Hadrat Musleh Mau`ūd^ra -
“Filled with Secular & Spiritual Knowledge”

Hadrat Mirzā Nāsir Ahmad Khalīfatul Masīh III^rh

On December 21, 1965, Hadrat Khalīfatul Masīh III^rh delivered a speech at the occasion of the Jalsa Sālāna Rabwah. A portion of this speech was related to the magnificent achievements of Hadrat Musleh Mau`ūd^ra. It is being reproduced

here for the benefit of the readers.  The original Urdu text can be found in Khutbāt Nāsir Vol. 1, pg. 52-64. It was originally rendered into English by Belal Khalid and has been revised by the Ahmadīyya Gazette Canada team.

In this prophecy, the second point we are told regarding the Promised Reformer is that, “he will be filled with secular and spiritual knowledge,” this is so that, “the superiority of Islām and the status of Allāh’s Word may be manifested to people,” and that “those who are desirous of life be saved from the clutches of death and those who are buried in the graves can come out.”

Thousands among us have ourselves witnessed that on account of [Hadrat Khalīfatul Masīh II’s] true obedience to the Holy Qur’ān and the perfect love and devotion for this Holy Scripture, Allāh, the Exalted, the Fountainhead of all bounties, granted a divine light to this pure being’s vision and understanding. [Through this divine light] wonderful and extraordinary subtle points of wisdom hidden in the word of God and the Holy Book [began to] shower upon him like heavy rain. [Our] loving God, through his Rahmāniyyat, placed such blessing in his thoughts and vision that eternal truths started being disclosed to him. And so, all the knowledge, wisdom, deep insight, realities, subtle points, proofs, and arguments that he came up with and which he expressed in Tafsīr Kabīr and other books are of such a perfect order, and without a doubt, extraordinary in their nature and status that it is impossible for any other to counter them. This is because the miracle of his extraordinary Tafsīr was not due to his personal abilities; rather he wrote it due to [divinely bestowed] understanding of the Unseen. [He wrote it] with the support of the Independent and Holy God. These miracles prove that he was a true reflection of the Messiah of Muhammad^sa in terms of his high status, beauty and character. Also, according to the glad-tidings mentioned in the prophecy, he surpassed his contemporaries in expressing religious and secular knowledge to the extent that upon listening to his lectures and studying his books, [all, whether an] insider or outsider, were forced to admit that the knowledge and intricate meanings described by him were from a different world, not having even remote relation to any worldly education or training. [His explanations] were characterized with distinct proof of the divine support.

In order to prove the excellence of his secular and spiritual knowledge bestowed upon him by the special will of God Almighty, and to show the dignity of Islām, the status of the word of God, and establish the powers given to him, Hadrat Musleh Mau`ūd^ra gave multiple challenges to the world but there was no one who dared to face him. In 1917, he^ra challenged the world in the following words:

“After [the passing away of] Hadrat Masih Mau`ūd, I challenge the entire world. If there is anyone who believes in the truth of his religion against Islām, then he should come forward and compete with me. I have concluded after extensive experience that Islām is the only living religion, and no other religion can contend with it. This is because God listens to our prayers and accepts them. He accepts [our prayers] while the means at our disposal are completely unfavorable. This is [in itself] is great indications of Islām being a living religion. If anyone has any doubt regarding this then he should come forward to test it himself, after all ‘Seeing is believing.’ All who are convinced that their religion is a living religion should come and provide proof of God’s relationship and love with them. If God [truly] loves them, then He would definitely help and support them in this competition... I challenge them to come to this competition to establish who is supported by God, and whose prayers are listened to by God. You people should bring forward your [representatives] for this competition. It is not that every individual person should come forward for this challenge saying, “I accept.” Only the representatives of different religions and sects should come forward. It is then that the world will know whose prayers are accepted by God. I make it my claim, that it will be my prayers that will be accepted. Alas, [I am] sorry to say that the leaders of different religions are afraid to face this challenge. If they venture out for this challenge, they will have such a crushing defeat that they would never again dare to come forward.” (Zinda Mazhab, Anwār Al-`Ulūm, Vol. 3 pg. 612-613)

In 1936 he^ra challenged the world saying:

“The Holy Qur’ān has a grandeur that no other book of this world has. If anyone claims that their religious book also enjoys the same distinction, then I challenge them to come before me. If he is a follower of the Vedas, I challenge him to come before me. If he is a follower of the Torah, I challenge him to come before me. [Or], if he is a follower of the Gospels, I challenge him to come before me and present any metaphor from the Holy Qur’ān which he and I agree to be a metaphor. Then, if I am unable to corroborate it from within the Holy Qur’ān itself then without question he should consider me a false in this claim. However, if I am successful, they will have to accept that in reality there is no other book in the world except the Holy Qur’ān that possesses this quality.” (Fadā’il-e-Qur’ān II, Anwār Al-`Ulūm, Vol. 14 pg. 408)

In 1938, he^ra said:

“It is not that only the Promised Messiah^as possessed this quality, rather he also passed it on to others. I, too, have been taught the meanings of the Holy Qur’ān because of my association with him. So that any person, whether he is a secular scholar or a follower of any religion, whatever objection he wishes he can raise, by the grace of Allāh, I will answer him from the Holy Qur’ān itself. I have repeatedly challenged the world to compete with me in writing a commentary of the Holy Qur’ān. Even though, I have not been divinely commissioned [as a prophet], still no one was prepared to accept this challenge. And if anyone happened to announce his acceptance, they set meaningless conditions to get out of it. For example, that the room should be closed and there should not be any other books nearby. But they did not think that if I were to copy my points from older books and commentaries then, they would also have those books to copy from too. Further, if I were to copy from other books, then by my very hands I would prove my failure, as my claim is that I would present new meanings. If I were to copy from older commentaries, it would be a source of embarrassment and humiliation for me. So I know all these are just their excuses, the fact is that no one dares to come forward.” (Tahqīq Haq kā Sahīh Tarīq, Anwār Al-`Ulūm, Vol. 13 pg. 410-411)

Then again, in March 1944 he^ra confronted the world with the following challenge:

“Allāh, the Exalted gifted me with the knowledge of the Holy Qur’ān through his angels and He created within me an aptitude similar to the one some have for finding keys to treasure. I have been given the keys to the knowledge of the Holy Qur’ān. There is no scholar who can come before me to whom I cannot establish the excellence of the Holy Qur’ān. [We are here] in Lahore, it is a city that has a university and many colleges have opened here. Many great scholars of different disciplines can be found here. I say to them all, any scholar of any discipline in the world should come before me. Any professor in the world should come before me. Any scientist in the world should come before me and criticize the Holy Qur’ān based on his field of expertise and see, that by the grace of Allāh, I can provide him with such a response that the world will acknowledge my refutation. I make it my claim that I will answer him from the very word of God. I will refute his objections by way of verses contained in the Holy Qur’ān.” (Miān hī Musleh Mau`ūd kī Pashghū’ī ka Misdāq Hūn, Anwār Al-`Ulūm, Vol. 18 pg. 667)

In December 1944 he^ra said:

“[I am] a person who never enjoyed good health even for a day, a person God himself kept alive, in order to fulfill His prophecies through him and to present the proof of Islām and Ahmadīyyat’s truthfulness before people. Further, I was that person who had no excellence in worldly disciplines, but by His grace He sent angels for my education, and taught me such meanings of the Holy Qur’ān which are beyond the realm of thought of any human. The wisdom bestowed upon me by God, and the spiritual fountain that has erupted in my bosom are not unreal or imaginary. Rather they are so definite and real that I challenge the entire world to compete with me. If there is anyone on the face of the earth who claims that God has taught him the Holy Qur’ān, then I am ever ready to compete with him. But I know, today, aside from myself, nobody on the face of the earth has been granted knowledge of the Holy Qur’ān by God Himself. God bestowed this knowledge of the Holy Qur’ān to me and in this age He has appointed me the teacher of the Holy Qur’ān for the entire world. God has brought me forth that I may spread the name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad^sa and the Holy Qur’ān to the corners of the world.   [Also so that], I may forever defeat all false religions that oppose Islām. The whole world can exert every effort and gather all its forces, Christian kings with their nations can come together, Europe and America can join forces, all the great wealthy nations of the world can unite and try to cause my failure in this cause. Even then, I swear by God, while facing me they will face failure. And God will destroy all their plans, machinations, and schemes against my prayers and plans. God will, through me, my disciples or my followers establish the respect of Islām in the world in order to establish the truthfulness of this prophecy about the respect of the Holy Prophet Muhammad^sa. God will not let the world be until Islām is again established with its full grandeur and until the Holy Prophet^sa is again acknowledged as the only living prophet…

I present this truth before the world as openly as possible. This voice is the voice of He who is the God of the earth and the heavens. This will is the will of He who is the God of the earth and the heavens. This truth will not be deferred; it will not be deferred; it will not be deferred! Islām will be victorious over the world. Christianity will be left defeated. There is no power that can save Christianity from my attack. God will conquer it through my hands. It will be destroyed in my lifetime in such a way that it would never be able to raise its head again, else a tree will grow from the seed sown by my hands that will see Christianity withering away like a dry bush and the flag of Islām and Ahmadīyyat will be seen waving at the greatest heights in all the four comers of the world.” (Al-Mau`ūd, Anwār Al-`Ulūm, Vol. 18 pg. 646-648)

He^ra then said:

“Allāh, the Exalted’s attribute of being All-Knowing has manifested through me with such grandeur and majesty that I cannot find its parallel among the other caliphs.

I am the one who was referred to as being ‘born yesterday.’ I was the one who was called foolish and unlearned. Yet, after I took over the office of Khilāfat, Allāh, the Exalted opened Qur’ānic secrets to me in such abundance that the Islāmic world has no choice but to read and benefit from my books until the Judgment Day. Which Islāmic issue is there that Allāh, the Exalted, has not disclosed in complete detail through me? The issues of Nabūwat [prophethood], kufr [desbelief], Khilāfat, Taqdīr [predestination], insights on Qur’ānic matters, Islām’s economic system, Islāmic politics, and Islāmic society had not been extensively written on in the last 1300 years. God enabled me to carry out this service for the religion, and He unveiled these intricate matters about the Holy Qur’ān through me, which today are being copied by all whether friends or foes. They may curse me a million times, they may malign me, but any person who wants to spread the message of Islām will be indebted to me and will never be able to escape my benefactions. Even if he is a Paigāmī, or an Egyptian, whenever his descendants decide to serve Islām, they will be forced to read my books and derive benefit from them. In fact, I can say without being boastful, that through me more material has been collected and is still being collected as compared to any previous Khulāfa’. And so they may slander me or curse me, but if any knowledge of the Holy Qur’ān falls in their laps it will be by way of me. The world will then have to say to them, “O fool! All that you have filled your lap with, you have taken from him! How dare you oppose him!” (Khilāfat-e-Rāshida, Anwār Al-`Ulūm Vol. 15, pg. 287-288)

Allāh, the Exalted said, “He will be filled with worldly and spiritual knowledge.” With regards to this I had gathered lots of details, but at this time, for the purpose [of explaining this prophecy], I can only present a brief sketch [of his achievements.]

One of the books in this regard is Tafsīr Kabīr which is such a wonderful commentary that any person who has done a careful study of any portion of it will be forced to acknowledge that if any godly person would have published a portion of this book, he would have been ranked among the holiest people of the world. But besides this, he wrote many other books about the Holy Qur’ān. According to my estimate, Hudūr^ra wrote at least 8,000 to 10,000 pages of commentary on just the Holy Qur’ān, the eleven volumes* of Tafsīr Kabīr being included.

Hudūr^ra wrote:

• 10 books and leaflets were on doctrine.
• 31 books, magazines and lectures were written on spirituality, Islāmic Morals and Islāmic beliefs.
• 13 books and leaflets were written on the life and the character of the Holy Prophet^sa.
• 4 books and leaflets were on history.
• 3 books and leaflets were written on Islāmic Jurisprudence
• 25 books and leaflets were written on political affairs before the division of India and Pakistan.
• 9 books and leaflets were written on political affairs after the division of India and Pakistan.
• 15 books and leaflets were written on the political affairs of Kashmir.
• 99 books and leaflets on various issues and programs related to Ahmadīyyat.

In total these add up to a collection of 225 books and leaflets. As was mentioned in the prophecy, “he will be filled with worldly and spiritual knowledge,” one cursory look at these books is enough to convince us that they are filled with worldly as well as spiritual wisdom. What is most pleasing is that whenever he wrote a book or a leaflet, all acknowledged that it is not possible to improve upon his writing. Whenever he took the lead in politics, or gave advice in this regard, his greatest foes acknowledged his par excellence. There are innumerable details about the prophecy of his worldly and spiritual wisdom, but I am unable to touch upon even one thousandth part of it. So with this brief overview I end this portion of the prophecy.

*Initially Tafsīr Kabīr was published in 11 volumes, since then it has been printed in 10 volumes and 5 volumes.