Divine Permission for Mubahalah Against Maulavis — Essence of Islam Vol. 3
Introduction
In this discourse from Essence of Islam (Volume 3), Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS), the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, expounds upon Divine Permission for Mubahalah Against Maulavis, presenting profound spiritual insights and scriptural verities.
Book Series: Essence of Islam (Volume 3)
Author: Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (AS)
Section: Part 13: Repeated Challenges
Navigation: Book Table of Contents | « Previous: A Test for Disclosing the Unseen | Next: Open Invitation to All Who Seek a Sign »
Repeated Challenges 435 ward, and if he believes in the truth of his religion, let him compete with me in the manifestation of heavenly signs. But I tell you beforehand that no one will come forward. They will try to evade my challenge by presenting dishonest and complicated conditions. This is because their religions are dead and they have no one alive from whom they can receive spiritual grace and from whom they can obtain a life shining with signs.
[Tiryaq-ul-Qulub, Ruhani Khaza’in vol. 15, pp. 140-141]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 3, p. 435]
In the early days I had thought that I was not at liberty to challenge Muslims to a Mubahalah, because Mubahalah involves calling down a curse on each other, and it is not permissible to call down a curse on a Muslim; but my opponents from among the Muslims persist in denouncing me as a disbeliever, and, under the Islamic dispensation, he who denounces a true Muslim as a disbeliever himself becomes the subject of such denunciation. I have, therefore, been commanded to challenge to a Mubahalah those who denounce me as disbeliever and possess sons and daughters and are the originators of the denunciations directed at me.
[A’ina-e-Kamalat-e-Islam, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 5, p. 332]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 3, p. 435]
In the beginning I avoided the Mubahalah, because I believed that a curse should not be called down on a Muslim. But now I have been told that he who denounces a Muslim as a disbeliever, and does not desist, even though his opponent faces the Ka‘bah when he prays, professes belief in the Unity of God, the Prophethood of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and other Islamic doctrines, such a person is himself excluded from Islam. I have, therefore, been commissioned to enter into a Mubahalah with those who claim to be Muftis and Maulavis and Muhaddathin who have sons and wives and have led the campaign denouncing me as a disbeliever. I have been directed that I should set forth before them, in a public meeting, a detailed explanation of my claim and should refute all the objections and doubts which disturb their minds. If they still do not desist from denouncing me as a disbeliever, I shall call them to a Mubahalah.
[A’ina-e-Kamalat-e-Islam, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 5, pp. 256-257]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 3, p. 435]
I wish to inform all the Maulavis and Muftis who denounce me as a disbeliever because of minor differences or through their own ignorance, that God Almighty has commissioned me and I invite them to a Mubahalah in the following terms. I will first set before you, in a meeting called for the purpose of Mubahalah, the reasons in support of my doctrines derived from the Holy Qur’an and Ahadith. If you still persist in denouncing me as a disbeliever, I shall challenge you to a Mubahalah in the same meeting. My first addressee is Miań Nadhir Hussain of Delhi; should he decline my invitation, my next addressee would be Sheikh Muhammad Hussain of Batala, and should he also decline, all those Maulavis would be my addressees who denounce me as a disbeliever and occupy a leading position among the Muslims. I grant all these gentlemen a period of four months from today, 10th December 1892, within which to enter into a Mubahalah with me under the conditions set out above. If they fail to do so and persist in denouncing me, they will be held responsible before God. I had desired in this book to refute all the false charges which they have levelled against me as the basis for denouncing me as a Repeated Challenges 437 disbeliever, but, on account of the illness of the scribe and some other reasons, that part has not yet been printed. All the same, I shall read out the contents of the paper in the meeting called for the purpose of Mubahalah, whether or not it has been printed by that time. It is a necessary condition that I should refute whatever has been written against me by those who have denounced me as a disbeliever, and that I should put forward convincing arguments which will leave no room for them to denounce me. If they still continue to do so, the Mubahalah supplication shall be made in the same meeting. The revelation that has been vouchsafed to me in this context is as follows: ‘God Almighty has looked at you with a fragrant look. Some people have said in their hearts: Lord will you establish someone in the earth who will create disturbance therein? And God replied to them: I know that which you know not. They said: His book is replete with disbelief and falsehood. Say to them: Come, let us call our sons and your sons, and our women and your women and our own selves and your own selves and call down the curse of Allah on the liars.’
[A’ina-e-Kamalat-e-Islam, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 5, pp. 261-266]
This is the permission that I have been granted for Mubahalah.
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 3, p. 436]
O Ye Maulavis and custodians of shrines who oppose me, the contentions between us have exceeded all limits. My Community is much smaller in number than yours, and at the moment does not exceed four or five thousand. Nevertheless, be sure that this tree has been planted by the hand of God Who will not let it be destroyed. He will not be pleased till He carries it to perfection. He will water it and enclose it within a compound and will foster it in a wonderful manner. Have you spared any effort in trying to destroy it? Had it been a human project, it would have been destroyed long ago. It is He Who commanded me to invite you to a Mubahalah so that the enemy of truth may be ruined and the lover of darkness may fall into the abyss of chastisement. Hitherto I had not wanted to call for Mubahalah, nor did I wish to pray for anyone’s ruin. Mr. ‘Abd-ul-Haq of Ghazni, presently of Amritsar, desired to hold a Mubahalah with me, but I put him off for a long time. At last, on his insistence, a Mubahalah was held, but I made no supplication for his ruin. But now things have come to such a pass that I have been called dajjal, I have been named Satan and I have been accounted a liar and an impostor. My opponents have cursed me in their public announcements and in their meetings I have been mentioned with contempt. Now you seem to be intent upon denouncing me as if you have not the slightest doubt in my being a disbeliever. Everyone of you considers reviling me as an act of great merit. You have declared it the way of Islam to call curses on my head.
[Anjam-e-Atham, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 11, pp. 64-67]
In the time of all this bitterness and distress, God was with me; He comforted and consoled me throughout. Can an insect stand up against a whole world? Will a particle set itself against the universe? Can the soul of a liar possess such steadfastness? Can a low impostor possess such Repeated Challenges 439 power? Be sure, therefore, it is not me you are fighting, but you are fighting God. Can you not distinguish between fragrance and foul smell? Can you not observe the majesty of truth? It would have been much better for you if you had shed tears before God Almighty and had sought guidance from Him concerning me with a trembling heart, and had then followed a certainty and not pursued doubts and delusions. Now get up and be ready for Mubahalah. You know that my claim is based on the authority of the Holy Qur’an and Ahadith and on Divine revelations vouchsafed to me. You rejected the authority of the Qur’an and the Ahadith and disregarded altogether the Word of God, as if it were no more than a broken reed.
This leaves the second basis of my claim, so I call upon you in the name of the Mighty and Jealous God—and no faithful one can reject a call in His name—to come for a Mubahalah for a Judgement on the basis of the revelation vouchsafed to me. The procedure will be as follows: After the date and place of the Mubahalah have been agreed upon, I will present myself with a paper on which all the revelations, which I have set out, will be written, and I shall supplicate: Lord, if these revelations that I hold in my hand are my inventions and You know that I have made them myself, or if they are the result of the incitement of Satan and are not Your Words, may You then cause me to die before the end of one year from this date, or afflict me with such torment as may be worse than death, and do not grant me deliverance until I die, so that my disgrace may be known and people may be delivered from the mischief of my design, as I do not desire that Your creatures should be mislead on my account, and it is better that such an impostor should die. But, O All-Knowing and All-Aware God, if it is in Your knowledge that all these revelations which I hold in my hand are from You and are Your Words, then may You afflict these opponents of mine who are present here, within one year of this date, with a severe torment; afflict some with blindness, some with leprosy, some with paralysis, some with lunacy, and some with epilepsy. Make some of them the victims of snakebite, or the bite of a mad dog; destroy the property of some and afflict some with calamity and some with disgrace. When I finish my supplication, both parties should say Amin. Everyone of the opposite party who is present for Mubahalah should then supplicate: O All-Knowing and All-Aware God, we account this person, whose name is Ghulam Ahmad, a liar, an impostor and a disbeliever. If he is truly a liar and an impostor and a disbeliever and a faithless one, and his alleged revelations are not from You but are his own invention, then may You, as a Benefactor of the Muslims, destroy this impostor within a period of one year so that the people may be saved against his mischief. But if he is not an impostor and is from You and all these revelations are Words of Your Mouth, then may
You afflict us, who consider him a disbeliever and a liar, within the period of one year, with painful and disgraceful torment by making some of us blind, some leprous, some paralytic, some lunatics, and some by being bitten by a snake or a mad dog. May You afflict with a calamity the wealth and life of some and the honour of others. At the end of this supplication, everyone should say Amin. If anyone considers me a liar and an impostor, but Repeated Challenges 441 wishes to avoid the use of the expression ‘disbeliever’, he will be at liberty to employ only the term ‘liar’ and ‘impostor’, concerning which he is certain. After the Mubahalah, if I die within a year or am afflicted with some torment from which I am not expected to be delivered, the people will be secure from my mischief and I shall become accursed forever. I proclaim here and now, that in such case I should be considered a liar and accursed. I will not mind being called dajjal or the accursed or Satan, and will deserve always to be mentioned with a curse and will accept the Divine Judgement without reservation. In this case, anyone who follows me or considers me to be good or truthful will be subject to God’s chastisement. Thus my end would be vile as is the end of all disgraceful liars. But, if God safeguards me for a year against death or physical calamity, and my opponents are afflicted with Divine wrath and each of them becomes the subject of some misfortune, and my prayer against them is manifested in a shining manner, the world will recognize the truth and this daily conflict will come to an end. I repeat that up to now I have never prayed against anyone who professed to be a Muslim, and have endured everything with patience; but on that day I shall seek the Judgement of God and shall hold to His Holiness and Honour, so that by destroying the party that is in the wrong and is committed to falsehood, He may safeguard Islam against the mischief of the wicked. I also agree that my prayer should be regarded as having been answered only if each one of those who come into the field for Mubahalah is afflicted, one way or another, within one year. If even a single one of them is spared— out of a total of one or two thousand—I shall consider myself to be false and I shall repent at their hands. If I die within one year, the world will be restored to peace and security by the death of an evil one.
But one of my conditions is that at least ten of those whose names are mentioned below should be present at the time of the Mubahalah. If more of them can be present, so much the better, inasmuch as the affliction of a large number with Divine torment is such a clear sign as no one can doubt. Bear witness, O earth and O heaven, that the curse of God lies on him who, having received this book, neither comes to Mubahalah nor desists from denouncing me as a disbeliever and defaming me, nor keeps away from the company of those who mock at me. O Ye believers, say Amin to this in the name of God. I have to record that up till now these wicked Maulavis have not paid any heed to this straightforward manner of Judgement, so that if I am a liar, as they imagine, I may be chastised by God Almighty Who is the Judge of judges.
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 3, p. 437]
Book Series: Essence of Islam (Volume 3)
Author: Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (AS)
Section: Part 13: Repeated Challenges
Navigation: Book Table of Contents | « Previous: A Test for Disclosing the Unseen | Next: Open Invitation to All Who Seek a Sign »