ALFatwa International No. 26

Merchant of Qadian

by Dr. Syed Rashid Ali

Part I

Praise be to Allah only. His Love and Peace be upon Holy Prophet Muhammad SAAW.

Dear Readers,

Assalamo alaikum wa Rehmatullah Wa Barakatohu

History bears testimony that Prophets came to free mankind from the slavery of their carnal desires and make them true servants of Allah, so that they can attain peace in this world and hereafter. Prophets had never worked for the ac*****ulation of pleasures and comforts of this world, neither for themselves nor for their followers. The night when Holy Prophet SAAW died, even there was no oil in the lamp in His house.

In contrast to such pious souls, there have always been imposters who decieved mankind in the name of religion, only to ac*****ulate wealth, only to fill their coffers. They not only traded their faith for the petty comforts of this life, but worse than that, they were responsible for destroying the faith of many who were unfortunate enough to get trapped in the fraud their religious deception.

In this new AlFatwa, we will reveal those aspects of the life of one such imposter, namely, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani, founder of Jamaat Ahmadiyya, which concerns his lust for money and show to which extent he had sold himself out to achive his goal. We hope and pray that his followers would see how they have been taken for a ride. May Allah give them the wisdom to distinguish truth from falsehood and then follow the right path. Ameen.

Dear readers! As Muslims we firmly believe that the revelation (wahi) came to an end on our Beloved Holy Prophet Muhammad SAAW. However suppose that this revelation were to continue (as all the imposters and false claimants to prophethood boast) and that one night, all of a sudden, you hear Allah talking to you. Can you imagine what that must feel like? The overwhelming presence of Allah talking to somebody as meaninglessly small as a simple man... What a profound impact that must have!! When Allah addressed Hazrat Musa (Moses) (alaihe assalam) on the Mount Sinai, Moses wanted to see Him. When Holy Prophet Muhammad SAAW ascended to heavens to meet Allah, Prophet SAAW asked for the salvation of his followers.

But when an imposter claims that Allah has addressed him, what are his worries? Naturally, his worries would be related to his fraudulent claims. Proof? Read his writings, and you will discover the truth yourself.

First address (so-called):

"When I received the revelation fortelling the death of my father, human weakness made me think that since some of the sources of the income of our family would cease with my father's death, we might be put in trouble" (Mirza Ghulam quoted in "The Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement", by Muhammad Ali, p. 7; also see Roohani Khazain vol.13 p.194)

Dear Readers! This is suppose to be the first address of God to Mirza, and what is he worried about? Money! God is informing him of the impending death of his father, and what is worrying Mirza? Shortage of money!!

Worries after the appointment:

According to Mirza Ghulam, at that time he did not yet know what his job here on earth was to be. It is some time later, that Allah allegedly makes Mirza - God Forbid - the second advent of Jesus (as). How does Mirza Ghulam experience this major turn in his life?

"It was necessary that according to the promise someone in the ummah was named Mary and then she would have promoted so that Jesus is born from her and he would be known as Ibne Maryam (son of Mary); that is me. Revelation 'huzzee ilaike' was sent to Mary and as well as me but the only difference being that Mary was then suffering from physical exhaustion and I was suffering from lack of financial means"  (Nazool-ul-Masih p. 163)

Once again, Mirza behaves according to his hidden desires! God is appointing Mirza Ghulam as Jesus (as) son of Mary, and what does Mirza think of? Money!! Subhan Allah!! What a contrast between a true Prophet and a false claimant.

Reasons for Divine Ordination:

Why did God choose Mirza for this task? Mirza's revelation also shed lights on this in following revelations:

"The Promised Messiah received the revelation (Arabic): Make this commerce profitable for me." (Register of Rivayat Sahaba, Vol. XI, p. 106, and Vol. XIV, p. 14)

"The Promised Messiah received the revelation (Persian): I have committed my capital to you. You know all about profit and loss." (Mansabi Khilafat p.40)

Family Decline

Actually if one studies the life of Mirza everything becomes clear. Mirza was recieving these so-called revelations according to his hidden desires and thus he was behaving in an expectant manner. He had always been aware of his family decline and dwindling financial empire of his ancestors. In his autobiography he wrote:

"In the early period of Sikhs, my great grandfather, Mirza Gul Mohammed, was renowned and famous chief in this area. ... during the time of my grandfather ... great destruction descended on my ancestors .. then during the final days of the reign of Ranjit Singh, my late father, Mirza Ghulam Murtaza, came back to Qadian, and he got 5 villages back from the properties of his father ... still being an old family, my father Mirza Ghulam Murtaza, was a famous chief in this area." (Kitab ul Bariyah, Roohani Khazain vol.  vol.13 p. 175-176)

"In short, the conditions of our lands declined day by day, until finally we reached a stage when my family became a low grade land lord." (Tohfa-e-Qaiseriya, Roohani Khazain vol.12 p.271)

"After that when British came, they confiscated our family lands, and fixed annual honorary pension of Rs 700 which was reduced to Rs 180 at the death of my grandfather and then at the death of my uncle it was stopped altogether." (Seerat-ul-Mahdi part 1 narration no. 48, by Mirza Basheer Ahmad s/o Mirza Ghulam Qadiani)

Readers can now understand how much Mirza Ghulam was obssessed with the decline of his family's financial empire. Resulting sense of deprivation generated a lust for power and money which never Mirza till his death. So much so, that when he thought that God was addressing him, all he could think was his financial problems.

Mirza - the prodigal son

"Mother (wife of Mirza) told me (son of Mirza) that once during his youth Hazrat Maseeh Mowood (Mirza Qadiani) went to collect the pensin of your grandfather, then Mirza Imamdin went after him. When he (Mirza) recieved the pension, then he (Imamdin) enticed him (Mirza) and instead of Qadian took him away, and took him here and there. Then when he (Mirza) squandered all the money, he (Imamdin) left you and went away." (Seeratul Mahdi part 1 narration no. 49, by Mirza Basheer Ahmad son of Mirza Qadiani)

Mirza Imamdin was a cousin of Mirza Qadiani, and when this incident took place, Mirza was around 30+ years old. This pension (Rs 700/=) by today's standard amounted to humdreds of thousands of rupees. Where did Mirza and cousin spent this huge amount in a few days is anybody's guess. But this episode certainly sheds a light on the mentality of this man who was soon to claim being divinely ordained to serve Islam. Serve Islam? well he certainly served his pockets and on one pretext or other he started extracting money from ignorant masses.

Mirza tries to get some divine blessings:

During his early days, Mirza Saheb went to Amratsir, and met a saint, Molvi Abdullah Ghaznawi. Mirza requested: I was employed in the court of Sialkot on a meagre salary. Since it was difficult to survive on such meagre salary, I prepared in the law exam but failed. Molvi Saheb asked him: What is your intention now? Mirza Saheb said: Now I do not have any intention of working, I want to just survive on Tawakkul (trust in God, that God will fulfil his needs). I request you to pray for Rujoo'at and Futoohaat for me. (Rujoo'at is a term whereby a person wishes that people will get attracted towards him, and Futoohaat is the term which means that these people who will come to him, will bring material things for him.) Please make a prayer for me." (Messiah of 14th Century p.48)

Revelation regarding marriage and Worries about Finances:

"27th sign (of prophethood) is this prophecy about my marriage which took place in Delhi. God sent me this revelation: Praise be to God who honoured you through lineage as well as through matrimony, that is God made your lineage also noble and your wife will also come from noble family. This revelation was a prophecy, because of which this worry was generated in me that how will I arrange the expenses for this marriage." (Roohani Khazain vol.22 p.247)

SubHan Allah! God is giving glad tiding for a marriage, and all he is worried about is money!!

Appeal for Donation to publish Braheen Ahmadiyya:

The simplest and quickest solution that Mirza could think of to overcome his financial problems is to exploit and take advantage of peoples' ignorance, simplicity, superstitious nature and their attachment to religion. Hence from his early days he paved the way for this by propagating his fantastic ideas through publishing books - all in the name of Islam.

First thing he did was to advertise his intention of writing a 50-volume book to prove the truthfulness of Islam, and appealed for donations in the same breath. That was the time in Indian history when Muslims were passing through highly difficult times. British had usurped the power from Muslims who had been ruling Indian Subcontinent for 1000 years, christian missionaries and hindu organisations were actively engaged in proselytisation trying to discredit Islam, with the backing of British Raj. It was under these cir*****stances that Mirza announced his project of 50 books. People were yet ignorant about the real motives and heretical views of Mirza Qadiani. He wrote:

"To publish such a hugh book is very difficult without the help of Muslim brothers. And the reward to help in such an important project is not hidden with even an ordinary Muslim. therefore it is requested from the faithful brothers that they should participate in this good work and help in its publication. If rich people give just one day expanditure of their kitchen, this books will be printed easily, otherwise this shining moon will remain hidden. Or else, all such person who can afford, with the intention of purchasing the book, send Rs 5 with their applications to me. As the book is published, it will be posted to them." (Majmoo-e-Ishtihaarat, Collection of Advertisement, vol.1 pp.11-12)

Muslims participated in this project whole heartedly, many sent advance payment for the book. But Mirza was dumbfounded when in the next 4 years (from 1880-1884) Mirza just kept writing, publishing and posting 4 volumes. He realised that now for the next 50 years all he would do is to write volumes after volumes of Braheen Ahmadiyya and distribute them free, without any hope of financial returns, since he had already accepted advanced payment. He stop writing Braheen Ahmadiyya after the 4th volume. Despite protest from the buyers, for the next quarter of a century he published and sold some 80 other books. 25 years later he published the 5th volume of Braheen Ahmadiyya. Impenitently he wrote in its preface:

"Initially I had thought of writing 50 volumes, but contented to writing from 50 to 5. And since the differnce between 50 and 5 is a mere dot (zero is written as dot in arabic/urdu numericals) therefore with 5 volumes that promise is fulfilled." (Preface to Braheen Ahmadiyya, Roohani Khazain vol.21 p.9)

So much for the honesty of this so-called claimant of prophethood.

50,000 revelations regarding money matters:

Read the life of Mirza Ghulam, read his books, and look at his whole movement, you will realise that it is revolving around money!!

"Remember that God has a habit with me that mostly when cash is about to come or some other things as gifts, He informs me ahead of time, either through inspiration or in dreams; and such signs would be a little more than 50,000." (Haqeeqat-ul-Wahi, Roohani Khazain vol.22 p.346)

Some other examples money oriented revelations:

"In my dream someone said: Currency notes. then I was given a book as if it contained currency notes and the revelation flowed from my tongue (Urdu): Observe my friends, the news has been published. (Al-Hakam, Vol. X, No 6, February 17, 1906, p. 1; Tadhkirah 2nd edition p.589)

"I saw a paper in a dream, the first few lines on which were written in Persian script and the rest was all in English. I understood as if someone had named me and said: (Urdu): He should be given 25 rupees. (Review of Religions, Vol.IV, No. 2, Feb. 1905)

"I saw in my dream that Qudratullah's wife presented to me a heap of rupees" (Al-Hakam, Vol. IX, No 36, Oct. 17, 1905, p. 10)

"I saw in my dream towards morning that someone gave me a paper bag full of rupees which I accepted and started tying up in a white handkerchief." (Diary of the Promised Messiah, p. 23)

"Once I got an inspiration that 21 rupees is about to come. Therefore this inspiration was also mentioned to the Aryas (hindus living in Qadian) .... moreover to make Aryas witness, sweets worth Rs 1 was distributed among them ... if not otherwise, they would remember this sign after eating the sweets." (Roohani Khazain vol.22 p.318)

Readers will note that how all these inspirations were concerned about money being given to Mirza and not vice versa!! Moreover he was very particular to make witnesses about his dreams and inspirations. Alas! still they were not convinced of his divinely-ordained station.

Modus Operandi for Extracting Money:

Mirza Ghulam A Qadiani developed various strategies to extract money from people. Readers have already above the account of his opportunistic approach to publish Braheen Ahmadiyya and collected huge donations. Let us examine some more examples of such efforts.

"Nation should serve this Jamaat in every possible manner. There should be no shortcoming in serving financially as well. See, no movement prosper in this world without donations ... thus it is important that members of our Jamaat should also keep this in mind. If these people give even one paisa yearly regularly, then a lot can be done. Yes if one does not even give one paisa, then what is the need for him to stay in the Jamaat?" (Mirza's statement in Akhbar AlBadr Qadian dated 9th July 1903)

This statement proves clearly that the decisive factor in becoming and staying member of Ahmadiyya also is... money:

"This advertisement is not an ordinary statement, rather I make a last call on those people who are called my mureeds that my link is only with those people who are busy in aiding and helping, but there are many who just want to decieve God. Now according to this new system, everyone should renew his pledge and give a written statement that as an obligation how much monthly donation he can send... upto 3 months after the publication of this advertisement, we will wait for a response from every one who has taken baith that how much he accepts to donate to this system on monthly basis and if no reply is recieved in three months then his name will be cut off from the baith.... and if someone after accepting to give donation, did not send the donation for three months then his name would also be cut off." (Collection of Advertisement vol.3 p.468-469)

Condition for Supplication - Generous Contribution!

"Once in January 1908 a rich person from district Kanpur, Wali Mohammed by name, who had been an Ahmadi for a long time and used to write to Maseeh Mowood for the health of his son. He wrote to Huzoor that I had been asking for supplication for my son for a long time, but till now prayers have not been answered in favour of my son, although God has promised you that your every supplication will be answered..... Hazrat Maseeh Mowood ... said that write to him that this is not the habit of God to accept all supplications... no one has power in front of God. If that rich person is so desperate then he should make a very generous contribution in favour of my silsila (movement) which is in his maximum capacity, then he should inform me and keep reminding me." (Mufti Mohammed Sadiq Qadiani, 20th Oct 1937, mentioned in AlFazl Qadian dated 22 Oct 1922)

"Nawab Saheb, the ruler of Maleer Kotla became sick, and his illness prolonged. Qadiani agents living in that area told the mother of Nawab Saheb that if Mirza Saheb makes supplications, he will immediately recover. Letter was sent to Qadiani Saheb, who promised to make supplications and wrote them to send Rs. 500. Thus he recieved Rs 500 from the mother of Nawab Saheb, and continued to pray, but none of them were granted. Nawab Saheb did not recover and ultimately died." (Isha'at us Sunnah vol 18 p.146; mentioned in Raees-e-Qadian p.427 by Rafiq Dilawari)

Purpose of giving alms? To Propagate the name of Mirza! Alms, charity are given to seek pleasure of Allah. At least this is what is Islamic teaching. But what purpose does Mirza have in mind when he gives away money?

"During the time of Hazrat Maseeh Mowood one Arab beggar came here. He (Mirza) gave him a good amount of money. Someone objected so he (Mirza) said: Whereever he goes he will mention me, even if he mentions my name for recieving something, but he will convey my name to far flung places." (Akhbar AlFazl, Qadian, vol.22, No. 103, p.9 dated 26th February 1935)

Teechee Teechee...: He gets helps from an 'angel' called Teechee Teechee...:

"5th March 1905 I saw a dream that a man who seemed to be an angel, came in front of me and put in my lap lot of money; I asked him his name, he said he doesn't have a name. I asked him that afterall you have some nam; he said: My name is Teechee, Teechee in punjabi language is the name for appointed time, i.e I come exactly at the needed time. Then I woke up. Ever since from God, either through post or directly through the hands of people, so much monetary gains have taken place that no one can imagine and thousands of ruppees came." (Haqeeqatul Wahi, Roohani Khazain, vol.22 p.345-346)

Part 2