…Continued

O you the affluent, and O Kings! O you who are wealthy! There are but few among you who fear God and are pious in the ways prescribed by Him. Most of you are devoted to the possessions and territories of this world, and spend your entire lives occupied to this end and give not thought to your death. All those wealthy persons who do not observe their prayers and are unmindful of God carry the sins of all their servants and attendants around their necks. All those wealthy persons who consume alcohol also carry the sins of the people who intoxicate themselves under their influence. You who claim to possess understanding! Know that this world is not eternal, so take hold of yourselves. Eschew all immoderation and abstain from every type of intoxicant. It is not alcohol alone that ruins a person. Opium, ganja, charas, bhang, tarhi,^[63] and all other addictions are similarly destructive. They ruin the mind and destroy lives. So, shun all such substances. I cannot understand why one would choose to indulge in these intoxicants when, year on year, they claim the lives of thousands of addicts^[64] — not to mention the torment of the hereafter.

Become righteous so that you may live long and receive the blessings of God. He who remains engrossed in extreme luxury, lives an accursed life. He who shows discourtesy or inconsideration, lives an accursed life. He who neglects God and is unsympathetic towards His servants, lives an accursed life. A rich person will be held accountable for their duties towards God and their fellow human beings, in the same way as will one of meagre means, nay, even more stringently. How unfortunate is one who places their trust in this short span of life and completely turns away from God and makes use of those things prohibited by God with such impudence as if they were lawful for them. In the likeness of one who is mad, when angered, such a person is prepared to curse, injure or even kill. In the heat of their lustful passions they are driven to the extremes of shamelessness. Such a person shall never attain true happiness until death seizes them.

My dear ones! You have only come to this world for a short while, much of which has already passed. Thus, do not displease your Lord. An earthly government of great might can annihilate you if you displease them. Reflect, how then is it possible for you to escape the wrath of God Almighty? If you are righteous in the eyes of God none can destroy you, for your Lord Himself shall protect you. The enemy who thirsts for your life will never be able to prevail over you. If not for this protection, no one can guard your life, and you will spend your life in fear of your enemies and be made anxious by all types of affliction. And ultimately, your final days will be consumed by grief and anger.

God becomes the refuge of those who attach themselves to Him. Therefore, hasten towards him and forgo all forms of opposition to Him. Do not be indolent in fulfilling your obligations towards Him, and do not wrong^[65] His servants through your words or deeds. Remain forever fearful of the anger and wrath of heaven for this is the only path to salvation.

O learned ones of Islam! Do not hasten to reject me for there are many secrets which are not so easily understood. Do not reject what I have to say at the very first instance, for this is not the way of righteousness. If you had not been wrong about certain matters or mistaken in your interpretations of certain Hadith, the very advent of the Promised Messiah who is the Arbitrator would have been useless. A precedent has already been set, for the Jews of the past emphasised and argued the same thing that you now propose. Just as you await the second coming of Jesus, peace be upon him, they too awaited the second coming of the Prophet Elijah. They averred that the Messiah was to come only after the Prophet Elijah, who was lifted into heaven, would physically descend; and that whosoever claimed to be the Messiah prior to the coming of the Prophet Elijah was a liar. They based this belief not only on their Hadith but further quoted divine scripture — the book of Malachi — to support their claims.

But, when Jesus, peace be upon him, claimed to be the Messiah who was promised to the Jews, and Elijah did not descend, despite this apparent precondition, all these doctrines of the Jews were proven false. The belief of the Jews that the Prophet Elijah would physically come down from heaven, was ultimately understood to imply that someone else in his spirit and character would appear. Indeed, this was the interpretation put forth by Jesus himself, whom you now seek to bring down from heaven. Thus, why do you stumble at such a place where the Jews have already lost footing? Thousands of Jews reside in your country. Ask them, is their belief not exactly the same as your current belief? So why would the God who did not cause the Prophet Elijah to descend for the sake of Jesus — and he put forth interpretations to the Jews — cause him to descend for your sake? You reject the verdict of the very person whom you drag from heaven. If you are in doubt then ask any one of the many hundreds of thousands of Christians in this country, or refer to the Gospel. Did Jesus not himself aver that John the Baptist was actually the second coming of Elijah, thus dashing the hopes of the Jews? If it is necessary in this age that the Prophet Jesus must descend from heaven then in such a case Jesus cannot be considered a true Prophet, for if it were the established practice of Allah to send back Prophets from heaven, why did Elijah not return, and why was John declared to be Elijah on the grounds of interpretation? Those who are possessed of understanding ought to reflect on this.

Further, your doctrines that the Messiah son of Mary will descend from heaven, join forces with the Mahdi and wage war with the people in order to coerce them into becoming Muslims are such as defame the religion of Islam. Where in the Holy Quran is the use of compulsion in religious matters permitted? Rather, Allah the Exalted says in the Holy Quran: ^[66]. This means that there is no compulsion in religion. How then can the Messiah son of Mary be granted liberty to coerce people to such an extent that he would force them to either accept Islam or face death, without even accepting the Jizyah?

In which place, part or chapter^[67] of the Holy Quran is such a teaching sanctioned? The entire Quran repeatedly states that there is no compulsion in religion and evidently demonstrates that the battles which took place in the time of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, were not to propagate religion by force. Instead, they were in the nature of retribution, that is to say, they served as a penalty against those who had murdered a large party of Muslims and who had forced others from their homes, and committed immensely grave injustices against them. Allah the Exalted says:

^[68]

That is, permission to fight is given to those Muslims who are being subjected to war by the disbelievers, because they have been wronged, and God has the power to help them. Then, there were defensive wars, which were fought to preserve freedom of choice or to establish liberty in the land against those who aggressed to destroy Islam or forcefully suppress its propagation.

The Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and his blessed Caliphs never waged war except in these three cases. In fact, the Muslims tolerated the injustices of other peoples to such a degree that no similar example can be found among other nations. So what right will Jesus the Messiah and the Mahdi have to come and begin murdering people? Will they not even accept Jizyah from the People of the Book? As a result they will abrogate the verse:

^[69]

What sort of defenders of Islam will they be if upon their arrival they begin to abrogate verses of the Quran which were valid in the lifetime of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him? And yet would such a revolution cast no blemish on Khatm-e-Nubuwwat [Seal of Prophethood]?

Today, after 1300 hundred years have passed since the era of the Holy Prophet, Islam has been internally divided into 73 sects. The duty of the true Messiah should be to win the hearts through argumentation, not by the sword; and break the creed of the cross through irrefutable and powerful arguments, rather than going about breaking crosses made of gold, silver, brass and wood. Your use of force only serves to show that you possess no argument whatsoever to support^[70] your own view. Whenever an ignorant and cruel person is defeated in argumentation, they always extend their hand to seek a sword or rifle. However, a religion that can only spread its message with the help of the sword, and by no other means, can never even remotely be from God Almighty. If you do not refrain from such a Jihad and the view presented above enrages you to such extent that you should name the righteous as ‘antichrist’ and ‘heretic,’ we end our discussion on two phrases:

^[71]

In this era of internal divide and disunity, how many people will your imaginary Messiah and Mahdi wield the sword against? Do the Sunnis not consider the Shiites worthy of being put to the sword? And do the Shiites not deem the Sunnis worthy of being utterly annihilated by the sword? Thus, when according to common belief, each sect considers the other to be liable for punishment, upon how many battlefronts will each sect fight a Jihad? But remember, God needs no sword. He will cause His religion to flourish on earth through heavenly signs and none shall be able to stop Him. And, remember that Jesus shall never descend again. The confession he shall make on the Day of Judgment, as mentioned in the verse ^[72], clearly shows that He will not reappear in the world. On the Day of Judgment he will plead ignorance of the decline of the Christians. If he had returned to the world before the Day of Judgement, would he respond to God by saying that he knew nothing of the decline of the Christians? Hence, this verse demonstrates that he has clearly admitted to not returning to the world again, for if he was to come back to earth before the Day of Judgement and if he was to dwell therein for forty years, he would be uttering a lie before God Almighty by declaring that he knew nothing of the state of the Christians. What he ought to have said was that at the time of his second advent he witnessed almost four hundred million Christians in the world, and that he was well aware of their having gone astray, and that he was worthy of reward for converting all the Christians to Islam, and for breaking their crosses. What an utter lie it would be for Jesus to say that he had no knowledge of this matter.

In short, this verse clearly records a declaration of the Messiah which establishes that he will never return to the world. The truth is that the Messiah has passed away^[73] and his grave is situated in Mohalla Khanyar, Srinagar.^[74] Now, God Himself shall descend and fight with those who war against the truth. God fights by manifesting His signs and there is nothing objectionable in this. However, it is definitely unacceptable for human beings to fight because they do so as an expression of physical force.

Pity these Muslim clerics, for if they were possessed of integrity they could have found full satisfaction by turning towards piety. And God has surely comforted those souls which are pure. But, those who were created from the same dust as Abu Jahl follow in his footsteps. A Muslim cleric from Meerut has sent me a notification through registered post that the Nadwat-ul-Ulama are holding a conference in Amritsar. He suggests that a debate ought to be held there. However, let it be clear that if my opponents had been well-intentioned and if they were not consumed by thoughts of victory and defeat, why would they have required Nadwah and the like to put their minds at ease? The religious scholars of Nadwah are, in my view, no different from those of Amritsar. They hold the same doctrines, the same character and the same disposition. Everyone is at full liberty to come to Qadian — not for a debate, but to hear what I have to say in order to seek the truth. If afterwards they still harbour doubt they may seek to dispel it with humility and respect. Such people shall be considered as guests for as long as they remain in Qadian. I have no need to refer to the Nadwah, nor can they help. They are all enemies of the truth; yet, the truth continues to spread in the world. Is it not a magnificent miracle of God Almighty that twenty years before today, by way of revelation, He made evident in Barahin-e-Ahmadiyyah that people would strive vigorously and exert their utmost efforts to bring about my failure but, ultimately, God would grant me a large community? This divine revelation dates back to a time when I did not have a single follower. Then, when my claim was published, my opponents spared no effort in their attempts against me. Ultimately, however, in accordance with the above-mentioned prophecy my community spread, and in British India to date, my community numbers more than a hundred thousand people. If the Nadwat-ul-Ulama are cognizant of death, they ought to consult Barahin-e-Ahmadiyyah and the relevant official documents, and testify whether or not this is a miracle. Now when both the Quran and divine miracles have been presented to them, what purpose is served by debate?

In this country, the custodians of shrines and the descendants of saints are so estranged from religion and so deeply engrossed in their self-invented beliefs that they are entirely oblivious of the trials and tribulations that afflict Islam.

Instead of the Holy Quran and books of Hadith, their gatherings are enlivened by all sorts of tambourines, violins, drums and Qawwali singers etc. which are innovations in the faith. Yet despite this, they boast of themselves as being guides of the Muslims and followers of the Holy Prophet. Some of them even dress up as women, decorate their hands with henna and wear bangles. They prefer to recite poetic couplets in their congregations instead of the Holy Quran. These customs are now so deeply entrenched, they may be likened to rust, which one could hardly expect to be removed. But, God Almighty will surely manifest His powers and come to the aid of Islam.