Dr Mahmud Ahmad Nagi, Columbus, Ohio
Allah the Almighty has punished all those who stood up against the Jamaat of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas of Qadian. During the lifetime of the Promised Messiahas, opponents like Abdullah Atham, Lekh Ram, Alexander Dowie, and Abdul Hakeem Khan Patialvi died a miserable death one after the other. In the present article, I shall describe the prophecy of the Promised Messiahas and Mahdi about Abdul Hakeem Khan Patialvi and his death.
The Promised Messiah, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas, has mentioned the case of Abdul Hakeem Khan Patialvi at great length in his book Haqiqatul Wahi. He writes:
“Abdul Hakeem Khan Patialvi, an Assistant Surgeon in the state of Patiala, was a member of my Movement, but remained unaware and deprived of religious verities because of infrequent meetings and lack of association [with me]. He was afflicted with arrogance, gross ignorance, conceit, and ill-thinking. On account of his ill fortune, he left my community and has become an enemy of this Movement. In an attempt to put out the light of God, he is trying, as far as it lies in his power, to blow toxic breaths into his foolish writings to extinguish the candle which is lit by the hand of God.” (Haqiqatul-Wahi [The Philosophy of Divine Revelation], pp. 228-229)
Abdul Hakeem initially said about the Promised Messiahas in his booklet Zikr-ul-Hakeem:
“I have no equivocation about you, I still believe that you are the like of the Messiah, that you are the Messiah, and that you are the like of Prophets.” (Ibid., pp. 228-9)
But then, in a letter which he wrote directly to Hazrat Hakeem Maulvi Noor-ud-Deen [Khalifatul Masih Ira], he made serious allegations against the Promised Messiahas and predicted his decimation within three years:
“He [Abdul Hakeem] received a revelation from God that Mirzaas is extravagant, a liar, and a cheat. The mischievous shall be decimated in the presence of the truthful. The prescribed time frame has been conveyed as three years.” (Ibid., p. 505)
Mischief of Abdul Hakeem
Abdul Hakeem also held erroneous and problematic beliefs regarding Islam and salvation. The Promised Messiahas explained that Abdul Hakeem’s belief was that to attain salvation in the Hereafter, it is not necessary to believe in the Holy Prophetsa. Rather, anyone who believes God to be One and without a partner, shall attain salvation – even if he rejects Prophet Muhammadsa. (Ibid., p. 130)
Abdul Hakeem further went on to call the Promised Messiahas satan and dajjal. He wrote such things in his booklet al-Masih-ud-Dajjal:
“He names me as a dajjal and satan and denounces me as being an embezzler, a rogue, and an impostor.” (Ibid., p. 229)
On 12 July 1906, Abdul Hakeem claimed to have received the following revelations about the Promised Messiahas (as described by him in his letter addressed to Hazrat Hakeem Molvi Noor-ud-Deenra). He wrote:
“Mirza is extravagant, a liar, and a cheat. The mischievous shall be decimated in the presence of the truthful. The prescribed time frame has been conveyed as three years.” (Ibid., p. 505)
Allah the Almighty kept extending the life of the Promised Messiahas until Abdul Hakeem himself withdrew his prophecies in which he had prophesied the demise of the Promised Messiahas within a certain period. But when he specified a date for his prophecy, Allah the Almighty falsified him.
The Promised Messiahas replied to his allegations in the following words:
“It was, therefore, considered appropriate to briefly answer some of his objections as are worthy of response to inform the public, because due to negligence and preoccupation with the world, it is rather difficult for ordinary people to find these answers from my books by searching them all. (Ibid., pp. 129-130)
Islam and salvation
He addressed the belief of Abdul Hakeem that one does not have to believe in the Holy Prophetsa to attain salvation:
“Those who adhere to the notion that one who does not believe in the Holy Prophetsa or turns apostate but remains firm in tawhid and considers God to be One without any partner will attain salvation and shall suffer no harm on account of his disbelief or apostasy – as is the belief of Abdul Hakeem Khan Patialvi – are indeed ignorant of the true meaning of tawhid. I have pointed out many times that even Satan as such considers God to be One without a partner. But the mere belief that He is One is not enough for salvation; rather, salvation depends on two things:
- One is the absolute conviction in the Being and Oneness of God Almighty.
- Second is that such perfect love for the One Glorious God should be instilled in one’s heart that, as a consequence of its influence and dominance, obedience to God Almighty should truly become the delight of one’s heart without which he could not live at all. Love for the Divine should trample and obliterate love for all besides Him. (Ibid., p. 139)
“Allah the Exalted says in the Holy Quran:
اَلَمۡ یَعۡلَمُوۡۤا اَنَّہٗ مَنۡ یُّحَادِدِ اللّٰہَ وَرَسُوۡلَہٗ فَاَنَّ لَہٗ نَارَ جَہَنَّمَ خَالِدًا فِیۡہَا ؕ ذٰلِکَ الۡخِزۡیُ الۡعَظِیۡمُ
“‘Are they not aware that the one who opposes Allah and the Messenger shall be cast by God into Hell wherein he shall abide forever? This is a great humiliation.’ (Surah at-Taubah, Ch.9: V.63)
“Now let Mr Abdul Hakeem state his opinion. Will he submit to this verdict of God, or will he be audacious enough to confront the warning contained in these verses?” (Ibid., p. 157)
“This is true tawhid that can never be achieved except through following our lord and master, Hazrat Muhammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Why can it not be achieved? The answer is that the Being of God is unseen beyond the unseen, concealed beyond concealed, and extremely hidden. The reasoning faculties of humans cannot discover Him on their own. No rational argument can constitute an incontrovertible proof of His existence, because the reach and access of reason is limited to the extent of realizing the need for a Creator by reflecting upon the created beings in the universe. However, to acknowledge the need for His existence is one thing, but it is quite another to arrive at the stage of Ainul-Yaqin [certainty by sight] that God, the need for whose existence has been acknowledged, does indeed exist.
“However, since the methodology of reason is imperfect, incomplete, and doubtful, not every philosopher can recognize God through reason alone. Rather, most people who seek to discover God solely through reason become atheists in the end. Their reflections on the created things in the earth and heavens cannot benefit them at all. They ridicule and mock God’s elect, contending: ‘There are thousands of things throughout the world whose existence we do not find useful, and our research in them does not indicate any such creativity that would prove the existence of a Creator; on the contrary, the existence of these things is entirely pointless and useless.’ It is a pity that such ignorant people do not understand that a lack of knowledge about something does not entail its non-existence. There are hundreds of thousands of such people in the world today who consider themselves superior, intellectuals and philosophers, yet they vehemently deny the existence of God Almighty. It is obvious that if they had found any strong rational argument, they would not have denied the existence of God Almighty. Nor would they have repudiated the existence of God Almighty with extreme shamelessness, disdain, and ridicule, had they been proven wrong by an irrefutable rational argument for the existence of the Glorious Maker.
“So, no one can be delivered from the storm of doubts while sailing in the ark of the philosophers; rather, he would certainly drown and will forever be deprived of the elixir of pure tawhid. Now ponder how false and foul the notion is that tawhid can be achieved, and salvation can be attained, without the medium of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. O ignorant ones! How can there be faith in His tawhid until there is perfect certainty in the existence of God? Know for sure, therefore, that certainty of tawhid can be achieved only through a Prophet, as our Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, convinced the atheists and pagans of Arabia of the existence of God Almighty by showing them thousands of heavenly Signs. Even to this day, true and perfect followers of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, present those Signs to the atheists.
“What is really true is that, until a person observes the living powers of the Living God, Satan does not depart from his heart, nor does true tawhid enter into it, nor can he be convinced with certainty of the existence of God. This pure and perfect tawhid is attained only through the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Just as the mighty Signs manifested through a Prophet testify to the existence and Oneness of God Almighty, so do they establish His love and majesty in the hearts of people through a perfect and consummate demonstration of the divine attributes of grace and majesty. When, on account of these Signs – rooted as they are in mighty and overpowering prophecies – one comes to believe in the existence and Oneness of God Almighty and His attributes of grace and majesty, one inevitably comes to believe in God Almighty to be One without a partner in His Being and all attributes. One loses himself in His love when one considers His excellences and His spiritual beauty and grace. At the same time, he fears Him when he considers His grandeur, majesty, and self-sufficiency.
“In this way, he is drawn towards God Almighty with each passing day until, after severing all baser relationships, he is reduced to just the spirit. The entire expanse of his bosom is filled with the love of the Divine; through witnessing the Being of God, a death descends upon his person, and he receives a new life after this death. It is in that state of annihilation that one is said to have found tawhid. Thus, as I have pointed out before, that perfect tawhid which is the fountainhead of salvation cannot be found at all except by following the perfect Prophet.” (Ibid., pp. 139-141)
Apostasy of Abdul Hakeem
When Abdul Hakeem left the Jamaat, Muslim clerics were overjoyed. Addressing this, the Promised Messiahas wrote:
“At the apostasy of this blazing handful of dust, the clerics were overjoyed as if they had chanced upon a bounteous treasure. But they need not be so jubilant; instead, they ought to recall [the plight of] the first Chiragh Din. God, who has always denied them such pleasures still exists, and just as His prophecy foretold the end of the first Chiragh Din, so also has the same Omniscient and All-Knowing God foretold the end of the second Chiragh Din; that is, Abdul Hakeem Khan Patialvi. Hence, there is no reason to rejoice; be patient and wait for the final outcome. Besides, it is peculiar why they exult so much over the apostasy of an ignorant apostate! It is God’s grace upon me that if a person renounces on account of his own misfortune, thousands come to replace him.” (Ibid., pp. 147-148)
“If indeed I am what Abdul Hakeem and his ilk think I am, then who would be a greater enemy of mine than God Almighty? But if, in the estimation of God, I am not like this, then to my mind, the better course would be to leave it to God Almighty to rebut these allegations.” (Ibid., p. 226)
“And despite thousands of obstructions, God has increased the number of my followers to hundreds of thousands. Therefore, if this is not a miracle, then what is it? Let my opponents produce an example equal to it if they have one; otherwise, what can I say other than
لَعۡنَۃُ اللّٰہِ عَلَی الْكٰذِبِيْن
“The curse of Allah be upon the liars. Do they have any precedent of a fabricator of lies for twenty-five years, who was granted hundreds of Signs of Allah’s assistance and support despite his fabrication of lies for such a long time, and was saved from each and every attack of his enemies?” (Ibid., p. 227)
“Against this is the Prophecy conveyed to me by God Almighty about Mian Abdul Hakeem Khan Patialvi, Assistant Surgeon, Patiala in the following words:
خدا کے مقبولوں میں قبولیت کے نمونے اور علامتیں ہوتی ہیں۔ اور وہ سلامتی کے شہزادےکہلاتے ہیں۔ان پر کوئی غالب نہیں آسکتا، فرشتوں کی کھنچی ہوئی تلوار تیرے آگے ہے۔ پر تو نے وقت کو نہ پہچانا ،نہ دیکھا نہ جانا۔
رَبِّ فَرَّقْ بَیْنَ صَادِقٍ وَّ کَاذِبٍ۔اَنْتَ تَرٰی کُلَّ مُصْلِحٍ وَّ صَادِقٍ۔
“Those accepted by God carry with them incidents and Signs of such acceptance. They are known as the Princes of Peace. (The expression used by God Almighty that they [the Elect of God] are known as the Princes of Peace is His reply in contradiction of Abdul Hakeem’s remark who after declaring that I am an impostor and a mischief-monger, announces that the mischievous one will perish in opposition to the truthful one. In other words, according to him, he is righteous and I am mischievous. In order to contradict this, the Almighty says that the Elect of God are the Princes of Peace; they are immune from an ignominious death and punishment. Otherwise, the world would perish and there would be no difference left between the truthful and liars.) No one can overcome them. The drawn sword of angels is in front of you (this sentence is addressed to Abdul Hakeem Khan Patialvi and the drawn sword of the angels means heavenly retribution which shall not be caused by man), but you have not recognized seen, or appreciated the needs of time. (Meaning that, you did not care to reflect whether the ummah of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be on him, needed the dajjal or a Reformer and mujaddid during this age and at this critical point in time.) O my God, do create a distinction between the truthful and the liar. You recognize every reformer and truthful one. (‘O my God! Do You demonstrate the difference between the truthful one and the liar! You know who is the truthful and the reformer.’ This revealed sentence negates Abdul Hakeem Khan Patialvi’s claim that he is the one who is truthful. Allah says that you are not the one who is truthful; I shall single out the truthful one from the liar.)” (Ibid., pp. 505-6)
“Those who are accepted by God exhibit Signs and evidence of such acceptance. They are revered by kings and mighty ones and are called princes of peace. The drawn sword of angels is in front of you (this prophecy relates to someone who denied me after accepting me and became arrogant, abusive, and exceedingly hostile. Therefore, Allah the Almighty says, “Why do you advance; don’t you see the swords of the angels?”), but you have not recognized or seen or known the time. It is not good to oppose the Brahman Avatar.” (Ibid., pp. 737-8)
“O my God! Demonstrate the distinction between the true and the false. You recognize every reformer and truthful one. O my Lord! Everything is in Your service. O my Lord, guard me from the mischief of the wicked and help me and have mercy on me.” (Ibid., p. 918)
Imposter is destroyed
The Holy Quran tells us about those who falsely claim to be from Allah the Almighty:
“And if he had forged and attributed any sayings to Us, We would surely have seized him by the right hand, And then surely, We would have severed his life-artery, And not one of you could have held Us off from him. And verily it is a reminder for the righteous. And, surely, We know that there are some among you who reject Our Signs. And, verily, it will be a source of regret for the disbelievers. And surely, it is the true certainty. So, glorify the name of thy Lord, the Great.” (Surah al-Haqqah, Ch.69: V.45-53)
“These Quranic verses categorically state that if any person forges and attributes any revelation towards God, then he is an imposter and is most surely destroyed by God, the Almighty. Abdul Hakeem Khan Patialvi forged a revelation about the Promised Messiahas.
“The claims of Abdul Hakeem Khan are tantamount to extreme falsehood and God spoke and ended the life of Abdul Hakeem Khan Patialvi by inflicting a deadly disease tuberculosis. [The disease was not curable in those days]. He died miserably on the night of 1-2 June 1919.” (Al Fazl, 16 September 1920, p. 2)
His companions saw him in a miserable state in sickness and after death. They narrate that it was a scary and heartbreaking sight. None of his companions were willing to bathe his dead body due to the poor state of the corpse. Anyway, a person later agreed to do what was needed.
Hafiz Ali Muhammad, the successor of Sheikh Abdullah (resident of Patiala), testified on oath with the following statement:
“Mirza Rahim Baig came to my shop at eight in the morning and asked me to bathe Dr Abdul Hakeem. I accompanied him. I did not put him shroud linen with my hand. The body was dry during bathing and there were 3–4-inch wounds on the back, that is on the shoulder, back, buttock, and legs. The body was stinking during bathing, that was the reason I did not offer the funeral prayer. I did not feel good for two hours. I am not an Ahmadi Muslim but from Jamaat Ahle-Sunnah. ” (Al Fazl, 4 November 1920, p. 9)
The claims of Abdul Hakeem were unacceptable to the Muslim community at large. Islam revolves around the Holy Prophetsa. What the Holy Prophetsa taught the people was according to the teachings of the Holy Quran. The Quran and the Bible assign the punishment of killing the claimant of false prophets. The Promised Messiahas is a true prophet and Imam Mahdi. His claims and prophecies have undergone all litmus tests prescribed by Allah the Almighty and the Holy Prophetsa.
Death by tuberculosis
The Promised Messiahas received revelation that the death of Abdul Hakeem would not be of human hands but of divine intervention – “the drawn sword of angels”. His death was caused by the germs of tuberculosis (TB). It affects the lungs and other parts of the body, such as the brain, the kidneys, and the spine. The cure for TB was not discovered at the time of the Promised Messiahas.
The Promised Messiahas explained that “the drawn sword of the angels” means heavenly retribution which shall not be caused by man. He also said that competing with Avatar (Godly person) is not good. The germs of Tuberculosis were not known and were commonly called sill (سِلّ) and had a special relationship with the sword of angels as described by Chaudhri Ahmad Din Pleader. (Al Fazl, 16 September 1920, pp. 2-3)
The following is the meaning of the word sal (سَلّ) from the book Mufradat by Imam Raghib Isphahani:
“To pull an item from another thing is called sill. For example, to pull a sword out of its sheath. Sill is a disease that causes the pulling of flesh and energy from a body.”
Similarly, Maulawi Abdul Rahim writes in his book Muntaha al-Arab Fi Lughat al-Arab:
“Sal (سَل) with fatah on (سَ) means to pull the sword from its sheath and also sal is a disease. Sal with kasra and dammah means a wound that is inflicted on the lungs. It is to be noted that the sword inflicts a wound outside of a body and the blood oozes. But the sword of the angels strikes inside the body e.g., on the lungs, and inflicts wounds, and the blood oozes through sputum. The conventional sword and its holder can be seen whereas the sword of angels and their existence is concealed. The wound inflicted by the angels is also concealed.”
A key claim of the Promised Messiahas was that he was the constant recipient of divine verbal revelations. That claim was either true or false. If it was true, then whatever that divine revelation proclaimed as his status and mission must be accepted. If that claim was false, he was (God forbid) an impostor, and no further attention should be paid. How can this issue be conclusively determined?
The Holy Quran sets forth a decisive criterion that an impostor is most surely destroyed by God. How did God deal with this claimant?
Abdul Hakeem was a physician and a specialist. He was the author of many books. The angels attacked him in the shape of germs of tuberculosis so that his disconsolation and helplessness were revealed to the general public. Allah the Almighty’s words were fulfilled, and false and truth has been differentiated. The truthfulness of Ahmadiyyat has been established. He perished gravely, but the progress of the Ahmadiyya Community continues to flourish.