The Advent of the Fifteenth Century after Hijra — Page 6
be upon him (see Ibn Majah, Ch. Sharrataz Zaman; Musnad. Ahmad bin Hanbal, Vol. II; Bukhari, Ch. Advent of the Messiah). . This claim aroused bitter opposition and the Muslim divines, led by Maulvi Muhammad Husain of Batala, who had been a great admirer and enthusiastic supporter of his, almost unanimously denounced him as an infidel, outside the pale of Islam. They hurled vile abuse at him, proclaimed him an apostate from Islam, and some of them went so far as to declare that his assassination would be a highly meritorious act and that whoever accomplished it would be straightaway admitted to paradise. . As has been mentioned, the two signs of the advent of the. Mahdi which had been proclaimed by the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, were clearly manifested a little more than three years after Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad announced his claim of being the Mahdi, which was a clear proof of the truth of his claim. . It is noteworthy that the fourteenth century has passed away without any one beside Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad claiming to be the Mahdi whose advent had been foretold by the Holy. Prophet, peace be upon him. His rejection, therefore, would amount to the rejection of a grand prophecy of the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, and would furnish the opponents of Islam with an excuse to question the truth of the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, which must be avoided. . The two signs announced by the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, are not, however, the only conclusive proof of the truth of the claim of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. There are many others, too numerous to be set out in a brief statement like this one. Mention may be made of one or two fundamental ones. . The crucial question is that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad affirmed that from his fortieth year he had been a constant recipient of divine revelation. If this affirmation of his was true, it must necessarily follow that all his claims based on divine revelation, or derived from it, were true and must be accepted. If his affirmation was false, he was an impostor and must be condemned as such. . One criterion that the Holy Quran has laid down for determining the truth or falsehood of a claimant of the receipt of revelation is expressed as follows: 6. Say to them: Had Allah so willed, I would not have recited it (the. Quran) to you, nor would He have made it known to you. I have