Seerat-i-Tayyiba — Page 7
7 A Sikh zamindar whose property was in the neighborhood of Qadian, probably the same gentleman through whom the Promised Messiah’s father sent the suggestion above mentioned, has stated that on one occasion a prominent government official or some notable magnate, remarked to Hazrat Ahmad’s father: “I have heard that you have a younger son also. But how is it that we have never s een him?” Ahmad’s father smiled and replied: “Yes, I have als o a younger son. But he is very shy, like new brides, and he is seldom seen about. If anyone desires to see him, he is only to be found in some corner of the mosque for he is a real Maseetar ( This Punjabi expression is used about a person who spends most of his time in a mosque in meditation and prayer ) “i. e. , always spending his time in devotions in the mosque, taking no interest in mundane matters. This sister-in-law of the Promised Messiah, and an aunt of the writer of these lines, later often used to refer to this statement of her uncle and father-in-law, when she would remark that who in those days had any idea as to the grandeur to which Ghulam Ahmad’s good fortune was one day to take him! ( Seeratul Mahdi and Tazkiratul Mahdi by Peer Sirajul Haq and Seerat Masih-i-Mauood by Irfani ) Personally, whenever I happen to hear any reference made to this incident, a Hadith of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) always comes to my mind: The Hadith runs thus: - “Blessed is the ma n whose heart was always hanging in the mosque, whenever he had to leave it, until such time as he found it possible to return to it again. ” ( Tirmadhi ) This expression of a man ‘leaving his heart hanging in the mosque’ mean that such a man is so absorbed in worship and prayer and devotion that he spends most of his time in the mosque; and even when he has to leave it and go out in pursuit of some worldly object, he, so to say, leaves his heart behind, to return to it at the earliest possible opportunity. This state of mind of those who are called to the high office of Apostleship or Reformation, pertains to periods before they are called to their missions- a period in the course of which they put themselves through severe spiritual discipline, by means of Prayer and fasting, for long periods, in full seclusion. After they have been called to their missions, however, every moment of their lives is devoted entirely to Jihad against falsehood, and to the task of saving those who may be floundering in transgression and evil.