Ata-ul-Haye Nasir, Al Hakam
Today is the 10th day of Ramadan and it happens to be a Friday. This reminds us of a great glad tiding of Allah the Almighty, which was granted to Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IVrh, in December 1984.
We must remember that the interpretation of this glad tiding is completely a matter between Allah the Almighty and His chosen one. So, this article does not intend to do any interpretation in this regard.
Our duty is to always pray to Allah the Almighty that He may grant victory to Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya and may we continue to show complete obedience to Hazrat Khalifatul Masihaa.
During his Friday Sermon of 28 December 1984, while mentioning his divine vision, Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih IVrh stated:
“Two or three days ago, I was feeling very anxious due to some news I had received. After Zuhr, I laid down to rest, when I started uttering the words ‘Jumuah, Jumuah’, and at the same time, I saw the dial of a clock on which ‘10’ began to shine brightly at the spot where the figure of ‘10’ normally appears [on a dial]. This was not a dream, but a vision seen in a state of wakefulness. […]
“Despite the fact that the ‘10’ was exactly at that spot where ‘10’ happens to be on a clock, my mind was perceiving it to be the 10th date i.e. ‘Friday the 10th’. I was uttering in English, ‘Friday the 10th’. […] Allah the Almighty knows better as to which Friday it will be when God Almighty grants this bright sign. […] Whenever severe worry has been faced, Allah the Almighty has continuously granted glad tidings in regard to the Jamaat.” (Khutbat-e-Tahir, Vol. 3, p. 777)
Then, during his Friday Sermon of 10 May 1985, Huzoorrh mentioned this vision again. After mentioning the vision, he stated that he had received several interpretations from members of the Jamaat. He then went on to narrate some of those interpretations. He said:
“While returning from the tour [of Europe], during our stay at a house in Gillingham, a person narrated his dream in which God Almighty had given him a glad tiding about the 10th [date] of the lunar month. He said that when one of his close ones informed him over the phone that Allah the Almighty had shown me [Huzoorrh] this vision, he remembered his own dream, and he thought that it meant the 10th date of the lunar calendar, not the 10th of the Gregorian calendar.
“I said to him, ‘It is fine. You may interpret it in this way as God has shown you the dream; it may be connected with this, but until God Almighty does not manifest this interpretation, we cannot say anything with certainty. One thing is certain anyway, that when God Almighty shows this glad tiding for the Jamaat, it will be so prominent and bright that it will be [clearly] visible. It will not require any interpretation then, but will be clearly visible that it has been fulfilled.’
“Then, some people wrote letters to me stating that they had calculated that this date seemed to be 10 May, meaning today [10 May 1985]. So, I said, ‘May Allah bless your words. If it is this 10th, then what better thing could there be for me than God Almighty fulfilling this vision so soon.’ However, Allah the Almighty has not told me the year but has only told the date. […] We cannot make a final decision merely on the basis of interpretation. In relation to the same interpretation, someone even wrote that no mention of the year bore an aspect of warning as well.” (Khutbat-e-Tahir, Vol. 4, pp. 436-437)
Huzoorrh added that the most interesting interpretation was received from a member of the Lahore Jamaat, that this divine vision did not mean any literal date or Friday and instead, pointed towards the 10th verse of Surah al-Jumuah. Huzoorrh stated that as this surah has 12 verses, it resembles a clock as it has 12 numbers.
Huzoorrh elaborated that sometimes, Allah the Almighty fulfils a sign several times and in several ways. Moreover, Surah al-Jumuah bears great connection with Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya.
Then, during his Friday Sermon of 21 June 1985, Huzoorrh described this divine vision again and further stated that members of the Jamaat were making assumptions and writing letters to him, while having their eyes set on Friday, 10 May 1985. However, Huzoorrh said that nothing had happened on that day and many opponents thus said that they would celebrate on the following Friday that nothing had happened on 10 May.
Huzoorrh continued by stating that there was another Friday which was to come, which was to be Friday, 10 Ramadan in Pakistan, and as Allah the Almighty had told some members of the Jamaat also about the 10th date of the lunar calendar, and they had informed Huzoorrh about this, everyone waited to see what manifestation Allah the Almighty would show on this date.
Huzoorrh added that news started pouring in from Tahajjud time on the morning of the 10th Ramadan (31 May 1985) about the danger of a huge cyclone in Karachi. However, the storm later turned away and Allah the Almighty saved the people of Karachi from a catastrophe. Huzoorrh stated that after receiving more details about this matter, it was clear that the glad tiding of Allah the Almighty had been fulfilled [from one aspect] with immense glory.
Huzoorrh further stated:
“The newspaper cuttings we received later on not only elaborated the extraordinary importance of this news, but also explained the unprecedented nature of this incident. Moreover, Allah the Almighty has made some bitter enemies of the Jamaat declare that this incident was not an ordinary one; it was not an accidental thing, but instead, it was a huge warning from God. Apart from that, an incident also happened at the northern border of Pakistan which has been given unprecedented importance, and it has been presented as a sign of the upcoming danger, and this incident too happened on Friday, the 10th of the blessed month of Ramadan.” (Khutbat-e-Tahir, Vol. 4, p. 552)
Huzoorrh then stated some details of those incidents. In regard to the first incident related to Karachi, he stated that many articles and headlines had been published in newspapers, which stated that this incident was unprecedented and frightening. The Jang of London ran the headline that the danger of a cyclone in Karachi had caused great panic. The Dawn bore the headline, “Cyclone Threat”, and also published another article, titled “Panic Grips Karachi”.
Huzoorrh continued by stating that it had been said that upon hearing the expected threat of a huge cyclone, the people of Karachi started calling azans, which was a sign that people thought that they were facing grave danger. So, they called azans as a sign of istighfar [seeking forgiveness] and they believed that if the azan was called, the wrath of Allah the Almighty would be averted.
Huzoorrh stated that the Jang of Lahore wrote a headline quoting a severe opponent of the Jamaat, Prof Abdul Ghafur Sahib, who belonged to Jamaat-e-Islami, which stated, “What would have been our fate if Allah the Almighty had not turned this storm away”.
Laulak, a newspaper of the Ahrar, wrote the editorial, titled “God’s Warning”, in which it stated:
“We need to ponder again and again as to from which aspects and in which ways we are showing disobedience to God the Exalted and Glorious. The people of Karachi should set aside the internal disputes and enmities and offer a sajdah-e-shukr [prostrate in thanks] to God Almighty and pledge to obey God Almighty. They are fortunate that they have been saved from a big trial. This cyclone is God’s warning for them.”
Huzoorrh stated that this was an act of Allah that two opponents of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya – Jamaat-e-Islami and Majlis-e-Ahrar – had to concede that this incident of 10th Ramadan was not an ordinary one and instead, it was a great sign and warning from Allah the Almighty.
Huzoorrh stated that it was reported that if that storm had struck Karachi, hundreds of thousands of lives could have been lost. There were 50-feet high waves approaching Karachi at a speed of 100 miles an hour and according to some newspapers, the waves turned away at a distance of only 50 miles from Karachi, meaning that it was just a matter of 30 minutes.
Then, while mentioning the second incident, which occurred on the northern border of Pakistan, Huzoorrh stated that on Friday, 31 May – 10 Ramadan – MiG21 jets from Afghanistan bombed the Drosh town of Chitral. This incident was discussed in the assemblies (of the country) and given importance in many newspapers as well. The chief minister and governor of NWFP (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and President Zia-ul-Haq visited the site. This shows that it was not an ordinary incident and had a great impact at the national level. Moreover, ITV also reported this incident.
In relation to the opponents, Huzoorrh then stated:
“God had restricted their focus on 10 May only and they forgot about a Friday that was to come on 10 Ramadan as well. If even a thought had come into their imaginations that Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya would present it as a sign of God Almighty, they would have never uttered anything from their mouths or write from their pens [in regard to these incidents], no matter if the Day of Resurrection had occurred. So, this was a clear sign from God Almighty, which has been fulfilled by the grace and mercy of Allah the Almighty, and in a way the wrath also turned away. […]
“When I ponder over the scene, which remains illuminated in front of my eyes, that the 10th figure of the dial was flashing, [it occurs to me that] light is a sign of manifestation and a sign of mercy, meaning that sometimes light is a sign of the manifestation of wrath and sometimes a sign of the manifestation of glad tidings as well.
“So, the flashing of this figure tells that it [the vision] is not [related to] an incident that will occur only once; [in fact] it will begin from Friday the 10th – which will be the 10th date of the lunar calendar – and on that Friday, this matter will begin and then this sign will flash and appear again and again.” (Khutbat-e-Tahir, Vol. 4, p. 557)
Huzoorrh added that the current happenings had clarified that these two incidents were only one aspect of this prophecy, and that it was not over yet; instead, the manifestation of this prophecy had only just begun.
Huzoorrh stated that Allah the Almighty was Merciful and Generous. Signs had been manifested before and would continue to do so, but those divine communities for whom these signs were manifested, their hearts cried in sympathy for a nation instead of merely waiting for the sign to be manifested and the destruction of a nation to take place as a result.
While mentioning the fall of the Berlin Wall, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IVrh stated, during his Friday Sermon of 23 February 1990, that he had previously mentioned the fall of the Berlin Wall and that it was one of the most significant incidents of this century. This incident took place on the night between 9 and 10 November 1989 and according to the Islamic calendar, 10 Rabi al-Thani had started.
Huzoorrh elaborated that many newspapers had published this news. A newspaper, Akhbar Watan Weekly London, wrote, “After midnight, people stormed the Berlin Wall”. So, this means that not only according to the Islamic calendar, but also according to the Gregorian calendar, the 10th date had started when the Berlin Wall was being felled.
Huzoorrh said what was even more intriguing was that the Islamic calendar and the Gregorian calendar had perfectly corresponded with one another, and that too on a Friday. Huzoorrh said that that Friday the 10th (of 1989) could truly be termed as the “Friday the 10th”.
While mentioning the connection of this incident with Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya, Huzoorrh mentioned the Promised Messiah’sas prophecy regarding the spread of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya in Russia. Huzoorrh narrated the sacrifices of early missionaries in Russia and a divine vision of Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra regarding Russia.
Huzoorrh continued by stating that the current happenings were Allah’s decree, and all incidents were inter-linked. He added that Allah the Almighty had shown him the vision of Friday the 10th, and on Friday the 10th, such wonderful incidents had happened which would open the doors for Islam’s spread in Russia through Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya.
Huzoorrh elaborated that only a biased person could say that this incident (fall of the Berlin Wall) on Friday the 10th, is coincidental. The correlation of the Islamic and Gregorian calendars and the day of Friday is clearly a decree of Allah.
Then, Huzoorrh gave the Jamaat a glad tiding that the time was near for the fulfilment of the Promised Messiah’sas prophecies, as Allah’s decree had started to manifest its signs.
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa stated during his Friday Sermon of 8 October 2004, delivered from Baitur Rahman, Glasgow, Scotland:
“[…] The first sermon Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IVrh delivered in the UK regarding ‘Friday the 10th’ was here, at this place, when he came here for the inauguration of this mosque. So, I thought that I should have a look at that sermon as well, as to what advice he gave to the Jamaat here, 19 years ago.
“This sermon was delivered on 10 May 1985. When I looked at it, he mentioned in detail the bounties of God Almighty and how this mission house was bought after going through different circumstances and after going through stages of hope and despair.
“Then, while advising the Jamaat, Huzoorrh said, with reference to Surah al-Fatihah, that this [mosque] was merely a seed which they had sown and that it had to flourish and grow, insha-Allah.
“He said that with this inauguration, they were laying a founding brick and on this brick, the grand palaces were to be built, in which the world would live.
“And then, towards the end, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IV, may Allah have mercy on him, said that today, on this Friday, all Ahmadis should pledge that they would live and die according to the will of God and spread the message of Islam all over the world. And we will indeed spread it!
“He said that this could be achieved only through prayers. […]” (Khutbat-e-Masroor, Vol. 2, p. 721)
Then, Hazrat Amirul Momineen, Khalifatul Masih Vaa narrated during his Friday Sermon of 10 October 2008, from Masjid Mubarak, Paris, France:
“[…] On 28 December 1984 – during his tour to France – Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IVrh mentioned his vision for the first time, in which he saw the number ‘10’ shining on a clock. And the thought which came to his mind was that it was the date of Friday the 10th, instead of being related to time on a clock.
“So today also, coincidentally or by Allah the Almighty’s decree, it is Friday the 10th and the first [Ahmadi] mosque of France is being inaugurated.
“May God attach those blessings – linked to ‘Friday the 10th’ – with this mosque as well, which were vouchsafed to Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IVrh, and Allah the Almighty fulfils matters in many aspects and many ways. May this mosque prove to be a milestone for the Jamaat’s progress in this country.” (Khutbat-e-Masroor, Vol. 6, p. 420)
During a Gulshan-e-Waqf-e-Nau Atfal class on 29 January 2012, a tifl asked a question in regard to the vision of Friday the 10th, upon which Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa stated that upon seeing this vision, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IVrh thought that on Friday the 10th, an incident could happen in favour of the Jamaat or against its opponents. Then, during his life, some incidents took place which were in favour of the Jamaat.
Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa elaborated:
“It is not necessary that something must occur on every Friday the 10th. […] In fact, we say that each and every day, something [in our favour] happens and continues to happen. If anything significant will occur, it will come to our knowledge. But it is not compulsory that it must happen on Friday the 10th.”
May Allah the Almighty enable us to see the days when Islam triumphs over all other religions and philosophies and may we play our part in this victory. May Allah grant our beloved Imamaa a long and healthy life and may we see the victory of Islam Ahmadiyyat under his leadership. Amin.