9-15 October

In this third year of Al Hakam, we will present a selection of incidents from the blessed life of the Promised Messiah, peace be upon him, this time, with some more details

9 October 1883: On this date, the Promised Messiah^as replied to a letter of Mir Abbas Ali Sahib of Ludhiana. In it, Hazrat Ahmad^as shared that he had a wonderful dream the night before, in which some persons, whom he did not recognise, were inscribing some verses over the door of Masjid Mubarak with green ink. Huzoor^as soon realised that they were angels, who were carrying green ink with them and were writing some verses in calligraphy. Huzoor^as started reading the verses, but only one of them remained in his memory, which was:

لَا رَادَّ لِفَضْلِه

9 October 1897: The Promised Messiah^as shared with Hazrat Haji Seith Allah Rakha Abdur Rahman^ra that he had been suffering from conjunctivitis for last few days. Hazrat Ahmad^as also expressed his condolences on the sad demise of his son, Seith Saleh Muhammad Sahib. Huzoor^as acknowledged receipt of a donation worth 200 rupees for a mosque, which had been made by various relatives of Hazrat Seith Sahib^ra. In this letter, aside from writing on matters of common interest, Hazrat Ahmad^as prayed immensely for those who made these financial contributions.

10 October 1888: The Promised Messiah^as replied to a letter of Hazrat Munshi Rustam Ali^ra. Among other things, Hazrat Ahmad^as explained to him the essence of true repentance, its stages and how Allah’s mercy encompasses a person. Huzoor’s^as explanations in spiritual matters were unmatched.

11 October 1899: In southern Africa, a war broke out between the local Boers community and English forces. The Promised Messiah^as mentioned this confrontation many times in his writings.

2 February 1900 was Eid-ul-Fitr. The Promised Messiah^as told members of the Jamaat to hold a meeting on that day and offer prayers for the success of the British Government. The Eid prayer was led by Hazrat Maulvi Nuruddin^ra and the sermon was delivered by the Promised Messiah^as. In this sermon, he commented on chapter 114 of the Holy Quran and reminded the listeners of their duties towards the government, especially because of the goodness of the government which it had displayed in various ways. After the sermon, Huzoor^as told the gathering to pray for the victory of the British Government in the battle that was being fought in Transvaal and then led a silent prayer for this purpose. He also collected a sum of money to be sent for the injured in this battle. Since this meeting was convened to offer prayers, it came to be known as Jalsa Dua [the Prayer Meeting].

11 October 1905: Hazrat Maulvi Abdul Karim Sialkoti^ra succumbed to a prolonged ailment and passed away at 2:30pm on this date.

12 October 1890: The Promised Messiah^as wrote to a very close companion, Hazrat Mian Abdullah Sanauri^ra, that his proposed departure for Qadian would be on 15 October 1890 at midday. Huzoor^as asked him whether it was convenient for him to pay a visit according to this schedule, otherwise they could get together at any time in the coming future.

12 October 1905: One of the Promised Messiah’s^as closest companions, a devout disciple and an ever-ready helping hand, Hazrat Maulvi Abdul Karim Sialkoti^ra was laid to rest on this day before noon in Qadian. He passed away a day before and the burial was done as amanat (interim burial).

13 October 1905: The Promised Messiah^as received a guest from Gujarat, Mr D Neel, headmaster at a mission school. This guest had the opportunity to ask some questions in writing. Hazrat Ahmad^as spoke on different religions in the world, in light of the questions asked. The noble companions enjoyed this informative sitting full of knowledge and wisdom, held before the Asr prayer.

14 October 1884: The Promised Messiah^as visited Ludhiana on this date, to enquire about the health of Mir Abbas Ali Sahib. He stayed there only for a day or two.

14 October 1901: The Promised Messiah^as wrote to Hazrat Syed Nasir Shah^ra on this date about expenditures on the printing of Nuzul-ul-Masih. Huzoor^as told him that the text of this book was long, hence the printing costs surpassed the initial estimates. Hazrat Ahmad^as wrote that he was sending him two copies of Kishti-e-Nuh – one for him and the second copy for beloved Syed Fazl Shah Sahib.

15 October 1906: The Promised Messiah^as wrote, “I saw in my dream that I was writing something and in the course of writing, I saw the following writing:

علم الدرمان 223

[Ilm-ul-Darman].” The Promised Messiah^as said, “Ilm is an Arabic word and darman is Persian. What follows [the revelation] is the number 223. I do not know what this means.”

Once Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II^ra said:

“Ilm is an Arabic word meaning ‘knowledge’ and darman is a Persian word meaning treatment. The import is that the knowledge of the treatment would be known after 223 days.

“Now we need to see what is the 223^rd day after 15 October 1906 – it is 25 May 1907. The Promised Messiah^as passed away on 26 May in accordance with this revelation.

“Another matter for reflection, which the opponents may deny for lack of understanding, is that the revelation was received in 1906, but the Promised Messiah^as passed away in 1908. That makes it one year and 223 days.

“Bear in mind that there are two reasons for it. One, that there is another revelation which followed closely; [‘The Arrows of death do not miss’] which also proves that the revelation containing 223 is about death. Then another Arabic revelation was received meaning that his death was destined in 1907, but Allah increased his assigned time and thus, the calculation started after one year.

“The second reason is that the date appointed for his death was 26 May. If he had died in 1907, some of his opponents would have raised the clamour that he died within the period given in their prophecies. Moreover, in that case, his death would have been on the 27^th. Therefore, it was necessary that he should pass away in a leap year (which would have 29 days in February) so that he would pass away exactly after 223 days on 26 May. Thus, his death would definitely be in 1908, which is a leap year, and not in 1907, which has 28 days in February. Thus, the 223 days are completed not on 26 May, but on 27 May. (Tashheez-ul-Azhan, Vol. 3, No. 6-7, June-July 1908, p. 216)