The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement Blog

Sayyid Ahmad Barelvi, like John the Baptist

In another brief item in Badr of 7th November 1907, Hazrat Mirza sahib is reported as saying:

“Just as before Jesus, the prophet John the Baptist was martyred while preaching the oneness of God, similarly before me in this very land of Punjab Sayyid Ahmad was martyred while preaching the message of the oneness of God. This was another similarity, which God fulfilled.”

Hazrat Mirza sahib bore likeness to Jesus. That was the basis of his claim to be Promised Messiah. Here he states that Sayyid Ahmad Barelvi (d. 1831) in the same way bore likeness to John the Baptist, who is known in the Quran as the prophet Yahya. If Hazrat Mizra Ghulam Ahmad is the Messiah then Sayyid Ahmad Barelvi was his forerunner, his John the Baptist. This clearly shows that a religious leader among the Muslims can bear likeness to a prophet of the past without himself being a prophet, since no one considers Sayyid Ahmad Barelvi to be a prophet.

Communicating with Mars

In Badr, 7th November 1907, the following conversation in the company of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is reported:

The new balloons to be used in wars were being mentioned and it was said that some Englishmen proposed to communicate with the inhabitants of Mars. Hazrat Mirza sahib said: Earlier prophecies about these people are being fulfilled, that they will shoot arrows towards the sky. God has given these people the power to do anything. Let us see what is the final consequence.

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1. The “balloons” would be an early form of aerial warfare.2. Hazrat Mirza’s statement here about a prophecy (presumably in Hadith) that these nations would shoot arrow towards the sky was made before the invention of rockets. The launching of rockets  for space travel resembles exactly the shooting of arrows towards the sky.

Disciple of Khwaja Ghulam Farid accepts Ahmadiyyat

Khwaja Ghulam Farid of Chachran (Bahalwalpur state, now Pakistan) was a renowned Muslim saint, with a large following, in the time of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and passed away before the Promised Messiah in 1904. Much to the chagrin of the Promised Messiah’s opponent ulama, the Khwaja refused to denounce him and openly declared that he was a true and sincere servant of Islam. He was not, of course, an Ahmadi, yet the Promised Messiah declared him in a poem as “the peerless one of this age in truthfulness and purity”. In Badr of 10th October 1907 a news is printed about a disciple of the Khwaja as follows:

“Hazrat Khwaja Ghulam Farid, upon whom be mercy of Allah, had true love for the Promised Messiah. This is why his disciples, when expressing love and loyalty towards the Promised Messiah, mention that they are following their late leader, may Allah have mercy on him. Recently, an honourable sufi, Khalifa Muhammad Sadiq Ali, has entered into the bai`at of the holy Hazrat. We reproduce two of his letters which will be a source of guidance for our readers.”

The words of this note shows that Khwaja Ghulam Farid, while not being an Ahmadi, is nonetheless being regarded here as a great Muslim saint 

The first letter is translated below:

“O true Mahdi and true guide! assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh. Today I saw the Review of Religions, which proved and showed me that the declarations against you which appear in newspapers are written by misguided people.  You are teaching us the Islam which we have forgotten. Far from being a denier and falsifier of the khatam-ur-rusul Muhammad, peace be upon him, you are one who supports and propagates his religion. You belong to that group regarding whom our Holy Messenger said that in his umma there will be ulama who will excel the prophets of the past. In a partial sense, messengership continues and will continue till the Day of Judgment. …

O true Mahdi who has been sent by God, I sincerely believe you to be true and God the Glorious is witness to it. …

O Mahdi sent by God, guide and mentor, I accept that the Holy Quran is the highest guide and teacher of Islam. However, to understand it, when knowledge and reason are not enough then a guide is required. So I take you as my guide. Teach me and show me the right path. …”

The words used by the letter writer, “You belong to that group regarding whom our Holy Messenger said that in his umma there will be ulama whom will excel the prophets of the past”, clearly show that he considers Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as one of the saints of Islam. That is the only group spoken of thus in Hadith. The next words, “In a partial sense, messengership continues and will continue till the Day of Judgment”, equally clearly refer to the concept of muhaddasiyya, since “partial messengership” is a recognised term for that concept (based on the hadith that the true visions of a believer are a part of prophethood).

Letter of 1899 reprinted in 1907

In Badr, 26th September 1907, a letter written by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad inviting a person to accept him is published, under the caption An old letter of Hazrat Aqdas. The date of the letter is 1317 A.H., and as the date on this issue of Badr is 1325 A.H., it means that the letter is from 1899. Its publication is one of many examples of pre-1901 writings of the Promised Messiah being published long after 1901. The letter is translated below. After the formal greetings, he writes:

 "I am appointed (mamur) in order to inform every right-minded, noble person of my mission, namely, that God the Most High has sent me at the head of this 14th century for renewal work (tajdid) to defeat through me the two troubles: the mischief of Christianity whose attacks from the outside have greatly weakened Islam, and the internal mischief that the condition of the Muslim themselves, in terms of faith, deeds and belief, has greatly declined. Accordingly, corresponding to the external reform work relating to breaking the cross, the Wise One has given me the name Promised Messiah, and corresponding to removing the internal trouble and establishing Muslims on true guidance He has given me the name Mahdi.

For, the man by whose hand the mischief of the cross is removed, and the distorted form of Christianity meets its fall, he is that Mujaddid whose name in heaven is Messiah. And the man who appears at a time when most Muslims have lost the true substance and essence of Islam, and he is sent to breathe into them again the spirit of true guidance and faith, he is that Mujaddid whose name is Mahdi, as the hadith says: 'There is no Mahdi except Jesus'. …

It is the condition of the present time that demanded that the Mujaddid of this century be called by the names Promised Messiah and Mahdi. … Is it not true that the heaven is calling out and the earth is pleading that, according to the prevailing circumstances and the internal and external troubles that are being witnessed, the name of the Mujaddid of this century should be Messiah and Mahdi?

If the prevailing circumstances themselves do not by their nature bestow upon me these two titles then I am a liar. But if they do, then it is obligatory and essential for every God-fearing person to join my helpers. On this basis, I write this letter to you, as I entertain a favourable view about you, and wish that you, having fear of the day when any deviation and laxity in the way of God will nullify one's deeds, should become my helper…

Ask God to show you light in my affair, so that you do not join those who, having found the Messiah sent by God, did not pay the least attention to him."

This is a very clear explanation of his claim written some eight years after first making it. And it is republished in Badr a further eight years later. Thus the Promised Messiah is the title of the Mujaddid of the fourteenth century.

The occupation of the Promised Messiah

On the front page of Badr, 19 September 1912, there is an article by the editor Mufti Muhammad Sadiq (later a prominent missionary of the Qadiani Jama`at) entitled: What was the occupation of the Promised Messiah?

He writes:

On 18th January 1905 when I was headmaster in Qadian I wrote a note to the Promised Messiah which is reproduced below along with his reply. It is hoped it will be of interest to readers.

The Note

To the holy Hazrat, our leader and our Mahdi, the Promised Messiah.

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuhu

The name of Mian Mahmud Ahmad will today be sent forward for the examinations. The form that has to be filled has a space asking, What is the occupation of the boy’s father? I have written in it the word nubuwwat [prophethood].

… [Rest of note omitted in this translation as it is about some medical advice, see image for full text]…

Your most humble servant, Muhammad Sadiq,

18th January 1905

The reply

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuhu

Nubuwwat is not an occupation. Please write that he is the leader and Imam of the Ahmadiyya sect which numbers about 300,000. The occupation is the reform of the people.

Ghulam Ahmad.

So in that form I wrote in English as follows the occupation of the Hazrat:

National Reformation and Leadership of Ahmadiyya Sect (300,000 members)

See image from Badr below (click to enlarge to full size).

Hazrat Mirza sahib as Imam and Mujaddid

In Badr, 19 September 1907, a letter is printed entitled Why I became an Ahmadi by one Baqa Muhammad. He writes in the article that after he became an Ahmadi he received a letter from a Maulvi friend expressing surprise at this. After quoting the letter from his Maulvi friend, he then quotes the reply that he sent him. We translate below just some extracts from his lengthy reply:

“Since the beginning of time, when a prophet died and his book was altered and there was a denial of the signs of God, then God appointed another prophet to spread the doctrine of His oneness who verified the earlier prophets. It is obvious that the prophets before the Holy Prophet Muhammad came for only their own nations, while our Holy Prophet came for the whole world. No prophet will come after him who will be commanded to follow laws other than the commandments of the Holy Quran. Certainly not. Instead, for the propagation of the same Islam, which attained completion with the Holy Prophet Muhammad, mujaddids or imams have been coming, as there has always been a mujaddid at the turn of every century. Because there was a need these days for an imam and mujaddid, God out of His grace and mercy appointed the Imam of the time who had been promised. He came with clear arguments and signs because this is an age in which Muslims have become divided into many sects, each considering itself to be destined for heaven and the others for hell. …

Jesus can only come holding one of two positions: (1) as a rasul, (2) having been removed from risalat as an ummati. In the first case the Holy Prophet Muhammad would not remain khatam-un-nabiyyin, but one would have to accept Jesus as the khatam. In the second case, to consider a rasul as an ummati is very much against the basics of faith, and is heresy because we believe in the prophethood of all prophets.”

This shows that:

1. After the Holy Prophet Muhammad, those who are sent by God among Muslims are mujaddids and imams.
2. Khatam-un-nabiyyin means Last of the Prophets because if Jesus came after the Holy Prophet Muhammad he would become Khatam-un-nabiyyin. Note that if khatam here meant ‘best’ or ‘greatest’ then even in the event of Jesus coming back as prophet, the Holy Prophet could still remain Khatam-un-nabiyyin.
3. If it applies to Jesus that a prophet cannot be an ummati, then in case of Hazrat Mirza sahib too he being an ummati cannot be a prophet.

Evolution and the Quran

The Holy Quran instructs human beings as follows:

Say: Travel in the earth then see how He makes the first creation, then Allah creates the latter creation. Surely Allah is Powerful over all things.” (29:20)

This is what Charles Darwin did. He travelled in the earth and from his scientific observations (“then see”) he deduced what the “first creation” of life must have been like by looking at the “latter creation”. His theory and conclusions may not necessarily be correct in all respects, but what he did corresponds to what this verse tells people to do.

Claim of Promised Messiah as a muhaddath

Tahir Hussen writes to our blog: 

“(II) Question: A claim to prophethood has been made in Fath-i Islam?

Answer: I have not claimed prophethood. I have only claimed to be a muhaddath (one spoken to by God) and this, too, under the divine command. Muhaddathiyyah undoubtedly contains a strong element of prophethood. Now when true vision is admittedly forty-sixth part of prophethood, what is the harm if muhaddathiyyah, which has been spoken to in the Quran along with prophethood and messengership, and about which an authentic report exists in Sahih al-Bukhari, is styled metaphorical prophethood or an integral element of the excellences of prophethood. Does it amount to a claim to prophethood? After all a complete seal has never been set on the divine revelation after the perfection of the prophethood . . .. O ignorant people! Rivulets of revelation are to flow in this ummah till the day of Resurrection subject, of course, to one’s status.”

(Izalah Auham, September 1891, pp. 421, 422)

When the promised messiah wrote:

“I have not claimed prophethood. I have only claimed to be a muhaddath (one spoken to by God)”,

I wonder why the rabwah make of him a prophet. Are they blind lovers of Mirza Bashir-ud-din Mahmud Ahmad to the extent of accepting a fabrication that brings humiliation to the promised messiah ?!

Another article on importance of Sadr Anjuman

In Al-Hakam of 17 September 1907, the importance of the Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya is again highlighted by the editor. We quote from it below:

“The time of the coming of the appointed ones of God (mamooreen) is the time for the making and unmaking of communities. At this time too God has sent an appointed one (maamoor) and, as he has himself made known, it is in a state of the utmost powerlessness and humility that he is working for the reform of people. He wants to create a community. It will certainly be created, and blessed will be those who join it. …

To create a living structure for the community the holy Hazrat has laid the foundation of the Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya. Now the Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya is anxious to create branches of Ahmadi anjumans subordinate to it in different places. Announcements have been published, articles written, letters sent, and much has been done and much still needs to be done. By the grace of God, good results are being obtained by all these plans and efforts. Ahmadi anjumans are being set up. Now that this process has started, it is my duty to make my brethren aware of the problem and tribulation that arises when such anjumans are established. May God safeguard our anjumans from these.

That tribulation and disaster is self interest and selfishness. The creation of the Ahmadi anjumans is not for the sake of any one individual, but is for the benefit of the entire community. So if a person, merely because his proposal or opinion at some meeting is not followed or is opposed, is offended and obstructs the work, then remember that he is guilty of a severe sin in the eyes of God. He wishes to damage the whole community.

What are we individuals worth, and what worth are our opinions? In our work we should show sincerity and seek the pleasure of God. Whoever is made the president or secretary of the assembly should realise that he carries an immense responsibility. In discharging his duties he must bear in mind the principle that the leader of a people is their servant. Those who have elected him president or secretary must make it their rule to obey him in good matters. There must be no dispute among us as to why someone was not given a certain office. Such disputes divide the community, and the community in which these happen deviates far from its real object.” (The bold text here is in bold in the original.)

Again, this shows that the Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya was created as the supreme executive in the Ahmadiyya Movement. No article such as the above mention anything about a khilafat to rule the Movement.

Essay Competition from Central Anjuman

Please see details of an Essay Competition being organised by the Central Anjuman of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement in Lahore at this link. It is a pdf file.