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English translations of books by Hazrat Mirza

A Brief Sketch of MyLife

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A Brief Sketch of My Life

from the book

Kitab al-Bariyya

by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad


This is an English translation of a complete, self-contained section from the book Kitab al-Bariyya. The translation of the rest of Kitab al-Bariyya is available here.


Contents

Heading:

Page:  
Title page and Publisher's Note    
1. Introduction 1  
  My brief biography and objects of my mission 1  
  Purpose of biography 2  
2. Family history 4  
  Settlement in Qadian 4  
Great-grandfather’s time 5  
High, noble qualities of Mirza Gul Muhammad 6  
Teaches noble lesson on death-bed 7  
Time of grandfather 7  
Qadian captured by Sikhs 8  
Return to Qadian in father’s time 9  
3. Early life 10  
Education 11  
Pursuit of father’s legal cases and farming work 12  
Short period in official service 12  
Return home 13  
Father’s death 15  
4. Spiritual experiences 16  
Undertaking spiritual rigours 18  
Experience of visions 18  
Spiritual hardship was to come 20  
5. Divine appointment and claims 21  
  Appointed as Mujaddid of fourteenth century 21  
  Acclaimed by Ulama 22  
  Reaction to claim of being Promised Messiah 22  
  My followers 23  
  Expectation of Promised Messiah by Muslims 24  
  Contradictions introduced into beliefs 25  
  True interpretation of prophecy 26  
  Messiah, not king in literal sense 28  
  Opponents resort to false accusations 30  
  Messiah to come at time of havoc caused by Christians 30  
  No prophet after Holy Prophet Muhammad 31  
6. Death and spiritual ascension of Jesus 33  
  Death of Jesus 33  
  Sound Islamic authorities uphold death of Jesus 33  
  Belief that Jesus is alive contradicts the Quran 35  
  Meaning of raf‘ 38  
  Which issue was the Quran settling? 38  
  Jews’ attempt to prove Jesus accursed 39  
  Christians also declared Jesus ‘accursed’ 40  
  Quran removes allegation of curse from Jesus and teaches his spiritual ascension 42  
  Bodily ascension was not the issue 43  
  Raf‘ of prophets and believers 45  
  Jesus cannot return if dead 46  
7. Prophecy about Dajjal 47  
  Ulama’s beliefs disillusion rational thinkers 47  
  Meaning of Dajjal 49  
  Religious leaders and scientists of Europe fulfill signs of Dajjal 50  
  Man’s control leading to denial of God’s power 51  
  Other nations revere Europe because of scientific advances 53  
8. Proof of claim of being the Promised Messiah 56  
  Likeness to the time of Jesus 57  
  Place of coming of Messiah and Mahdi 58  
9. Breaking of the Cross 60  
  Smashing of Christian belief of crucifixion 60  
  Jesus’ ascension — spiritual, not bodily 60  
  No proof of Jesus’ bodily ascension 64  
  How could the curse be for only three days? 65  
  My Divinely-ordained mission 67  
10. More proof of claim 69  
  Revival and strengthening of faith in God 69  
  Criteria for the truth of a claimant 70  
  Mujaddid of the fourteenth century Hijra 72  
  How will the cross be broken? 74  
  Meaning of ‘shining forehead’ and ‘lofty nose’ 76  
  Bringing down faith from the Pleiades 77  
  Revelations 78  
  Triumph by spiritual, not physical, weapons 80  
Author’s footnote to page 66 83  
Index 86  
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