In today’s Friday sermon Hazrat Khalifatul Masih gave a discourse with reference to revelations of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) which are given in his writings. The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said in this regard that the real objective of these revelations was for God to make evident the truth of Islam to the world through him and to demonstrate the status of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him). While these revelations and signs silence the others and the detractors, they are also proofs of the truthfulness of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) for Muslims that he indeed is the one commissioned by God for the revival of Islam.

The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) writes in his magnum opus, Baraheen e Ahmadiyya about keeping a record of his revelations and says that all these arrangements have been put in place so that it may be perfectly disclosed to those who seek the truth that all blessings and lights are inherent in Islam and so that the convincing proofs of Allah reach the godless people of this age, so that in turn their satanic nature is made evident to every fair-minded person. These people are inclined to darkness and are averse to light and reject the high status of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and utter abusive words for him and lay unfair allegations on the most eminent of all men. Borne of their intrinsic wickedness and extreme lack of faith, they are not aware that he alone is the most perfect of men who came to this world and whose light has been illuminating the world like the sun and shall continue to illuminate. So that the glory of Islam is made evident through these true writings via the acknowledgement of the detractors themselves and a way of proofs is opened for the sincere seeker and anyone who has any delusions gets a reality check.

Another reason for writing down these visions and revelations is to enhance the strength of faith of believers, so that their hearts are strengthened and assured and they may have perfect belief that the right path is with Islam alone. Now there is only one Prophet and one Book under the heaven. The Prophet is Muhammad, the chosen one (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) who is higher and more exalted than all Prophets and is the most perfect of Messengers and is the Seal of all the Prophets and the best of men by following whom we find God Almighty and all the veils of darkness are lifted and the signs of true salvation are witnessed in this very life. The Book is the Holy Qur’an, which comprises true and perfect guidance and effectiveness, through which knowledge and understanding of the Divine are obtained and the heart is purified of human weaknesses; and being delivered from ignorance, heedlessness and doubts, a person arrives at the stage of complete certainty.

Another reason for writing down these visions and revelations and the testimonies of people of other religions is for Muslims to be always equipped with strong arguments. And so that it is always clear and evident to people when the wicked, ungodly and black-hearted individuals, who unfairly contend with Muslims are trounced and silenced. So that the seekers of truth of this age as well as of the future generations are protected from the toxic air of wickedness and misguidance which is prevalent these day because these revelations will unfold many such aspects which are destined to manifest in the future. Thus, when this age is gone and a new world is revealed and sees for itself the truths written in this book, these prophecies will be most beneficial for strengthening faith. (Baraheen e Ahmadiyya I - IV, pp. 555-558 - footnotes)

The significance of this text was not limited to the time of its publication; in fact these signs were also to appear in times to come and were meant to prove the truth of Islam. It is astonishing that people do not seek these signs but are quick to raise objections. It was God’s will in however many languages he revealed His words to the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace). Indeed outsiders were witness to these revelations and they proved the truthfulness of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him). The book Baraheen e Ahmadiyya remains a sign today for those with spiritual insight and this book and his other books are becoming sources of guidance for people.

The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) made his prophecies after been given knowledge from God. In this regard he says in his book Kishti Nuh:

‘Matters of the unseen that God has disclosed to me and which were fulfilled on time are not less than ten thousand in number. However, only one hundred and fifty of these have been recorded in the book ‘Nazulul Masih’, which is under publication, along with proofs and witness accounts. None of my prophecies has been left unfulfilled or [at least] one of its two-parts has not been left unfulfilled. Even if a person spends his life looking for any such prophecy that I may have uttered and dies in the process he will not find one about which he could say that it was left unfulfilled. Though, he may say whatever he wanted out of impudence or lack of awareness. I say with conviction that thousands of most evident prophecies of mine have been clearly fulfilled and hundreds of thousands of people witnessed this. If an example of this is looked in the previous Prophets, it cannot be found with the exception of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him). Had my detractors resolved the matter based on this, their eyes would have been opened ages ago. I was prepared to give them a huge reward if they could come up with an example of these prophecies! What else can we say but attribute it to wickedness and thinking ill of others when it is merely said out of mischief or foolishness that such and such prophecy has not been fulfilled! … It is not a small matter for thousands of prophecies to be fulfilled with exactness and thousands of living witnesses to them to be present. It is as if seeing the Glorious God. Has anyone observed anywhere apart from the time of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) that thousands of prophecies were given and they were all fulfilled as clear as the day and thousands of people bore witness to their fulfilment! I know for certain that as God Almighty is manifesting Himself in this age and is coming closer and is unfolding hundreds of matters of the unseen to His servant, very few examples of this time can be found in the earlier times.’ (Kishti Nuh, pp. 6- 7)

In his book Nuzulul Masih, the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) explains his various revelations:

‘O Ahmad, mercy flows from your lips. We have bestowed upon you abundant points of wisdom.’ So, obviously my words were miraculous and none could contend with them. I published more than twenty books and journals in eloquent Arabic but no one could contend with me. God took away both power of speech and heart from them and gave them to me.’ P. 510

‘They say from where did you have this status? It is a deception. We will not accept you unless we see God.’ These people will not accept anything apart from a sign of death! Say to them that death, that is, the plague is also coming, therefore do not be haste with me. This prophecy was made 20 years before the outbreak of the plague!’ p. 510

‘The Company of the Lounge, how will you know what the Company of the Lounge is? You will see their eyes running with tears. They will call down blessings on you and will supplicate: Our Lord, we have heard a crier calling people to the faith, a summoner to Allah and a bright lamp.’ At the time when this prophecy was published in Baraheen e Ahmadiyya, there was neither a lounge, nor any company of the lounge. Later, when sincere people migrated to Qadian, guest houses and lounges were prepared for them. Observe how magnificent this prophecy is! These matters were disclosed at a time when one could not have even imagined that a time will come when such sincere people will gather in Qadian and lounges will be prepared for them! pp. 501 – 502

‘The opponents will plan to extinguish the light of God with the breaths of their mouths, that is, they will utilise cunning. However, God will perfect His light although the disbelievers will resent it.’ This is a prophecy of a time when there was no opposition or enmity against this movement. Ten years after this prophecy such enmity was shown that it became an upsurge; allegation of disbelief was recorded, edicts of murder were recorded and published in hundreds of books and journals. Almost all the maulwis became opponents and they did not desist from making the lowest of low schemes to ruin me. However, the outcome was quite the opposite and this movement progressed extraordinarily!’ pp. 526-527

‘Although people will not save you, that is, they will try to ruin you but God will generate measures to save you. God will definitely save you although the people will not want to save you.’ See what a strong and glorious prophecy this is! The promise to save is made twice and it has been clearly promised that people will try to ruin and destroy you and will hatch all kinds of schemes, but God will be with you. He will disrupt these schemes and will save you! Just think all possible schemes were hatched. All manner of ploys were devised to ruin and destroy me. Murder cases were filed against me and many efforts were made to disgrace me. Schemes were made to embroil me in tax matters, edicts of disbelief were given but God failed them all and they did not succeed in any of their deception. God had informed me a very long time ago about the forceful storm that followed. Fear God and speak the truth! Is this not knowledge of the unseen and Divine succour! … defence signifies being saved from great calamities which was the real objective of the enemy. You see, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) was also promised to be defended although he sustained severe injuries in the Battle of Uhad and this took place after the promise of defence was made. Similarly, Allah the Exalted had said to Hazrat Isa (on whom be peace): ‘…and when I restrained the children of Israel from putting thee to death…(5: 111) although it is proven from what followed in the nation that the Jews imprisoned Hazrat Masih (on whom be peace) and put him on the cross but God ultimately saved him. This is what is meant by ‘…when I restrained…’ as it is meant by: ‘…And Allah will protect thee from men…’ (5:68) pp. 427-428

These were a few examples of the signs of Allah as given to the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) whose books are also a sign. He writes:

‘When I write something in Urdu or Arabic I feel as if someone is tutoring me from within. My writing, be it in Arabic, Urdu or Persian is divided in two types. One type is when phraseology and its meanings flow for me as I write. I do not have to work hard for this writing and the phraseology is within my mental capacity. The words and their connotation is such that it is possible for me to write them without any special grace of God Almighty and with the blessing of His general support which is in the nature of human ability. I write these subjects making little effort and taking a lot of time. And Allah knows. The other type of my writing is simply extraordinary. For example when I write an Arabic phrase and the syntax needs certain words which I have no knowledge of, at such times revelation of God Almighty guides me regarding the phrase and the Holy Spirit puts those words in my heart like mutlu revelation and makes me utter them. At such times I am not in control of my senses. For example while writing Arabic I needed an exact word for بسیاری عیال which I did not know but the syntax was dependent on it. Immediately the word ضففwas put in my heart like mutlu revelation which precisely means بسیاری عیال . Or for example, while writing I needed a word to mean keeping quiet while indignant and I did not know it and instantly the word وجوم was revealed to me. It is the same with Arabic phrases. While writing in Arabic hundreds of structured phrases are revealed to me like mutlu revelation or an angel shows me phrases written on a piece of paper and some of these phrases are Quranic verses or similar to them, with a little variation. Sometimes it is realised after a while that such and such Arabic phrase that was revealed from God Almighty is in such and such book. As God is the Master of everything, He has the power to reveal to me a fine phrase from a book or a fine couplet from a poetic collection. This was about Arabic language, but it is even more amazing that I have certain revelations in languages that I have no familiarity with, like English, Sanskrit or Hebrew, just as some of it is written in Baraheen e Ahmadiyya. I swear by Allah in Whose hand is my life that this is the way of Allah with me and it is one of the signs given to me. Matters of the unseen are revealed to me in various forms and my God has no care if the phrase which is given to me as a revelation is written in an Arabic, English or Sanskrit book, because it is from the unseen for me. Just as Allah the Exalted has placed many stories of the Torah in the Holy Qur’an and has included them in matters of the unseen because those stories were unknown to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) although they were known to the Jews. This is the secret behind me calling on the world to contend with me in commentaries of miraculous and eloquent Arabic. Otherwise, who is man, and what is the significance of son of Adam to arrogantly call on the world to contend with him.’ Nuzulul Masih, pp. 434-436)

Next Huzoor gave some examples of the effect the powerful Arabic writings of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) have had on people.

A Palestinian lady writes that she firmly believed that Hazrat Isa (on whom be peace) was alive in the heaven and would revive Islam with the use of force. She was introduced to the Jama’at through her younger brother-in-law and read books of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace). She felt as if she had found priceless pearls. The eloquent Arabic writings were like gems of spiritual knowledge and she felt that it is such valuable writings that initiate man’s connection with God. Once fully satisfied, she took Bai’at.

Ajaz Sahib from Algeria writes that he was completely disappointed with erroneous commentaries when he was introduced to the writings of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) through a Jordanian Ahmadi friend. As he read the writings his heart opened up and the power of the writings caused him to physically tremble in awe and he was convinced these were writings inspired by revelations.

Faraz Sahib from Abu Dhabi writes that he read as many books of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) as he could and also started watching Arabic programmes on MTA. Following this he studied Quranic verses and Ahadith and was satisfied. He now had two options; to continue to wait for a militant Mahdi and stay connected to erroneous creed or accept Hazrat Ahmad, who had presented the beauties of Islam and defended the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him), as the Imam Mahdi. He sought Divine help and prayed a lot and was inclined to the Ahmadiyya Jama’at. When he read the Promised Messiah’s poetry in praise of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) his body trembled and his eyes welled up and he said out aloud that a slanderer could never write such poetry and how could a slanderer have such sentiments for the Prophet. He also felt that for a non-Arab to express such eloquent Arabic was not possible without Divine help!

Abbas Sahib who is an Arab and resides in Italy writes that in spite of what the maulwis said, he used to watch MTA. Once he heard Arabic Qaseeda of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) on MTA. As he listened to it, he looked at an image of the Promised Messiah until, spontaneously he said our aloud, by God, a liar cannot express such sentiments. This person is definitely from God.

Khalid Sahib from Morocco writes that after he was introduced to Ahmadiyyat he was amazed that the Imam Mahdi had come and gone and he had only just heard about him! He reflected and prayed for guidance and started reading up on the Arabic website of the Jama’at. Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam was the first book he read and he read it many times. The subject matter sent his soul in a trance. After reading various other books he felt that he had found a treasure-trove.

Hani Sahib writes about Madah Sahib that he asked a few questions in response to which extracts of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) were sent to him. He was suitably impressed. He says that the writings opened up his breast and he was delighted to find such spiritual material to read in this age!

Atami Sahib from Yemen writes that as a journalist and researcher he was intrigued to find the truth. He read a book by detractors of the Jama’at which had resorted to slandering. He realised these were age-old allegations and nothing else. On the other hand he found the eloquent Arabic of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) miraculous. After reading books of the Promised Messiah he reached the conclusion that he had presented the true image of Islam once again.

Hayat Sahib from Iran writes that he was born in a Shia family and was inclined to religion but was not satisfied with the image of Islam, he felt something was lacking and became convinced that it needed correcting. A friend introduced him to MTA. Gradually he was impressed by what he saw on MTA. He was amazed that the religious scholars called on the Shia people for debate but only abused the Ahmadis since they could not contend with their strong arguments. When he heard about the objectives of writing Baraheen e Ahmadiyya he was convinced of the truth. He read books of the Khulafa and realised they were the leaders of Islam and the world was in great need of their views. He felt the Promised Messiah’s (on whom be peace) challenge to Arabs and non-Arabs in Arabic language was a golden chance for the opponents to have proved their distinction, but they could not do so. Reflecting on all these proofs, he says he had no choice but to accept the truth and now he considers Tabligh his obligation!

There are numerous such episodes but Huzoor presented just a few today. The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) writes about signs: ‘In the same way hundreds of Signs have appeared in my support. Is there a person living on the earth today who could outshine me in this respect? I call God as a witness Who is the Master of my life that so far more than 200,000 Signs have been manifested in my favour and, more or less, 10,000 souls have seen the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be on him, in dreams and has given testimony in my favour. Moreover, sages of great renown and spiritually exalted persons who have very large numbers of followers numbering up to 400,000 have been directed in their visions that I have truly come from God. Some of these died thirty years before my appearance; such a sage was named Gulab Shah, who lived in district Ludhiana and who had told Mian Karim Bakhsh of Jamalpur that Jesus had been born at Qadian and that he would visit Ludhiana.

Mian Karim Bakhsh was a righteous man of advanced age who firmly believed in One God. He came to see me at Ludhiana and related to me this prophecy for which the 'Maulvis' harassed him greatly, but he paid no heed to them. He told me that Gulab Shah used to say in his presence that Jesus son of Mary is not alive. He is dead. He shall never come back to this world. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is the Jesus for this nation who, under Divine power and wisdom, has been created in the likeness of Jesus and in heaven he has been named Jesus. He reiterated saying: O Karim Bakhsh, when that Jesus shall appear you will see how bitterly the divines shall oppose him, but they will not succeed. He shall be sent to this world to clear and embellish the disfigured and distorted commentaries of the Holy Quran which he shall again present to the world in their original perspectives. In this prophecy the sage had clearly pointed out that Mian Karim Bakhsh would reach the advanced age and see the Messiah personally.’ Tadhkirat-ush-Shahadatain, pp. 36-37 (published translation)

Next Huzoor related some incidents of people accepting the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) after seeing the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) in dreams, both from the times of the Promised Messiah and also in recent times.

Hazrat Mian Abdul Rasheed Sahib (may Allah be pleased with him) said that he took his Bai’at inspired by a dream. He saw the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) laying on a bed very ill and the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) is looking after him. The Holy Prophet stands up with the support of the Promised Messiah and begins to give a lecture based on the truthfulness of the Promised Messiah. In the dream the Holy Prophet’s health is restored and his face looks lively. This dream was interpreted to signify that Islam was going to be revived through the Promised Messiah and Rasheed sahib took Bai’at.

Abdul Sattar Sahib writes that he asked his father about the issue of death of Jesus (on whom be peace). His father related a dream to him. He saw two tents by the River Ravi, one of the tents is of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and the other is the Promised Messiah’s (on whom be peace). He goes into the Holy Prophet’s tent and asks him about the holy person who has claimed to be the Messiah. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) says three times: He is very accomplished. This convinced him about the truthfulness of the Promised Messiah’s claim and he accepted him.

Sardar Karam Dad Sahib writes that he had a dream before taking Bai’at. He saw the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) strolling on a road. The Holy Prophet gestures with his finger three times towards the Promised Messiah and says, ‘he is from God.’ Later, when Sardar Sahib took Bai’at in Qadian, he found the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) looked exactly as he had appeared in the dream.

Indeed, people continue to experience such dreams in the current age.

Momin bin Ahmad Sahib writes that he had never heard of Ahmadiyyat. He once saw the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) in a dream. The Holy Prophet and he are standing on a beautiful minaret and the Holy Prophet gestures to the moon with his finger. It is a full moon which is nearby and its light is spread far and wide while in the middle stands the minaret. The Holy Prophet gestures as he tells him something which he does not understand. The Holy Prophet is very kind and affectionate to him and he feels words cannot express this. The Holy Prophet then leaves. After awakening he felt as if he was elevated from the ground and for many days he did not much talk to people. He did not understand the dream. His father later told him that he too had seen the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) in a dream and he had given him the glad-tidings of the birth of a son (Momin Sahib). Later, in Syria he was introduced to the Jama’at and he studied about it and found its beliefs to the same that he used to talk to his friends as a youngster. He wrote to Huzoor and said that he used to weep while reading the books of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) and each word would be instilled in his soul. It is impossible to express how precious faith is! He believes Ahmadiyya Jama’at presents the true creed of Islam and feels that although right now the Jama’at is partially triumphant in the near future it will be wholly triumphant, InshaAllah.

A friend from Damascus, Rizwan Sahib writes that he learned religion from personal study. After an incident he started searching for Divine knowledge and in the first dream he was given the message that the Holy Qur’an is the treasure-trove of all knowledge and the resolutions of all one’s problems should be found in it. One night as he recited the verse: ‘Those whose labour is all lost in search after things pertaining to the life of this world, and they think that they are doing good works.’(18:105) in his Salat, he felt great fear. Just then two youngsters knocked on his door and asked him about Qadianiyyat. He was about to read them from a book on Qadianiyyat as disbelief when he felt he was doing wrong and would be simply repeating hearsay, so he stopped. Later, he was introduced to an Ahmadi, Basit Sahib and the first book he read was Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam which he did not put down until he was finished reading it. He realised it was not what he had heard and the concept of revelation continuing in this age impressed him the most. He saw the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) in a dream and he told him that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was the only means of salvation from the evils of the time.

Next Huzoor related some incidents from African countries.

Once our missionary went to a town for Tabligh but the young people there created chaos and Tabligh had to be abandoned. Next day all the townspeople had gathered for a programme of theirs when suddenly fierce wind started blowing and torrential rain came and their programme was spoiled. The townspeople felt the storm was a sign of God’s wrath because the Ahmadi programme had been stopped. As a result 41 people accepted Ahmadiyyat.

A report from Nigeria tells that once Tabligh efforts in a village were met with opposition. Sometime later a young man of the village prayed to God that if the Ahmadis were not true they should be put in trouble and if the Ahmadis were true then their opponents should be put in trouble. Five days later he saw that two of the opponents fell ill and died painfully. This convinced him that Jama’at Ahmadiyya was from God.

A Tabligh report from Burkina Faso tells of a time when our missionary went to a village with a hundred Ahmadis. They told him that it had not rained for some time and they were concerned for their crop. The missionary sahib suggested praying to God and offering Salat Istisqa. When the announcement was made for Salat Istiqa, non-Ahmadi Muslims did not join the Ahmadis in offering it. During the Salat the missionary sahib implored God for the sake of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace). God listened to the prayers of Ahmadi women and children and it rained. The non-Ahmadis and Christians who had seen Ahmadis observing Salat Istisqa were most impressed and this resulted in 90 Bai’ats.

The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) says: ‘Our Jama’at should have a true connection with God Almighty and they should be grateful that God Almighty has not left them but has shown them hundreds of signs of His power to strengthen their faith to the degree of certainty.’

May God make us those who connect with Him, may He show each one of us His signs and enhance in faith and may we instil this spirit in our next generation. May God keep our generations firm on this and enhance their faith!

Next Huzoor announced that he would lead two funeral Prayers in absentia.

Raziullah Din was martyred on 8 Feb as he left home for work in Karachi, Pakistan. Two unknown motorcycle riders fired at him. He was rushed to the hospital but succumbed to his injuries and was martyred. He was 26 years old and had worked in a factory for six years. He was a caring person who was ardently devoted to Khilafat and had great respect and regard for Nizam e Jama’at. He often expressed his wish for martyrdom. He was a Moosi and often gave Jama’at duty. He was the only breadwinner of his family. May God elevate his station and grant steadfastness to his parents, wife and six month old baby daughter and keep them all in His protection.

Dr Khalid Yusuf died on 7 Feb at Fazle Umer Hospital at the age of 46. He was a Moosi and leaves behind three daughters and one son. May God elevate the station of the deceased and grant steadfastness to his children. He was a good doctor and had passion to serve.