PROMISED MESSIAH DAY
As
you very well know, the 23rd day of March commemorates for all
Ahmadi Muslims worldwide an exceptional day in the history of mankind when a
devout and highly spiritual soul, i.e. the Promised Messiah Hazrat Mirza Ghulam
Ahmad (as) took from his companions the oath of allegiance. This major event
happened in the year 1889 after the Promised Messiah (as) had received repeated
revelations from Allah to do so.
Hazrat
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (as) thus founded Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam and
went on throughout his life on earth to devote his time and energy to calling
people to Allah and to share with them all the blessed revelations he used to
received from Allah.
THE FAMILY BACKGROUND OF THE PROMISED MESSIAH (AS)
The
Promised Messiah (as) Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) belonged to the well-known
Persian clan by the name of Barlas. In the year 1530 A.D., one of his
ancestors, Mirza Hadi Baig migrated from his hometown Samarkand (in the
province of Khurasan in the present day Uzbekistan) to India, along with two
hundred of his companions that included his relatives and staff. He was a noble
man and a scholar and a saintly figure. India was then under the rule of the
Mogul emperor Babar.
Mirza
Hadi Baig was granted a large extent of land by the emperor and he thus selected
an unpopulated area thereof, some seventy miles northeast of Lahore, to settled
down with his clan. He founded the town which he named Islampur and
became its overall Chief and Qazi (Islamic Magistrate). With the passage
of time, the name Islampur went through a series of changes and came to
be called Islampur Qadi, and then Qadi, and finally it became
known as Qadian, it's present day
appellation.
Mirza
Gul Muhammad was the great-grandfather of the Promised Messiah (as), and was
known for his honesty and as a God-fearing person. His son, Mirza 'Ataa Muhammad
was the grandfather of the Promised Messiah (as). He in turn begot Mirza Ghulam
Murtaza who along with his good and caring wife Chiragh Bibi became the parents
of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as).
THE BLESSED BIRTH & EARLY DAYS
The
Promised Messiah (as) was born on a Friday, 13 February 1835 A.D (14 Shawwal
1250 A.H), before sunrise. He was born with a twin sister who was named Jannat
(but who did not survive). His twin birth fulfilled a prophecy recorded in
Islamic literature for centuries that the Promised Mahdi (Reformer) will be
born as a twin (Fusus al-Hikam, by Muhyiuddin Ibn Arabi).
The
Promised Messiah (as), as a child, was not fond of fooling around aimlessly and
did not take part in the mischief of his playmates. He received his basic
education at home by three different tutors, one after another.
HIS FIRST MARRIAGE
His
first marriage was celebrated at the age of fifteen years. It was an arranged marriage
with his first maternal cousin, Hurmat Bibi (daughter of his maternal uncle
Mirza Jamaat Baig). Two sons, Mirza Sultan Ahmad and Mirza Fazal Ahmad, were
born as a result of this marriage. Mirza Fazal Ahmad barely reached fifty years
of age when he died, but Hazrat Mirza Sultan Ahmad lived long enough to
eventually become an Ahmadi at the hands of his younger brother, Hazrat Mirza
Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad (ra), the second spiritual successor to the Promised
Messiah (as).
HIS ATTACHMENT TO PRAYER & MEDITATION
Hazrat
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) cherished his privacy and spent most of his time in
prayers or immersed in the study of the Holy Quran. His father was quite
conscious of his son’s great preoccupation with religion but nevertheless as a
father, he was quite worried about his livelihood. He would normally remark to
his friends, regarding his son, saying:
“This
son of mine is a ‘Maseetar’ (i.e. In Punjabi: One who spends most of his time
in a mosque, saying prayers). He doesn’t seek any employment nor is he
interested in earning for himself ...”.
VISION OF THE HOLY PROPHET MUHAMMAD (PBUH)
When
he was thirty or thirty one years old, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) saw the
Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in a vision. The details of this vision shed light
on the strong ties of his love for the Holy Prophet (pbuh) that distinguished
him from everyone else, and foretold of his remarkable spiritual future.
In
1868 or 1869 A.D., at Batala, he refused to be drawn into a religious debate
against Maulvi Muhammad Hussain Batalvi because he did not want to debate
somebody just for the sake of debating. He was not interested in seeking fame
in this way and preferred to win the approval and pleasure of Allah rather than
submit to the pressure of people who wanted him to get involved in that debate
against Maulvi Muhammad Hussain of Batala (who held the correct view that the
Holy Quran has the top priority, and the sayings of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) (i.e.
Hadith), has second priority). Allah was very pleased with this righteous
conduct. That night, the Promised Messiah (as) received a revelation in Urdu,
translated as thus:
‘God
is very pleased with this act of yours, and He will bless you in great measure;
so much so that even Kings will seek blessings from your clothing.’
DEMISE OF HIS FATHER & DIVINE REASSURANCE
His
father passed away in June 1876 after sunset. The same day at noon, he received
a revelation in which Almighty Allah told him of his father’s forthcoming death.
In this condition of grief, he was briefly subjected to a feeling of insecurity
concerning his livelihood as it was usually his father who used to secure his finance
and livelihood and thus he thought that the financial resources associated with
his father would come to an end and perhaps the days of poverty and pain would
now prevail.
Immediately, he received another revelation from Allah which is
also a verse from the Holy Quran, more precisely in Chapter 39, Az-Zumar, Verse
37:
Alaysallaahu
bi-kaafin abdahu
Is
Allah not sufficient for His servant?
This
revelation gave him a feeling of intense relief and peace of mind as it was now
clear that Allah will take care of all his needs and relieve him of all his
cares.
APPOINTMENT AS MUJADDID
In
1882 A.D., he saw the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in a vision and it was then
that he received the first revelation from Allah that he was appointed Mujaddid
(Reformer).
DIVINELY-GUIDED MARRIAGE
According
to the divine revelations he received, he married Hazrat Nusrat Jahan Begum (ra),
daughter of Mir Nasir Nawab of Delhi, on 17 November 1884.
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT OF HIS SPIRITUAL MINISTRY
In
March 1885, he announced through a public advertisement, sent to almost all the
renowned religious leaders, scholars and kings of the world, that according to
the revelation from Allah, he was the Reformer of the Age and that his
spiritual attributes were like the attributes of Jesus Christ (as), son of
Mary. This advertisement also included an invitation to all of them to visit
him in Qadian and observe for themselves the Divine signs in favour of the
truth of his proclamation.
HIS CHILDREN FROM HIS SECOND WIFE
The
second wife of the Promised Messiah (as), Hazrat Sayyidah Nusrat Jahan Begum (ra)
bore ten children about whom there were several divine prophecies. Five of
those children survived and had long lives; their names are:
1.
Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad (ra) - The Promised Son and Reformer
(Muslih Ma'ud) and the second successor of the Promised Messiah (as). He was
born on 12 January 1889 and passed away on 08 November 1965.
2.
Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad (ra) - He was born on 20 April 1893 and died on 02 September
1963.
3.
Hazrat Mirza Shareef Ahmad (ra) - He was born on 24 May 1895, passed away on 26
December 1961.
4.
Hazrat Sayyidah Nawab Mubarakah Begum (ra) - She was born on 02 March 1897, and
died on 23 May 1977.
5.
Hazrat Sayyidah Nawab Amatul Hafiz (ra) - She was born on 25 June 1904 and passed
away on 06 May 1987.
BAI'AT (OATH OF ALLEGIANCE)
The
first initiation ceremony took place as I was telling you on 23 March 1889 at
the house of Hazrat Sufi Ahmad Jan at Ludhiana. The first person to be
initiated into Ahmadiyyat was Hazrat Maulvi Nuruddin (ra) of Bhera who
later became the first caliph of the Promised Messiah (as).
NEARING HIS EARTHLY JOURNEY & MISSION
Upon
the request of his wife, the Promised Messiah arrived in Lahore on 29 April 1908.
On 09 May 1908, he had another revelation in Arabic - translated as: Departure,
then departure. Allah will bear all the burden. This revelation informed
him that the hour of his death was near.
On
17 May 1908, in keeping with the wishes of the Promised Messiah (as), a banquet
was arranged for the dignitaries and leaders of public opinion in Lahore. On
the insistence of the guests, the Promised Messiah (as) spoke for two hours,
before the food was served, and gave a detailed account of his claims and teachings
and provided convincing refutation of all the objections raised against him by
the opponents of Ahmadiyyat.
In
response to a suggestion by some people that he should give a public lecture,
the Promised Messiah (as) gave his approval and set about to write an essay,
entitled, Paigham-i-Sulah, i.e., ‘A Message of Peace’. Its objective was
to bring about peace between the Hindus and the Muslims of India. During the
writing of this essay, on 20 May 1908, the Promised Messiah (as) received
another Arabic revelation from Allah - translated as: Departure, again a
departure. The Death is very close now.
Nevertheless
he continued working, completed his manuscript, and handed it over for
publication on the afternoon of 25 May 1908. After the Asr prayer, the Promised
Messiah (as) delivered a short speech on the death of Jesus Christ (as), and
then started out on his daily walk.
In
the same evening, after performing his Maghrib and Isha prayers, the Promised
Messiah (as) went to bed at his usual time. He started experiencing diarrhoea around
eleven at night.
As
you know the fanatic Mullahs have wrongly blamed the Promised Messiah (as) that
he died (God forbid) in the toilet, and they even drew caricatures on
his person in this state. This makes us think about the very blames which the
non-Muslims have labelled on our beloved prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh), and
even after centuries, till the present day they are still calumniating him.
Now, the Muslims, especially the Mullahs are those who began hate campaigns
against the Promised Messiah (as) and this, till this day. They took the fact
that he had diarrhoea in his last days as meaning that he died in the toilet.
Were they ever present to witness such a thing? Had it been true, would this
have amounted to an accursed death? What about at the time of funeral bath of
all dead people, especially the Muslims when we have to bathe with care (and
respect) the corpse, including lifting it so that the needful may be done -
that is, pushing gently on his/ her stomach - to remove all the waste material
in the body to make it ritualistically clean? From the perspective of the
fanatics Mullahs, having diarrhoea amounts to an accursed death, but what about
the waste materials which need to be force out of all corpse during the funeral
bath? When these waste material comes out, would they call that an accursed
death (as the corpse is surrounded by waste material)?
So
the Promised Messiah (as) became seriously ill, and frequently, he fell
unconscious during the night. Early in the morning, he asked: “Is it prayer
time?” Someone at his bedside replied: “Yes Huzur, it is”. He
started praying, but fell unconscious in the middle of his prayer.
Here
we note that he even accomplished his prayers. How do those fanatic Mullahs
dare to say that he died in the toilet? Does someone does his prayer in the
toilet? On the contrary, it is an immense grace of Allah that it was while his Ruh
(soul) was still inside him that he was able to get rid of all waste matter
from his body before he died. Allah cleansed his body before death overcame
him.
By
10 a.m, his condition became critical and at 10.30 a.m, our beloved Imam, the
Promised Messiah (as) passed away. Innallaahi wa inna ilayhi raajiioun -
To Allah we belong and to Him we shall return.
His
age at the time of his death was a little over 73 years according to the solar
calendar, and 75 years according to the lunar calendar. May Allah shower His
infinite blessings on our beloved Imam, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as), who
came as a Grand Reformer of Islam and who acts as a blessed example for all his
sincere followers. Ameen.
Indeed, with the advent of the Divine
Manifestation in this era, and the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam, no power on earth will
ever be able to block its progress. Indeed the promises of Allah are ever true.
Insha-Allah, Ameen.
---Friday Sermon of