governmental deputy who had a long-standing interest in alchemy and had already wasted a lot of money in this pursuit. One day a man came to him and told him that he knew how to convert base metals into gold but needed 500 rupees for equipment etc. The deputy immediately arranged for this. Taking the money, the man opened up a shop nearby and sent word to the deputy that: ‘I am keeping the money; now, do whatever you wish, I won’t return it. If you want it back, then file a case in court.’
How could the deputy sue him in his present condition of being elderly, and even if he had done so, he would have only embarrassed himself? So he kept quiet. In short, all this is absurd.
The fascination of alchemy was universal in earlier times and Hindus were caught in it for a long time, but sadly some educated people are still fond of it. Islam declares it totally unlawful and it is affirmed by Holy Quran that a muttaqi [God-fearing person] does indeed receive blessed sustenance. The sustenance which proves beneficial is indeed blessed, albeit there are many kinds of wealth that are earned through illegitimate means and are lost in unlawful pursuits and vain customs. In contrast, the money earned with integrity and hard work finds its use at the proper occasion as is clear from the story of two brothers in which God Almighty—for the reason اَبُوْہُمَا صَالِحًا [the father of both of them being righteous]—appointed two Prophets to build a wall to safeguard the wealth that was earned with integrity and righteousness.
God Almighty has declared:
وَفِی السَّمَآءِ رِزۡقُکُمۡ وَمَا تُوۡعَدُوۡنَ ﴿۲۳﴾ فَوَرَبِّ السَّمَآءِ وَالۡاَرۡضِ اِنَّہٗ لَحَقٌّ مِّثۡلَ مَاۤ اَنَّکُمۡ تَنۡطِقُوۡنَ ﴿٪۲۴﴾1
Meaning that God Almighty provides every man his daily bread from Himself.
David says that ‘I was a child and I am now grown old, but I have not yet seen the progeny of the righteous begging for crumbs’ [alludes to Psalms 37:25]. Similarly, it is mentioned in the Torah that the impact of an auspicious person extends up to seven of his generations. Then, it is also stated in the Glorious Quran that کَانَ اَبُوْہُمَا صَالِحًا2 meaning that father of both was righteous. This was the reason God Almighty had safeguarded their treasure. It appears from this that the boys were not that pious. They were saved because of the piety of their father.
Therefore, it is much better for a man to become righteous and pious than to become an alchemist. In that alchemy, money is wasted, but in this alchemy, both religion and world [i.e., spiritual and physical goods] are set aright. Woe unto those who squander away their entire lives for nothing, and die in the very pursuit of alchemy, whereas there is nothing in this [empty] alley except the loss of wealth and the loss of faith! And such a person is proven worthy of—firstly—financial ruin and—secondly—public derision.
The true alchemy is taqwa [righteousness]. The one who lays hold of this, lays hold of everything, but the one who fails to put this formula to test, wastes his life. Even if alchemy did in fact exist, the one who squanders his life in its pursuit can never be righteous and self-restrained. How can the one who obsesses day and night over the love of worldly wealth have any room in his heart for the love of his Pure and Precious Lord?
With reference to the Doctrine of Atonement, the Promised Messiah (as) said:
Christians place a great deal of emphasis upon Atonement in spite of it being a totally absurd notion. According to their belief, the human nature of the Messiah was sacrificed but his ‘Divine’ nature remained alive. Now, the objection over this is that the one who was sacrificed for [the sins of] all people was just a man; he was not God. However, for the Atonement it was necessary for God to be sacrificed according to their very own belief, but it did not happen so. On the contrary, a human body was sacrificed while God remained alive, but if God were sacrificed, then He suffered death!
In fact, it is the consequence of this very [Doctrine of] Atonement that the abundance of sins is proliferating throughout the world. However, when the Christians are told that Atonement has caused the spread of sin throughout the world, they give the reply that Atonement is only for salvation; otherwise, Atonement is meaningless unless man purifies himself and abstains from sins. Nevertheless, when looking upon those very people who are the ones stating this assertion, it is discovered that they are involved in all kinds of sins.
Once a priest was apprehended in consequence of some act of immorality. He replied [in his defence] that since Atonement had already taken place, guilt no longer exists.
If Atonement does not deliver from the perpetration of sin, then what good is it? Accordingly, Christians have no response to this.3
A gentleman from the Province of Balochistan wrote to the Promised Messiah (as) on 17 March 1908:
One of your followers, Noor Muhammad, is a dear friend of mine. He is very devout in Prayers and is a pious man. He is well respected by all. He is a polite man endowed with every good quality. He is religious. I came to know about your particulars from him and it has, therefore, become my firm belief that Your Holiness is fiercely loyal to Ummat-e-Muhammadiyyah [followers of the Holy Prophet (sas)] and is an ardent advocate of the Chosen Messenger [Muhammad (sas)] and the Noble Companions. Those who revile you are themselves reviled, but in spite of this belief and opinion of mine, the aforementioned Noor Muhammad does not pray with us in congregation nor does he perform the Friday Prayer [with us]. The reason he states is that ‘Our Prayer is not performed behind a non-Ahmadi [imam].’ Please urge him to pray behind us so that schisms do not arise, for we do not speak ill on your behalf.
This is the quotation and gist of that letter.
In reply to it, the Promised Messiah (as) wrote the following instruction upon that very letter addressing the name of this humble one:4
Write in reply that since the mullahs [Muslim clergymen] of this country have publicly declared me a kafir [disbeliever] out of their religious bigotry and have promulgated religious verdicts [to that effect], and [since] the rest of the people are their followers; therefore, if there are such people who would tender a public announcement to evidence their good faith that they do not follow those maulawis [Muslim clergymen] who have declared me a disbeliever, it would be acceptable to pray with them. Otherwise, the one who declares Muslims to be kafir becomes a kafir himself, so how can we offer our Prayer behind him? Verily, this is not permissible according to the Noble Law [of Islam].
A person had asked the Promised Messiah, peace be upon him: ‘Is it permitted to take pictures according to the Shariah?’
He replied:
This is a new invention. There is no mention of it in the earlier Scriptures. Some materials have the God-given quality that allows a picture to be taken. If this technique is harnessed for the service of the Shariah, then it is permissible.
A person asked the question: ‘For six months I had abandoned Salat [obligatory Prayers]. Now that I have repented, should I perform all of those Prayers now?’
He replied: ‘There is no qaza [expiation] for Salat. Now, taubah [repentance] alone suffices as its remedy.’5
1 And in heaven is your sustenance, and also that which you are promised. And by the Lord of the heaven and the earth, it is certainly the truth, even as it is true that you speak (Surah adh-Dhariyat, 51:23–24). [Publisher]
2 Surah al-Kahf, 18:83 [Publisher]
3 Al-Hakam, vol. 12, no. 20, p. 7–8, dated 18 March 1908
4 This refers to Hazrat Mufti Muhammad Sadiq (ra), the editor of Badr. [Publisher]
5 Badr, vol. 8, no. 7–9, p. 5, dated 24 to 31 December 1908