Al Hakam, 21-28 September 1918
Hazrat Maulvi Abdur Rahim Nayyarra
Bareilly
Travellers going to Nainital pass through [Bareilly] station. This city is especially famed for its mental asylums and its Muslim clerics. The latter has become notorious in India and Hejaz for their bizarre verdicts. Nikahs [marriages] are annulled by conversing, eating and gaining familiarity with Ahmadis. Hence, the Nikahs of some… were officiated once again. I have a special relation with Bareilly because God granted me my life partner from this very city and she is the daughter of the very person who was subjected to the verdicts of Maulvi Ahmad Raza Khan, and whose family, on account of Ahmadiyyat, had to endure such hardships as described in a verse of Hazrat Mukhtar Shahjahanpuri in the following manner:
We are like Hussain who have been deprived of water;
They are like Yazid, who do not allow us water.
I have always deeply desired for Bareilly to partake of the water which the Promised Messiahas bestowed and for it to become enlightened with the light which God has sent to illuminate the world in this age. My heartfelt desire continues to be for the inhabitants of Bareilly to be informed that in Qadian, Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas who has arrived states:
I am the water that descended from heaven at the appropriate hour;
I am that light by which day has become manifest.
Thus, I descended into Bareilly on 10 June. I met friends from the city. Presently, opposition is as it was before. The Jamaat is progressing. By the grace of God, new Ahmadis are particularly zealous. A series of questions and answer sittings regarding religious themes occurred in the residence of brother Sirajuddin Sahib, a merchant. The summary of it is presented below as it may be of benefit to readers:
Question: There exists a qaseeda [poem] of Shah Nimatullah Wali [a Persian saint]. Most people here read it and recite it. It is written therein that two individuals by the name of Ahmad will misguide people. One was, of course, Syed Ahmad. The second they regard to be Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas. What is the validity of this?
Answer: For a few years, a cleric from the North-West Frontier Province has been publishing a qaseeda and attributing it to Hazrat Nimatullah Wali. Its language is of the modern age and its names are of this age. Its author appears to be an enemy of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat and the British Government, and he holds animosity towards Nasrullah Khan and Habibullah – rulers of Afghanistan. Hence, the government of Punjab confiscated this qaseeda.
In reality, the qaseeda of Hazrat Nimatullah Wali is that which Hazrat Ismail Shaheed recorded in his book Arba‘in and the Promised Messiahas applied it to himself. As the likes of Maulana Ismail Shaheed and Hazrat Syed Ahmed Barelvi and his community have attested to the authenticity of this qaseeda, for this reason it is safe to say that all qaseedas aside it are the publications of another person. Shah Nimatullah Wali has no relation with these.
Aside from Ahmadis, I also met with a respectable Qazi Sahib in Bareilly who listened to the claims of the Promised Messiahas with great veneration and attention. May Allah expand his understanding and do away with those matters which impede his announcement. Amin.
It would not be unseemly to write here that the wife of Qazi Abdullah, who had gone to Bareilly to meet her maternal aunt and uncle, carried out greatly beneficial work among ladies, and many of them, whom the followers of Maulvi [Ahmad Raza Khan] Sahib had alarmed by naming them “Qadiani” and “Kafir”, have broken loose of the “magical” clutches of Maulvi Sahib. Having learnt of the prayer, recitation of the Quran and beliefs of Ahmadi women, they have become convinced of the deception of the cleric. It is the hope of the respectable lady (may Allah keep her in good health) for Allah to quickly enable some ladies to accept the truth. After shining throughout the entire day in Bareilly, Nayyar [referring to himself] departed Bareilly at night.
[Translated by Al Hakam]
