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The prophecy about Muhammadi Begum
compiled by Dr. Zahid Aziz
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Introduction
The article below has been compiled to present the actual facts
relating to the prophecy made by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad about
the lady Muhammadi Begum, and to refute the widespread, false allegations
and mockery directed against him on this score by his opponents.
The charges against Hazrat Mirza are that: (1) he tried to marry
this lady by threatening her relatives with prophecies of their
destruction if they didn’t agree, and (2) in any case, the prophecy
that she would be married to him turned out to be false.
Before the article, we may briefly explain that the people involved
in this episode were close relatives of Hazrat Mirza who were openly
cynical, derisive and mocking about the truth of Islam. He was trying
to bring about their religious reform in accordance with the injunction
of the Holy Quran: “And warn your close relations” (26:214).
To bring about this reform, he followed exactly in the footsteps
of those who are commissioned and directed by Allah for the reform
of humankind.
The persons who were his adversaries in this matter were his first
cousins through his paternal uncle (Muhammadi Begum being the daughter
of such a female first cousin) and other near relations connected
with them. It stands very greatly to his credit that, despite the
close blood relationship, he put the defence of Islam and truth
above kinship.
I have based the compilation below on an English article entitled
The Story of Muhammadi Begum by Mirza Masum Beg (editor of
The Light at one time), published in 1951, which I have considerably
expanded, in particular by adding more material from the writings
of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Besides his writings, other sources
I have used are the Urdu books: (1) Mujaddid-i Azam
by Dr. Basharat Ahmad and (2) A’inah-i Ahmadiyyat by
Maulana Dost Muhammad, one-time editor of Paigham Sulh.
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement, was
one night sitting in his room when a man entered weeping and wailing
violently as if he bore the sad news of a dreadful demise or something
still worse. He had been, he said to the Founder, to those people,
who had recanted from and renounced the Religion of God. One of
them, the crying man, went on to say, had uttered such a filthy
abuse to the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace and the blessings
of Allah be upon him, as had never been heard even from the mouth
of the most wicked unbeliever. The Holy Quran they trampled under
their foul feet contemptuously and spoke such vile words which the
tongue trembles to reproduce. They disbelieved and denied disdainfully
the existence of the Most High God, and blasphemed Him with contempt
and scorn. (This account is recorded by Hazrat Mirza sahib in his
book A’inah Kamalat Islam, p. 568.)
These perverted people — Mirza Ahmad Beg and his family —
were from among the near relatives of the Founder. Hindu culture
and Hindu rites and rituals had a strong sway upon their minds.
Like the Hindus, they had also come to look upon marrying in one’s
own family or “gotra” as foul and flagitious. They had
also written a very bitter book terribly traducing the Holy Prophet
for marrying Zainab, the daughter of his aunt, and distributed it
very widely to strengthen the hands of the opponents of Islam.
Prays for Allah’s help after seeing abusive book against Islam
When the Founder proclaimed himself as the man commissioned by
God, these impious people gibed and jeered at him, and challenged
him insolently to show a sign if there was a God Who had sent him.
Says the Founder about the book these people had written:
“When the scurrilous book came to my hands I read therein
such a grossly abusive language against the Most High God and
His Holy Prophet as would lacerate the hearts of the believers
and rip open and rend the Muslims’ minds. The profane words, it
appeared to me, would tear asunder the very heavens. So I shut
myself in a room and prostrated before the Great God of the heavens
and the earth and prayed most humbly: O my Lord, O my Lord, help
Your servant and disgrace Your enemy.” (A’inah Kamalat
Islam, page 569)
His prayer was answered and the Most High God revealed to him:
“We have seen their wickedness and transgression, because
of which a grievous punishment shall come upon their heads. Their
women, We shall make them widows, and orphan their children. Their
places of residence We shall destroy and demolish, so that they
may bear the fruit of their deeds. But We shall not strike them
with a single blow, but slowly that they may turn to the truth
and become repentant.” (ibid., page 569-570)
The Founder conveyed to them the awful message of the All-Powerful
God, but they instead of paying heed to his voice, abused him and
did not care for nor fear the Divine word of warning. Their hearts,
it was obvious, had been hopelessly hardened; and they sank deeper
in their wickedness and abomination. The Most Beneficent God then
chastened them with want and worry and baneful bereavements that
they might incline to Him. But rather than repent and return to
the right path, from which they had strayed away, the stubborn people
continued to persist in their evil course.
One last chance offered to opponents of truth
When a people reach this stage, they deserve to be punished adequately
for their hard-heartedness and evil deeds. The Most Merciful God,
however, before sending upon them His punishment, addresses them
a simple bidding to make their conviction final and complete. The
commandment itself is generally of a very ordinary nature, but its
violation acts as the last straw upon the camel’s back and draws
utter destruction upon their heads. Such indeed is the Divine law
of chastisement as propounded by the Holy Quran. Turn over to chapter
17 verse 16 and read:
“When We wish to destroy a town, We send Our commandment
to its people who lead easy lives, but they transgress therein.
Thus the word proves true against it, so We destroy it with utter
destruction.”
To quote an instance, the Thamud were an ancient people who lived
in the north of Makka. In their impiety they rejected the message
of the Most High God and persecuted their prophet Salih. Then came
to them the last sign of the Lord, an ordinary bidding, to make
their conviction final and complete. Prophet Salih gave them a she-camel
saying, “This is as the Lord’s she-camel, for you a sign, therefore
leave her alone to pasture on God’s earth, and do not do her harm,
otherwise painful chastisement will overtake you”. But they
cut the hamstrings of the camel, and killed her and revolted against
their Lord’s commandment. The Most High God was highly displeased
with them and struck them with an earthquake “so they became
motionless bodies in their abodes” (see chapter 7, verses 73
to 77).
Prophecy regarding marriage of Ahmad Beg’s daughter
In like manner, the last sign which came to Mirza Ahmad Beg was
in the form of an ordinary bidding, namely, that he should marry
his eldest daughter Muhammadi Begum to the Founder. Hazrat Mirza
writes in his well-known book A’inah Kamalat Islam on page
286:
“It was revealed to me by the Most High God that I should
seek the hand of Ahmad Beg’s eldest daughter and to tell them
that a kindly treatment shall be dealt out to them if they accept
the proposal, and that this marriage shall bring to them blessings
and blissful beatitude. But if they should refuse to do so, the
end of the girl shall be very sad, and the man who shall marry
her shall die within two and a half years, and her father within
three years from the date of marriage. … God the Most High will
remove every obstacle and in the end bring her into marriage with
me, and turn the irreligious people into Muslims and bring
to guidance those who have lost the right path.”
The All-Wise God had chosen this point particularly for the reason
that Ahmad Beg and his kinsmen had been, as stated above, under
the influence of Hindu law and customs, and regarded marrying in
one’s own family as unlawful and bad, and this was evidently un-Islamic.
Moreover, physical relationship with a man sent by God has many
a time brought about and accomplished the reform of the girl’s family.
For instance, Abu Sufyan was an inveterate opponent of the Holy
Prophet Muhammad, but the great family embraced Islam when his daughter
Umm Habiba came into the Holy Prophet’s wedlock. In the same way,
the family of Hazrat Sauda, when she married the Holy Prophet, came
into the fold of Islam.
We have highlighted the closing words in the above quotation to
show the real aim and object of the prophecy.
Such was indeed the Divine purpose behind the marriage of Muhammadi
Begum: the reclamation of Ahmad Beg and his family. Coming into
close contact with the man of God they might, it was expected, reform
themselves and return to the right path of Islam. But if they should
reject it, and revolt against the Lord’s commandment the proposed
punishment shall fall upon their heads. Reclamation or retribution
of Ahmad Beg and his kinsmen was, therefore, the prime purpose of
the prophecy, and Muhammadi Begum’s marriage was the last bidding
of the Lord which shall, like the commandment of Prophet Salih’s
she-camel, turn the table this way or that, and determine their
fate.
Opponents publicise prophecy in anti-Muslim press
The vicious people, however, had been, by their own excesses, corrupted
beyond redemption. Upon hearing this bidding of God, they bent their
brows with an overwhelming pride and attacked the Promised Messiah
furiously. They published his letter in the anti-Muslim, Christian
paper Noor Afshan of 10 May 1888, so as to give ammunition
to the opponents of Islam to revile him. While Hazrat Mirza had
been conveying this prophecy to them in private, in order to bring
about their reform by personal dealing, they made the matter public
in order to ridicule him.
Hazrat Mirza published an announcement in which he wrote:
“The letter [of mine] which the party opposed to me has
got published in Nur Afshan of 10 May 1888 was written
merely at the instance of God. For a long time some prominent
and near relatives of the man to whom my letter was addressed,
persons whose sister’s daughter is the girl about whom the marriage
proposal was made, were demanding a heavenly sign. They had departed
from, and begrudged, the ways of Islam and still do so. … They
bear enmity not only towards me but towards God and the Messenger.
…
At this place, another objection raised by Nur Afshan
deserves to be cleared, and that is that if this revelation was
from God and I had full faith in it, then why was it kept confidential
and why did I instruct in my letter that it should be kept confidential.
The answer is that this was a family matter, and those for whom
the sign was intended, it was conveyed to them, and I was sure
that the girl’s father [Ahmad Beg] would be hurt by its publication.
Therefore, I refrained from breaking his heart and hurting him,
and indeed I did not even want them to publish it in case of their
denial and rejection [of the marriage proposal]. Though I was
entitled to publish it, I purposely waited for some other time,
until this girl’s maternal uncle Mirza Nizam-ud-Din who is the
blood brother of Mirza Imam-ud-Din, out of extreme fury and anger,
published it himself, and published it in such a way that within
perhaps one or two weeks some ten thousand men and women must
have learnt fully about my marriage proposal and my revelation
… Now that through the efforts of Mirza Nizam-ud-Din my letter
has even been printed in Nur Afshan and the Christians,
in accordance with their nature, have started making unjustified
fabrications, I was obliged to make known the facts by my own
pen.”
(Public Announcement dated July 1888; Majmu`a Ishtiharat,
1986 edition, vol. 1, pages 156-159)
He further writes about the purpose of the prophecy:
“For a long time these people who are from my family and
are my relations, both men and women, have considered me to be
an imposter and a deceiver in my claim to receive Divine revelation,
and have not been convinced even after seeing certain signs. Their
own condition is that they have not one iota of love left for
the religion of Islam, and they ignore the commands of the Holy
Quran so lightly like someone who picks up a little twig and casts
it away. They consider their innovations, customs and concept
of honour and prestige to be a thousand times better than the
commands of God and the Messenger. Therefore, for their own welfare,
because of their own demand, and because of their own request,
God the Most High made known the revealed prophecy which is written
down in this published Announcement, so that they may realize
that God really does exist, and everything apart from Him is utterly
insignificant.
I wish that they would have regarded the earlier signs
as being sufficient, and they certainly would not have thought
ill of me even for a moment if they had any light of faith and
conscience. I had no need to ask for this marriage. All my needs
had been fulfilled by God the Most High. … Therefore, the marriage
connection that has been requested is merely as a sign, so that
God the Most High may show the wonders of His power to this family
of deniers. If they accept, then He would send down blessings
and mercy on them and avert those calamities which are near at
hand. But if they reject, then He would send down punishment upon
them to warn them.”
(ibid., pages 161-162)
They marry Muhammadi Begum to Sultan Muhammad
Now Ahmad Beg along with these relatives of Hazrat Mirza who were
opposed to him tried to defy the Divine decree and exerted themselves
hard in finding a husband for Muhammadi Begum. They believed that
they could give a direct lie to the prophecy and hold up Hazrat
Mirza to public ridicule. Full five years passed in this struggle,
but no man, for fear of the portentous prophecy, dared to marry
the girl. For, the man who shall marry Muhammadi Begum, the word
of God grimly warned, shall die within two and a half years and
her father within three years from the date of marriage, and the
widow girl shall enter the Promised Messiah’s wedlock.
At last, on 7 April 1892, one Sultan Muhammad of Patti came forward,
and setting all considerations at defiance married Muhammadi Begum.
That they would transgress the Divine decree and marry the girl
elsewhere, the Founder had been apprised of in the revelation:
“They charged Our signs with falsehood and mocked at them
with insolence. But God shall suffice you against them and bring
the girl back to you.”
Ahmad Beg dies according to prophecy
At this effrontery of Ahmad Beg, the wrath of Heaven now waxed
hot, and three months had hardly passed after the marriage when
he was seized with Divine displeasure. He first beheld the heart-rending
and deeply afflictive deaths of his own son and two sisters, and
was then himself stricken with a dreadful disease which demented
his brain and drove him mad. On 30 September 1892, only five months
and twenty-four days after the marriage, the unfortunate Ahmad Beg,
having suffered a tortuous trouble, was laid low in his earthly
grave, fulfilling thereby a part of the prophecy which he had so
audaciously sought to set at naught.
Repentance of the others
The dreadful doom of Ahmad Beg, which came about as had been foretold
by the Promised Messiah, naturally struck a terrible consternation
in the minds of his relatives, Sultan Muhammad in particular, for
it was his turn next. They humbled themselves before God the Most
High, calling for pardon, and sincerely repenting of their past
wickedness. They also wrote a couple of letters from Lahore to the
Founder assuring him that they had turned away from their evil ways
and from the violence that was in their hearts, and requested him
to pray for their deliverance.
The real object of the prophecy was, in this way, fulfilled. The
perverted people had returned to the right path of Islam from which
they had fallen away. It was, therefore, necessary in accordance
with the laws of prophecy that the chastisement of Sultan Muhammad
be withdrawn and withheld, as he was sorrowful and repentant for
having offended God the Most High.
In September 1894, when the period of two and a half years expired
within which whoever married Muhammadi Begum was to have died according
to the prophecy, Hazrat Mirza sahib wrote in a published announcement:
“See all this evidence [i.e. their repentance] I became
sure that the date of death of Sultan Muhammad could not be maintained
because such dates, which are among the type of signs which convey
fear and warning, are always an avertable fate. Sultan Muhammad
and his relatives were guilty of committing the sin that, although
I let them know very clearly through other persons and through
letters that this prophecy was from God the Most High for a rebellious
people, and they should not take their side and needlessly become
deservant of punishment, but because they also were hardhearted
and materialistic they did not accept this, and they mocked and
ridiculed and through their audacity they did not turn away from
entering into the marriage. … But the death of Ahmad Beg broke
their backs, and this was why they sent me letters of apology
and regret. As they were struck by fear and terror in their hearts,
it was essential that God the Most High, according to His ancient
way, pospone the date of punishment to some later time, that is,
to the time when those people again turn back fully to their state
of audacity, arrogance and neglect, because the date of punishment
is an avertable fate which is moved to another time if fear and
turning to God is displayed, as is proved by the whole of the
Quran.”
(Public Announcement dated 6 September 1894; Majmu`a Ishtiharat,
1986 edition, vol. 2, pages 42-43)
It is true that in this announcement Hazrat Mirza sahib goes on
to say:
“But the essence of the prophecy, that this woman will enter
into marriage with me, is an absolute fate which cannot at all
be averted … So after these days, when God the Most High sees
that these people’s hearts have hardened, and they have not
valued the few days of respite and relaxation given to them,
then He will turn to the fulfilment of the prophecy of His holy
word.” (ibid., page 43)
However, those people’s repentance was permanent and complete,
as will be shown below a little later.
One part of prophecy fulfilled, the other averted due to repentance
Sultan Muhammad ruefully regretted having acted in the way of Divine
displeasure. Hence he was delivered from a painful chastisement.
Ahmad Beg, on the contrary, persisted in his perversion and perished.
The original words of the prophecy were:
“I saw in a vision this woman [grandmother of Muhammadi
Begum], having signs of weeping on her face. I said: O woman!
repent, repent, for a calamity and disaster will befall your descendants
and you. He will die, and there will remain behind dogs to bark.”
Muhammadi Begum was, according to the prophecy, to be married to
Hazrat Mirza after the death of Sultan Muhammad. But Sultan Muhammad
did not die, as he benefitted from the condition in the prophecy,
the condition which is inherent in every prophecy of the destruction
of wrong-doers that if they repent then their doom will be averted.
Hence Muhammadi Begum did not become a widow and the question of
her marriage with Hazrat Mirza could not arise.
Nevertheless, the malicious opponents of Hazrat Mirza were left
behind to “bark” at him, alleging that the prophecy had
not been fulfilled. Thereupon, he issued a notice in 1896 challenging
them to induce Sultan Muhammad to declare if he had not repented.
He wrote:
“I have in earlier announcements mentioned some of the letters
which reached me from these people [relatives of Muhammadi Begum],
expressing repentance, fear and turning to truth. If this principle
is not true according to the Quran and the Bible that the period
specified in a prophecy of threatened punishment can be delayed,
then the objection of every critic is right and justified. But
if from the Quran and the Bible it is repeatedly proved that the
time of punishment can be postponed if repentance and fear is
shown then it is the height of dishonesty for anyone calling himself
a Muslim or a Christian to object to this which is proved from
the Holy Quran and earlier scriptures. …
The matter can be easily decided. Persuade Sultan Muhammad
to publish an announcement charging me with falsehood. Then if
he should survive whatever term is appointed by God the Most High,
I may be condemned as a liar. … It is essential that the threatened
death be withheld from him until that time comes which makes him
bold and audacious. If you want to make it come quickly, then
go and embolden him and make him a denier and bring an announcement
from him, and then see the spectacle of Divine power.”
(Anjam Atham, page 29 and 32)
Hazrat Mirza lived twelve years more after this challenge but no
amount of effort on the part of his opponents could impel Sultan
Muhammad to take up the gauntlet. He had sincerely repented of his
past attitude.
In one of his last books, published in 1907, one year before his
death, Hazrat Mirza sahib wrote as follows about this prophecy:
“As to the affair of Ahmad Beg’s son-in-law, I have written
many times that that prophecy consisted of two branches. One was
about the death of Ahmad Beg, the other was about the death of
his son-in-law, and the prophecy was conditional. Therefore Ahmad
Beg, because of not fulfilling the condition, died within the
term, and his son-in-law, and likewise his relatives, benefitted
from the condition by fulfilling it. It was a natural consequence
that the death of Ahmad Beg strike their hearts with terror because
both of them were included in the prophecy … So the death of
Ahmad Beg cast such fear upon the other named man and his relatives
that they became like dead with fear. The result was that the
head of the family, who was the main instigator in this affair
[of getting Muhammadi Begum married to Sultan Muhammad], took
the Pledge to join my movement.
It is true that the revelation also said that this woman
had been given in marriage to me in heaven. But as I have explained,
for this marriage to take place, which had been ordained in heaven,
there was a condition from God which was published at that time,
that: O woman! repent, repent, for a calamity and disaster
will befall your descendants and you. So when these people
fulfilled that condition [of repentance], the marriage was cancelled
or put in abeyance. Are you not aware that: ‘Allah effaces what
He pleases and establishes what He pleases’ [the Holy Quran, 13:39]?
Whether the marriage was conducted in heaven or on the Divine
throne, it was all conditional. One should think, clearing one’s
mind of doubts cast by the devil, as to whether the prophecy of
Jonah was any the less than this marriage, in which it was conveyed
that it had been ordained in heaven that punishment shall befall
this people within forty days. But punishment did not descend,
even though the prophecy contained no clear condition. So the
God Who set aside such a firm decision, it was not hard for Him
to cancel this marriage or postpone it.
In brief, these shameless people do not realize, when they
raise these objections, that this criticism applies to all the
prophets. … It is a pity that they learn no lesson from the
history of Jonah. He, being a prophet, had to bear much trouble
because he thought how could the absolute will of God, which had
been decided in heaven, be cancelled?
How unwise are those who believe that God can never change
His plans, and cannot cancel a prophecy of threatened punishment.
… All prophets are unanimously agreed that the prophecy of threatened
punishment can be averted. As to the prophecy containing a promise,
regarding which it is stated: ‘Surely Allah will not fail in His
promise’ [the Holy Quran, 3:9], I believe that God does not go
against the promise which is in His knowledge. But if a man by
his own mistake considers something to be a promise of God, as
Noah considered it [the saving of his son], then it is allowable
that that promise be broken because it is not in fact the promise
of God but, rather, human error declared it unjustifiably to be
the promise of God. Regarding this, Sayyid Abdul Qadir Jilani
says: ‘Sometimes God makes a promise but does not fulfil it’.
The meaning of this statement is that a promise is subject to
many unknown conditions, and it is not binding on God the Most
High to make known all the conditions. Here a man of half-baked
knowledge stumbles and denies, but a perfect man declares his
ignorance. This was the reason that the Holy Prophet Muhammad,
at the time of the battle of Badr, despite having been promised
victory, prayed crying very much and made this humble supplication
before Almighty God: ‘O Allah, if You destroy this party, then
there will be none left on earth to serve You’. He was afraid
in case the promise [of victory] was subject to some hidden conditions
which might not be fulfilled.”
(Haqiqat-ul-Wahy, pages 132-134)
Sultan Muhammad’s reverence for Hazrat Mirza sahib
It is established beyond the least vestige of doubt that Sultan
Muhammad not only repented of his past foolhardiness, but also came
to hold a high opinion of the Promised Messiah and to repose full
faith in him. Just read his statement from an interview several
years after the death of Hazrat Mirza sahib:
“My father-in-law, Mirza Ahmad Beg, in fact died precisely
in accordance with the prophecy. But God the Most High is also
the most merciful. He listens to other men also, and showers His
mercy on them. … I state upon my conscience that the prophecy
relating to the marriage has not left any doubt whatsoever in
my mind. As for the bai`at [i.e. taking the Pledge to join
the Movement], I declare upon solemn oath that the trust and faith
which I repose in Hazrat Mirza sahib is, I think, not possessed
even by you who have entered the bai`at. Of what is in
my mind you can form an idea from the fact that at the time of
the prophecy, the Aryas because of Lekh Ram and the Christians
because of Atham each offered me one hundred thousand rupees if
only I should file a suit against Mirza sahib. I could have certainly
become a wealthy man if I had accepted their money. But it was
again the same faith and trust in Hazrat Mirza sahib that deterred
me from doing so.” (Al-Fazl, 9–13 June 1921, pp. 10–11; see here the full article.)
Here is a letter which he had written with his own pen only five
years after the death of Hazrat Mirza sahib. The image of the handwritten
letter is shown below, followed by the translation:
Ambala Cantonment
21 March 1913
Dear brother,
Your letter was to hand. Thanks for the remembrance. As for the
late Hazrat Mirza sahib marhum, I have always considered
him to be, and still consider him to be, a good and righteous
man, a servant of Islam, noble-hearted and one who remembers God.
With his followers I have no antagonism whatever. Rather, I am
very sorry that, due to certain reasons, I could not have the
honour of seeing him during his life.
Sultan Muhammad
Close family members enter into Hazrat Mirza sahib’s following
Since that time many members of this family actually took the Pledge
(bai`at) to become followers of Hazrat Mirza sahib. These
are as below:
- The mother of Muhammadi Begum, Umar-un-Nisa, whose husband
Ahmad Beg died in accordance with the prophecy.
- Son of Sultan Muhammad and Muhammadi Begum: Mirza Muhammad
Ishaq.
- Three sisters of Muhammadi Begum (Inayat Begum, Mahmud
Begum, and a third).
- A son-in-law of Ahmad Beg: Mirza Muhammad Ahsan Beg.
- Son of Ahmad Beg: Mirza Muhammad Beg.
- Grandson of Ahmad Beg: Mirza Mahmud Beg.
- A son and a daughter of Mirza Nizam-ud-Din. Mirza Nizam-ud-Din
was one of the maternal uncles of Muhammadi Begum and a bitter
opponent (and first cousin) of Hazrat Mirza sahib. He is mentioned
in the quote we have given above from Hazrat Mirza sahib’s Public
Announcement dated July 1888.
- Mirza Mahmud Beg, the head of this family, as mentioned
above in Haqiqat-ul-Wahy by Hazrat Mirza sahib.
These are the persons most closely affected by the prophecy. They
knew, more than anyone else, whether it had been fulfilled or not.
Of all people, it is they who could ridicule the prophecy or complain
about it, feel bitter and hold a grudge against Hazrat Mirza sahib.
Yet they became his followers, while the ulama opposed to
Hazrat Mirza sahib continue to object to the prophecy. The hard
and solid fact that so many of these people eventually accepted
Hazrat Mirza sahib’s truth, settles conclusively that there was
nothing inappropriate in the prophecy and that it was fulfilled.
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