The Lion Of God, the Almighty.

By A. Abdul Aziz.

The proclamation of the Holy Founder, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to be the long awaited and foretold Promised Messiah was an event that caused a stir throughout India and led to a concerted campaign by opponents of every hue and cry from across the religious divide. It was an announcement that no normal person could have made without having the confidence and assurance that Allah was beside him, and would shield him from the storm and machinations of his opponents.

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Lion of God, peace be on him, was surrounded by enemies who were not only bentupon destroying his mission by slandering and trying to discredit him but to kill him also.

The evangelical Christians were against him as he had proved beyond any doubt that their God; Jesus of Nazareth had died a natural death and was buried in Kashmir. By challenging the very divinity of Jesus was like taking an axe to the very roots of Christianity. These evangelicals dragged him through the courts by lodging a ludicrous and patently false case against him, accusing him of a conspiracy to murder a Christian missionary called Martin Clark. They tried their best to influence and pressurize the Christian Magistrate, Captain Douglas to convict him in the case and to sentence him to death. And yet Allah frustrated their plans and protected His warrior and honourably acquitted him against all the odds.

At the time of the Promised Messiah all around Qadian and in Punjab the Sikhs were in majority. They are considered by many a martial race and even regard themselves as such. Qadian itself was like a small island in a vast sea of Sikhs. They are the followers of Guru Baba Nanak, the founder of Sikh religion.

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, peace be on him, proved conclusively that Guru Baba Nanak was a pious Sufi Muslim. This theory enraged the Sikhs and they became his ferocious enemies. The research of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, peace be on him, that Hazrat Guru Nanak was a Muslim shook the foundation of Sikhism. One of the most precious and revered relics of Hazrat Guru Nanak, the “Chola Sahib”, a cloak worn by him was covered in Quranic verses including the Surah Fatiha. But by pointing these facts out and pointing Sikhs towards their true roots he aroused a storm of controversy in Sikh circles.

Through the power of the pen Hazrat Mirza Sahib, peace be on him, wrote a few books in which he proved from Hindu sacred books that Hazrat Krishna was indeed a Prophet of God who believed in the one true God. He also proved that some of the Hindu teachings like Neug etc. were unworthy of praise and veneration and could not be from God. By virtue of these pronouncements he was thus bitterly opposed by the Hindus, who lost no opportunity to attack and revile the Promised Messiah but all to no avail.

At one point the conspiracies hatched by Hindus reached the point where two Hindu magistrates promised in secret meetings of fellow Hindus that they would conspire to punish Hazrat Mirza Sahib in cases pending in their courts against him.

A Hindu pundit and bigot by the name of Lekh Ram, and a known opponent of the Promised Messiah was stabbed to death by an unknown assassin in accordance with a prophecy of Hazrat Mirza Sahib. This made the Hindus furious and a storm of opposition was raised against him all over India. The Hindus openly declared that they would avenge the assassination of Pundit Lekh Ram. All the protest and conspiracies of the opponents of the Promised Messiah were frustrated and turned to dust as he was cleared of all involvement in the death of Lekh Ram.

After his declaration of being the Messiah and Mahdi a large section of the bigoted Ulemas of India issued edicts that he was an apostate and punishable to be killed according to their misinterpreted teachings of Islam. These bigoted mullahs rose up in fury and tried to whip up controversy and condemnation against the Promised Messiah in the hope that he could be deflected or dissuaded from his divine mission. But the Promised Messiah had Allah beside him and was fearless in his defence of Islam from the distortions of these bigoted mullahs.

In these troubled times when fanatics of all major faiths in India were determined to kill him and also destroy his divine mission, Hazrat Ahmad remained calm and fearless. In one of his Urdu couplet he said that he was a lion of God and his enemies were like helpless jackals.

Hazrat Ahmad used to go for an afternoon stroll in the open every day. He had no armed guards with him to protect him from an attack from his enemies. There was no police or government agency in Qadian to safeguard his safety.

One day he was sitting in his mosque at Qadian encircled by his faithful followers when a stranger entered the mosque. He came close to Hazrat Ahmad and said that he wanted to convey some very disturbing news to him in private. Hazrat Ahmad asked him to talk freely in front of the congregation as they were all his faithful followers. The stranger said,

” Huzoor! I am your most obedient follower and I live in Lahore. A few days ago I attended a secret meeting of some fanatic Muslims in a mosque. There was a fire brand Maulvi addressing them. He told his congregation that Mirza Sahib was an apostate as he called himself a subordinate Nabi (Prophet). He said that the door of revelation was closed after The Holy Prophet, Muhammad, peace be on him, for ever. The punishment of anyone claiming to be a Nabi in any sense of the word is death. He promised that anyone who would go to Qadian and kill him will go straight to Paradise.

During his speech two or three young men stood up and pledged that they would inherit Paradise by killing Mirza Sahib”

He then begged in a choking voice that the Promised Messiah, peace be on him should make special arrangements for his safety. He asked Huzoor to be extra vigilant while going for the afternoon strolls and to have some body guards with him at all times.

Hazrat Ahmad listened to him quietly. When he finished Huzoor looked at him and asked him to sit down. Huzoor then addressed the congregation in a loud voice and said,

“Why should I be afraid of these people? Every evening when I put my head down on a pillow to sleep, Allah whispers to me and keeps on whispering to me all night, saying, “Do not be afraid. I am with you. I will protect you from your enemies”.

Huzoor then said in an emotional tone that Allah was with him. He will protect him. His enemies will never succeed in killing him. All their designs would be frustrated.

Each time that the Promised Messiah faced danger either physically or through assaults against his character and reputation, winged chariots from Allah rode to his assistance and destroyed his enemies and defended his honour. Allah honours those who honour Him, and the Promised Messiah was an arch lover of Allah and the Holy Prophet, and was the lion of Allah. He was protected by a phalanx of angels who had been sent by Allah to protect him in his time of need.

The destruction of the Promised Messiah’s enemies were a sign from Allah that he was His chosen one and had the hand of Allah guiding and protecting him throughout his life.

I ask to those who oppose the Ahmadiyya Muslim jama’at to ponder over this incident. Why had the enemies of the Promised Messiah been defeated so badly and why were all their plans to destroy the Jama’at or kill him so utterly frustrated? Are these not signs from Allah himself that the Promised Messiah was indeed the righteous one, and the one whose advent we have all been waiting for ???