13-19 July

14 July 1894: The Promised Messiah’s^as Arabic book Sirr-ul-Khilafa was published on this day. In it, Huzoor^as discusses the difference that exists between the Sunnis and the Shiites on the issue of Khilafat after the Holy Prophet^sa and gave very convincing proof of the fact that all four Khulafa of Islam were the rightly guided Khalifas, and that Hazrat Abu Bakr^ra was the best of them all and like a second Adam for Islam.

He has taken up the objections that the Shiites raise against the first three Khulafa and has answered them at some length. He calls upon those who differ with him on this view, for a prayer duel. He also explains the prophecy about the appearance of Mahdi and proves his own claim to be that person. The reason why this book was written in Arabic was to expose the hollowness of the claim of his opponents to the learned people. The main part of the book is in Arabic with an announcement in Urdu. At the end of the book, Hazrat Ahmad^as has appealed to them that they should not make decisions about him in haste. He also explains the nature of angels. 

14 July 1903: On this day, Hazrat Sahibzada Syed Abdul Lateef^ra was martyred in a barbaric way in Kabul, Afghanistan. It was a Tuesday. He was a very revered person and had tens of thousands of followers. He was so respected that the ruler of country invited him at his coronation to perform the crowning ceremony. He had read some of the books of the Promised Messiah^as that made a deep impression on him. He visited Qadian in 1902 to have an audience with Hazrat Ahmad^as. He accepted Ahmadiyyat in his first meeting with the Promised Messiah^as. He immensely enjoyed the company of the Promised Messiah^as so much so that he decided to stay in Qadian a little longer. During his stay, he received revelations repeatedly forewarning him to be prepared to sacrifice himself for Ahmadiyyat.

Eventually he went back to Afghanistan with Huzoor’s consent. He was buried up to his waist in the ground and stoned. The stoning continued until his soul departed from his body and returned to Allah.

On his martyrdom, the Promised Messiah^(as) expressed his grief in the following words:

“O Abdul Lateef, may you be blessed thousands of times as you proved your sincerity in my lifetime … This was a most merciless killing that has no match in this age. What folly has this Amir committed that he has ruined himself by his merciless killing of such an innocent person. O land of Afghanistan, bear witness that a grave offence has been committed in you. O unfortunate land, you have fallen in the estimation of God in that this great tragedy was enacted in you.”

The country has been in turmoil ever since Hazrat Sahibzada Sahib^ra was martyred.

14 July 1907: The Promised Messiah^as went to Batala from Qadian to receive his family members as they returned from Lahore after ten days.

15 July 1890: The Promised Messiah^as was in Ludhiana, and details of his poor health emerge from reading the letters he sent in those days.

15-17 July 1901: The Promised Messiah^as went to Gurdaspur courts for legal proceedings of the Wall Case. In early 1900, Mirza Imam Din, a cousin of Hazrat Ahmad^as, began to erect a brick wall to block the lane which led to the south entrance of Masjid Mubarak. Ahmad’s^as visitors and guests were all inconvenienced. If they wanted to offer prayers in the mosque or see Hazrat Ahmad^as, they had to take a long winding way with which they were not familiar. As the direct and most frequently used way was now completely blocked, Hazrat Ahmad^as was practically besieged by his enemies. In short, all efforts from the Ahmadiyya camp failed to solve the dire situation. Finally, a legal case was put forward. On this day, Hazrat Ahmad^as was summoned as a defense witness. Huzoor^as left Qadian in a palanquin at about 7am on 15 July 1901. Hazrat Maulvi Nuruddin^ra, Hazrat Sheikh Yaqub Ali Irfani^ra and other friends got into yakkas (horse-pulled carts) to go to Gurdaspur via Batala, while Hazrat Ahmad^as went direct and reached there at about 3pm. As requested by Maulvi Muhammad Ali Sahib, the party stayed at the house of his father-in-law, Munshi Nabi Bakhsh Sahib. Khawaja Kamaluddin Sahib came from Peshawar in the evening. It was very hot and Hazrat Ahmad^as was not feeling very well, so he could not sleep the whole night. Huzoor^as left for the court at about 10am on the 16^th and stopped at the south-eastern corner of the pakka tank in front of the courts as they were situated then. There were about 40 persons in the party. As Hazrat Ahmad^as sat there on a carpet waiting for the court call, the multitude flocked to see him from all directions. In a few minutes the hearing of the case began and Khawaja Kamaluddin Sahib and Maulvi Muhammad Ali Sahib – pleaders in the case – went in. After the statements of Bur Singh and Sant Singh who were defense witnesses, Hazrat Ahmad^as presented his statement in court.

18 July 1900: The Promised Messiah^as wrote a letter to Miyan Shadi Khan Sahib^ra lauding his financial sacrifice and termed it a sacrifice akin to the sacrifices of the Holy Prophet’s^sa Companions^ra. 

18 July 1947: Hazrat Dr Mir Muhammad Ismail^ra passed away. He was younger brother of Hazrat Amma Jan^ra. The Promised Messiah^as was foretold that he would be appointed as an “assistant surgeon” while he was still a student in medical college. He stood first in the Punjab in the final examination from Medical College Lahore and was appointed as Assistant Surgeon. He was appointed as Civil Surgeon in 1928 and retired in 1936. A deep sense of spirituality can be felt from his prose and poetry.