The Green Announcement — Page 1
1 1 A Discourse upon the Demise of Bashir Let it be known that the demise of my son Bashir Ahmad, who was born on Monday, 7 th August 1887, and called back by his Creator, aged sixteen months, on Monday, 4 th November 1888, at the time of the morning prayer, has raised a great outcry amongst foolish and ignorant people. Many, including my own relations, have expressed opin- ions based on malice and ignorance, and the enemies of religion, who are given to dishonesty and slander, have started fabricating stories in connection with the demise of this child. I never intended to issue any announcement or statement about the passing away of this innocent boy, nor was such a course of action required, for there was nothing about his death that could have misled any rea- sonable person, but when the commotion reached its peak and begun adversely affecting simple-minded and gullible Muslims, then, solely for the sake of Allah, I decided to publish this announcement. 1 In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. We praise Allah and invoke His blessings upon His noble Prophet sa. All praise belongs to Allah, and peace be upon His chosen servants. [Publishers]