Trip to Delhi – A Failed Prophecy? | Full Refutation
Introduction:
An allegation that has been raised against the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (as), is that he had a prophecy in regard to him making a trip to Delhi. As this did not happen, opponents allege that it was a failed prophecy that disqualifies his Prophethood. As we shall see, nothing could be further from the truth.
Revelation:
December 6, 1905
[Badr, vol. 2, no. 3, January 19, 1906, p. 2 and al-Hakam, vol. 10, no. 2, January 17, 1906, p. 3 and Notebook of the Revelations of the Promised Messiah, p. 531]
“I saw in my dream that I had gone to Delhi and had returned safe. Then the revelation flowed from my tongue: [Arabic] All praise belongs to Allah, Who has brought me safe.”
The allegation that is raised is that the Promised Messiah (as) had a dream that he went to Delhi and returned safe. The dreams of Prophets are Wahi (revelation) yet this journey never took place. The opponents thus allege that this would suggest that the Promised Messiah made a false prophecy.
Usool of Prophecies:
In order to understand the faults underlying this argument it must be understood what the Usool (principles) of prophecies are regarding seeing oneself or another performing a certain action. It is indeed the case that such an action can be fulfilled by the descendant of the one whom he sees in the dream (as will be demonstrated).
As the Promised Messiah (as) states:
September 7, 1905
[Badr, vol. 1, no. 23, September 7, 1905, p. 2 and al-Hakam, vol. 9, no. 32, September 10, 1905, p. 3]
“[…] Migration is also a characteristic of Prophets but some of the dreams of a Prophet are fulfilled through him in his own time, and others are fulfilled through a descendant or a follower of his. For instance, the Holy Prophet, on whom be the peace and blessings of Allah, was given the keys of the treasuries of Caesar and Chosroes and these countries were conquered in the time of Hadrat Umar (RA).”
This is indeed what we find in the Hadith:
“The Prophet Muhammad (sa) commanded us to dig the trench. While we were digging, we came across a big rock that the iron axe could not break. We reported to the Prophet Muhammad (sa) and he came to us. Awf (one of then narrators said), “I suppose he said, ‘He put his cloak and went to the rock’. Then he (sa) took the pickaxe and said: “In the name of Allah” and struck a blow, breaking a third of the rock. He (sa) said, God is the Greatest, I have been given the keys of Ash-Sham, and by Allah, I can see its red palaces from where I am now,” Then he (sa) said, “In the name of Allah” and struck another blow breaking another third of thro ck. He (sa) said, “God is the Greatest! I have been given the keys of Persia and by Allah, I can now see the white Palace of Madain (capital of Persia) from where I am now.”. Then he (sa) said, “In the name of Allah”, and struck a blow and removed the remaining part of the rock. He (sa) said, “God is the Greatest! I have been given the keys of Yemen, and by Allah, I can see the gates of San’a (capital of Yemen) from where I am now”
Musnad Ahmad
As we know this was fulfilled in the time of Hazrat Umar (ra) yet it was the Prophet (saw) who had the keys in his hand in his dream.
In another Hadith we find:
Narrated `Abdullah bin `Abbas: Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “While I was sleeping, two golden bangles were put in my two hands, so I got scared (frightened) and disliked it, but I was given permission to blow them off, and they flew away. I interpret it as a symbol of two liars who will appear.” ‘Ubaidullah said, “One of them was Al-`Ansi who was killed by Fairuz at Yemen and the other was Musailama (at Najd).”
[Sahih al-Bukhari 7034]
As we can see it was the Prophet (saw) who blew off the bangles yet it was to be Abu Bakr (ra) and others who killed the liars.
Another clinching evidence is to be found in another Hadith where the Prophet (saw) saw a dream of Abu Jahl accepting Islam yet this was fulfilled in his son Ikrimah when he accepted Islam.
More importantly the principle of the one making the prophecy must be taken into account. Therefore, the following quote from the Promised Messiah (as) is of paramount importance:
August 1907
[al-Hakam, vol. 11, no. 34, September 24, 1907, p. 61]
“The Promised Messiah (as) said: Sometimes when a father sees a dream [concerning himself], it relates to his son and at other times when a son sees a dream it relates to his father. On one occasion, I saw in my dream that I arrived here (in the Bahishti Maqbarah) and said to the grave digger: ‘My grave should be apart from the other graves. You can see that what I had said about myself has been fulfilled in the case of my son.”
Fulfilment:
As we have demonstrated, a dream in which one see themselves performing an action can be fulfilled by a descendant or another. This has been demonstrated from the words of the Promised Messiah (as) regarding the principles to apply to his own prophecies and from Islamic History by means of the words of the Prophet (saw).
Therefore, this journey was fulfilled by Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad (ra):
Note by Mawlana Abdul Latif Bahawalpuri:
Hadrat Amirul-Mu’minin Khalifatul Mash Il (aba) writes: After this revelation, the Promised Messiah did not go to Delhi. His last journey to Delhi was in 1905. Thus this revelation contained a prophecy that the person resembling him would travel to Delhi and people will hurl stones at him. I was the one, whom Allah has made to sit on the seat of the Promised Messiahas, and who was made the target of stones. But Almighty Allah decreed that He would bring him, namely his resemblance, back safely… The expression that ‘Who brought me safe’ indicates that there would be others who would suffer.
[al-Fadi vol. 32, no. 102 May 3, 1944, p. 5]
Conclusion:
An allegation was raised that the Promised Messiah (as) had a dream in which he saw himself making a journey to Delhi. It was argued that since this didn’t happen, it was a failed prophecy. However, it was demonstrated from the Ahadith of the Prophet (saw) and the words of the Promised Messiah (as) that such a dream in which one sees their self doing a certain action (such as migration) can be fulfilled by their descendant. In this case the second Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Community and the son of the Promised Messiah (as), Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad, fulfilled this prophecy was by making a journey towards Delhi.
Scans: https://ahmadianswers.com/triptodelhi/