Allegation: Mirza Ghulam Ahmad did not fulfil the prophecy of the coming of the Messiah

I will now reproduce an Online debate I had with one Muslim brother.  This is typical of some objections that are raised against Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad may peace be upon him, where it is being portrayed that he did not fulfil the hadith of the Holy Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him:-

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Argument:

Muslim Brother:

Ghulam Qadiani himself wrote: “It occurs in Hadith that the Messiah shall descend from the sky and will be (clad) in two yellow sheets.” Ghulam Qadiani did not descend from anywhere, but appointed himself. He was born of Chiragh Bibi.

The Promised Messiah shall “descend on the white minaret of a mosque in the eastern part of Damascus.”

He did two things to fit himself into this part of the prophecy.

(a) He claimed that the village of Qadian was like Damascus and he tried to fabricate similarities between Damascus and Qadian.

(b) He built a mosque with a minaret in Qadian and painted it white. He called the minaret, “Minaret of the Messiah”.

However, he could not show people that he was descending from heaven on the minaret. Had there been helicopters in those days he, perhaps, would have borrowed one from the British to show himself descending on the minaret from a helicopter. Didn’t happen. 

Rebuttal:

This needs to be understood metaphorically, not literally. In the hadith we understand that ‘white’ means pure, ‘minaret’ represents Islam, ‘East of Damascus’, Qadian is ‘East of Damascus’.  Therefore our understanding of this hadith is that the Promised Messiah will come as a righteous, pure Muslim, a follower of the Holy Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.  He will come to a place which is situated East of Damascus and Qadian is situated east of Damascus.  Furthermore, the ‘Two Angels’ – represents help of Allah.  That the Promised Messiah may peace be upon him will be assisted by Allah through His Angels.

But if we take this literally, as our Muslim brothers would like to do, then what does it all mean?  Why will Allah cause Hazrat Isa to descend to the top of a white Minaret, why not to the floor?  Why does he need to have to then get down from the top to reach the bottom?  Where is this ‘white minaret’ that he was supposed to descend on?  Why Damascus?  Is there a white minaret, East of Damascus for him to descend on?

Secondly, if Hazrat Isa may peace be upon him was really to descend from heaven, how can it possibly happen if Hazrat Isa may peace be upon him is dead according to Allah? How can anyone ‘descend’ from heaven when Allah says there is a barrier and no one can leave heaven?  Many other questions can be raised, if we take it literally.   

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Argument:

Muslim Brother:

The Promised Messiah shall “descend while clad in two yellow sheets.”

Ghulam Qadiani rationalized that two yellow sheets meant two diseases. He said that he was suffering from polyuria (micturition) and giddiness of head. He boasted that he urinated 100 times a day. He also contradicted himself while saying, “It is possible that another Messiah may descend who befit the qualities mentioned in the Hadith, manifestly.” Finally, he told the truth when he wrote, “two self-contradictory sayings can only come from a madman or from a hypocrite.”

Rebuttal:

The first part you have already answered yourself, we understand that this represents two sicknesses and generally seeing yellow clothes in a dream means sickness.  No doubt the Promised Messiah was human and did suffer from sickness, prophets of Allah do get sick, just like everyone else.  I don’t believe anyone would boast to urinating 100 times a day, it would be interesting to see such a quote?  Yes sometimes he suffered from headaches and giddiness and also diabetes, which could be the two sicknesses being represented as yellow sheets.  But what the Promised Messiah may peace be upon him did write was:

In the same way God Almighty knew that if I were to be afflicted with some objectionable disease like leprosy, lunacy, blindness, epilepsy, etc. my opponents would conclude that I was the subject of Divine Wrath.  Therefore, He gave me the good news in advance, as is mentioned in the Braheen Ahmadiyya, that he would safeguard me against every objectionable disease and would complete His favour unto me. 
(Arbaeen No.3 pg 30, Roohani Khazain Vol 17, pg 419)

Of course his opponents claimed that he suffered from many things, but where is the proof?  Anyone can make up anything about anyone, but it should be supported by proof.  All the prophets have been accused of such things in the past, even the Holy Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him was accused of being a madman, etc., but that is just to justify to themselves reasons why they should not follow him or others follow him.  But truth should be supported by proof, not just making accusations. 

The same question of providing proof, is also posed to the other alluded saying mentioned in the argument above that “He also contradicted himself while saying, ‘It is possible that another Messiah may descend who befit the qualities mentioned in the Hadith, manifestly.’ ” 

Where has this quote come from?  If there is any such quote then the full passage needs to be read as it was impossible for Hazrat Ahmad may peace be upon him to say this when he knew full well that Jesus was dead and cannot descend.  Therefore it is either a lie or been pulled out of context! 

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Argument:

Muslim Brother:

The Promised Messiah shall “break the cross.”

This prophesy was interpreted to mean that all Christians shall convert to Islam and Christianity as a separate religion shall cease to exist. Qadiani himself wrote, “The purpose of descent of Messiah is that the theory of Trinity will be completely obliterated…” It is obvious that Christians have multiplied manifold during the last century. Even in the District of Gurdaspur the Christian population increased eight-fold between the time of Qadiani’s claim of Messiahship and his death. Ghulam Qadiani said to emphasize his mission of obliterating Christianity from the earth, “If I do not do for the protection of Islam what is attributed to the Promised Messiah and I die, bear witness that I am a liar.” Well! Time has given the proof of what he was.

Rebuttal:

If you take it literally, as you like to do, then what does ‘breaking the cross’ mean?  That a prophet of Allah will spend all his time running around like a madman breaking every cross he sees?  Climbing up churches to break the cross, ripping the cross of people’s necks to break them etc.? Is this a role of a prophet?

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad may peace be upon him explaining the ‘breaking of the cross’, that he proved that Jesus did not die on the cross from the Holy Bible, which meant that all of the Christian teachings was broken, they all need Jesus to have died on the cross.  Therefore he did break Christianity and stopped their onslaught of converting Muslims to Christianity.  Before his proofs, Muslims had no answers to the Christians questions.  The Christian missionaries were able to convert thousands of Muslims to Christianity, simply by asked them about their own beliefs. They would ask ‘what do Muslims believe about the birth of Jesus?’  Is it not written in the Holy Qur’an that it was a ‘virgin birth’, he had no father? So they stated that ‘Only Allah has no father!‘ Again they would ask ‘is it not written that Jesus spoke as a baby’? that he gave ‘life to the dead’? that he ‘cured the diseased’? etc. Then they would say that ‘only Allah can do this’.  The Christian missionaries continued by saying ‘is it not written that Jesus did not die, but is alive in heaven’?  Only Allah does not die!  Therefore they concluded that according to the Muslims own belief – Jesus is Allah!  The Muslims had no answers as this was what they believed, and flocked to Christianity.

Fortunately, Allah sent Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad may peace be upon him to save the Muslims against these attacks, and the Christians had no answers, therefore instead of their boasting that ‘they will raise the flag of Christianity over Ka’aba’, they had no answers to the fact that Jesus did not die on the cross.  As the Christian beliefs of ‘salvation’, ‘redemption’, ‘resurrection’ etc. all stemmed around the belief that Jesus died on the cross, so Christians started to lose their faith, until nowadays you see the Churches in this Christian country, what is the condition?  Only a few people attend and many churches are closing and some even becoming Mosques instead! The concept of Jesus coming back from the skies has disappeared, no Christians really expects this to happen now and instead look for other ways that this could be fulfilled.  So he broke the cross!  But breaking the cross, doesn’t mean that Christianity will disappear, there is ‘no compulsion in Islam‘.  With the coming of the Promised Messiah, that will be the time as the Holy Qur’an states that ‘Islam will prevail over all the religions’. In other words, Islam will be the only true living faith, and the major religion to take people to God, but other faiths will remain.  Allah will never force people to accept Islam, that has never been or ever will be His way.

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Argument:

Muslim Brother:

The Promised Messiah shall “kill the pig.”

This prophesy was interpreted that the eating of pig products shall cease to exist. Obviously, this prophesy was not fulfilled.

Rebuttal:

Once again you have taken it literally, can a prophet spend all his time running after all the pigs and kill these creatures of Allah?  Is this a role of a prophet?  No we understand this to mean the pig eating countries are Christian countries, so once again he will break Christianity! 

The Promised Messiah may peace be upon him has explained this as follows:-

In short, they begin with describing him as a Prophet and then reduce him to a degree that no sensible person can ever contemplate.  Then, converting his functions from their metaphorical description into physical activities, they allege that he will break crosses and slaughter swine.  They do not explain what he will gain by breaking crosses.  Even if he broke one or two million crosses, would the Christians, who are devoted to the worship of the cross, not make new ones in place of the broken ones?

If the slaughtering of swine is also to be taken literally, will the principal occupation of the Messiah be that of hunting swine with a pack of dogs?…But this activity of his will not in any way benefit the Christians, who are already very skilful in hunting swine.  There are up to a thousand shops in London that sell the flesh of swine, and up to twenty-five thousand pigs are daily sent to the outlying areas of the city.  The question is: is it worthy of a Prophet who has appeared for the reform of mankind to waste his time hunting pig?
Izala-e-Auham, Roohani Khazain Vol 3. pg 123

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Argument:

Muslim Brother:

The Promised Messiah shall “be a just ruler.”

A just ruler is not a subject of any people or government. Firstly, Ghulam Qadiani was a subject of the British throne not a ruler. He boasted, “Till his death, my father remained a sincere servant of the English Government”. About himself he boasted, “I rose to the service of the English Government with my hand and pen… I have promised to God that I shall not write a book except that I shall mention in it the favours of the Imperial Government“.

Secondly, he was accused by his own followers to be an embezzler of funds of his community. He was not even a just leader of his small community. 

Rebuttal:

In India at that time, which was under British rule, they gave freedom to worship your faith, whereas the previous rule of the Sikhs and Hindus didn’t allow Muslims to worship, so of course if the rulers give you rights to worship Allah, then even the Holy Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him has told us to live within such rule.  Why are you living under this British rule if it is so bad?  Alhamdulillah they given you rights for worship, such are not given in some Muslim countries like Pakistan.

Secondly, where have you got this from that ‘he was accused by his own followers to be an embezzler of funds of his community’?  We are a transparent community, everyone knows where every penny is spent, but similar accusations were put on Hazrat Uthman may peace be upon him and they were also false. 

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Argument:

Muslim Brother:

The Promised Messiah shall “bring all humanity under one religion, Islam, before his death.”

Ghulam Qadiani himself agreed, “… during the period of the Promised Messiah the false religious communities will perish.” He further clarified at another place, “… lies will completely vanish and all religious communities except Islam will be destroyed.” A century has passed since Qadiani’s claim of Messiahship yet the Muslims of the world remain 25 percent of the world population. If Qadiani population only is considered (because Ghulam taught them that they are the only Muslims in the world) they are under 0.02% of the world population.

Rebuttal:

With the coming of the Promised Messiah, then as the Holy Qur’an prophesises ‘Islam will prevail over all religions’, he laid the seeds and his community will grow into a mighty tree and under his Khulafa (His Khalifahs/Successors) this will be achieved.  It hasn’t happened yet because the Muslims have refused to accept him and the guidance from Allah.  But all of mankind is moving away from Allah and his community is trying to bring all mankind back to God.  If all the Muslims start behaving properly and submit to Allah and strive to spread the true teachings of Islam through their example, then this victory will happen.  But the process has started.  Even the Holy Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him only ruled over Arabia when he passed away, it was through his Khulafa that Islam spread far and wide.   

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Argument:

Muslim Brother:

The Promised Messiah shall “kill the Dajjal, the Deceiver, at the gate of Ludd or Lydda.”

Frequently Dajjal is translated as “Anti-Christ” which may not be true. In fact, in Islam, there is no concept of Anti-Christ associated with a person. Ghulam Qadiani himself wrote, “Then, Messiah son of Mary shall move out in search of the Dajjal; he will overtake him at the gate of a town among the towns of Bait Al-Muqaddas (Jerusalem) known as Ludd and kill him.” As we know that no such person having attributes of the Dajjal has appeared, yet. Naturally, Qadiani did not kill any Dajjal, he was never accused of killing any person nor did he visit Ludd or Lydda.

Rebuttal:

There are many Ahadith about the coming of the Dajjal and that he will be killed by Hazrat Isa. This is a belief held by the majority of Muslims.  But searching through these Ahadith, there are so many different accounts and ideas.  In fact, the Sahaba were expecting the Dajjal to appear among them and even thought they knew who it was.  So the main thing is to try and understand these Ahadith and not to take them literally.  But if we were to take them literally, then that would cause some problems, for instance, why is Hazrat Isa may peace be upon him killing the Dajjal?  Is this a role of a Prophet?  Was he known to kill people before?  Wasn’t he known for his ‘love and forgiveness’, not killing?  Even the Holy Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him who went to so many wars, never killed anyone.  So why then did Allah teach Hazrat Isa may peace be upon him how to kill in heaven and have this hatred?  Does not Sahih Bukhari state that “He (Jesus) will break the Cross, kill the swine, abolish war”.  On one hand the Molvis believe he will come and force people to either accept Islam or be killed and that all he has to do is breathe on people and they will die; and on the other hand the Holy Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him is saying he will ‘abolish war’?  Which one is it?

Then of course comes another problem, that if Hazrat Isa may peace be upon him has been kept alive in heaven to be sent down to kill the Dajjal, then how is that possible, if no prophets can now come after the Holy Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him?  Isn’t that a contradiction, that on one hand you say that the Holy Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him is the final and last prophet, but on the other hand you say that Hazrat Isa may peace be upon him, a prophet, will come back to kill the Dajjal?  

Then why Hazrat Isa?  Surely, if anyone was going to have the honour of killing the Dajjal, then it should have been the Holy Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him?  Allah could have kept him alive and taught him how to kill and hate, why is the Holy Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him dead and buried and Allah has kept a Jewish prophet – Hazrat Isa may peace be upon him alive?  And then why 40 years?  Why keep Hazrat Isa may peace be upon him alive for 2000 years only to bring him back to kill the Dajjal and then bring the world to an end.  Surely Allah can bring the world to an end without Hazrat Isa may peace be upon him.  Once the world is brought to an end, then it doesn’t matter about the Dajjal, we are all dead anyway!  If Hazrat Isa may peace be upon him is not coming to reform the people and bring peace to the Earth, then what is the point of his coming? etc.  These are the real questions you should be asking. 

Now as to our understanding about these Ahadith.  Like you have rightly said, with the coming of the Imam Mahdi and the Promised Messiah, there are many prophecies also about the coming of the Dajjal. But it is a question of trying to understand these Ahadith.  If we take them literally then there would be a gigantic one-eyed monster roaming the world whose donkey is so big that one foot will be in one country and another foot in another.  Pretty hard not to spot.  Then his donkey will have fire in his belly and people inside, and also have one eye and smoke going out before it and after it.  Since we are now in the latter days, therefore this huge man with his donkey should be terrorising the world, but where is he?

We try to understand prophecies and Qur’anic verses by trying to look between the lines and grasp what is being said, but if one takes such things literally, then they will be in all sorts of problems, defying Allah’s nature laws etc.

Therefore our understanding is that the Dajjal, means Anti-Christ = Anti-God, it will be a thing which will move people away from Allah.  As for his donkey, if we presume that the Holy Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him had seen a vision of this thing and wanted to try and explain it to the people of his time, then we can start to understand this more clearly.  If he saw a steam train of a hundred years ago and tried to explain it to the Arabs, what would he say?  First it is a mode of transport, like a donkey.  Then it has one foot in one country and another in another country; rail lines.  Then in its belly is fire and people, carriages which have people in them and lights.  Then he has one eye, the steam trains had a light in front.  Then it had smoke going before and after it, steam coming from the chimney, going first in front and then leaving a trail behind.

So our understanding is that this donkey of the Dajjal is in fact a steam train.  The steam trains were a mode of transport that the Christians used to move around, spreading their beliefs and running after material things.  The Christian belief is that Jesus is the ‘son of God’ which is trying to make shirk – partners with Allah, the materialism is their idols for these days, they are running after material wealth rather than running after Allah.  So this is what we see is the Dajjal.

Now the Promised Messiah and Imam Mahdi was meant to come and do battle with the Dajjal and that is exactly what happened.  Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad may peace be upon him proved that Jesus did not die on the cross, but survived and went in search of the ‘lost sheep of the house of Israel’, eventually dying in Kashmir.  Thus he broke the Christians beliefs, as St Paul said, ‘if Jesus did not die on the cross, then all our preaching is in vain’ (I Corinthians 15:14)in other words, all the main Christian beliefs are based on Jesus dying on the cross.  

Secondly, he has been urging Muslims and non-Muslims to follow the Holy Qur’an and worship Allah, the One God. If mankind follows this (which is being continued by his Khulafa) then they will not be lost to materialism and instead will become worshippers of the One God and thus defeat the Dajjal.

Sadly, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah and Imam Mahdi’s work has been hindered by the Muslim Ummah, as he was very critical of them that they were not guiding the Muslims correctly and instead got lost to materialism.  This is the real reason why they have tried to defame him and prevent Muslims from listening to his message. That briefly is our belief, but of course, Allah knows best. 

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Argument:

Muslim Brother:

Allah will generate so much wealth under the rule of the Promised Messiah that no beggar and no poverty will be left in the world.

It is no secret that there is poverty and hunger all over the world including in the most prosperous First World of the West. Ghulam Qadiani himself was a beggar; he wrote, “It is necessary for everyone of my followers to remit to me a monthly sum of his money.” Qadiani’s brother-in-law Mirza Sher Ali used to say, “Ghulam Ahmad is indeed a liar and a looter; he has opened this shop to grab money from people“.

Rebuttal:

Materialism has spread all over the world, everyone is running after the pleasures of the world instead of the pleasures of Allah.  Money is flowing with the rich countries becoming richer and the poorer countries desiring wealth.  But Allah has spread ‘spiritual wealth in abundance’ through Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad may peace be upon him.

As for his brother-in-law Mirza Sher Ali – who?  Perhaps you are referring to Maulvi Sher Ali, but he was just a follower, not related and certainly did not say such things.  Likewise what shop did Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad may peace be upon him open?  Pure lies!

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Argument:

Muslim Brother:

The Promised Messiah will “establish peace on earth. The lion will graze about with a camel, the leopard with a cow, the wolf with a sheep, Children will play with snakes who will not harm them.”

Ghulam Qadiani lived for almost seventeen years after the claim of his Messiahship but he did not establish peace on earth. In fact, two world wars took place and hundreds of small wars have taken lives of millions of people since the death of Qadiani. There has been inestimable damage to the environment during periods of “peace” and also due to wars. Lions continue to eat their favourite animals and snakes continue to bite people.

Rebuttal:

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad may peace be upon him did establish peace on the earth for those who accepted him, but for those who reject him then they will not find peace with Allah.  The World wars are signs of the ‘latter days’ as prophecies and again are due to not accepting the Promised Messiah may peace be upon him. 

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Argument:

Muslim Brother:

The Promised Messiah shall “perform Hajj or Umra or both.”

Ghulam Qadiani was so scared of dying that he did not perform Hajj or Umra despite his claim about himself, “And God will protect you from people“.

Rebuttal:

As you know everyone should perform Hajj if they a) have the means, b) have good health c) the way is not blocked.  Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad may peace be upon him couldn’t perform the Hajj due to ill health not that he was ‘scared of dying’. 

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Argument:

Muslim Brother:

The Promised Messiah shall “remain on earth for forty-five years before dying.”

About Ghulam Qadiani, his son Bashir Ahmad wrote, “His Holiness announced that he had been commissioned for the reformation of this Ummah in the year 1882. In the year 1889 he announced that he is the revivalist. He remained steadfast on this until in 1891 he announced that he is “the Promised Messiah“. From the time of his birth in 1839 he lived for 69 years, dying in 1908. The time of his claim to be a reformer was 26 years, the time of his claim to be a mujaddid was 19 years and the time of his claim to Messiahship was 17 years until his death. When is one supposed to begin counting to make 45 years of Messiahship?

Rebuttal:

Before you were quoting a different hadith mentioning 40 (days, years, – the hadith only mentions 40 and not whether it was days or years?). The criteria from the Holy Qur’an is that if someone claims to be from Allah and he is not, then Allah will seize him by his life-artery.  But of course everyone has to die, so as a further criteria, the Muslim Ummah said that if there was a claimant of prophethood, then as the Holy Qur’an took 22-23 years (according to the Solar or Lunar calendars) to be revealed, therefore a claimant should receive revelation longer than the Holy Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him – 23 years.  Obviously, if a person claimed that he was from Allah and died after only 3 to 5 years, then it would seem that Allah had seized him by his life-artery.  But if a person is claiming that he is from Allah and he receives revelation for over 23 years, then it would seem strange that Allah has allowed him to keep saying this for so long? 

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad may peace be upon him wrote the revelations he had already received in his first book Braheen-e-Ahmadiyya in 1880.  He continued to write down the revelations that he was receiving in over 80 books that he wrote during the next 28 years until his death in 1908.  Therefore it is a recorded fact that he has past this criteria of 23 years.  Please note that the revelations that he received were not any new laws, as he was not a law-giving prophet and didn’t receive any new laws, as the Holy Qur’an is now complete.  But these were Wahy from Allah, guiding him so that he could guide mankind.  Incidentally he was born in 1835 not 1839.