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Friday 2 October 2020 | AL HAKAM
Responding to Allegations
Did the Promised Messiah ever claim that Allah taught him 40,000 Arabic words in a single night? The opponents of the Promised Messiahas allege that neither did the founder of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat mention anywhere that he was taught 40,000 root words of Arabic in one night by God the Almighty, nor did his companions, who witnessed this miracle, narrate this. This is an utterly baseless allegation, which has only been raised out of envy. If the opponents had removed the covers of prejudice from their eyes, they could have easily discovered after little research that not only did the Promised Messiahas mention the said miracle in his sayings and writings, but his companions also highlighted it on countless occasions. The Promised Messiahas states: ّ ، مع قلۃ جہدی وقصور طلبی،إن ٌکمالی فی اللسان العربی ُ فہل،ظہر علی الناس علمی ؤادبی ِ لی،آیۃ واضحۃ من ربی ُ ّ ُ ٰ المخالفین؟ وإنی مع ذلک ًع ِلمت ِمن ُمعا ِرض فی جموع ُ ً ُ ّ ؤاعطیت بسطۃ کاملۃ،ٔاربعین ٔالفا من اللغات العربیۃ ّ مع اعتلالی فی ٔاکثر الٔاوقات وقلۃ،فی العلوم الٔادبیۃ . وھذا فضل ربی،الفترات “My proficiency in Arabic, despite a lack of effort and research, is a sign from God Almighty, so that my intellect and literary prowess becomes manifest to people. Thus, can anyone from among the opponents object to it? Moreover, I have been taught 40,000 words of the Arabic language. Despite the fact that I am sick most of the time and I enjoy very few days of health, I have been given vast and complete knowledge in the literary sciences and this has happened only through the blessings of my God.” (Anjam-e-Atham, Ruhani Khazain, Vol. 11, p. 234) At another place, the Promised Messiahas wrote: “I have been given the sign of eloquence and mastery in Arabic as a reflection of the Quranic miracle of eloquence and no one can challenge me in this.” (The Need for the Imam, p. 42 [English translation of Zarurat-ul-Imam]) Consequently, the Promised Messiahas
wrote about 20 books in Arabic, which are masterpieces of prose and poetry. No one, either in the life of the Promised Messiahas or after his death, had the audacity to come up with better Arabic rhetoric. In this way, Allah the Almighty substantiated the claim of the Promised Messiahas about the said miracle and silenced his opponents. The Promised Messiahas was taught Arabic by God Almighty despite being a non-Arab. Thereafter, he repeatedly challenged his opponents to hold a contest of Arabic writing so that they could witness the miracle of God with their own eyes. Moreover, he frequently expressed in his gatherings about the time period in which he was blessed with the Arabic knowledge and taught 40,000 words by God Almighty. An article of one of his close companions, Hazrat Maulvi Abdul Karim Sahibra Sialkoti, was published in Al Hakam on 3 March 1901. In it, he writes: “The motivation for writing in Arabic came from me. God Almighty inspired my soul in the first place that this heavenly blessing should also be presented to the Arabs in Arabic vessels. Upon this stimulation, he [the Promised Messiahas] first wrote the [Arabic book], Al-Tabligh, which is part of Aina-e-Kamalat-e-Islam. Only my heart fully knows the situation, which I observed from his reservation and expression of wonder that came upon him at my request. He said with sheer innocence and unpretentious simplicity and straightforwardness, ‘It is a very good idea, but this work is very delicate. It is beyond my power and ability.’ Then after some thought, he said, ‘Alright, I will first prepare a draft in Urdu, then you (this humble one), me and Maulvi Sahib (Maulvi Nuruddin Sahib) will work together and translate it into Arabic.’ He was fully motivated at that time. During the night, the Omnipotent All-Wise God, Exalted be His name, sent a revelation
about it and told him to write in Arabic and also assured him that he had been blessed with the mastery of a vast part of the Arabic language and that the Ruh-ePak [Gabriel] would cause to flow Arabic words on his tongue and pen when he started to write.” (Al Hakam, 3 March 1901, p. 4) The Promised Messiahas did not deny the above fact in the remaining years of his lifetime and continued to announce that he was given the miracle of Arabic by Allah. Likewise, Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmadra, the son of the Promised Messiahas, who became his second Khalifa, wrote an article entitled, Mann Ansari Ilallah, which was published in the May 1911 issue of the monthly magazine, Tashheez-ul-Azhan, Qadian. Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra said: “The Promised Messiahas used to say that he was taught the root words of several thousand Arabic words in one night.” (Tashheez-ul-Azhan, May 1911, p. 165) This article was later published in the first volume of Anwar-ul-Ulum and this statement is present on its page 335. The Promised Messiahas passed away on 26 May 1908. Thousands of his Companionsra were alive when the above mentioned article was published in May 1911, but none of them disagreed with it. Certainly, they were already aware of that miracle and would have also heard it directly from the Promised Messiahas or from other companions. On the occasion of the Jalsa Salana Qadian 1921, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIra delivered a speech, Hasti Bari Ta‘ala (The existence of the Almighty God) and said: “The opponents called him [the Promised Messiahas] ignorant and said that he did not know a word of Arabic. However, he replied to them, ‘I know where the treasure of knowledge lies and
I will bring knowledge from there.’ Thus, he invoked God the Almighty’s attribute of Al-Aleem [All-Knowing] and he was granted matchless knowledge. He used to say, ‘Once, 40,000 origins of words [of Arabic] were inspired to me by God Almighty in one minute.’” (Anwar-ulUlum, Vol. 6, p. 435) Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra wrote a book, Dawat-ul-Amir in the year 1922, which was published in 1924. He mentioned the allegation of the opponents in it that the Promised Messiahas was not acquainted with Arabic and said: “When this objection was widely circulated and the opponent maulvis started raising it on various occasions, Allah the Almighty taught [the Promised Messiahas] 40,000 origins of Arabic words in one night and gave him this miracle that he should write books in Arabic and promised him that he would be given such an eloquence that people would not be able to compete with him.” (Anwar-ulUlum, Vol. 7, p. 502) The first volume of Tafsir-e-Kabir, comprising the commentary of Surah al-Baqarah, was published in 1948. In it, Hazrat Khalifatul Masihra states: “A fresh example of direct teaching of God Almighty is also found in this age and that is the [example of] the founder of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat, who did not acquire education in any regular madrasa. When he started writing books in Arabic by the command of God Almighty, he was once taught 40,000 words of Arabic in one night.” (Tafsir-e-Kabir, Vol. 1, p. 319) A commentary on Surah al-Muminun, was published in the sixth volume of Tafsir-e-Kabir on December 1957, wherein Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra wrote: “The Promised Messiahas has said, ‘I was taught 40,000 origins of Arabic words in one night by Allah the Almighty.’” (Tafsir-e-Kabir, Vol. 6, p. 142) Continued on next page >>
