The opponents of the Promised Messiahas allege that neither did the founder of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat mention anywhere that he was taught 40,000 root words of Arabic in one night by God the Almighty, nor did his companions, who witnessed this miracle, narrate this.
This is an utterly baseless allegation, which has only been raised out of envy. If the opponents had removed the covers of prejudice from their eyes, they could have easily discovered after little research that not only did the Promised Messiahas mention the said miracle in his sayings and writings, but his companions also highlighted it on countless occasions.
The Promised Messiahas states:
إنّ کمالی فی اللسان العربی، مع قلۃ جہدی وقصور طلبی، آیۃٌ واضحۃ من ربی، لیُظہِر علی الناس علمی وأدبی، فہل مِن مُعارِض فی جموع المخالفین؟ وإنی مع ذٰلک عُلِّمتُ أربعین ألفًا من اللغات العربیّۃ، وأُعطیتُ بسطۃً کاملۃ فی العلوم الأدبیۃ، مع اعتلالی فی أکثر الأوقات وقلّۃ الفترات، وھذا فضل ربی
“My proficiency in Arabic, despite a lack of effort and research, is a sign from God Almighty, so that my intellect and literary prowess becomes manifest to people. Thus, can anyone from among the opponents object to it? Moreover, I have been taught 40,000 words of the Arabic language. Despite the fact that I am sick most of the time and I enjoy very few days of health, I have been given vast and complete knowledge in the literary sciences and this has happened only through the blessings of my God.” (Anjam-e-Atham, Ruhani Khazain, Vol. 11, p. 234)
At another place, the Promised Messiahas wrote:
“I have been given the sign of eloquence and mastery in Arabic as a reflection of the Quranic miracle of eloquence and no one can challenge me in this.” (The Need for the Imam, p. 42 [English translation of Zarurat-ul-Imam])
Consequently, the Promised Messiahas wrote about 20 books in Arabic, which are masterpieces of prose and poetry. No one, either in the life of the Promised Messiahas or after his death, had the audacity to come up with better Arabic rhetoric.
In this way, Allah the Almighty substantiated the claim of the Promised Messiahas about the said miracle and silenced his opponents.
The Promised Messiahas was taught Arabic by God Almighty despite being a non-Arab. Thereafter, he repeatedly challenged his opponents to hold a contest of Arabic writing so that they could witness the miracle of God with their own eyes.
Moreover, he frequently expressed in his gatherings about the time period in which he was blessed with the Arabic knowledge and taught 40,000 words by God Almighty.
An article of one of his close companions, Hazrat Maulvi Abdul Karim Sahibra Sialkoti, was published in Al Hakam on 3 March 1901. In it, he writes:
“The motivation for writing in Arabic came from me. God Almighty inspired my soul in the first place that this heavenly blessing should also be presented to the Arabs in Arabic vessels. Upon this stimulation, he [the Promised Messiahas] first wrote the [Arabic book], Al-Tabligh, which is part of Aina-e-Kamalat-e-Islam. Only my heart fully knows the situation, which I observed from his reservation and expression of wonder that came upon him at my request. He said with sheer innocence and unpretentious simplicity and straightforwardness, ‘It is a very good idea, but this work is very delicate. It is beyond my power and ability.’ Then after some thought, he said, ‘Alright, I will first prepare a draft in Urdu, then you (this humble one), me and Maulvi Sahib (Maulvi Nuruddin Sahib) will work together and translate it into Arabic.’ He was fully motivated at that time. During the night, the Omnipotent All-Wise God, Exalted be His name, sent a revelation about it and told him to write in Arabic and also assured him that he had been blessed with the mastery of a vast part of the Arabic language and that the Ruh-e-Pak [Gabriel] would cause to flow Arabic words on his tongue and pen when he started to write.” (Al Hakam, 3 March 1901, p. 4)
The Promised Messiahas did not deny the above fact in the remaining years of his lifetime and continued to announce that he was given the miracle of Arabic by Allah. Likewise, Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmadra, the son of the Promised Messiahas, who became his second Khalifa, wrote an article entitled, Mann Ansari Ilallah, which was published in the May 1911 issue of the monthly magazine, Tashheez-ul-Azhan, Qadian.
Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra said:
“The Promised Messiahas used to say that he was taught the root words of several thousand Arabic words in one night.” (Tashheez-ul-Azhan, May 1911, p. 165)
This article was later published in the first volume of Anwar-ul-Ulum and this statement is present on its page 335.
The Promised Messiahas passed away on 26 May 1908. Thousands of his Companionsra were alive when the above mentioned article was published in May 1911, but none of them disagreed with it. Certainly, they were already aware of that miracle and would have also heard it directly from the Promised Messiahas or from other companions.
On the occasion of the Jalsa Salana Qadian 1921, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIra delivered a speech, Hasti Bari Ta‘ala (The existence of the Almighty God) and said:
“The opponents called him [the Promised Messiahas] ignorant and said that he did not know a word of Arabic. However, he replied to them, ‘I know where the treasure of knowledge lies and I will bring knowledge from there.’ Thus, he invoked God the Almighty’s attribute of Al-Aleem [All-Knowing] and he was granted matchless knowledge. He used to say, ‘Once, 40,000 origins of words [of Arabic] were inspired to me by God Almighty in one minute.’” (Anwar-ul-Ulum, Vol. 6, p. 435)
Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra wrote a book, Dawat-ul-Amir in the year 1922, which was published in 1924. He mentioned the allegation of the opponents in it that the Promised Messiahas was not acquainted with Arabic and said:
“When this objection was widely circulated and the opponent maulvis started raising it on various occasions, Allah the Almighty taught [the Promised Messiahas] 40,000 origins of Arabic words in one night and gave him this miracle that he should write books in Arabic and promised him that he would be given such an eloquence that people would not be able to compete with him.” (Anwar-ul-Ulum, Vol. 7, p. 502)
The first volume of Tafsir-e-Kabir, comprising the commentary of Surah al-Baqarah, was published in 1948. In it, Hazrat Khalifatul Masihra states:
“A fresh example of direct teaching of God Almighty is also found in this age and that is the [example of] the founder of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat, who did not acquire education in any regular madrasa. When he started writing books in Arabic by the command of God Almighty, he was once taught 40,000 words of Arabic in one night.” (Tafsir-e-Kabir, Vol. 1, p. 319)
A commentary on Surah al-Muminun, was published in the sixth volume of Tafsir-e-Kabir on December 1957, wherein Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra wrote:
“The Promised Messiahas has said, ‘I was taught 40,000 origins of Arabic words in one night by Allah the Almighty.’” (Tafsir-e-Kabir, Vol. 6, p. 142)
The first statement of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIra highlighting the time in which the Promised Messiahas was divinely taught Arabic was published in 1911; the second statement was published in 1921; the third in 1924; the fourth in 1948 and the fifth statement in 1957. The age of these statements was close to the time of the Promised Messiahas and thousands of his companions were alive. A single rejection of this statement by the companions would have been enough to prove the objection of the opponents, but zero denial shows that each companion of the Promised Messiahas agreed to it and believed in the said miracle.
Hazrat Sahibzada Mirza Bashir Ahmadra states:
“Mian Ghulam Nabi Sahib Sethi related to me that he was in Qadian once and the Promised Messiahas was writing Aina-e-Kamalat-e-Islam. Hazrat Sahibas consulted with the Jamaat [members] as to how tabligh be carried out to scholars and gaddi nasheens [successors of a saint, or pir]. Different opinions were exchanged. The Promised Messiahas said, ‘There should be a book in Arabic for such people but the problem is that I do not have proficiency in Arabic as compared to them. However, I will write an article in Urdu and we will then translate it into Arabic by combined effort.’ Thus, the Promised Messiahas went inside his house. Then, the Promised Messiahas came out with a draft he had written in Arabic. Maulvi Nuruddin Sahib and Maulvi Abdul Karim Sahib were surprised to see it. Consequently, Maulvi Abdul Karim Sahib said, ‘I have studied a lot of Arabic literature, but I have never seen such an excellent piece in Arabic [writing].’ The Promised Messiahas said, ‘I prayed to God Almighty about it. Hence, 40,000 origins of Arabic words have been taught to me by God.’” (Sirat-ul-Mahdi, Vol. 1, Part II, p. 315)
Hazrat Sahibzada Mirza Bashir Ahmad Sahibra wrote a book, Silsila Ahmadiyya (1939), in which he writes:
“God sent him [the Promised Messiahas] to serve Islam and blessed him with the knowledge of the Holy Quran. At the same time, He gave him a command in Arabic in a miraculous way. As a result, he first invited the scholars to face him and compete in Arabic writing. Soon after that, he also announced that he had been taught 40,000 origins of words of Arabic in one night by God, and that God had granted him such perfect command over Arabic that no other person could compete with him, whether he was a Hindu, Egyptian or Syrian.” (Silsila Ahmadiyya, Vol. 1, p. 55)
A great number of Companions of the Promised Messiahas were present at the time when the aforesaid narrations and statements were published. Neither they, nor any other member of the Jamaat in that era raised any question against them.
Thus, in the presence of the above mentioned testimonies, the opponents should gather some courage and accept the truth, rather than levelling false accusations against the Promised Messiahas.
