Disputatious nature of the Ghaznavis
Maulvi Abdullah Ghaznavi, a resident of Amritsar, was a very right- eous and God-fearing person. He had settled in Amritsar after being exiled as a result of the machinations of the local clerics from his homeland of Ghazni (Afghanistan). He once saw in a vision that a light had descended in Qadian but that his offspring had remained bereft of the light. This vision was previously related in Chapters 116 The Measure of a Virtuous Person (Volume 1) and Chapter 5 Arbain (Volume 2). God’s words are always true, and eventstranspired accordingly.
Maulvi Abdullah Ghaznavi was a godly person. Hazrat Mirza had once seen him in a dream in the likeness of the Holy Prophet and this was a reflection of his life lived in perfect obedience to the tradition of the Holy Prophet and the fact that Maulvi AbdullahGhaznavi had become self-effaced in Prophet Muhammad to achieve a spiritual status known as fana fil Rasul.
By the time, Hazrat Mirza claimed to be a Reformer (mujaddid) and the Promised Messiah, Maulvi Abdullah Ghaznavi had already passed away.
The people in the vanguard of those who opposed this claim turned out to be none other than the descendants of Maulvi Abdullah Ghaznavi! This is truly an example that should serve as a cautionary tale for everyone. With a virtuous father like Maulvi Abdullah Ghaznavi, the children turn out to be bitter enemies of the truth. It can be reasoned from this that, no matter how pious the father might be, the offspring are responsible for their own deeds. A father’s piety may possibly result in the children being well off from the worldly perspective.
But spirituality is a blessing from God, and depends upon the piety and actions of the offspring themselves. A father’s piety counts for nothing. In summary, Maulvi Abdul Jabbar Ghaznavi and Maulvi Abdul Haq Ghaznavi, the sons of MaulviAbdullah Ghaznavi, and others of their kith and kin took it upon themselves to oppose Hazrat Mirza day and night.Predating this animosity, Maulana Nur-ud-Din had married his daughter to Maulvi Abdul Wahid Ghaznavi, a member of this family, and the progeny from this marriage included Maulvi Ismail Ghaznavi and others.
Although Maulana Nur-ud-Din’s daughter had passed away, yet his son-in- law, Maulvi Abdul Wahid Ghaznavi, would occasionally come to Qadian to visit Maulana Nur-ud-Din.On one such visit, Maulana Nur-ud-Din suggest- ed that they call on Hazrat Mirza. At first, Maulvi Abdul Wahid Ghaznavi begged to be excused, but at Maulana Nur-ud-Din’s insistence, he acqui- esced and accompanied him to the mosque for the meeting.
When Hazrat Mirza came and sat down in the mosque and tried to con- verse with Maulvi Abdul Wahid Ghaznavi, he did not respond at all but kept on murmuring something hurriedly under his breath. Maulana Nur-ud-Din was greatly perplexed by this behavior.
When the meeting ended, he asked Maulvi Abdul Wahid Ghaznavi what he had been murmuring during the meeting, and was told that it was the first ten verses of the Chapter The Cave (Surah Al-Kahf) of the Holy Quran. The reference in this was to a saying ofProphet Muhammad that whoever reads the first and last ten verses of Surah Al-Kahf will be protected from the influence of the Antichrist (Dajjal). In other words, Maulvi Abdul Wahid Ghaznavi perceived Hazrat Mirza to be the Antichrist and was repeating the first ten verses of Surah Al-Kahf to be saved from his influence. When Hazrat Mirza later heard this explanation, he laughed heartily, but Maulana Nur-ud-Din was greatly embarrassed by his son-in-law’s behavior.
The rationale for mentioning this incident here is that it typifies the mentality of the Ghaznavi clan in Amritsar. Their sole objective in life was to oppose, contradict and hurl abuses at Hazrat Mirza and they worked assid- uously at this task day and night. Maulvi Abdul Haq Ghaznavi in particular exceeded all others in his opposition and enmity. He was the one who had a prayer duel(mubahalah) with Hazrat Mirza in the Eidgah in Amritsar.
In this prayer duel, however, Hazrat Mirza made no malediction againstMaulvi Abdul Haq Ghaznavi but instead supplicated only against himself as follows: If I am a liar and fabricator, then may God disgrace me and make me perish, but if I am truthful, then may God assist me and make my work prosper. In the period after the prayer duel, Allah granted such spectacular success to Hazrat Mirza’s mission that Maulvi Abdul Haq Ghaznavi could only look on and be consumed with envy. This anguishing torment was enough of a pun- ishment for him. From time to time, his envy and anger would burst out in the form of abusive tirades against Hazrat Mirza.
Maulvi Abdul Haq Ghaznavi’s proclamation
In continuation of this animosity, Maulvi Abdul Haq Ghaznavi published a scurrilous and abusive proclamation in which he launched two kinds of attacks on Hazrat Mirza. First, he criticized some of Hazrat Mirza’s prophecies, and tried to discredit theseshining signs from God by advancing some absurd and illogical arguments. Second, he criticized the proposal made by Hazrat Mirza to his opposing clerics and doctors of religion to distinguish between truth and falsehood through a contest of prayer acceptance. Hazrat Mirza had proposed this contest on the basis of revelation; supplica- tions would be made for sick people and the result would showclearly which party was closer to God and which party’s prayers were accepted. Maulvi Abdul Haq Ghaznavi had termed this proposal impractical and had written that it was not possible to gather all the clerics of Punjab and India in one place and had also raised theissue of who was to pay for their expenses?
Publication of the Book Tuhfa-e-Ghaznaviyya
In response to this proclamation, Hazrat Mirza composed a book titled Tuhfa-e-Ghaznaviyya (A Gift for the Ghaznavis) which was published on October 3, 1902. He answered all the objections very satisfactorily. Maulvi Abdul Haq Ghaznavi’s criticism of Hazrat Mirza’s prophecies was not new, and he had just reiterated the objections repeatedly made by the opponents. Hazrat Mirza had answered them several times over. Nevertheless, Hazrat Mirza answered those objections once again with great clarity in this bookTuhfa-e-Ghaznaviyya and exposed the lies of this particular objector.
Replying to the objection concerning the impracticality of gathering the scholars of the nation in a city like Lahore or Batala, Hazrat Mirza wrote: When you declare me to be the Antichrist (Dajjal), and state that the thousands of people who have joined my party are disbelievers and apostates, then is it not obligatory for the religious scholars to gather together in one place to devise a strategy to ward off the tribulations of the Antichrist, and to save from apostasy the thousands of Muslims who are becoming apostates?
Daily, they (the religious scholars) consume thousands of rupees donated by the public; in return, during this era of widespread apostatizing, can they not even do this much to gather together in one place for a decisive judgment between truth and falsehood and through thepower of their supplications and holy spirits to annihilate the falsehood. Day and night, they call out for jihad.
What can be a greater jihad than to remove this tribulation of the Antichrist? How amazing that the Antichrist is calling them to participate in a contest of theacceptance of prayer and these beloved and dear ones of God cannot pick up the courage to enter the field of contest.
This shows that they have mischief in their hearts, weakness in their faith, and are not convinced of their own truthfulness. If they do not have travel money, let them bring a certifi- cate from a magnate in their town that they are indeed indigent and I will give them money from my own pocket for a journey of about four hundred miles.
In short, Tuhfa-e-Ghaznaviyya provided conclusive evidence against the fabrications of the opposing Ghaznavis and their like-minded clerics. The vision of their revered patriarch Maulvi Abdullah Ghaznavi indeed proved true and his progeny remained deprived of the light that had alighted in Qadian. The Ghaznavis could do nothing in response to the book except to hurl more abuse at Hazrat Mirza. No one picked up the courage to enter the contest of the acceptance of prayers. They knew their own selves only too well, and also knew the impoverished nature of their relationships with God, so how could they have picked up the courage?
The Great Reformer 