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In Badr for 6 April 1911 (pages 10 to 11), a letter is printed which is entitled Letter by a new Ahmadi to his non-Ahmadi father. In this letter, written three years after the death of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, during the period of headship of Hazrat Maulana Nur-ud-Din, the writer has quoted denials by Hazrat Mirza of claiming to be a prophet, issued in 1891 and 1897. This shows that these statements were considered by his followers in 1911 to be a correct and valid reflection of his claims.

We translate the letter below.

• The few words in square brackets have been added in the translation for clarity.
• References to quotations from Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad are not in the original letter, but we have provided them at the end.
• The image of the article from Badr is given here at the end.

Respected and honoured father, may Allah increase you in dignity! Your son presents his salam to you most respectfully. I received your kind letter which I read with great love, respect and sincerity. Dear sir, you have asked about the people of Qadian, as to their condition and beliefs. I submit to you verses of poetry by the Imam of this Movement, in which he has written out his beliefs very clearly. Here they are:

“We are Muslims by the grace of God, the Mustafa [Prophet Muhammad] is our Imam and Leader.

We were born into this faith from the wombs of our mothers, and on the same faith will we pass away from this world.

The Book of God which is known as the Quran — the drink of our spiritual knowledge and wisdom comes only from that cup.

The messenger whose name is Muhammad — we cling to him by our hand every moment.

His love entered our body like mother’s milk, it became our life and will only leave us when our life does.

He is the best of messengers, the best of mankind — every prophethood has come to an end with him.

To obey his every word is in our very nature, his every command we have full faith in.

All about the angels and news of the hereafter, told by that Messenger of the Lord of mankind —

It all came from the One God, and he who denies it is worthy of being cursed.

All his miracles are true and right, he who denies them is cursed by God.

The miracles of the prophets before him, mentioned clearly and explicitly in the Quran —

We believe in all of them with our heart and soul. He who denies is from among the wretched.

To deviate even one step from this illuminating Book, we consider to be heresy, loss and destruction.” [1]

These verses were written by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, and resolve all your questions. You write that he claimed Divinity and prophethood, even though these two claims cannot be made by the same person. In these verses he has written:

“every prophethood has come to an end with him”

that is, all prophethoods came to an end with the Holy Prophet, may peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him. Then he says about the Last of the Messengers:

“My soul and heart is devoted to the beauty of Muhammad, I am the dust serving the streets walked by the aal of Muhammad.” [2]

Can a man who considers himself the dust of the streets walked by the descendants of the Holy Prophet make a claim to Divinity or to the prophethood which you have in mind? You have written that he has some other Kalima. In the book Izala Auham, Hazrat Mirza sahib writes:

Our Religion:

We are from among the lovers of the Quran and the Messenger.
With this we were born, and with this we shall depart.

The gist and essence of our religion is: La ilaha ill-Allah, Muhammad-ur Rasul-ullah. Our belief which we hold in this world’s life, and with which we shall, by the grace of God and the grant of the Most High Creator, pass away from this world, is as follows. Our leader and master, Muhammad mustafa, may peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him, is the Khatam-un-nabiyyin and the head of the messengers. And we believe with firm conviction that the Holy Quran is the last of the Books from heaven. There can neither be any increase nor any decrease, even of one stroke or dot, in its laws, limits and commands.” [3]

Then Hazrat Mirza sahib writes in an announcement:

“All these allegations are complete fabrication. I am not a claimant to prophethood, nor am I a denier of miracles, angels, Lailat-ul-Qadr, etc. On the other hand, I confess belief in all those matters which are included in the Islamic principles of faith, and, in accordance with the belief of Ahl Sunnat wal-Jama‘at, I believe in all those things which are established by the Quran and Hadith, and I believe that any claimant to prophethood and messengership after our leader and master Muhammad Mustafa, may peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him, the last of the messengers, is a liar and an unbeliever. It is my conviction that the Divine revelation which is granted to messengers began with Adam, the chosen one of God, and came to a close with the Messenger of God, Muhammad Mustafa, may peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him. I believe in Allah, and His angels, and His Books, and His Messengers, and the life after death, and I believe in the Book of Allah, the Great, the Holy Quran.” [4]

All these are the words of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad written by himself. Now you should ponder whether a man holding these beliefs is a Muslim or not.

Then this holy one devoted all his life, his property and his very self in the way of God the Most High. He did not earn any worldly wealth to be inherited by his offspring; had he done so, it would have shown that he was a worldly man who made fabrications against God in order to earn money. He applied all his strength in combating the unbelievers, and achieved victory against Christians and the Arya Samaj in debates.

How can it be right to declare such a man as a kafir? Just think about this, that the issue is merely that Jesus, son of Mary, peace be upon him, has died. All prophets have died — “We do not make distinction between any of his messengers”. Can any prophet be greater than the Head of the messengers, may peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him? He also died, so how can anyone else remain alive? Then the Holy Prophet himself said that a mujaddid shall arise at the head of each century. So why is this century devoid of this, when Islam is under severe attack in this age?

Now I submit before you what I have seen here [in Qadian]. I have seen that there is a large group of Ulama and learned men from distant places staying here merely for the service of the faith. This had been foretold by Hazrat Mirza sahib thirty years ago in his book Barahin Ahmadiyya, that God had said that people will come to him from afar, at a time when he was all alone and no one knew him. So this Jama‘at is engaged in the remembrance of Allah, day and night. They take the same Kalima, La ilaha ill-Allah, Muhammad-ur Rasulullah, give the azan five times a day in their mosques in the same way, and pray five times a day in the same way, as we do. According to the command of Allah and His Messenger, may peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him, they give zakat, those of them who have the means have performed the hajj, and they fast for thirty days in the month of Ramadan. They read the Holy Quran morning and evening, and have the same Quran as we do. No Quran has been printed in Qadian. It is the same Quran, I have checked carefully. They look after the destitute and the poor. This is a village but Allah has granted it an exalted status. Three newspapers are published here, and three magazines, in which the teachings of Islam are explained, the objections of the unbelievers are answered, and the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him, is eulogised. These people regard Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as a ghulam (servant) of that Holy Prophet. Thus there is a verse [of poetry by Hazrat Mirza sahib]:

The glory of Ahmad is beyond imagination and comprehension,
Whose ghulam, behold, is the Messiah of the time. [5]

The information which reached you is false. What I have stated here, Allah is Witness, is perfectly true. You can come and see for yourself. If you find my description wrong, you can punish me in any way you wish. You have regard for the fatwas (rulings) of the Ulama. Dear sir! those who gave the fatwa for the murder of Hazrat Imam Husain, may Allah be pleased with him, also called themselves Ulama. Hazrat Sayyid Abdul Qadir Jilani, may Allah have mercy on him, is a well-known spiritual guide. The Ulama applied the fatwa of unbelief against him. Hazrat Imam Azam [Mujaddid Alif Sani] was subjected to the labour of counting bricks. This is how these people behave.

Honourable father! It is with the greatest of respect I say to you that each one will enter his own grave, not the grave of another. For God’s sake, come and look for yourself and conduct your own investigation. What you have heard is entirely wrong. I have seen with my own eyes that these people are firmly adhering to Islam, and dedicated to it, and are devoted to Hazrat Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, may peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him. How can I call them kafir, and why should I separate myself from them?

These days the khalifa of Hazrat Mirza sahib is Maulvi Nur-ud-Din sahib, who is a great scholar and learned man, God-fearing, follower of the sunna of the Holy Prophet, and a protagonist of Islam. When he takes people into bai‘at, he makes them recite the Kalima Shahadat, exhorts them to follow the Holy Prophet, may peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him, and to study the Holy Quran and Hadith, and takes from them the promise to do this. He makes it incumbent to obey parents. Even if my life were to be sacrificed in obedience to you, it would be a means of salvation for me. Please rest assured that I follow the commadments of Allah and His Messenger. You must read this letter two or three times. Salam with respect.

References in the translation

[1] Siraj Munir, poem in letter addressed to Khwaja Ghulam Farid of Chachran. Ruhani Khaza’in, v. 12, p. 95–96.

[2] Durri Sameen, Persian with Urdu translation, compiled by Dr Mir Muhammad Ismail, p. 145.

[3] Izala Auham, p. 137. Ruhani Khaza’in, v. 3, p. 169–170.

[4] Statement issued in Delhi, 2 October 1891. Majmu‘a Ishtiharat, 1986 edition, vol. 1, p. 230-231.

[5] Haqiqat-ul-Wahy, p. 274, footnote. Ruhani Khaza’in, v. 22, p. 286.

Urdu text of the letter from Badr, 6 April 1911 (pages 10 to 11)