OF THE MARTYRDOM OF HAZRAT SAHIBZADA MAULVI ABDUL LATIF, THE BLESSED

Mian Ahmad Noor, a favourite and trusted disciple of Hazrat Sahibzada Maulvi Abdul Latif, arrived at Qadian on 8th November 1903 from Kohat together with all the members of his family. He has stated that the body of the Maulvi Sahib was left under the heap of stones for forty days on the spot where he was stoned. Then during the dead of night I, together with some of my friends, went and quietly took out the sacred body from under the stones and brought it secretly to the town. Although there was great risk of our being caught by the retainers of the Amir, owing to cholera raging as epidemic in the town, everyone was preoccupied with his own woes and worries. We, therefore, observed the burial rites calmly and took the body to the graveyard and buried it reverently. The amazing fact is that when we took out the body from under the stones, it sent forth a perfume like musk and everyone was greatly astonished.

Prior to the sad incident of the martyrdom, the divines had, under the direction of the Amir, gathered together to hold a dialogue with the Maulvi Sahib who said to them: You have two gods, because you fear the Amir as you should fear God, while I have only One God, for which reason I do not fear the Amir.

When the Sahibzada, before his arrest, was one day sitting in his house, and there was the slightest indication of the portending trial, he raised both his hands and looking at them said: O my hands, will you bear handcuffs with good grace? His wife who was standing near him, became agitated and enquired: Why do you talk thus? The Sahibzada replied: You shall know after ‘Asr (afternoon prayer service). It happened exactly as he had said. Just after ‘Asr Prayer a number of police constables and officials came and arrested him. Before he left, he said to the members of his household: I am now going away. Be mindful that you do not adopt any other way. Remain firm and steadfast on the belief and faith that I hold.

After his arrest, he saw a great crowd in the street and looking at them he said: I am the bridegroom of this procession.

During the dialogue the divines asked him: What do you say about him who is in Qadian and claims to be the Promised Messiah?

The Maulvi Sahib replied: I have seen that man and have pondered over him deeply. There is none like him on the face of the earth. Without the least doubt he is the Promised Messiah and he is reviving the dead. Hearing this the Mullahs shouted: He is a renegade and so are you also a renegade. On behalf of the Amir, they threatened him with being stoned to death if he did not detract from his new beliefs. He had realised that he was going to die. So he recited the verse of the Holy Quran:

Lord, let not our hearts become perverse after Thou hast guided us; and bestow upon us mercy from Thyself, surely, Thou art the Great Bestower(3:10).

When the Maulvi Sahib was about to be stoned to death, he recited the verse:

Thou art my Helper in this world and the Hereafter, cause me to die in a state of complete submission to Thy Will and join me to the company of the righteous (13:102).

Then they cast stones at him and he was martyred:

Surely to Allah do we belong and to Him shall we return (2:157).

The very next day cholera broke out in Kabul in a virulent form and among the first to be attacked was the House of Nasrullah Khan, the brother of Habibullah Khan, the Amir, who was one of the bitterest enemies of the Maulvi Sahib. Nasrullah Khan’s wife and child became the very first victims of the epidemic. About four hundred people died daily in the town. On the night of the martyrdom the sky had become red.

Prior to the event, Maulvi Sahib often said that he had received the revelation: Go thou to Pharaoh, I am indeed with thee, hearing and seeing: Thou art perfumed and anointed with amber. He also said: I have received the revelation: Heaven is bewailing and the earth is trembling like one who shivers under malaria. The world is not aware of it but it is going to happen. He also said: I repeatedly receive the revelation: Surrender thy head and hesitate not because God has willed this for the benefit of the land of Kabul.

Mian Ahmad Noor has added further that the Maulvi Sahib was in prison for a month and a half. We have mentioned that he was kept in prison for four months. We wrote that exactly as it had been reported to us previously. This minor discrepancy is not of much consequence as there is complete unanimity in respect of all salient features.

PEACE BE ON WHOSOEVER WHO FOLLOWS THE GUIDANCE