أَشْھَدُ أَنْ لَّا إِلٰہَ اِلَّا اللّٰہُ وَحْدَہٗ لَا شَرِیکَ لَہٗ وَأَشْھَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُہٗ وَ رَسُوْلُہٗ

أَمَّا بَعْدُ فَأَعُوْذُ بِاللّٰہِ مِنَ الشَّیْطٰنِ الرَّجِیْمِ- بِسْمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِ

اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰہِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِیْنَ۔ اَلرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِ۔ مٰلِکِ یَوْمِ الدِّیْنِ۔ اِیَّا کَ نَعْبُدُ وَ اِیَّاکَ نَسْتَعِیْنُ۔

اِھْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِیْمَ۔ صِرَاطَ الَّذِیْنَ اَنْعَمْتَ عَلَیْھِمْ غَیْرِالْمَغْضُوْبِ عَلَیْھِمْ وَلَاالضَّآلِّیْنَ۔

At this time, I will present those incidents which Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated about the Promised Messiah (peace and blessings be upon him). Regarding the honour and respect of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), what was his standard in this matter and how would he react—regarding this, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (may Allah be pleased with him), while mentioning the incident of Lekhram, says at one place that the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) was once at the station of Lahore or Amritsar when Pandit Lekhram also came there and came to greet him. Since Pandit Lekhram held a very high position among the Arya Samaj, the people who were with the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) were very pleased that Lekhram had come to greet him. But the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) did not pay the slightest attention to him. And when, thinking that perhaps he had not noticed that Pandit Lekhram Sahib was greeting him, his attention was drawn to it, he said with great fervour, "Is he not ashamed that he abuses my Master and comes to greet me?" Thus, he did not care in the least that Lekhram had come. But in the eyes of ordinary people, it is a great achievement to have the opportunity to meet some great landlord or leader. So when such a person comes to them, they meet him with great attention, but if some poor person comes, they pay no heed." (Adapted from Tafsir Kabir, Volume 8, Page 161)

Mentioning this same incident at another place, he also said that because of the respect Lekhram had among the Aryas, great people considered it an honour to meet him. But see the honour of Hazrat Mirza Sahib—Pandit Sahib himself comes to meet, but he says, "Let him stop abusing my Master, then I will meet him." (Adapted from Taqrir Sialkot, Anwar-ul-Uloom, Volume 5, Page 114)

Here in this incident, while it shows the honour for the Prophet, there is also this lesson that merely greeting great people because they are great and our honour will be established is not sufficient; rather, it is also necessary to respect the honour of the poor, and the real thing is the need to show honour. If a great person says something wrong about our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), then no matter how great he is, there is no need to give him importance. In any case, there are different aspects to it. Then similarly, mentioning another incident, he says: "The treatment of Hazrat Mirza Sahib with his children was of such a high degree that it could not be imagined at all that he could ever be angry." Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) says, "When we were young, we thought that Hazrat Sahib never got angry at all." The standard of love for children was so high that Hazrat Maulvi Abdul Karim Sahib (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates—Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) himself narrated that "Hazrat Mirza Sahib once said that I have pain in my rib where fomentation was applied, but there was no relief. Finally, when it was examined, it was found that there was a piece of brick in his pocket which had caused the pain in the rib. He was asked, 'Huzoor! How did this get into your pocket?' He said, 'Mahmood gave me this piece of brick saying keep it safe. I put it in my pocket thinking that when he asks for it, I will take it out.' Hazrat Maulvi Abdul Karim Sahib says, 'I said give it to me; I will keep it with me.' He said, 'No, I will keep it with me.' So he had such love for his children." Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud says, "He loved all of us very much, and especially our youngest brother Mirza Mubarak Ahmad—he loved him very much. And we thought that he could not love anyone more than him. But this love did not overcome the love for the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). When this beloved child once, due to the foolishness of childhood, uttered something from his mouth that was against the dignity of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) struck him hard on his body." (Adapted from Taqrir Sialkot, Anwar-ul-Uloom, Volume 5, Pages 114-115)

Then mentioning another incident, he says that there was a gathering of the Aryas in Lahore, to which Hazrat Mirza Sahib (peace be upon him) was also invited to participate, and the organizers of the gathering pledged that no bad word would be used regarding the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), but in the gathering severe abuses were given. Some people from our Jama'at had also gone there, among whom was Maulvi Nur-ud-Din Sahib, whom Hazrat Mirza Sahib used to especially respect. When he heard that in the gathering the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had been abused, he said to Maulvi Sahib, "How did your honour allow you to continue sitting there? Why did you not get up and leave?" At that time, he (peace be upon him) was in such a state of passion that it seemed he would become completely angry with Maulvi Sahib. Maulvi Sahib said, "Huzoor! A mistake was made." He said, "What kind of mistake is this that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is abused and you continue sitting there?" (Adapted from Taqrir Sialkot, Anwar-ul-Uloom, Volume 5, Pages 114-115)

Then he (may Allah be pleased with him) also said that I had also gone with Hazrat Khalifatul Masih the First, and I was also severely scolded—why did you continue sitting there? (Adapted from Khutbat-e-Mahmood, Volume 16, Page 298)

So today, these people who accuse the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him)—God forbid—that he considers himself greater than the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)—can these people compete with these emotions, this expression? Would these accusers see his love for Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Then regarding the debate that took place with Abdullah Atham, it is written. He says: "The book Jang-e-Muqaddas in which Atham's debate is published—this debate of the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) took place when he had already announced being the Promised Messiah, and the Maulvis had already announced his being a disbeliever and had issued a fatwa that he deserves to be killed. The peace that (in that time when he was saying this in 1923) the Jama'at now enjoys was not there at that time; rather, as is now the condition of those places where there are few Ahmadis, such was the condition of the entire Jama'at, and everywhere this was the situation. At such an occasion, there is a contest between a non-Ahmadi of Jandialah and a Christian. Because it was a contest of non-Ahmadis, and they had invited the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) to hold this debate on their behalf. He says that a non-Ahmadi has a contest with a Christian, and he had requested Hazrat Sahib to hold the contest. Upon this, he immediately stood up. At that time, he did not say that the Christians are not our enemies like the non-Ahmadis, because the Christians had not issued a fatwa for killing, but these non-Ahmadis, the Maulvis, had issued a fatwa for killing. But when there was a demand to establish the honour of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), to establish the honour of Islam, to establish the Oneness of Allah the Exalted, even if it was from the non-Ahmadis, then he went for the debate and went outside Qadian." (Al-Fazl, March 22, 1923, Page 5, Volume 10, Number 73) This was his religious honour for which he cared nothing.

In any case, this was a long debate and it went on for 15 days. At its end, he prayed, set a standard, and made a prophecy. Regarding this prophecy, the Promised Messiah (peace and blessings be upon him) says: "What was revealed to me tonight is this: when I prayed to God with great humility and supplication that You decide this matter, and we are helpless servants who can do nothing except Your decision, He has given this sign as a glad tiding that in this debate, whichever of the two parties is deliberately adopting falsehood and abandoning the True God, within these days of debate—counting one month for each day, that is, within fifteen months—he will be cast into perdition and severe humiliation will befall him, provided he does not turn to the truth. And the one who is on the truth and believes in the True God, his honour will be manifested through this." (Jang-e-Muqaddas, Ruhani Khazain, Volume 6, Pages 291-292)

It was only the Promised Messiah (peace and blessings be upon him) who believed in the True God. The Christians had made Jesus into God and were debating about it. In any case, this is a long debate as I mentioned, and the world saw its end as well. Regarding this, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) has narrated one or two incidents which I present. At one place, while mentioning this, he mentioned Khwaja Ghulam Farid Sahib of Chachran Sharif, saying: "Regarding Deputy Abdullah Atham, the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) had made a warning prophecy (as previously mentioned—I have already read it). When its time period passed and Atham did not die (it was a period of fifteen months), superficial people started making a clamour that Mirza Sahib's prophecy turned out to be false. Once in the court of the Nawab Sahib of Bahawalpur, some people also started mocking that Mirza Sahib's prophecy was not fulfilled and Atham is still alive. At that time, Khwaja Ghulam Farid Sahib of Chachran was also sitting in the court, whose disciple the Nawab Sahib was. In the course of conversation, this sentence also slipped from the Nawab Sahib's mouth that yes, Mirza Sahib's prophecy was not fulfilled. At this, Khwaja Ghulam Farid Sahib became passionate and said with great majesty, 'Who says Atham is alive? I can see his corpse.' Upon this, the Nawab Sahib fell silent." After narrating this incident, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud says: "There are some people who appear to be alive outwardly but are actually dead, and some appear dead but are actually alive. Those who give their lives in the way of God are actually alive. And among those who are alive, thousands appear dead to those who have spiritual sight. (Those who are alive appear dead to those who have spiritual sight.) It is written about a saint that used to live in a graveyard. Once someone said to him, 'Why have you come to live in the graveyard, leaving the living?' He said, 'I see only dead people in the city, and here I see living people.' So recognizing the spiritually dead and the spiritually living is not everyone's work." (Adapted from Tafsir Kabir, Volume 2, Page 292)

A true believer should strive to recognize this. But only if there is spiritual sight can the difference between the living and the dead be seen, and each one of us should strive to attain this.

I should also mention regarding Abdullah Atham that not only spiritual but physical death also came to him, and it happened according to the prophecy. Yes, there was a slight delay in it, and there were reasons for that as well, which the Promised Messiah (peace and blessings be upon him) himself explained. Then regarding the same prophecy about Atham, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) has stated at one place: "The work of a believer is to trust in Allah the Exalted. The work is done by God Almighty, but it is our duty to do, think, and say only what God Almighty has said. (We should do, think, and say what God Almighty says.)" Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud says that when the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) made the prophecy about Atham and the time of the prophecy passed, I was six or seven years old at that time. I remember that scene—the place in Qadian where the Book Depot used to be, and in the adjoining room the motor used to be parked. In the room to its west, Khalifatul Masih the First (may Allah be pleased with him) used to give Dars earlier or practice medicine. In the last days, Maulvi Qutb-ud-Din Sahib, may he rest in peace (may Allah be pleased with him), used to practice medicine there. Then adjacent to it was a small room (he is describing the location) in which books were kept. At that time, there was a press of the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him), and in the room where Hazrat Khalifatul Masih the First (may Allah be pleased with him) used to practice medicine, composing was done, and then from there books were kept in the small room. In any case, some students of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih the First (may Allah be pleased with him) also used to stay there. In those days, there were very few people. So generally, the people who came there became students of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih the First. This was the only Madrasa, and Hazrat Khalifa the First used to teach. There was no other Madrasa besides this. Those people were both his students and servants of the Movement. I remember well that I was small when the time of Atham's prophecy was completed. This is probably the end of ninety-four or the beginning of ninety-five. I was five and a half or six years old at that time; I still remember that scene. At that time, I did not understand it because my age was very young, but now from the incidents I understand that on the day that was the last day for the fulfilment of Atham's prophecy—that is, the fifteen months were to end—on that day there was such an uproar that people were crying out and screaming and praying that O God, may Atham die. This was after Asr and before Maghrib. Then the time for prayer came. The Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) led the prayer, and after the prayer, he sat in the gathering. Although at that age I did not regularly attend the gatherings, sometimes I would sit in the gathering. That day I also sat in the gathering. That day, the people who were crying and praying—the Promised Messiah (peace and blessings be upon him) expressed displeasure at their action and said, "Can any human have more honour for His word than God Almighty? When God Almighty has said that such a thing will happen, then we should have faith that it will certainly happen. And if we have understood God Almighty's word wrongly, then God Almighty is not bound to decide according to our mistake." (If we have understood the matter wrongly, God Almighty is not bound to decide in the way we have understood.) "Our work is only this: when we have accepted a person as righteous, we should have faith in his words. In short, the work of a believer is to trust in God Almighty. God Almighty's word is fulfilled in any case." (Khutbat-e-Mahmood, Volume 30, Pages 109-110)

And as I said, this prophecy was fulfilled. It was fulfilled with great glory. Yes, temporarily it was averted due to Abdullah Atham's repentance, but finally he came under that seizure.The Promised Messiah (peace and blessings be upon him) has mentioned this at several places. I will mention one or two places. He said regarding the prophecy about Atham: "Our Jama'at should keep these issues in mind. (They should always remember.) Regarding Atham's turning back, remember that as soon as he heard the prophecy, he stuck out his tongue, put his hands on his ears, trembled, and turned pale. This turning back of his was seen in front of a large gathering (and before a big gathering). Then fear overcame him, and he fled from city to city. He abandoned his opposition and never published any writing against Islam. When he was summoned by an advertised reward to take an oath, he did not come to take the oath. In punishment for concealing the true testimony, according to the prophecy that had been made regarding him, he perished. (Finally, as a result of concealing testimony, although he perished later, he did perish.) If these matters are presented before a just Christian, he too will have to accept. In short, remembering matters in this way is a duty, and looking at the books is necessary." (Malfuzat, Volume 3, Page 442, Edition 1985, Published in England)

For this, one should read the books of the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him); only then does one come to know.

Then at another place, he said: "This prophecy was conditional. He remained terrified. He kept moving from city to city. If he had complete faith and trust in Lord the Messiah, then what was the meaning of so much panic? But at the same time, when he concealed the truth and wanted to mislead the world—because concealing the truth could be a stumbling block in the path of some ignorant people—then Allah the Exalted, according to His true promise, took him from the world within seven months of our last announcement, and the death from which he was afraid and fleeing caught up with him. I cannot understand what difficulty people can have regarding Atham. Such strong circumstantial evidence exists, and still denial! Courts sentence criminals to death on strong circumstantial evidence. In short, this was a great sign of Atham, and in Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, the revelation about this mischief has already been recorded in clear and explicit words." (Malfuzat, Volume 2, Page 109, Edition 1985, Published in England)

Then at another place, on one occasion, while mentioning it, he said about the prophecy: "It is written there that 'provided he does not turn to the truth.' It is not written that 'provided he does not become a Muslim.' Before this, he had written (God forbid) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was a Dajjal, and this was the reason for the debate. Then when I announced the prophecy, he immediately put his hands on his ears and said, 'I repent, I repent. I do not call him Dajjal.' These people do not understand that merely being a Christian or an idol-worshipper is not the cause for punishment to come in this world." (Being a Christian or idol-worshipper is not the cause for punishment to come in this world.) "For such punishments, the Day of Judgement is appointed. Punishment always comes for audacities. If Abu Jahl and others had not committed mischief, punishment would not have descended. For merely being bound to a false religion, neither does any punishment come nor is any prophecy made. Prophecies are always made for excessive audacity…" Then he said: "However much a person may be an idol-worshipper or human-worshipper, punishment does not come unless he commits mischief. If punishment came in this world for these things too, then what would happen on the Day of Judgement?" Then he said: "The real prison for disbelievers is the Day of Judgement." (Where decisions are to be made is the Day of Judgement.) "A question arises: then why does punishment come in the world?" (He gave a brief answer to this.) "The answer is that it comes because of audacity." (Malfuzat, Volume 4, Page 158) The punishments that come in the world come because of audacities.

When the debate was taking place, during this debate the Christian missionaries played a trick in their own thinking to humiliate the Promised Messiah (peace and blessings be upon him), and they thought of trying a method by which he would be disgraced before the people. But Allah the Exalted turned their evil back upon them, and such panic overcame them that observers say their panic was worth seeing.

Regarding this, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) said on the authority of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih the First (may Allah be pleased with him) that Hazrat Khalifa the First used to say (Musleh-e-Maud says I was still a child then, young at that time) that the spectacle I saw in Atham's debate—first our minds were stunned, and then our brains reached the heavens. He used to say that when the Christians were cornered and saw that none of their tactics worked, they joined some Muslims with them and played this mischief for mockery: they brought some blind, some deaf, some lame, and some crippled people and seated them on one side before the debate. When the Promised Messiah (peace and blessings be upon him) arrived, they immediately presented the blind, deaf, lame, and crippled before him and said, "Disputes are not settled by words." (There has been much debate already.) "You say that you are like the Messiah of Nazareth, and the Messiah of Nazareth used to give eyes to the blind, ears to the deaf, and used to fix the hands and feet of the lame and crippled. To save you trouble, we have gathered some blind, deaf, lame, and crippled people right now. If you are really like the Messiah, then cure them and show us." Hazrat Khalifatul Masih the First (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say that the hearts of our people sank upon hearing this. (They became very worried.) And although we understood that this matter is just like this, we became anxious that today these people will get an opportunity for ridicule and mockery. But when we looked at the face of the Promised Messiah (peace and blessings be upon him), there were no signs of disapproval or anxiety on his face. When they (the Christians) finished speaking, the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) said, "See, Padre Sahib! According to Islamic teaching, the Messiah who I claim to be did not cure this kind of blind, deaf, lame, and crippled people. But your belief is that the Messiah cured physically blind, physically deaf, physically lame, and crippled people, and it is also written in your book, the Bible, that if you have even a grain of faith and you tell the mountains to move, they will move, and the miracles that I show (meaning Jesus the Messiah), all of you (his followers) will also be able to show. So this question cannot be posed to me. I can show those miracles that my Master, Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), showed. If you demand those miracles, I am ready to show them. As for this kind of miracles, your book has told that every Christian who has even a mustard seed's worth of faith can show the same miracles as the Messiah of Nazareth showed. So you have done a very good thing by saving us the trouble and gathering these blind, deaf, lame, and crippled people. Now these blind, deaf, lame, and crippled people are present. If you have even a mustard seed's worth of faith, cure them and show us." He used to say that this answer caused such astonishment to the padres that the senior padres started dragging the lame and crippled away. So Allah the Exalted grants honour to His close ones on every occasion and gives them such answers after which the enemy is left completely dumbfounded." (Adapted from Khutbat-e-Mahmood, Volume 23, Pages 88-89)

There was a person who was a great admirer of the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) and later became an apostate. He went astray. Regarding him, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud narrates that in Ludhiana there was a person named Mir Abbas Ali Sahib who had great sincerity with Hazrat Sahib, to the extent that Hazrat Sahib even received a revelation about his present condition. When the debate between the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) and Maulvi Muhammad Hussain Batalvi took place in Ludhiana, Mir Abbas Ali went carrying some message of Hazrat Sahib. Maulvi Muhammad Hussain and the other Maulvis respectfully kissed his hands (and) said, "You are from the progeny of the Prophet. We would even take Bai'at at your hand, but where has this Mughal come from? If someone commissioned was to come, he should have come from among the Sayyids." Then they started mentioning Sufism and the Sufis. Since Mir Sahib had great reverence for the Sufis, the Maulvis (narrated various kinds of incidents) and said after narrating some stories here and there that the Sufis used to show such wonders. If Mirza Sahib is also something, let him show some wonder. We will accept him today itself. For example, let him catch a snake or do some such thing. This idea settled in Mir Abbas Ali's heart, and when he came to Hazrat Sahib, he said, "Huzoor, if you show some miracle, all the Maulvis will accept." Hazrat Sahib used to say that when the word "miracle" came from Mir Sahib's tongue, at that very moment I became certain that the Maulvis had trapped Mir Sahib in their snare. Upon this, the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) explained a great deal to him, but he did not understand anything." (Al-Fazl, November 5, 1918, Page 9, Volume 6, Number 34) And then the result was that his faith was wasted, and that devotion and sincerity that existed all went away.

Then narrating the same incident of Mir Abbas Ali Sahib at another place, he said: "The Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) was given knowledge at one time that Mir Abbas Ali Ludhianvi is righteous (as was mentioned that there was also a revelation), so he began to praise him. But since at that time he was not given knowledge of his end, he did not know that one day he would become an apostate. But later Allah the Exalted gave him knowledge of it. In short, human knowledge is very limited. Only God Almighty has complete knowledge that encompasses everything, and no one can encompass His knowledge." (Tafsir Kabir, Volume 2, Page 583) Allah the Exalted tells the prophets as much as He tells them, and they convey only that much forward. There is further mention of the same Mir Sahib that the Promised Messiah (peace and blessings be upon him) received a revelation about him who had very deep devotion to him, and once there was a revelation in which his spiritual powers were greatly praised. But later he became an apostate. Some people objected to the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) that praise for him had already come in the divine revelation, so why did he become an apostate? So he said that indeed praise for him existed in the revelation, and the word of Allah the Exalted indicated that he possessed high spiritual powers, but when he took unlawful advantage of those powers and arrogance and pride developed in him, the wrath of Allah the Exalted descended upon him and he became an apostate. Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud says that the prayer of Surah Al-Fatihah also tells us that hypocrisy and disbelief—these two things are attached to man at all times, and both these diseases continue to attack man after being included in the group of those upon whom blessings have been bestowed." (Khutbat-e-Mahmood, Volume 18, Page 385)

In that group upon whom Allah the Exalted bestows blessings, after being included, these attack. And the proof of this is that in Surah Al-Fatihah, the mention of the Jews and Christians indicates that their condition came upon them after their blessing. If those upon whom blessings are bestowed do not recognize their true position, then because of arrogance, Allah the Exalted includes them among those upon whom wrath has descended, or else includes them among those who have gone astray. So this point should always be remembered that at the end of Surah Al-Fatihah, Allah the Exalted has taught a prayer for protection from evils, and this prayer should always be remembered—that Allah the Exalted keep us included among those upon whom blessings have been bestowed and may its bad effects never develop. Then regarding the fact that superiority cannot be based on outward knowledge, at one place he said: "If excellence and greatness are based only on outward knowledge, then, God forbid, all the prophets of the world would have to be called false, because those who compete with them" are "scholars." (Those who compete with prophets are outward scholars.) "The same people also competed with the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) who considered themselves very great scholars in terms of outward knowledge, to the extent that Maulvi Muhammad Hussain Batalvi used to write 'Munshi Ghulam Ahmad' for the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) with great contempt, as if he, God forbid, is just a Munshi who writes a few lines, not a scholar, and he was very pleased about this that I have written him as Munshi." (Then he narrated:) "I was young when Maulvi Syed Muhammad Ahsan Sahib Amrohvi narrated in a gathering that Maulvi Muhammad Hussain Sahib Batalvi wrote about me that he is a Maulvi, but about the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him), he wrote that he is a Munshi." Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud says, "I was young, but even at that time I felt this statement of his was bad—why did he narrate it in the gathering—and it still feels bad." (Khutbat-e-Mahmood, Volume 18, Page 389) In any case, one should also choose words well, and there is no need to narrate some incidents in this manner.

We hear about incidents of truthfulness. Let us also hear from Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud. He says: "This is an incident of Hazrat Sahib. He put a letter in a packet. Putting it was prohibited according to the postal rules, but he did not know about it. The post office filed a case against him and appointed a special officer for its prosecution so that he would be punished, and great emphasis was placed on it, saying that he must certainly be punished so that other people become careful. Hazrat Sahib's lawyer said to him, 'The matter is quite simple. Your packet was not opened in front of witnesses. You can say that I sent the letter separately. It is being said out of mischief and enmity that this was put in the packet.' Hazrat Sahib said, 'That would be a lie.' The lawyer said, 'You cannot be saved without this.' He said, 'Whatever happens, I cannot tell a lie.' So in court, when he was asked, 'Did you put a letter in the packet?' he said, 'Yes, I did put it, but I did not know about this rule of the post office.' Upon this, a long speech was made from the prosecution's side, and it was said that he must certainly be punished so that other people take a lesson. Hazrat Sahib says, 'Since the speech was in English, I did not understand anything else, but when the judge said no-no regarding the speech, I understood that word. Finally, the speech ended, and the judge said, 'Acquitted.' And he said, 'Since he has spoken the truth so honestly, I acquit him.'" (Islah-e-Nafs, Anwar-ul-Uloom, Volume 5, Pages 434-435)

So this incident many of us have heard and read many times. I have also narrated it at several places, but we only enjoy hearing it. This is a small example of the standard of truthfulness that he presented before us. But those who fall below the standard of truthfulness for their own interests need to take stock of themselves. In these countries, wrong methods are used to benefit from the government for asylum, to benefit from insurance companies. Such Ahmadis who do this kind of thing should think that obtaining these worldly benefits through wrong methods does not benefit an Ahmadi.

Is it permissible to do charms and remedies? Sometimes people do this excessively as well. He wrote: "The Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) always used to say about Hazrat Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that Hazrat Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) had less faculty of understanding than other Companions. The Maulvis made a clamour about this. But what is correct is correct. Today, as many Ahadith as are found that are useful for the Christians (that is, those that support the Christians), they are all narrated from Hazrat Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him). The reason for this was that he would not look at the context and would narrate some fragments of speech without fully understanding. But the other Companions would narrate after understanding the context. Similarly, now traditions have started being published about the Promised Messiah (peace and blessings be upon him), some of which are narrated by such people who do not have understanding, and because of this, such traditions get published that people start objecting to us about. So once this tradition was published that when only one day remained of Atham's time period, the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) told some people to read such-and-such Surah as a ‘wazifa’ (devotional practice) a certain number of times on some chickpeas and bring them to him. When they brought the chickpeas after reading the ‘wazifa’, he took them outside Qadian and, throwing them in an uninhabited well, quickly turned his face away and returned." Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) says, "When this objection was presented before me, I asked those who had recorded the tradition why they had recorded this tradition. This is clearly against the practice of the Promised Messiah (peace and blessings be upon him), and its meaning is that the Promised Messiah (peace and blessings be upon him) also, God forbid, used to do charms and such things. Upon this, when investigation was made, it was found that some person had seen such a dream. When this dream was mentioned before the Promised Messiah (peace and blessings be upon him), he said, 'Fulfil it in its outward form.' Now, doing something to fulfil a dream is one thing entirely, and deliberately doing such an act is another thing entirely. And sometimes a dream is fulfilled outwardly so that if Allah the Exalted wills, its harmful aspect may not appear in its real meaning. So the interpreters (those who interpret dreams) have written that if a warning dream is fulfilled outwardly, it does not come to pass. And God Almighty considers its being fulfilled outwardly as sufficient. We see an example of this from the Ahadith as well. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) saw that Suraqah bin Malik had golden bangles of Chosroes on his hands. If on one hand this vision indicated that Iran would be conquered (we usually take this meaning that Iran would be conquered), on the other hand there was also an indication that after the conquest of Iran, some troubles and difficulties from the Iranians were also destined, because if gold is seen in a dream, its meaning is grief and affliction. Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) understood this meaning of the vision of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and called Suraqah and said, 'Wear the bangles or I will whip you.' (Wearing golden bangles is forbidden for men. This was not done merely to fulfil the word of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, but also so that if there is any harmful aspect in it, it may also be averted. Therefore, Hazrat Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, made him wear the bangles.) So he was made to wear the golden bangles, and thus Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) wanted to remove the aspect of grief and worry from this vision of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)." (Khutbat-e-Mahmood, Volume 16, Pages 41-42)

So some things said without context create problems. Once Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) delivered a sermon. This was in 1931. And in it, he admonished the members of the Jama'at to avoid quarrels and disputes because the Jama'at has now reached maturity, and we should correct ourselves, our faith, our religious knowledge according to it. We should make our actions according to our knowledge. The religion enjoins upon us. And after stating this, he mentioned in the sermon about a person that he has now been expelled for this reason. After the sermon, when the second sermon began, during this sermon a person stood up and began asking Hazrat Khalifa the Second, "Huzoor! What is the name of the person whose expulsion has been announced?" Upon this, another person said, "One should not speak during the sermon." Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud smiled, and then he narrated an incident of the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) that the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) was once narrating the incident of his search in a gathering. This search was conducted by the Superintendent of Police Gurdaspur in connection with the murder of Pandit Lekhram. He said, "The Superintendent of Police was passing through a small door when his head received a severe blow. He collided with the lintel of the door, and his head began to spin. We told him to drink milk, but he refused, saying, 'At this time I have come for a search, and this would be against my official duty.'" (The Promised Messiah, peace be upon him, was given this very answer by him.) Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) says, "Upon this, the same person who has now spoken immediately said (he asked the Promised Messiah, peace be upon him), 'Huzoor! Did blood also come out of his head or not?' Hazrat Sahib laughed and said, 'I did not take off his cap and look.'" (Adapted from Khutbat-e-Mahmood, Volume 13, Page 110)

So some people have the habit of speaking unnecessarily in this manner. In any case, speaking during the sermon is forbidden, but the other person's action was also wrong, who admonished that speaking during the sermon is forbidden. One should make a gesture or say something afterwards. Upon this, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud narrated another anecdote that a person came to the mosque. Congregational prayer was taking place. He said the greeting loudly, so one of the worshippers said "Wa Alaikum As-Salam" just as loudly. So the other worshipper standing next to him began to say to him, "Don't you know one should not speak during prayer? Why did you respond?" In any case, it should be remembered that the sermon is also part of the prayer; therefore, speaking during the sermon is also forbidden. Except if it is necessary to speak somewhere, to stop someone, then the Imam delivering the sermon can speak. In prayer, even the Imam cannot speak. At home too, children should especially be taught that just as speaking during prayer is forbidden, speaking during the sermon is also forbidden.