by Ataul Mujeeb Rashed
Imam, The London Mosque

It is very often mentioned in written articles and speeches on the occasion of Musleh-e-Maood Day that the prophecy regarding the promised reformer, pronounced on 20th February 1886, was printed on green papers. This is not exactly like that and it needs some clarification.

The Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) wrote this prophecy on 20th February 1886 and it was published in “Riaz-e-Hind” newspaper dated 1st of March 1886 as a supplement to the newspaper but it was not printed on the green paper. It was also printed in the form of a leaflet on 22nd march 1886, in which it was mentioned that, on the basis of Divine revelation, the promised son will be born within a period of nine years.

What happened afterwards was that instead of a son, the first child born after the prophecy was a daughter, Ismat, born on 15th April 1886. Ignorant people ridiculed at it. Later on a son was born on 7th August 1887 but he died on 4th November 1888. At the death of this son once again the opponents raised a lot of hue and cry. They strongly challenged the truth of this prophecy and rejected it all together.

At this point Hazrat Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) wrote a small leaflet on 1st of December 1888. It was entitled : “Haqqani Taqreer bar Waqea Wafat Bashir” In this, he explained the true meaning of the prophecy and declared very emphatically that come what may, the promised son is going to be born within the stipulated period of nine years from the date of its first pronouncement i.e. 20th February 1886. This leaflet which reiterated the glad tidings of the birth of the promised son was printed on green papers and was most appropriately named as ‘SABZ ISHTEHAR’ (green leaflet).

According to the original prophecy, by the grace of Allah, Hazrat Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) was blessed with a son on 12th of January 1889 about whom he was told by Allah Almighty that this is the promised son. The prophecy was thus fulfilled most magnificently leaving no room for any shadow of doubt about it.

In this connection, the following dates should be remembered:

• Pronouncement of the prophecy regarding Musleh-e- Maood: 20-Feb-1886
• Pronouncement that the promised son will be born within nine years from the date of the prophecy: 22-March-1886
• Birth of a daughter who died in 1891: 15-April-1886.
• Birth of a son who was named as Basheer (Awwal): 07-Aug-1887 (Who died on 04-Nov-1888)
• Publication of a leaflet on green papers and hence generall known as SABZ ISHTEHAR: 01-Dec-1888
• Birth of a son, named Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad about whom the Promised Messiah (Peace be upon him) was told that he is the son through whom the prophecy was going to be fulfilled: 12-Jan-1889