18-24 January

18 January 1903: The Promised Messiah^as began his journey back from Jhelum and reached Lahore on this day. He was in Jhelum for the Karam Din case court proceedings. 

18 January 1970: Hazrat Hafiz Mirza Nasir Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih III^rh laid the foundation stone of Khilafat Library, Rabwah. Hazrat Chaudhry Sir Muhammad Zafarulla Khan^ra was also present. Huzoor’s^rh speech on this occasion was about the philosophy of learning, branches of knowledge and establishing libraries. Khilafat Library’s inauguration was held on 3 October 1971 and Huzoor^rh himself presided over this historic event. The building of the library was funded by Fazle Umar Foundation and the authority was given to Sadr Anjuman. As Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad^ra (Fazle Umar) was a scholar of the Quran and other branches of knowledge, he wanted to establish a library for the coming generation. On this basis Fazle Umar foundation built this library. Nowadays, Khilafat Library is a household name amongst book lovers, publishers and literary circles of the country.

19 January 1903: The Promised Messiah^as arrived back in Qadian from Jhelum after attending court proceedings. On this day, the judge announced the final verdict which was in favour of the Promised Messiah^as as foretold by God Almighty.  

21 January 1886: The Promised Messiah^as went for a chillah [forty days of seclusion for worship] to Hoshiarpur on a small ox-drawn two-wheeled vehicle. One narration recorded that the oxen were of white colour and Huzoor^as also made an overnight stay in Rasul Pur. 

22 January 1897: The Promised Messiah’s^as book Anjam-e-Atham (End of Atham) was published on this day. In the conclusion of Jang-e-Muqaddas (Holy War), on 5 June 1893, the Promised Messiah^as published a prophecy about Abdullah Atham, who represented the Christian community in the debate called Jang-e-Muqaddas, that Abdullah Atham would be thrown into hell within 15 months – one month corresponding to each day of the debate – and that he would be (severely) disgraced “provided he did not turn to the truth”.

A period of 15 months ended on 5 September 1894 by which day Abdullah Atham was still alive. There was a great uproar that the prophecy of the Promised Messiah^as turned out to be false as he was still alive. A procession was taken out on 6 September 1894 in Amritsar in which Atham was paraded as a sign that the Christians had become victorious over Islam. The Promised Messiah^as wrote that the prophecy made by him was fulfilled in letter and spirit, because during the period of 15 months, Abdullah Atham had repented, turned towards the truth and had remained quiet without saying a single word against Islam and the Holy Prophet^sa, nor did he write any article or book against Islam during this period. 

Since 6 September, the Promised Messiah^as issued seven announcements, one after the other, inviting Atham to take an oath that during the period of 15 months, he did not turn to God. In the posters, he offered a prize of 1,000 rupees which went on increasing with every poster – to 2,000, 3,000 and then 4,000 rupees. Every time, Atham was invited to take an oath. It was after the seventh poster (issued on 30 December 1895) that the refusal of Atham had reached a point where he would not be given any further respite. 

Abdullah Atham died on 27 July 1896. This book, Anjam-e-Atham, contains the related details of the events. The book also bears the list of Hazrat Ahmad’s^as 313 Companions. 

24 Jan 1898:  The Promised Messiah’s^as Urdu book Kitab-ul-Bariyyah (The Acquittal) was published on this day by Zia-ul-Islam Press, Qadian. History shows us that the Christian missionary of Amritsar, Dr Henry Martyn Clark brought a charge of conspiracy to murder under Section 107 of IPC against the Promised Messiah^as on 1 August 1897 in the court of Mr AB Martineau, District Magistrate of Amritsar. 

Dr Clark stated that Hazrat Ahmad^as had sent a young man, Abdul Hamid, to murder him. Abdul Hamid’s statement was also recorded. The magistrate immediately issued a warrant of arrest for Hazrat Ahmad^as under Section 114. The news of the arrest spread like wildfire and people eagerly looked forward to seeing the Promised Messiah^as alight the train at Amritsar railway station handcuffed. They gathered every day at the station waiting for him, but God would not let him be humiliated at the hands of his enemies. The warrant of arrest never reached its destination and was never served to the Promised Messiah^as. On the other hand, the district magistrate of Amritsar later realised his own mistake that he had no jurisdiction outside of Amritsar. Therefore, the case was transferred to the district magistrate of Gurdaspur. This book carries the details of this court case and also briefly mentions details of the Promised Messiah’s ancestry.