Talha Ali, Missionary, Philippines
Hazrat Hakim Maulvi Nuruddin, Khalifatul Masih Ira was one of, if not the closest companion of the Promised Messiahas and had such a high status in the eyes of the other Companionsra that they all unanimously chose him to be the first successor of the Promised Messiahas after his demise. Despite such a high status, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira respected Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmadra immensely.
One of the reasons it is important to see how Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira viewed Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra is that he was among the closest companions of the Promised Messiahas and understood his wishes and prophecies better than any other person.
Great expectations from a young age
There are dozens of incidents showcasing the immense respect Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira had for Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmadra even from his childhood. He was very impressed by the quick growth of Hazrat Mahmudra into a great scholar of Islam (as was prophesied by Allah in the prophecy of Musleh-e-Maud that he would grow rapidly).
Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra gave a speech in the Jalsa Salana of 1908, the first Jalsa after the demise of the Promised Messiahas. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira, commenting on the speech, said: “Mian [a loving way to refer to him as the son of the Promised Messiahas] has presented such explanation of the verses of the Holy Quran that some points were new and unique even for me. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 4, p. 74)
Another incident which shows that Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira had great expectations from Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra has been narrated by Hazrat Hafiz Syed Mukhtar Shahjahanpurira. He narrates that once, he was walking in Qadian with Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira and saw Hazrat Mahmudra playing with other children. He was only four years old at that time. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira sat down next to him and lovingly remarked, in the form of a question, “Mian, you are playing?” On this, the young boy replied, “When I grow up, I will also work.” Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira replied, “Your father has the same opinion and so does Nuruddin. God knows best.”
This incident proves that the Promised Messiahas and Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira both were of the opinion that Hazrat Mahmudra would do great works in the future as prophesied in the prophecy of Musleh-e-Maud.
Hazrat Mahmudra as the Second Khalifa
During his caliphate, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira made various statements during his life which hinted towards the fact that he was aware that after him, Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmadra would be the Khalifa.
Once, he mentioned that he desired for Musnad Ahmad bin Hanbal [Hadith corpus prepared by Imam Ahmadrh bin Hanbal] to be revised and for the incorrect narrations to be taken out. He said that unfortunately, this work could not be done in his time, but perhaps it would be done during the time of Mahmudra. (Abdul Qadir Sahib Sodagarmal, Hayat-e-Nur, p. 400)
He asked various people to learn the Quran from Hazrat Mahmudra after him. He also asked for the dars of the Quran to the women (which he used to deliver) to be continued by Hazrat Mahmudra after his demise.
Similarly, there is an incident of a companion of the Promised Messiahas, Ghulam Hussainra, who saw in a dream that Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmadra would be the Khalifa after him. When he narrated this dream to Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira, he said that it was a blessed dream and that was why people were already opposing Hazrat Mahmudra. (Ibid, pp. 401-402)
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira did not only mention this fact in parables but also wrote a will of this sort when he got injured in 1911. When Hazrat Hakim Maulvi Nuruddinra got injured during his Khilafat, he wrote down the name of Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmadra as his successor on a piece of paper and gave it to one of his students, Sheikh Taimoor. The student, out of curiosity, opened the envelope and after reading the name, resealed it. But once Hazrat Khalifatul Masih I’sra got restored, he asked for the envelope back and disposed of it. (Ibid, p. 397)
Even Maulvi Muhammad Ali – one of the leaders of Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat-e-Islam, Lahore, who did not accept Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIra as the successor after the demise of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira and was later one of his very staunch enemies – had to agree to the truth of this incident and has mentioned that he was also informed of this by a reliable source. (Maulvi Muhammad Ali, Haqiqat-e-Ikhtilaf, p. 71 [2012])
Promised Reformer: Promised embodiment of Second Manifestation
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira, while delivering a dars on Surah al-A‘raf of the Holy Quran on 1 December 1912, said:
“… due to your transgressions, the time for the victory of Ahmadiyyat has been postponed. But 30 years from today, the manifestation of the second power will manifest and through that servant, God will provide the means for the opening of this closed door.” (Abdul Qadir Sahib Sodagarmal, Hayat-e-Nur, p. 403)
In another narration, it is mentioned that Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira said:
“I am hopeful that, insha-Allah, the reformer, meaning the Promised One (embodiment of second manifestation), will appear after 30 years.” (Ibid, p. 404)
The manifestation of the second power of God alludes to what the Promised Messiahas mentioned in his treatise, The Will, prophesying the system of Khilafat being established in the community.
Now, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira was himself the embodiment of the second manifestation of God, so the question arises, why would he say the second manifestation would come after 30 years?
The answer is that the Promised Messiahas also prophesied for someone from among his progeny to also fulfill the prophecy of the second manifestation of God and hence, though all the khulafa are the embodiment of the second manifestation of God, Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih IIra is the promised embodiment of the Second Manifestation and that is why his Khilafat is also sometimes mentioned as موعود خلافت or “the promised Khilafat”.
Hence, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira was prophesying that the Promised Khilafat would appear 30 years from the date of his sermon. And exactly according to the prophecy, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIra claimed to be the Musleh-e-Maud in 1944 (roughly 30 years after according to the lunar calendar). God the Almighty had not only informed Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira that Hazrat Mahmudra was the Musleh-e-Maud and the Promised Son, but He had also informed him of the date of his claim.
Hazrat Mahmudra as Musleh-e-Maud
Hazrat Pir Manzur Muhammadra, another prominent companion of the Promised Messiahas and writer of the booklet, Yassarnal-Quran, wrote a booklet entitled Pisr-e-Maud shortly after the demise of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira. In this booklet, he has provided various arguments proving that the Promised Son and Musleh-e-Maud was none other than Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih IIra.
The last chapter of this booklet is entitled Designation of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira, in which he writes the following:
“On 8 September 1913, which was some seven or eight months ago, I was in my house going through the collection of announcements of the Promised Messiahas, and doing so, I realised that Hazrat Mian Sahib [Hazrat Mirza Mahmud Ahmadra] is the Promised Son. Upon that, I visited Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Iraand mentioned to him that today, I had realised through the readings of the announcements of the Promised Messiahas that the Promised Son was none other than Hazrat Mian Sahib. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira answered, ‘We are already aware of this. Do you not see that we meet Mian Sahib in a specific manner and respect him.’
“When I saw that he had the same belief, then I collected various arguments proving Mian Sahib to be the Promised Son. And the 14th proof was that Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira also had the same belief. And under that proof, I first wrote my own words which I had mentioned to him and then quoted his words in answer to me.
“After writing this, I thought it would be better if I could have Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira endorse this with his own hands. So, I took this document which was on four leaflets of full-scale pages and asked him to read it. Once he got to the 14th argument, I asked him if these were the words he said to me and he answered in the affirmative. I asked him to attest to this on which he wrote the following with his signature:
“‘I have said these words to my brother, Pir Manzur Muhammad. [Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira has signed his name underneath and dated it as 10 September 1913.] The next day, i.e. 11 September 1913 Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira was lying on his bed and I started massaging his legs. After a while, without any discussion or mention, he said, ‘Do not publish this article just yet; publish it when there is opposition.’” (Hazrat Pir Manzur Muhammadra, Pisr-e-Maud, pp. 27-28)
There are many other examples of the immense respect Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira had forHazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmadra due to him being the son of the Promised Messiahas and also because of his noble character. But more importantly, he was well aware of the grand status that he was to achieve of being the fulfillment of the grand prophecy and being the Promised Son of the Promised Messiahas who was to be the Promised Reformer and the promised embodiment of the Second Manifestation of Allah i.e. Khilafat.