Malfuzat - Volume IX — Page 83
27 DECEMBER 1906 set in, therefore, now, too He it is who has established this [Ahmadiyya] Movement. In addition to the condition of the time, there are those Signs that appeared to manifest the truthfulness of this Movement and by these Signs are meant those Signs that were set forth and foretold by the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. One of those is the Sign of the solar and lunar eclipses. ¹ So long as this Sign remained unfulfilled, the maulawis would read this hadith weeping and crying. Maulawī Muhammad of Lakhukay has related this Sign most emphati- cally in his book, Ahwālul-Akhirat, that during the time of the Mahdi, the solar and lunar eclipse will take place in the month of Ramadan. Refer to Dār Quțnī and see whether this hadith is recorded in it or not. However, when this Sign was fulfilled, it did not happen just once, but twice; the first time in this country, and the second time in America. The wisdom behind this was that proof may be provided twice, and in this coun- try for the reason that because those countries propagate the Christian faith, the argument may be completed against them, too. Now observe that in addition to innumerable Signs, this was a powerful Sign that appeared and ten to eleven years have now passed since its fulfilment. If the real claimant [of being the Mahdi] was not present, then who was this Sign manifested for? The Sign has been fulfilled but you still continue to call the real claimant a Dajjal, and worthy of being put to death. One of my friends stated that when this Sign was fulfilled, a maulawī by the name of Ghulam Murtaza, said, whilst slapping his thighs repeatedly (as if mourning a great calamity-Editor) 83 1. In Sunan Ad-Dār Quțnī, vol. 1, part 3, p. 51, Kitābul-ʻĪdayn, Bāb Şifati Şalātil- Khusūf wal-Kusūf wa Hay'atihimā, Hadith 1777, Dārul-Kutubil-'Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 2003; it is written as: إِنَّ لَمَهْدِينَا آيَتَيْنِ لَمْ تَكُونَا مُنْذُ خَلَقَ اللَّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ تَنْكَسِفُ الْقَمَرُ [ Publisher] . لَأَوَّلِ لَيْلَةٍ مِنْ رَمَضَانَ ، وَتَنْكَسِفُ الشَّمْسُ فِي النِّصْفِ مِنْهُ ، وَلَمْ تَكُونَا مُنْذُ خَلَقَ اللَّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ