An Introduction to the Hidden Treasures of Islam — Page 330
330 Background There were two Muslim movements in India, namely, D a rul-‘Ul u m Deyoband and the Aligarh Movement which were engaged in spreading education among the Muslims of the sub-continent. Another organization known as Nadwatul-U l a m a’ was emerging in Lucknow to bring about change in the educational standards. Maul a n a Shibl i Nau‘m a n i , Maulav i ‘Abdul H aq Ghaznav i , Sir Syed Ahmad Kh a n, Naw a b Mu hs inul Mulk and Naw a b Waq a rul Mulk were in one way or other associated with it. This movement held its first meeting in K a np u r in April 1894 and then meetings were held subsequently in Lucknow, Barail i and Meerut. In 1901, they planned a similar gathering in Calcutta to which the Promised Messiah as was invited. The Promised Messiah as sent a letter through Maulav i ‘Abdul Kar i m to the organisers of the conference but no response was evinced by the organizers. Then, on October 10, 11, 12, 1902, a similar gathering was planned to be held in Amritsar. A week before it, a Maulav i , Ha f iz Muhammad Y u suf, issued a leaflet, in which he recalled an assertion of the Promised Messiah as and alleged that the Promised Messiah as had admitted once verbally that false prophets and impostors, despite their fabrication and machinations, could live long even longer than 23 years (the duration of the life of Prophethood of the Holy Prophet sa ). This Ha f iz further compounded the lie by citing the leaflet of Ab u I sha q Muhammad D i n, Qa t ‘ul-Wat i n, which had confirmed the alleged assertion of the Promised Messiah s and maintained that impostors and false prophets survive even longer than the period of 23 years. The Book The leaflet by Ha f iz Muhammad Y u suf prompted the Promised Messiah as to write this book, because it was a great slur that an impostor and false prophet should survive a period longer than the life of the Prophethood of the Holy Prophet sa. This leaflet was a calculated