Talha Ali, Missionary Philippines
One of the signs of the Promised Son, mentioned in the prophecy of Musleh-e-Maud, is that he will have a meek heart. The words of the prophecy in Urdu are “دل كا حلیم”. The English word “meek” suggests humility, long-suffering, gentleness, patience, kindness, and, at times, overly submissive behaviour. In modern English, the word has come to primarily denote overly submissive and patient behaviour. However, the revealed Urdu word “حلیم” denotes gentleness and kindness.
The word “حلیم” in modern English can probably be best translated as “forbearing”. Hence, the prophecy suggests that the Promised Son will have a kind heart, pure of rancour and malice, and that he will be patient in suffering. Some incidents are being shared as proof of the fulfilment of this sign in the person of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIra.
Hazrat Nawab Mubaraka Begumra, daughter of the Promised Messiahas, writes in regard to this aspect of the prophecy:
“He [Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIra] was a great lover of the Merciful God and was firm in holding to the Unity of God. His life and death were all for his Lord. He would get angry at something wrong but immediately return to a gentle demeanour. His anger was constructive in nature, and was never deep and lasting. Allah the Almighty has called him meek of heart because he knew that he would get people to work for him and would sometimes get angry, but remember that he is meek of heart. He never got angry at me even once in his life. I have always found him to be a fountain of love and affection.” (Sawaneh Fazl-e-Umar, Vol. 5, p. 324)
Kind treatment of members of Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha‘at-e-Islam, Lahore
Hazrat Maulvi Abul Ata Jalandhri, a renowned scholar of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat, recounts an instance of the generosity shown by Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra towards one of the leaders of the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha‘at-e-Islam in Lahore, Khwaja Kamaluddin Sahib. He recounts:
“It was most likely during the summer of 1929 that Huzoorra was in Srinagar along with his family. He called me to Srinagar from Murree to attend a debate with the members of Anjuman Isha‘at-e-Islam, Lahore. After the debate, Huzoorra asked me if I had met Khwaja Kamaluddin Sahib, who was also in Srinagar. Huzoorra asked me to go meet him as he was sick those days. So, according to his instructions, I visited Khwaja Kamaluddin Sahib a few times and asked for his well-being.” This incident indicates the meekness and pure-heartedness of Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra as he did not harbour malice even against those who spent their entire lives raising allegations against him and the family of the Promised Messiahas. (Al-Furqan, 1965)
In 1932, at the passing of Khwaja Kamaluddin Sahib, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra shared these words:
“Even though Khwaja Sahib showed intense animosity to me, he also offered a lot of valuable services during the time of the Promised Messiahas. Hence, when I heard the news of his demise, I said right away, ‘‘I forgive all his opposition, and O God the Almighty, you forgive him as well.’ The truth is that those servants whom God draws towards his appointed ones might have shortcomings, but they also have many good attributes. One should honour their goodness. I think that not accepting the Khilafat is a big mistake that God has mentioned as a great sin, but as far as we are concerned, we should forgive them. If in the eyes of God, that person has more good qualities [than shortcomings] then God will deal with them in a good manner.” (Mahnamah Ansarullah, February 2008, p. 27)
Willingness to help his enemies in need
Once, a non-Ahmadi opponent of the community, Khalifa Shuja-ud-Din, came to meet Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra. He was running for a certain position in the Punjab assembly and needed the help of the community in winning the elections. He was a close relative of Hazrat Umm-e-Nasirra (wife of Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra) and asked her to set up a meeting with him. She responded, “You abuse and curse my husband in general and now that you need his help, you are here to meet him? I will not help you meet him, nor will I meet you myself and I will not relay your message to him.” Hearing this, he went to the office of the private secretary and asked the private secretary to meet Huzoor. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIra graciously accepted his request and asked Hazrat Umm-e-Nasirra to prepare extra food for the same guest. She informed him of what she had told the opponent earlier. Huzoorra replied, “You denied his request out of your love and affection for me, but now he is my guest. He has shown his morals by abusing me behind my back and I have shown my morals by following in the footsteps of Holy Prophetsa and forgiving him and by showing kindness to him.” (Sawaneh Fazl-e-Umar, Vol. 5, pp. 122-123)
Dr Gurbakhsh Singh was a fierce opponent of Ahmadiyyat and was one of the leaders of the opposition in Qadian. He writes, “My niece was studying in FA and one of her subjects was philosophy. She was really weak in that subject and needed some tutoring; however, the Ahmadiyya community was the only learned community living in Qadian. Upon inquiry, I was told that Mr Abdus Salam had done his master’s in philosophy and since I knew his father, I asked him to request that his son tutor my niece. His father told me that his son had devoted his life to the service of Islam and could not do anything without the permission of Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmadra. In those days, I had filed some complaints against Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmadra and his community in the courts and I did not want to ask him for help. However, when I could not find any other appropriate person to tutor my niece, I wrote to Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmadra and requested that he kindly allow Abdus Salam to tutor my niece. He graciously accepted my request and Mr Abdus Salam started tutoring my niece. He tutored my niece for many months and did not accept any fee in return either. My niece passed her philosophy exam with high marks, so I went to Mr Abdus Salam’s house with some money and sweets. He did not accept the money and asked me to take it to Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmadra if I wanted. I sent the sweets and money to him, to which I received the response, ‘We did not offer our services for money or gifts, but it was our duty as neighbours.’ He congratulated my niece, distributed the sweets in the neighbourhood and returned the money to me.” (Mahnamah Ansarullah, February 2008, pp. 29-30)
Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra was known for his forbearance, never harbouring animosity or rancour towards those who tried to harm him. It has been previously mentioned that he held no ill will towards those who did not accept him as the Khalifa and caused a split in the Community. Another example of his pure heart is shown in the story of Fakhr-ud-Din Multani. He founded a scheme to harm the community, exploiting foul language against Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra and the family of the Promised Messiahas. He even formed his own small group within the community and tried to cause trouble by making allegations against the family of the Promised Messiahas. However, after his death, his wife approached Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIra seeking financial assistance. Despite all the pain that Multani had tried to cause, Huzoorra took care of his family in their time of need and provided them with assistance to get groceries and gave them financial support. (Mahnamah Ansarullah, February, p. 31, 2008)
Similarly, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra could not announce the marriages of all members of the Jamaat as it was growing day by day. Instead, he only announced the marriages of his relatives and those who had dedicated their lives to serving Islam. However, after the death of Fakhr-ud-Din Multani, his son approached Huzoorra and asked him to announce the marriage of his sister. He pleaded that, due to his father’s actions, no Ahmadi would be willing to marry her unless Huzoorra himself made the announcement. Huzoorra graciously accepted the request, seeking to ease the lives of those who had caused him and his family pain. (Mahnamah Ansarullah, February 2008, pp. 29-30)
Kindness towards the Ahrar
Another incident that proves that Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra was meek of heart and never entertained rancour and malice even against his worst enemies is regarding Maulvi Zafar Ali Khan, a famous journalist and religious leader, and editor of the daily newspaper Zamindar. He spent his whole life fighting against the Ahmadiyya Jamaat and was even part of the Ahrar (a religious-political party, that spent all its resources trying to destroy Aḥmadiyyat) for a short while though he later deserted his support for Ahrar but not his animosity against the Ahmadiyya community. His newspaper was devoted to spreading false claims that Ahmadiyyat is a new religion and has nothing to do with Islam, and in doing so, he would sometimes use foul language against the founder of the Jamaat and Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra.
In his final days, Maulvi Zafar Ali Khan got extremely ill and was paralysed and bed-struck for the most part. In 1956, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra was in Murree and he found out that Maulvi Zafar Ali Khan was also there. He sent Dr Mirza Munawar Ahmad, Dr Hashmatullah, and Mirza Rafiq Ahmad to visit him and present their medical report on his health. On their return, Huzoorra sent some money, medicine, and other necessities and instructed them to visit him daily and take care of all his medical and other needs. Mirza Rafiq Ahmad narrates that as long as Huzoorra was in Murree he asked about Maulvi Zafar Ali’s health and sent money and medicine on a regular basis. (Sawaneh Fazl-e-Umar, Vol. 5, pp. 120-121) This incident was also quoted in non-Ahmadi newspapers. Nawaiwaqt reported in their newspaper dated 30 October 1975, “A year ago, when Agha Sahib [Agha Shorish Kashmiri] was severely ill, he was offered allopathic medicine by the leader of the Ahmadiyya community [Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIIrh]. A similar proposition was also made to Maulana Zafar Ali Khan when he was ill and residing in Murree by the then leader of the Ahmadiyya sect.” (Mahnamah Ansarullah, February 2008, p. 31)
There is also the famous incident of Hazrat Maulana Abul Ata Jalandhri visiting the leader of Ahrar, Ataullah Shah Bukhari. Ataullah Shah Bukhari was a famous leader of the Ahrar Movement and was famous for his speeches in which he used extremely inflammatory and derogatory language towards Hazrat Ahmadas, the Promised Messiah and his family. It is narrated that when he was extremely sick and even his close friends left him to die, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIra sent Hazrat Maulana Abul Ata Jalandhri to meet him and help him in any way possible. When he got there and was asked to introduce himself, he introduced himself as Allah Ditta (which was his name by birth). After the meeting, when someone asked him why he did not use his common name, he replied that my name, Abul Ata, means the father of Ata and since his name was Ataullah, I did not want him to think that I was taunting him in any way. This incident shows the kindness Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra showed to his enemies; he visited them in a time of need when even their closest friends had left to die. Secondly, it shows the training of his preachers, who were so careful not to offend one of the fiercest enemies of the community.
Another incident that sheds light on the meekness of Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra is also related to Maulana Zafar Ali Khan. Once, in a debate, the famous Ahmadi debater, Abdur Rahman Khadim, debated so furiously with Maulana Zafar Ali Khan that he left the stage, saying that he would not speak in a gathering where he was continuously interrupted. Abdur Rahman Khadim followed Maulana Zafar Ali Khan along with some Ahmadi students and kept forcing him to answer his questions while he walked home. Once at home, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan locked his door in anger. Abdur Rahman Khadim Sahib sent a letter to Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra informing him of his great victory and started waiting for his response anxiously, looking forward to all the praise he was about to get from his spiritual leader. But when the letter came back, it was full of anger and Huzoorra told him that he was angry with him and would not forgive him until he went and sought forgiveness from Maulana Zafar Ali Khan. Abdur Rahman Khadim Sahib narrates that seeing the letter made his world turn upside down and he had no idea what to do as his spiritual master was angry with him. He went to Maulana Zafar Ali Khan right away, but as soon as he opened the door and saw Khadim Sahib’s face, he was about to close the door in anger. Abdur Rahman Khadim Sahib came in the middle of the door and said, “Maulana, I am not here to bother you; I just need to ask you for your forgiveness for the incident that happened the other day.” Maulana Zafar Ali Khan was very perplexed, but when he read the letter from Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra, his eyes filled up with tears and he said that he used to think that this sort of morality was limited to the companions of the Holy Prophetsa after the Holy Prophetsa himself, but, he says, he was wrong. (Sawaneh Fazl-e-Umar, Vol. 5, 137)
There are countless other examples portraying the forbearance and meekness of the heart of Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra but these examples are quoted here because most of them have to do with his kindness towards those who weren’t so kind to reciprocate the feelings. Thousands of incidents show his kindness towards his relatives, family members, and those who believed in him and those who worked with him. But the above-mentioned incidents are enough to prove the point, as nothing proves the meekness of heart more than the kind treatment of one’s enemies.
It seems appropriate to end with a passage from a sermon of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIra. This sermon was delivered on 9 November 1934 in which he announced the grand scheme of Tehrik-e-Jadid along with its various requirements. One of the requirements of Tehrik-e-Jadid was that each and every Ahmadi should get rid of any rancour or malice that he might have against his Ahmadi brother. While announcing this scheme, and asking every Ahmadi to clear their hearts of any ill feelings, he said:
“When I thought of this directive for the community, I first said to God, ‘O my God, my heart is pure and I do not have any animosity, rancour, malice or hatred against anyone except those who you have commanded to dislike. But if there is some rancour or hatred against a person in my heart without me knowing it, then, O my Lord, I clear my heart of all such emotions and beseech thee for your help and forgiveness.’ My heart bears witness that I have never harboured malice against anyone. I do not have any rancour in my heart even against my worst enemies. […] You should keep peace and love with everyone and live amongst each other like brothers.” (Khutbat-e-Mahmud, Vol. 15, p. 372)