False Prophecies of a False Prophet
Mirza Ghulam Qadiani's predictions on Abdullah Khan Atham
(All references are from Qadiani books)
To support his claim of being the Promised Messiah, Mirza Ghulam often
engaged in debates with little known Christians. In 1893, Mirza Ghulam
challenged Mr. Abdullah Khan Atham, a retired deputy commissioner and a
Christian, to a debate to prove the truthfulness of either religion. In his
challenge to Mr. Atham, Mirza Ghulam boasted:
"I am ready for this Holy War."
(Roohany Khazaen, Vol. 6, P. 65)
Mirza Ghulam Qadiani had earlier stated:
"I agree that if the signs of my truthfulness are not shown, I will admit
that I am not from God and will give up Islamic faith or will surrender half
of my wealth for propagation of Christianity."
(Roohany Khazaen, Vol. 6, P. 48-49)
"I swear upon God that God told me 'Whatever was given to the Messiah (Jesus)
has been given to you and you are the Promised Messiah'."
(Roohany Khazaen, Vol. 6, P. 49)
The debate between Mirza Ghulam and Mr. Atham commenced on May 22,
1893 and went on till June 5, 1893. Toward the end of the debate,
Christians brought one blind, one deaf, and one paralyzed individual to the
debate and challenged Mirza Ghulam to cure them as
Jesus(pbuh) had done! Naturally,
Mirza was not able to cure any of them.
(Roohany Khazaen, Vol. 6, P. 291)
Mirza Ghulam Qadiani offered such a weak argument against Mr. Atham
and was so badly humiliated that both Muslims and Christians were openly
admitting the failure of Mirza to prove the truthfulness of Islam.
(Roohany Khazaen, Vol. 9, P. 25) Several Qadianis were
even reported to have converted to Christianity, as the result of Mirza
Ghulam's loss.
(Roohany Khazaen, Vol. 9, P. 28, footnote)
Having been so badly defeated, Mirza Ghulam resorted to one of his old tricks.
On June 5, 1893, he announced that the night before he has received
a Grand Prophecy from
Allah(SWT).
He said:
"When I humbly entreated and implored God Almighty and prayed to Him to show
me the details of the matter, He indicated to me that the liar will die
within 15 months (before September 5, 1894), provided he does
not return to the truth (Islam); and he who is on the truth and
believes in true God, his honor will be restored and when this prophecy is
fulfilled some blind man will start seeing, paralyzed start walking, and
deaf start hearing. I admit that if this prophecy proves to be
False, I am prepared for every punishment. My face should
be blackened and I should be hanged. I swear by the Mighty
Allah that what I have said will happen. It must happen. It is
possible that the earth may be changed for another earth and the sky may
be replaced by another sky, but it is not possible for God's word to change
-- prepare for me a cross if my falsehood is exposed and curse me more than
the Satans and the evil persons are cursed."
(Roohany Khazaen, Vol. 6, P. 292-293;
Jang-i-Maqaddas, P. 188)
We need to keep in mind that Mr. Atham was already sixty six (66) years old,
at the time of this prophecy. During the next 10 months, several attempts
on Mr. Atham's life were made: someone fired a shot at him, a cobra was found
in his house, people tried to break the door to his bedroom,
etc. (Roohany Khazaen, Vol. 13, P. 163)
Following all these attempts on his life, Mr. Atham was given continuous
police protection and, to throw off the would be assassins, he changed
his residence several times. As the promised deadline drew closer,
Mirza Ghulam Qadiani and his followers grew more and more anxious. Mirza
even resorted to distributing candies among children, asking them to pray
for Atham's death (What manner of a prophet was he?)! On August 22,
1894, in a letter to one of his closest associates, Mirza Ghulam stated:
"Respected brother Rustam Ali,
Peace, God's mercy and blessing on you.
Your esteemed letter and card have reached me through the mail. Only
a few days are now left for the fulfillment of the grand prophecy. We
pray that God might save his servants from confusion and trial. The
person in question (Abdullah Atham) is currently in Ferozpur (a city in India)
and is still hale and healthy. May Allah save His weak servants from
distraction. Amen! Amen! I am fine. Please also ask Moulvi Sahib
to join us in our prayer (that Mr. Atham should die).
Salam; Ghulam Ahmad from Qadian."
(Maktubat-e-Ahmadiah, Vol. 5, No. 3, P. 128, by Yaqub Ali of
Qadian)
So much for Mr. Atham's attempt to try to live in hiding. Qadianis
were keeping track of his whereabouts; fortunately, Mr. Atham was under
24 hour police protection. Bashir Ahmad, a son and a very close supporter
of Mirza Ghulam, has recorded the following:
"Miyan Abdullah Sinnuari has reported to me that when only one day was left
for the expiration of the prophecy (September 4, 1894), the Promised Messiah
(Mirza Ghulam) summoned Miyan Hamdi Ali and I and ordered us to take a particular
number of beans and recite on them a particular chapter of the Holy Quran
so many times. I have forgotten the verse, but I remember it was a
short surah, probably as short as "Al-Fil". We spent the entire
night reciting the chapter and, after completing the assignment, we took
the beans to His Holiness (Mirza Ghulam). He lead us to the northern
part of Qadian and told us: 'I shall soon throw these beans in a deserted
well. When I throw these, do not look behind but turn back on your
heels and hasten back home.' He did so and we ran back home without
looking behind."
(Sirat-ul-Mahdi, Vol. I, P.159/178, by Bashir Ahmad Qadiani)
Yet, nothing happened! Mirza Ghulam had another prophecy:
God has told me that "he (Mr. Atham) will die soon; if not, then the sun
on the last day of the 15th month (September 5, 1894) will not set until
Atham dies."
(Reported in Al-Hakam Qadiani Newspaper, September 7, 1923)
Yaqub Ali Qadiani in his book titled the Life of the Promised Messiah
recounted:
"When the last day of the period appointed for Atham dawned, the faces of
the Qadianis were pale white and their hearts were perturbed. Some
of us had laid bets with the opponents on the death of Abdullah Atham. A
sense of dismay and depression prevailed...."
(Sirat-ul-Mehdi, P. 7)
The sun set and nothing, again! Mirza Ghulam gathered people in a mosque
and reassured them that nothing was lost. He prophecised that "The
sun will not rise and Atham will be dead." He ordered them to pray all
night asking for the death of Atham.(Raees-e-Qadian, Vol. 2, P.
172). That night voices were heard from every Qadiani house in town,
so that the "cries and wails reached such a pitch that even the opponents
felt afraid." (Sirat-ul-Mehdi, P. 7)
Yet, the sun rose and Mr. Atham had not died! Many Qadianis were agitated
by these failed prophecies, some even gave up on their faith. Mirza
Ghulam, once again, gathered his remaining supporters and gave them a sermon
on the meaning of tests and trials. Some accepted his explanation and
forgot the failure of the prophecies he had attributed to
Allah(SWT). On the other hand,
the Christians celebrated the failure of Mirza Ghulam in Amristar (a city
in India) and carried Mr. Atham around in a victory march. To them,
Mirza Ghulam's loss equated the loss of Islam. (Al-Hukam of Qadian,
September 7, 1923, by Rahim Buksh Qadiani)
In a last attempt to save face, Mirza Ghulam and some of his close associates
suggested that, since the prophecies had not come to pass, Mr. Atham must
have turned his back on Christianity and become a Muslim! (Roohany
Khazaen, Vol. 9, P. 2)
Apparently, this self-proclaimed Prophet did not think much of his own followers!
Did he expect his followers to forget that
Allah(SWT) will not go back on His
promise to his prophet? Did he even expect them to forget his own words:
"It is possible that heaven and earth may heavens might be shaken from their
place but the promise of God is unshakable."
(Jang-i-Muqaddas, P. 2)
In an announcement published in the newspaper Wadadar on September
15, 1894, Mr Atham declared:
"I invite your attention to the prophecy of Ghulam Ahmad about my death.
I inform you that, by the grace of God, I am safe and sound. I
have heard Ghulam Ahmad alleging that I have turned my back on Christianity.
I proclaim that this is a lie. I was a Christian and I ever remained
a Christian and I thank God that He made me a Christian..."
(Wafadar, Lahor, September 15, 1894 - not a Qadiani paper)
Muhammad Ali Khan, the son-in-law of Mirza Ghulam, in a letter to Mirza Ghulam
expressed his dismay and concern for the clear loss and failure of all the
prophecies:
"Respected Maulana, May God keep you safe!
Peace and Mercy of Allah on you.
Today, is the 7th of September, while the last day of the fulfillment of
the grand prophecy was the 5th of September. I shall not repeat the
words of the prophecy. I shall, however, mention the words of your
revelation - 'Now I promise before God that if my prophecy is proved to
be a false one and the liar does not die within the period of fifteen months
and is not plunged into Hell, I am prepared for my punishment By God,
it will so happen. The earth and the heavens might be shaken from their
place but the promise of God is unshakable.' Was this prophecy
fulfilled according to Mirza Sahib's description? No - Never.
Abdullah Atham is safe, sound, and alive and is not punished by dead
to be flung into Hell. I do not consider any other interpretation is
possible for this prophecy than what it clearly meant to be. It,
however, sounds very ugly that every prophecy is misunderstood and had to
be elaborately interpreted to be rightly understood. At the birth
of a child, for instance, it was named Bashir (harbinger of good tidings)
for good omen, and when it died, you said the matter was misunderstood. As
for the prophecy concerning Atham, it has given birth to the very master
piece of distortion and interpretation."
(Aina-e-Haq Numa, P. 100-101, Published by Yaqub Ali Qadiani)
Once more, let's review the failed prophecies which Mirza Ghulam attributed
to Allah(SWT), in regard to Mr.
Atham:
-
Mr. Atham will accept Islam;
-
Mirza Ghulam has been given all the capabilities given to
Jesus(pbuh);
-
Mr. Atham will die by September 5, 1894;
-
A blind man will start seeing, a paralyzed person will start walking, and
deaf individual will start hearing;
-
The sun on the last day of the 15th month (September 5, 1894) will not set
until Atham dies;
-
The sun will not rise and Atham will be dead.
It is unfortunate that Mirza Ghulam has already died. If he were alive
now in an Islamic state (not protected by British forces), Muslims would
have done as he suggested. They would have blackened his face and hung
him as he had requested.
Do you have any doubt that Mirza Ghulam Qadiani
was a grand fabricator?