The birth of Ummatun Naseer, and the revelation Ghasiq-Allah
Around midnight on the night between January 27 and January 28, 1903, Hazrat Mirza received a Divine revelation that saidGhasiq-Allah. The words mean that Allah was about to cast some darkness i.e., some difficulty or hardship was in the offing.
Just about that time, Hazrat Mirza’s wife was going into labor and since this revelation was in the form of a warning, Hazrat Mirza repaired to Maulana Muhammad Ahsan Amrohi’s room that was actually a part of Hazrat Mirza’s own house. He knocked on his door. Maulana Amrohi woke up bewildered and asked, “Who is it?”
Hazrat Mirza replied: “Ghulam Ahmad.”
By God, what humility! What a manifestation of the Quranic statement Bashar misslo kum (I am but a man like you)! What an example of sublime morals! Hazrat Mirza did not identify himself as the Promised Messiah or use any other title that would have reeked of even an iota of pride.
Instead, he replied very simply like a humble man: “It is I, Ghulam Ahmad.” Maulana Amrohi opened the door in a state of alarm and saw Hazrat Mirza standing with a lantern in his hand. Maulana Amrohi asked: “Sir! Is everything well?” Hazrat Mirza replied: “Yes; I have just received a revelation Ghasiq-Allah. My wife is in labor and before this, I saw in a vision that my wife was saying to me that if she were to die, she wanted me to bury her with my own hands. Now I have received this ominous revelation. I fear that it may portend danger to the life of the mother or the child. So I came to request you to supplicate that Allah, the Most High, may alter this destiny. I too am supplicating.”
Maulana Amrohi was amazed by Hazrat Mirza’s humility.
By God, here was a man who was a beloved of Allah, the Reformer (mujaddid) of the era, the spiritual leader of the Muslims, the Promised Messiah, the Promised Mahdi (rightly-guided one) and one whose prayers are accepted by God. He was all of this but such was his humility that in the middle of the night he knocked on the door of a disciple and said: “I have received an ominous rev- elation. I am supplicating and you too please supplicate.”
This clearly indicates that Hazrat Mirza’s humbleness put the thought in his mind that perhaps Allah may accept Maulana Amrohi’s supplication, or perhaps that there was a greater hope of the supplication being accepted by Allah if both of them prayed, instead of just one.
Why did Hazrat Mirza not deem his own prayer as adequate? The reason was that he did not harbor any haughtinessand egotism in his character. He regarded himself as an ordi- nary human and an extremely humble man in the eyes of God.
This is the real meaning of the term Bashar misslo kum (I am but a man like you)! This is the zenith of man’s spiritual elevation and the pinnacle of his excellence when he considers himself extremely lowly and abased before Allah and there is no vestige of self-importance within him.
Can a hereditary religious leader (Pir) who sits pretending to be wrapped in an aura of divinity ever per- form such an act, and request a disciple to supplicate? And beyond that would a Pir go to a disciple’s room in the middle of the night and knock on his door for this purpose? If the Pir had some humility, the maximum he would have done would have been to send a servant to summon the disciple to his presence. His ego would never have permitted him to go lantern in hand to request the disciple to supplicate. This is thework of only those who have totally effaced their ego.
And then what a strong faith he had in the truth of the revelation, and how fearful he was of its intent. Could a pretender possibly be so unnerved by a revelation he concocts that he goes and knocks on his disciple’s door in the middle of the night and says: “Supplicate to God that this destiny may be forestalled. I am supplicating; you too supplicate. It may be that God may accept your prayer.” An event like this sends a man of discretion into a state of ecstasy.
The final outcome of Hazrat Mirza’s and Maulana Amrohi’s supplica- tions was that Allah gave Hazrat Mirza’s wife a fresh lease of life, but the baby girl who was born died within a few months of birth, in accordance with the revelation Ghasiq-Allah. Evidently, the darkness that was destined to befall according to the Divine revelation manifested itself in this way.
Nawab Muhammad Ali Khan’s son regains health
A similarly noteworthy and insightful event took place in October 1904. Abdur Rahim, the younger son of Nawab Muhammad Ali Khan, became severely ill with typhoid fever. He was constantly in the grip of high fever that would not abate, resulting in deliriumand unconsciousness.
Maulana Nur-ud-Din narrates that he directed his utmost attention to this malady and tried hard to apply theentire body of his medical knowledge in an attempt to cure the boy’s sickness. Yet he could not see any cure in sight. Hazrat Mirza was requested daily to pray for Abdur Rahim, and this he would do dutifully. Then on October 25, 1904, an urgent request for prayer was made to him.
The young boy was critically ill and there appeared to be no hope for his survival. That night, during the Tahajjud prayer, Hazrat Mirza prayed for the young boywith special attention. The next morning, he related: “When I supplicated, I was informed by Allah that the boy’s death was aninevitable destiny. I was overwhelmed with grief and these words escaped my lips, ‘My Lord! If this is not the occasion forsupplication, then I would like to intercede on behalf of the boy, because surely there is scope for intercession at this point.’ At that veryinstant, the following was revealed to me:
Whatever is in the heavens, and whatever is in the earth, glorify Him. Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission.1
My body began to shiver at the import of this awe-inspiring revelation and I was intensely frightened and overawed that I had sought tointercede without Allah’s permission.
After a couple of minutes, it was revealed: ‘You have been given permission.’ In the following days, Abdur Rahim gradually regained health.”
Annexure 1
There is a difference between prayer and intercession. The differ- ence is that prayer is general. Every person, regardless of whether he is a sinner or saint, has the permission to petition God and there is nothing to stop him from doing so. Thus, there is no peculiarity or specialty to prayer. Intercession is a kind of prayer but it has a peculiarity. The peculiarity is that the person who seeks tointercede presents himself before God, and beseech- es God to forgive or grant health to the person for whom intercession is being sought,for his sake. In other words, the intercessor brings in his own dignity and Divine acceptance and his special relationship with Allah in making his request. This is why Islam does not permit intercession without God’s per- mission, as is stated in the Holy Quran: “Who is he that can intercede with Him, except by His permission (2:255).” Intercession without God’s permis- sion is disallowed because no matter how spiritually elevated a person may be, he does not have the authority to present himself in this manner before God and to request that such a person be forgiven or that such an affair be brought about. This is against the attribute of Allah that He is Ghaniun al alameen i.e., He does not stand in need of the entire creation. He is free from dependence on anything; He does not care for or need anybody. So the per- son who presents his own self and wants to get something done for his sake, is claiming the importance of his relationship with God. In fact, if the rela- tionship with God carries any significance it is for man; not for God. God is Samad i.e., all stand in need of God, while God does not stand in need of anyone. It is man who needs a relationship with God, and not the other wayaround. Therefore, intercession without God’s permission is disallowed in Islam.
Intercession with God’s permission is merely another form of for- giveness and an honor that God bestows on the intercessor. When God sees in His judgment, wisdom, justness and mercy that there is no harm in forgiv- ing a certain person, and that that person is worthy of forgiveness, then God grants permission to the one who is spiritually near to Him, that if he inter- cedes on behalf of theperson being judged then that person would be forgiven for the sake of the intercessor. It should be apparent that this type ofintercession is merely another form of Divine pardon and forgiveness in which God honors His chosen servants by pardoning or performing some other act of mercy for the intercessor’s sake. This is the only form of inter- cession that is permissible in Islam, and none other.So when in a state of agitation these words escaped Hazrat Mirza’s lips: “My Lord! If this is not the occasion for supplication, then I would like to intercede,” he was immediately admonished that this was against the eti- quette. Hazrat Mirza was mortified that he had acted with disrespect. When he sought God’s forgiveness, it was revealed to him that permission is nowgranted to intercede. Thus, permission was granted in order to make the intercession valid. The patient was rescued from a critical situation in which death had been destined. In other words, life was granted to a dead person.
Footnotes
- See Annexure 1 at the end of this chapter.
The Great Reformer 