15 February 1898: A foul mouthed apostate, Ahmad Shah Shaikh of Kashmir, who had converted to Christianity and had once been the medical officer of Ladakh and formerly been a missionary in Jagraon, District Ludhiana, wrote an offensive book, Ummahat-ul-Momineen, from England which was published by RPS Press, Gujranwala and distributed on a large scale in early 1898, free of charge. According to a narration, this book reached the Promised Messiahas today.
15 February 1901: A children’s cricket match was held on this day. Several respected elders of the town went to watch the match for encouragement. Meanwhile, the Promised Messiahas was busy writing the interpretation of Surah al-Fatihah. A child of the Promised Messiahas asked him out of simplicity and love, “Why didn’t you come to watch the match?” The Promised Messiahas replied, “They [the children] would have come back after playing, but the cricket match that I am playing will continue till the end of times.”
16 February 1923: A white minaret is mentioned among the signs of the advent of Promised Messiahas. The Promised Messiahas laid the foundation of a minaret for the apparent fulfillment of the sign. The construction of this minaret was completed in the blessed era of Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra on this day. It is known as Minaratul-Masih.
17 February 1897: The Promised Messiahas published an announcement in which he appealed to the members of the Jamaat for a house and well that were needed for the hospitality of guests. This announcement was published from Zia-ul-Islam Press, Qadian.
17 February 1908: The Nikah of Hazrat Nawab Mubaraka Begumra was announced with Hazrat Nawab Muhammad Ali Khanra, raees (chieftain) of Malerkotla. Hazrat Hakim Maulvi Nuruddinra led this Nikah in Masjid Aqsa, Qadian and the mehr (dowry) was set for 56,000 rupees. Several guests came to participate from outside of Qadian.
18 February 1973: Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIIrh laid the foundation stone of the new building of Modern Press Rabwah.
19 February 1905: After an interval of almost seven months, the Promised Messiahas continued with his custom of blessing his companions with his company between the Maghrib and Isha prayers.
20 February 1901: The Promised Messiahas published an announcement comprising of three pages that by the grace of God, a miracle was displayed by God Almighty. The interpretation of the Holy Quran in front of opponents was mentioned as a miracle in it.
20 February 1907: The Urdu book of the Promised Messiahas, Qadian ke Arya aur Hum (The Arya of Qadian and Us) was published on this day by Magazine Press Qadian. The Promised Messiahas was prompted to write this book on account of the vicious and provocative disturbances of the Arya of Qadian at the occasion of Jalsa Salana 1906.
20 February 1908: The Promised Messiahas wrote a letter to Hazrat Siddiqa Begum Sahiba, wife of Qureshi Muhammad Usman Sahib. Maktubat-e-Ahmadiyya, volume five, page 288 indicates that three letters were written by the Promised Messiahas to this fortunate lady, which form part of the literature of the Promised Messiahas.
21 February 1899: The book of the Promised Messiahas, Haqiqatul Mahdi (The True Nature of the Mahdi) was published. As far as the language of this book is concerned, Urdu, Persian and Arabic are all used.
Maulvi Muhammad Hussain Batalvi, having been thwarted in all his attempts to demean Hazrat Ahmadas, started a campaign of vilification against the Promised Messiahas, and to incite the Government against him, he indulged even to the extent of fabricating lies and claiming that Hazrat Ahmadas was – God forbid – a rebel and more dangerous than the blood-thirsty Sudani Mahdi. However, the government did not show leniency to him.
The Promised Messiahas published the following comment in English on the title page of the book (as shown in the image above):
“As the Muslims of India entertain different beliefs with regard to ‘the coming Mehdi’ and especially the nature of his appearance among the Muslims: according to some Muslims, he will be a reformer and engenderer of new life, like a true lover of peace and tranquility and a person poor in heart, the Muslims of his party considering his appearance as merely spiritual, while the other Muslims such as Maulvi Muhammad Husain of Batala, editor of Isha-at-ussunnah and leader and advocate of Ahl-i-Hadis or Wahabis of his class, believe that the ‘coming Mehdi’ will be Ghazi, general slaughterer and upsetter of the empires of the nations other than Muslim, especially the bitter opponent of the British Empire and speak of terrible consequences resulting from the bloody deeds of this Mehdi, I have written this pamphlet to show which of these two Muslim parties is right in its belief with regard to ‘the coming Mehdi’.
“It will be better that our benign Government will get this pamphlet translated into English, and hence make itself acquainted with these differences concerning ‘the coming Mehdi’.”
