Anecdotes from the Life of the Promised Messiah
A Short Biography of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian
Compiled by Mumtaz Ahmad Faruqui
Foreword
Reading long historical treatises is dry reading at best, but if the same subject could be put in story form, it holds the interest of the reader, especially young students. Thinking of that, many years ago, I had written a book entitled: The Anecdotes from the Life of Prophet Muhammad, along with some illustrations; and the same was well-received.
As things have turned out, I feel that the most unjustly presented personality of this Age is that of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, who claimed on Divine inspiration, to be the Mujaddid [Reformer] of the 14th Century A.H., the Promised Messiah and Mahdi. He was dubbed a liar, kafir [non-Muslim] and Anti-Christ; and his followers were persecuted. He tried to vindicate his position by speech and writings, but few listened or paid any attention to him. He pointed to the Signs of God attending his appearance, but most turned a blind eye to it. Such treatment was, no doubt, meted out to other similar ‘warners’ in the past, but that was no reason to sit idle and not preach the message which was to defend Islam and refurbish its beauties and glory to the world. The Mujaddid did succeed in forming a body of dedicated followers to put religion above the world and serve Islam. He had received a Divine Message saying:
“A warner was sent to this world which did not accept or listen to him, but God with powerful thrusts will prove the truth of his claims.”
The personality and claims of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad have been proclaimed in the sub-continent of India and Pakistan, but the literature is mostly in the Urdu language. Very few Muslims in the foreign countries have read about the Promised Messiah, although some efforts were made to publish some books or pamphlets in the English and Arabic languages, but the publicity was not pushed through. I thought then to write in English about the personality, habits, family and social life of the Promised Messiah, and his treatment of his friends, neighbours and other God’s creatures, and his thoughts and actions under different conditions of life. Of course, this has to be in the shape of anecdotes so as to attract the attention and interest of the younger generation. My efforts are being presented in the shape of this book which, I hope, will give a glimpse of the wonderful personality of that great man of this Age to the outside world.
In the course of reading this book, the reader will come across events where near miracles or miraculous cures have resulted at the hands of the Promised Messiah. Most people are puzzled about the nature of a miracle. As the Promised Messiah himself explained — a miracle is not the breaking of a law of God or something extraordinary and out of this world and its ken. This is actually not so, as a miracle itself is based or governed by someone or other of God’s rules or laws, only that those are not yet known to mankind whose knowledge about God’s universe and powers, are at best limited. Further a manifestation of the powers of Nature though known to man, may be so timed as to come at the most opportune and unexpected moment, so as to baffle the onlookers. A case in point is the story of Joshua (the successor to Prophet Moses) leading the Israelite hosts to the fortified town of Jericho (in Palestine). Under Divine instructions, the Jewish army was to surround the town, when Joshua would order the trumpets to be blown all together. At the full blast, he predicted, the walls of Jericho would fall so that the Jewish armies can storm the city with ease. It happened as predicted. In recent times, the ruins of old Jericho town were examined by archaeologists, and it was found that a terrible earthquake had visited this city, whose signs and indications could still be seen. So, it was an earthquake that razed the walls of Jericho and not the blasts of the trumpets of Joshua. But the Miracle happened just the same — as Joshua was informed beforehand that the walls would be razed for him as his trumpets are blown. The Lord God had timed the earthquake to come just when the trumpets were being blown. The result was timely but entirely unexpected. It renewed the faith of Israelites and baffled their enemies.
Then again in the course of reading, mention is made again and again of the coming of angels bringing Divine information or revelation. A word about the angels, as explained by the Promised Messiah himself. Angels are means or agencies through which God’s messages are conveyed. They are like a brush in the painter’s hand; what the painter thinks or wants to carry out is conveyed through the brush to the canvas.
Of course, angels have spiritual and luminary bodies which can only be seen by the mystic insight, of those so gifted by God Himself. There are two categories of angels — one that carry out the Divine orders about the material aspects of the universe, while the others are deputed to attend to the spiritual needs or aspects of life.
Allah makes known His will to human beings (chosen for this purpose) as mentioned in verse 51 of chapter 42 of the Holy Quran:
وَ مَا کَانَ لِبَشَرٍ اَنۡ یُّکَلِّمَہُ اللّٰہُ اِلَّا وَحۡیًا اَوۡ مِنۡ وَّرَآیِٔ حِجَابٍ اَوۡ یُرۡسِلَ رَسُوۡلًا فَیُوۡحِیَ بِاِذۡنِہٖ مَا یَشَآءُ ؕ
“And it is not vouchsafed to a mortal that Allah should speak to him, except by revelation or from behind a veil, or by sending a messenger and by revealing by His permission what He pleases.” [The Holy Quran, 42:51]
So, the message from God comes as explained below:
- By revelation (or Wahy). It means the inspired word, which enters the hearts of the prophets and righteous. It is in this sense that revelation was given to the mother of Moses and to the apostles of Jesus Christ. Vivid and true dreams come under this category.
- The second method is — of speaking from behind a veil, which means a scene is shown as in a vision carrying a deeper significance, or words are heard by the person spoken to, as from behind a veil.
- The third form of revelation is that in which a messenger (angel) is chosen by the Almighty to deliver His message to the person to whom He wishes to speak. Message of this kind was brought by angel Gabriel to the Prophets.
The first two may also be granted to the righteous who are not raised to the dignity of prophethood. The recipient of these messages are granted certain other spiritual blessings which others do not possess.
I have studied several books (mostly in Urdu) dealing with the life of the Promised Messiah, to collect the requisite material and I have quoted some passages from them verbatim. The book may be called a bouquet of flowers plucked from several trees in different gardens.
M. A. Faruqui [Mumtaz Ahmad Faruqui]
Islamabad/Lahore
30th September 1975