The Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) states regarding the prophecy of the Promised Son:
“…. Rejoice, therefore, that a handsome and pure boy will be bestowed on you; you will receive an unblemished youth who will be of your seed and will be of your progeny. A handsome and pure boy is coming as your guest. His name is Emmanuel and also Bashir. He has been invested with a spirit of holiness, and he is free from all impurity. He is the light of Allah. Blessed is he who comes from heaven. He will be accompanied by grace which shall arrive with him. He will be characterized with grandeur, greatness and wealth. He will come into the world and will heal many of their disorders through his Messianic qualities and through the blessings of the spirit of holiness. He is the Word of Allah for Allah’s mercy and honor have equipped him with the Word of Majesty. He will be extremely intelligent and perceptive and will be meek of heart and will be filled with secular and spiritual knowledge.”
It was the 12th of January 1889, when two blessed incidents occurred. The ten conditions of Bai’at were implemented and the Promised Son was born. He was named Bashir-ud-Deen Mahmood Ahmad. The Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) spent 40 days in Hoshiarpur in complete seclusion, and as he was praying to God he received a revelation about this son. One of the prophecies of this glad tiding of this son was that he would live a long life, however, whilst describing the youth of Hazrat Musleh Maud (May Allah be pleased with him), Huzoor (may Allah be pleased with him) himself states that when he was in his youth his health was quite poor, to the point that at times it seemed as if he was wavering between life and death. It was thought that a child with such health could not live a long life. Furthermore, he had an ailment of the eyes, to the extent that he was practically unable to see out of one of them. He was also diagnosed with various other ailments and illnesses. He struggled with his studies, and his teachers would complain to his father, the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him), about his poor performance. There seemed to be a lack of hope that Mahmood would not be able to survive for that long but it was solely due to the Grace and blessings of Allah the Almighty who granted him the ability to live a full life.
In the Friday Sermon of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V (may Allah be his helper) delivered on February 18th 2022, Huzoor (may Allah be his helper) stated that Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Deen Mahmood Ahmad (may Allah be pleased with him) presented an example of how God Himself bestowed knowledge upon him. Once, when he was young, he had a dream in which he heard the ringing of a loud bell. He then saw a frame forming, and within the frame there was a picture. The picture began moving, and then the image came out of the frame in the form of a person, who claimed to be an angel of God. He said that he had been sent to teach him the meanings of Surah al-Fatihah, the opening chapter of the Holy Qur’an. Thus, he began teaching until the verse ‘Thee alone do we implore for help’ came. The angel then said that up until then, all the commentators had written their commentaries only up to that verse. Then he proceeded to teach Hazrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) the commentary of the entire chapter. This signified that Hazrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) was bestowed with true knowledge of the Holy Qur’an. Thus, Hazrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) made an open challenge to the world that no one could challenge his knowledge of the Holy Qur’an. This bore true, as no one was able to accept this challenge.
Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Deen Mahmood Ahmad Sahib (may Allah be pleased with him) states:
“We once created an association to enable its members to become good speakers and debaters, and the best speakers were awarded prizes. Whenever I delivered a speech, I would always be cross-examined and criticized by Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira. This practice continued for some time. My mind deceived me as I began to believe that Maulvi sahib was too harsh with me. Hence, I wrote an article for a school fellow who was a novice speaker and gave it to him to read out. When he had finished reading it, Hazrat Maulvi sahib was full of praise for him. Upon this my feelings that Maulvi sahib was strict with me were reinforced.” (Fazl-e-Umar, p. 56)
For an ordinary person, it takes them quite some time to discover the existence of God and they are in fact convinced about His existence after months, years or even a whole lifetime. However, the example of Hazrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) is quite extraordinary as he came to the ultimate realization of God’s existence at such a young age. In 1900, when Hazrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) was 11 years old, he began wondering whether there was a God and why he believed in Him. He said that even at that age, he pondered a great deal, and eventually came to the certainty that God truly exists. He was overjoyed at this realization and prayed that he may never doubt God’s existence. It was at that same age, that Hazrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) wore a cloak of the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) and prayed profusely. Later, when pondering over the truth of Ahmadiyyat, he thought that if God exists, then the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is true. If the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is true, then so too is the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him). Thus, if the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) is true, then Ahmadiyyat must be true as well. One night, he was looking at the stars and thought what is there beyond the stars? He came to the realisation that there could be more stars. He kept asking what would be beyond that, then he came to the same realization that if something like stars can seem to be never-ending, then surely God is Limitless. Thus, this was yet another example of how this child who did not complete a formal education, was filled with such intricate thoughts and realisations, as a result of the knowledge bestowed upon him by God Himself.
From a young age, Hazrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) knew the importance of religion and prayers. Once, a very important football match was being played between Talimul Islam School Qadian and Khalsa Collegiate. Khalsa Collegiate was a very strong team and the result was almost certain. By 15-20 minutes in the second half, no team had scored any goal. The tensions were high and the audience was also feeling the pressure of the importance of the game. At the climax of the match when other players were encouraging each other with different slogans, Hazrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him), who was also playing, prayed to God “ghairul maghdubi ‘alaihim”, that is, [guide us along the path of those who] have not incurred Thy displeasure (Surah al-Fatihah, 1:7). By God’s Grace, Talimul Islam School scored the winning goal. The second the goal was scored, all the players no matter where they were standing and whatever direction they were facing collectively fell into prostration while invoking the words Allaho Akbar! This victory strengthened the faith of the boys and their belief in the acceptance of prayers (Al-Hakam, March 22, 1908).
Hazrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) was only 19 years old when the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) passed away. The members of the Jama`at were very worried about what would happen now. What is the future of the Jama’at? At this crucial time of history, he stepped forward and stood beside the bed of the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) and said, “O Allah! I promise You that I will continue the mission of the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) even if all the members leave the Jama’at and this entire world stands against me.” Later, Huzoor (may Allah be pleased with him) mentioned that there are different phases in one’s life, but at the time of making this pledge, I could feel that my soul and entire body were behind this commitment. I could feel that some unknown power was assuring me of His support (Al-Fazl, June 21, 1944).
My dear brothers, there are countless great accomplishments and inspiring incidents that describe the life and character of Hazrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) as a young boy and indeed he was a role model for the youth and the youth yet to come. We can learn so much from his life and apply it to our own lives. His early life, his time as a Khalifa and his character are all golden examples for us to follow and we should try and adapt these qualities and act upon them. In the end, I hope and pray that may God the Almighty enable all of us to act upon the teachings of our beloved Khalifa Hazrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him).
I end my article with the words of the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him). He writes:
بشارت دی کہ اک بیٹا ہے تیرا
جو ہوگا ایک دن محبوب میرا
کروں گا دور اس مہ سے اندھیرا
دکھاؤں گا کہ اک عالم کو پھیرا
بشارت کیا ہے اک دل کی غڈا دی
فسبحان الذی اخزیٰ الاعادی
Thou gave glad tidings that, ‘There is a son of yours
Who shall one day become a beloved of Mine.
I shall remove all darkness from that moon!
And I shall show that he transformed the world!
What a tiding! Thou gave nourishment for the heart,
Holy is He Who has confounded my foes.”
