Did Umar (RA) burn the Library of Alexandria? | Allegation Refuted by Khalifatul Masih I (RA)

Introduction

Non-Muslims often raise erroneous allegations on Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and Khulafa-e-Rashideen. Below is a beautiful refutation of one such allegation by Hazrat Maulwi Nooruddin (RA). The original accusation was made by Pundit Lekh Ram, an Arya Samaj leader and one of the staunchest opponents of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’ah.

Narration from biography of Khalifatul Masih I (RA)

Khalifatul Masih Awwal, Hakim Maulwi Nooruddin (RA) states:

“Once, the governor of that place, Pandit Radhakrishan Sahib, said to me at Raja Amar Singh’s place: ‘Some of the objections raised by Lekh Ram against Islam are totally unanswerable. Muslims cannot respond to them.’

I said: ‘The matter is very easy. Present before me, at this moment, the strongest of those objections, and Raja Sahib will be our judge.’

Thereupon, he raised this objection regarding the library of Alexandria that it was burnt on the order of Hadhrat Umar (RA).

I asked him: ‘In your opinion, is there any authentic book of history in the world, in which any historian, between the Islamic first, second, third, or fourth century, has stated this story?’

He said: ‘I have not read the Arabic books on history.’

I said: “You know I have not read the English histories. But alright, now name any English history that is relatively reliable.“

Then he mentioned ‘The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Gibbon.’

I said: “This one book will be decisive between you and me, let it be brought.”

Consequently, that book was brought from Dewan Amarnath Sahib’s library, and whatever that author had opined about the library, was presented before Governor Sahib.

[After reading the excerpt from the history book] He gave such an astonishing reply:

‘Since we are taught right from the beginning that the religion of Islam is very bad, any objection raised against it seems tremendously glorious to us.’

_{[Mirqatul Yaqeen fi Hayat-e-Nuruddin p. 174-175]}

Excerpt from the Book: ‘The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire’

“For my own part, I am strongly tempted to deny both the fact and the consequences. The fact is indeed marvellous; “Read and wonder!” says the historian himself: and the solitary report of a stranger who wrote at the end of six hundred years on the confines of Medina, is overbalanced by the silence of two annalists of a more early date, both Christians, both natives of Egypt, and the most ancient of whom, the patriarch Eutychius, has amply described the conquest of Alexandria. The rigid sentence of Omar is repugnant to the sound and orthodox precept of the Maho-metan casuists: they expressly declare, that the religious books of the Jews and Christians, which are acquired by the right of war, should never be committed to the flames; and that the works of profane science, historians or poets, physlelans or philosophers, may be ‘lawfully applied to the use of the faithful. […]”

_{[The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon, Vol. III, p.213]}

Conclusion

In the 19th century, relentless campaigns against Muslims severely distorted the public perception of Islam. Emulating his spiritual master, the Promised Messiah (AS)—who was actively penning books to defend Islam from Christian and Hindu attacks—Hazrat Maulwi Nooruddin (RA) also always remained ever-ready to counter and refute these allegations.