THE MUSllM HERAlD AHMADIYYA MUSUM f.fleTEN1~~ , t ,~r ;.· LIFE OF PROMISED MESSIAH /~ ltr t JALSA SALANA I . ._ '' . AHMADIS IN PAKISTAN ,. "':. BLESSINGS OF DAROOD THE BLESSED DEMANDS Vol. 29:7/8 JULY/AUGUST 1989 £1.50 FOUNDER OF THE AHMADIYYA MOVEMENT IN ISLAM HAZRAT MIRZA GHULAM AHMAD, THE PROMISED MESSIAH & IMAM MAHDI (Peace be on him) • He was born in 1H35 at Qadian and passed away in 1908. • He received his first revelation of being commissioned to reform the world in 1882. ~ • His first voluminous book expounding the excellences of Islam was published in IH~. • He wrote more than eighty books. • He establi:.hed the Ahmadiyya Jama'at (Community) under Divine Command in 1889. • The Jama'at established by him is carrying on the propagation of l<>lam all over the world under the guidance of their spiritual leader, the Khalifatul Masih. • The members of this Jama 'at are now to be found in almost all the countries of the world. • The Jama'at has an extensive programme for the building of mosques and production of Islamic literature. In 1982 Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IV opened the first Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosque in Spain: in 1983 he laid the Foundation Stone of the first Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosque in Australia. • The translations of the Holy Quran have been published in English. German, Danish. Dutch, Esperanto, Swahili, Yoruba. Indonesian, Russian and many other languages. • The membership of the Jama'at now nwnbers over ten million. DJ)ST MOHI'UIMAD SliAHlJ) THE MUSllM HERAlD A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE CAUSE 0 F ISLAM The Muslim Herald is the official JULY/AUGUST 1989 journal of the London Mosque. II features articles wriucn by re nowned scholars. The magazine is In this issue open for discussion on topics relat ing to different religions. on the role of Islam in the changing en The Life of vironment. public opinion on the problems confronting mankind to Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad \ day and their solution through a by Maulvi Dost Mohammad Shahid 11 better understanding of the purpose of creation of life here and hereafter. Opinions expressed in this magazine Poem 34 may not necessarily be those of the London Mosque. Jalsa Salana 36 Imam of the London Mosque: The Situation of Ahmadi Muslims Ataul Mujecb Rashed after the Dawn of Democracy (Missionary-in-charge) in Pakistan .. 40 Editor: M. Hashim Saeed Blessings of Durood by Nasira Rashid 60 Assisrant Edirors: Mahmood Guizar Kaleem Ahmed Waseem The Blessed Demands 63 Manager: Muzaffar A. Khokhar Also available on microfilm Subscriptions: and regular features Single copy £1.50 Annual UK £15.00 Commentary on some verses Other countries $30.00 from the Holy Quran 2 Published by the London Mosque Lessons from Hadith 4 16 Gresrenhall Road, Sowhfields, From the writings of Lonrl:on SWI85QL (U.K.) Tel;0/-8708517 the Promised Messiah 7 BRIEF NOTES ON THE LIFE OF Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad THE PROMISED MESSIAH THE FOUNDER OF THE AHMADIYYA MOVEMENT by MAULVI DOST MOHAMMAD SHAHlD ofRabwah and rendered into English by M.A. K. GHAURI (i) " Right from the very beginning I had spent my time under the shadow of Thy protection, for I have been like a suckling in Thy lap, 0. my most gracious "Gvd." (ii) " From the very beginning I had preferred to live a very secluded life and had hated publicity and was ever shy and scared of seeking prominence in the public eye." (iii) " It was at the age of forty years, in this transistory abode that I was honoured and exalted by Thy grace and was granted a corrverse and communion with Thyself." Family Antecedents Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad came of a highly distinguished family of Persian origin, called Barlas. His ancestors were very closely connected with the royal family of that country. Through intermarriage the family had Turkish, Chinese and Fatamide blood also in its veins. When Timurlane. the famous conqueror. came into power. his first cousin Mirza Hadi Beg. for political and JULY/AUGUST 1989 11 safety reasons. migrated to India in the year 1520. He was very. warmly welcomed by the ruling dynasty who granted him vast tracts of land comprising 86 villages. Here Mirza Hadi Beg laid the foundation of a model Islamic state. The family remained master of these lands until 1802, when, during the time of the Promised Messiah's grandfather, Mirza Ata Muhammad. the Sikhs took possession of his lands and he had to take refuge in Kapoorthala State. Later when Maharaja Ranjit Singh gained control of the Punjab. he restored a portion of Mirza Ata Muhammad's estate and he came back to live in Qadian. His son Mirza Ghulam Murtaza. the father of the Promised Messiah was the owner of five villages. His Birth The Promised Messiah was born on Friday the 13th February, 1835 in the early hours of the morning as one of the twins. This had been predicted . by the Muslim saint. Mohiyu Din lbn-i-Arabi. Early Life and Visions On many occasions the Promised Messiah had related facts about his early life. He once said that. .in his early boyhood. he had made the mosque a second home where he used to spend most of his time in the company of good and righteous men. Love of God was then his most valuable possession. and. devotion to God, his most lovable companion. Being in the world. he lived out of it and yet considered mankind in general as his own family. A saintly person of high repute, Maulvi Ghulam Rasool by name. on seeing the Hazrat when he was still a small boy. had said spontaneously that if a prophet had been destined for this age that would certainly be this boy. As was vogue in those days, the Hazrat started his first lessons in learning the Holy Quran at the age of six years. Besides lessons in Islam. he was taught some very elementary books in the Persian language. His first tutor was a Hanifite, Maulvi Fazl-i-Ilabi by name. When 12 MUSLIM HERALD the Promised Messiah reached the age of ten years, another Maulvi of the Ahl-i-Hadith sect whose name also was Fazl-i IIahi, was engaged to coach him in elementary grammar and other current literature. Maulvi Gul Ali Shah. a scholar of the Shia sect began to coach the Hazrat when he had reached the age of seventeen. He taught him some books on grammar, logic and philosophy according to the custom of that time. His father also taught him some books on medicine and the art of healing. It was at this time that the Promised Messiah had the honour of first seeing the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) in a vision clear as crystal. He saw him sitting in a high chair which began to rise higher and higher until it reached the ceiling and became quite large in size. His face also began to shine much brighter than before. It looked as if the sun and the moon were throw ing light on his bright radiant face. Preparing himself to sene the Faith Even from his very early age he showed signs of attachment to his Creator. for which reason, the Promised Messiah always sought seclusion. In this way his link and love with the Lord God and his master. the Holy Prophet. grew stronger and stronger every day. He used to spend practically all his time in the mosque studying the Holy Quran and writing notes on its margin. Whenever he thought about the despicable state of Islam. shorn of its past glory. and the present miserable. down-trodden Muslims, he felt an insufferable burning in his heart. He felt grievously hurt at the baseless attacks of the Christians on the life of the Holy Prophet and from the age of seventeen years he started noting down these unfair attacks on his beloved master. lmpartia6ty, Candour and Truth in Judicial cases The Promised Messiah, obeying the command of his father. had to attend to the cases filed in connection with the family's ancestral property. This was the task which he very much hated but to continue the course of litigation for more or Jess seventeen years was an ordeal for the Hazrat. Miscontruing and distorting JULY/AUGUST 1989 13 facts. misleading the evidence to one's own advantage, and other malpractices were very common in these matters. But the Promised Messiah always manifested the highest degree of truth fulness and honesty in these matters and always acted in a humble manner. Polemics and Controversies at Sialkot The Promised Messiah stayed at Sialkot for four years from 1864 to 1868 in connection with his service as a reader for a magistrate. After office hours he spent most of his time in studying the Holy Quran and in devotion and social service. He showed the greatest zeal in defending the faith. The Christian Missionaries had made the Punja~and especially the town of Sialkot. the centre of their activities. The Hazrat also started a single-handed campaign in defence of Islam. In this connection he championed the cause of Islam in public debates against the famous Scottish missionary. Dr. Butler. Of these controversies. Dr. Iqbal's teacher. Maulvi Sayyad Meer Hassan of Sialkot has given an account in his writings. Glad tidings from Allah on keeping away from a controversy After resigning his post at Sialkot. the Promised Messiah returned to Qadian and kept himself busy in the cause of the faith. In the year 1868, after .hearing the views of Maulvi Muhammad Hussain regarding the point of contention. he refused to oppose him in an open public ctebate and firmly withstood the pressure brought on him by the Hanifite Muslims in favour of the debate. He declared that the verdict of the Holy Quran in all cases superceded the Traditions and the Sayings of the Holy Prophet. Therefore. the Hazrat said. there was no cause to argue and start the controversy. Allah was very much pleased at the stand he had taken in that matter and as a reward gave him the following glad tidings: - "Thy God was pleased with this thy action and He shall bless thee greatly-so much so that kings shall seek blessings from thine garments." 14 MUSLIM HERALD The War of the Pen stam In the year 1872, the Promised Messiah started his crusade of the pen and his articles began to appear in the magazine "Manshoor-i-Muhammadi" from Bangalore, and also other sec. tions of the Muslim press. It was about the year 1873 that he wrote a number of poems that were published under the nom de-plume. "Farrukh'. The Great Devotion of Fasting Under Divine direction, the Promised Messiah strove hard in devotion and fasted continuously for nine months. During this period he was led into the spiritual world where he met all the righteous and great prophets of God. He also met Hazrat Ali, Fatima, Hassan and Hussain. To crown all this he was blessed with the good fortune of meeting the Holy Prophet while he was wide awake. This was the culmination of the spiritual ecstacy granted to him by God. The beginning of revelations It was the 3rd day of June in the year 1872 that the father of the Promised Messiah passed away. This was the time when he started receiving revelations in great abundance and it became apparent that God bad Himself taken the affairs of his servant (the Promised Messiah) into His own hands. At his father's death. the elder brother of the Hazrat had taken control of all the affairs of the family into his own hands and the Hazrat placed no hin drance in his way. For more than seven years Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad lived practically the life of a recluse- a person left entirely uncared for. During this period his zeal for the service of the faith kept on increasing and he occupied himself most diligently in this noble pursuit. This was the time when he had diverted his attention fully to replying to the baseless attacks of the Arya Samaj and exposed to the public eye all the weak points of their faith. The Baraheen-1-.Ahmadiyya The famous and unparalleled work of the Promised Messiah, known as the "BRAHEEN-1-AHMADIYYA" was published in the JULY/AUGUST 198() IS period between 1880 and 1884. This wonderful book caused a sensation in the world of religion in the sub-continent. The Muslims of India, who, on account of the violent but baseless charges of the Christians, the Arya Samaj and the atheistic phil osophy of the Western scholars. bad been totally stunned and appear to be half dead, now got a new lease of life and new zeal began to fiow in their veins. The well-known Muslim scholars of the time like Abu Saeed Muhammad Hussain of Batala, the advocate of the Ahl-i-Hadith sect. Hazrat Soofi Ahmad Jan of Ludhiana and Maulana Muhammad Sharif of Bangalore. declared that book to be an unprecedented master-piece. The enemies of Islam soon got disheartened, most of them became despondent and as a last resort banded themselves together into allies to fight this great champion of Islam. Commissioned by God In the month of March 1882, Allah rewarded Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad with a very great honour and chose him to be His special messenger to deliver His messages to the world. It was in the year 1882 that he had challenged all the non-Muslim religious leaders to an open contest in the divine signs. This challenge was repeated in 1885, when the Hazrat sent out 20,000 handbills printed in Urdu and English. Most of these were sent by registered post to all parts of the world. But there was no response from anyone as no one from the adversaries of Islam had the courage to accept that challenge. The Hazrat has aptly described their attitude in his Urdu couplet which says:- ·· No one came forward for the open contest although I had challenged each and everyone of my adversaries." The auspicious lineage and the predictioo of the Promised Son It was in the year 1884 that the Promised Messiah · was remarried. His bride, Nusrat Jehan Begum. came of very noble parents. Her father Hazrat Mir Nasir Nawab was the grandson of the famous ascetic and saint Khwaja Mir Dard (mercy of God be upon him). Thus was laid the foundation of a sacred and auspicious family line which was destined to hold the torch of 16 MUSLIM HERALD light to the whole world. As directed by Allah. the Promised M.essiah went into seclusion at Hoshiarpur for the purpose of devotion. prayers and supplication. As a result of this devotion he was given the glad tidings of the spiritual advancement of himself and his family and about the coming of the Promised Reformer-his own son. This prediction was fulfilled in the person of Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad who was born on the 12th January, 1889. and who later became the second successor to the Promised .Messiah. The first Oath of Initiation March 23rd is a red letter day in the history of Ahmadiyyat. Because on that day in the year 1889. the Promised Messiah started enrolling his disciples and on that auspicious day forty spirited and ardent lovers of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) took an oath at the hand of the Promised Messiah making a solemn promise to serve Islam most faithfully and always to give preference to the needs of the faith over their worldly needs. The honour of being the first to be initiated fell to the lot of Hazrat Maulvi Hakim Nur-ud-Din of Bhera. who eventually rose to the honour of being the first successor to the Promised Messiah. His claim as the Mesriah At the end of 1890. it was disclosed to the Promised Messiah. through Divine revelation. that " Jesus son of Mary is dead and that you are sent. as was promised. in his power and spirit. .. He. therefore. wrote the following three books clearly explaining the controversial points. The books are: (i) ·· FATHA-1-lSLAM " (the Victory of Islam); (ii) ·• TAUZIH-1-MARAM " (Objectives ex plained) and (iii) "IZALA-1-AUHAAM" (Removal of Doubts). These were the earliest steps taken by the Hazrat towards restoring (slam to its due glory as had been predicted in the earlier scrip tures. He also invited all the Muslim scholars and notables to rally round him to make a united effort for the uplift of the Muslims and the regeneration of Islam. But. as is usual. a great storm of opposition was aroused by the priest class and the Promised Messiah bad to challenge the prominent leaders from JULY/AUGUST 1989 17