Friday Sermon Summary 1st May 2026: ‘The Promised Messiah’s (as) Example of Truthfulness in All Circumstances’
Summary prepared by The Review of Religions
After reciting Tashahhud, Ta‘awwuz and Surah al-Fatihah, His Holiness, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (aba) said that he would present incidents from the life of the Promised Messiah, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as), regarding how he firmly stood with truthfulness in every facet, and how he used truthfulness to even challenge his opponents.
His Response to Being Called a Liar
His Holiness (aba) said that one of the biggest opponents of the Promised Messiah (as) was Maulvi Muhammad Hussain Batalvi, who had declared the Promised Messiah (as) to be a disbeliever and liar. The Promised Messiah (as) responded to him in such a manner that if one were to be just, they could never consider the Promised Messiah (as) to be untruthful. Once, Batalvi wrote a letter to the Promised Messiah (as) in which he declared the Promised Messiah (as) to be an opponent of Islam, a disbeliever and a liar. In response, the Promised Messiah (as) said:
‘If you cast a glance upon my life with the mindset of a seeker after truth, you will find conclusive evidence that Almighty God has always safeguarded me from the filth of falsehood to the point that sometimes in the British courts my life and honour were subjected to such perilous risk, no lawyer gave me any advice except lying. But Allah, glorified by His eminence, granted me the ability to disregard my life and honour for the sake of truth. I often suffered hefty losses in pecuniary suits merely for the sake of truth. And many a time, I deposed against the interests of my father and brother, simply out of the fear of Almighty God, but I did not abandon the truth. I have lived a lifetime in this village and also in Batala, but who can prove that a lie was ever spoken out of my mouth? So, when I have refrained from lying about people since the very beginning merely for the sake of Allah, and I have repeatedly sacrificed my life and property for the sake of truth, then why would I lie about God Almighty?’ (The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam, p. 332)
The Promised Messiah (as) further responded:
‘Shaikh Sahib! Anyone who is God-fearing and of pure birth would not, in the first place, dare accuse his brother of any transgression and disbelief without full investigation. But if he would make any such accusation, he would furnish such perfect proofs about it that would make the day dawn upon those looking on. So, if you possess both of these above-mentioned qualities, I adjure you in the name of the Powerful God who is the Lord of Glory—the invocation of whose oath elicited a considered reply even from the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him—to prove that I have these two types of evils in me that you think I possess; that firstly, I am hostile to the religion of Islam and am a kafir, and secondly that I am given to lying.
The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has said that: Most truthful indeed are the dreams of the one who is most truthful in all that he says. In this hadith, the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has appointed this as a sign of the truthful; that truth should be dominant in their dreams.
You have just made the claim that you believe in the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Thus, if you have not said this by way of hypocrisy, and you really truly believe in the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, knowing that the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him is true in his sayings, then come, let us examine each other on the basis of this standard, and see who is proven to be truthful and who is innately given to lying. Similarly, Allah, glorified be His eminence, says in the Holy Qur’an:
“For them are glad tidings in the present life.” (The Holy Qur’an, 10:65)
This means that, it is a special quality of the believers that, as compared with others, their dreams turn out to be true. You have also just claimed that you, too, believe in the Holy Qur’an. Very well! Let us also test from the perspective of the Noble Qur’an, which possesses the sign of a believer.
Both these examinations can be conducted as follows: A gathering can be held at Batala, Lahore, or Amritsar, to be attended by witnesses of the dreams of both parties, and then whoever between the two of us is proven to be most true in his dreams on the basis of conclusive and convincing evidence, his opponent shall right there and then be given to wear the ‘medal’ of the epithets kadhdhab [arch-liar], dajjal [deceiver], kafir [disbeliever], akfar [the greatest of disbelievers], and mal`un [the accursed], or whatever names are deemed appropriate. And if you are unable to prove the truthfulness of your past [dreams], I agree and allow you up to six months to publish in a few papers such dreams of yours which may embody news of the unseen. As for myself, I shall not only furnish proof [from my dreams] of the past but shall also, God willing, publish present dreams of mine against yours.
And just as you profess to have faith in the Qur’an and the Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, so do I believe with all my heart and soul in that beloved Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and in that beloved Book, the Noble Qur’an. Now these tests, therefore, would determine who is true and who is false in his claim.
In case I lose according to the test appointed by the Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and the Noble Qur’an, you would be the truthful one; and I, according to you, would be considered to be a kafir [disbeliever], a dajjal [deceiver], an infidel, satan, kadhdhab [the greatest liar], and a fabricator. Moreover, in that case, all your mischievous doubts would become true and justified; namely, that I defrauded the people through Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, cheated them of their money by holding out promises of acceptance of prayers, and lived on ill-gotten wealth. However, if the munificence of God Almighty, which accompanies the believers and the truly righteous, establishes my truthfulness, then tell me yourself whether all these epithets would apply to your claimed priestly pretentious stature, or whether there would still be a way of escape left for you.
You have caused me great pain and distress; I continued to exercise patience, but you did not show an iota of fear of that All-Powerful Being who is aware of your very essence. He has informed me by way of a prophecy regarding you and those of your bent of mind, that:
“I shall humiliate him who designs to humiliate you.”
So rest fully assured that the time is now close at hand when Almighty God will prove that you have lied in making all these accusations. He will send down upon you all those humiliating punishments that slanderers and liars face by way of disgrace and shame. You claim to profess belief in the Qur’an and the Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Thus, if you are true in this claim of yours, come into the battlefield for a test, so that Almighty God may Himself judge between you and me, and so that he who is a liar and a dajjal may be Disgraced.’ (The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam, pp. 335-338)
How to Test the Truthfulness of a Person
His Holiness (aba) further quoted the Promised Messiah (as) who writes:
‘There is another thing also with this by means of which the truthful ones can be tested, and which God Almighty Himself brings into existence. Namely, that sometimes a man is involved in such a calamity from which no way of escape or success can be seen by him except that he should tell a lie. It is at such a time that he is tested as to whether there is truth or falsehood in his nature, and whether at such a delicate time his tongue utters the word of truth or whether, fearing for his life, honour, and wealth, he starts uttering falsehood.
My humble self has had to face many such experiences, the details of which will only lengthen this account. However, I proceed to relate three such examples, and I do so with this objective: If you have ever had similar occasions to test your love of truth, I hereby adjure you in the name of Allah, His eminence be glorified, to publish them along with their proof, so that it might be known that you are not making an empty claim, and that even in the grip of trials and tribulations you have not violated the truth.
One of these is that after the death of my father, my brother, the late Mirza Ghulam Qadir and I were sued in the District Court by the joint proprietors of the Qadian estate at the instance of Mirza ‘Azam Baig of Lahore, for proprietary possession of the estate. I knew that these co-proprietors had apparently nothing to do with the ownership of the estate, for it had been lost to the family and had ceased to exist in the time of the Sikhs. In an effort to retrieve it along with other estates, my father had alone borne an expense and loss of approximately 8,000 rupees, which these people had not shared so much as a single penny. In the course of this litigation, on praying for the success of the suit, I had the revelation:
“I shall accept all your prayers but not in the matter of your collaterals.”
After this revelation, I invited my brother, along with all the men and women of the family, some of whom are still alive, to gather at a place, and I clearly explained to them not to defend the joint proprietors’ suit as it was against God’s will to do so, but they did not accept my suggestion and were ultimately unsuccessful. As for myself, I bore the loss of thousands of rupees with courage. All those who are now my enemies are witnesses to this. As all affairs of the estate were in the hands of my brother, I counselled him again and again, but he refused and ultimately bore the loss.
Another one of these incidents occurred as follows: Approximately fifteen or sixteen years ago, or perhaps a little more, my humble self dispatched an article for printing in a press owned by a Christian by the name of Rallia Ram, who was also a lawyer and lived in Amritsar. He was also the owner and editor of a newspaper. This article was in support of Islam and was a response to the Aryas. The article was sent in a postal packet open on both sides, and I also placed a letter in the packet along with the article. Because this letter contained statements in support of Islam and in refutation of other faiths and insisted that the article might be printed, the Christian [editor] became upset on account of religious differences. And quite by chance, he got this opportunity to make a hostile attack because the placing of such a separate letter in a postal packet was an offence under the law, which my humble self was not aware of at all. And such a crime was punishable under the postal laws with a fine of up to 500 rupees or imprisonment for up to six months. Accordingly, he became an informant and got the postal authorities to file a case against me.
Even before I received intimation of this case, Allah the Exalted showed me in a vision that Rallia Ram, the lawyer, had sent a serpent to me so that I might be bitten by it, but I fried the serpent as one fries a fish and sent it back to him. I know that this was an indication that the decision in that case, by virtue of the way it came about, might set a precedent that would prove helpful to lawyers [in such cases]. In short, I was summoned to the headquarters of the District of Gurdaspur for this crime and all the lawyers with whom I consulted regarding the case, advised that there was no other way than to employ falsehood and counselled that I should make a statement to the effect that I had not put the letter in the packet and that Rallia Ram himself might have put the letter in the packet. Moreover, the lawyers said to me by way of assurance that by giving such a statement, the case would be decided upon by witnesses and that I would be acquitted by producing two false witnesses. Other than this, the case was very difficult, and there was no hope of my deliverance, but I told all of them that I did not want to abandon truth under any circumstances, so let whatever happens, happen.
Thus, that very day, or the next, I was made to appear in the court of an English magistrate, and the Superintendent of Post Offices appeared as the complainant on behalf of the Government against me. The magistrate of the court proceeded to record my statement with his own hand and, before anything else, asked me this very question: ‘Did you put this letter in the packet and is this letter and this packet yours?’ I answered without any hesitation: ‘This is indeed my letter, and this is indeed my packet and I had dispatched this letter by placing it in the packet, but I did not put the letter in the packet with any ill-intent to cause loss of revenue to the Government. I did not consider the letter as being distinct and separate from the article enclosed in the packet, nor did the letter contain any personal matter.’ Immediately upon hearing this statement, Allah the Almighty inclined the heart of this magistrate in my favour.
My opponent, the Superintendent of Post Offices, created a great uproar and made very lengthy statements in English, which I could not follow except that each time the Superintendent made a point, the magistrate would reject it, saying: ‘No, no.’ Thus, finally, when the plaintiff Superintendent had concluded his submission and finished venting his anger, the magistrate wrote his order in a couple of lines and said to
me: ‘You may leave.’ Upon hearing this, I came out of the courtroom deeply grateful to my Real Benevolent Lord, who had bestowed victory upon me even in opposition to a European officer. And I know full well that God Almighty delivered me at that time from that misfortune on account of my adhering to the truth.
Before this case, I had also seen a dream that a man had stretched forth his hand to take away my cap, whereupon I said: ‘What are you up to?’ On this, he left the cap on my head and said, ‘That is all right, that is all right.’
Another one of these incidents transpired as follows: My son, Sultan Ahmad, brought an action against a Hindu for the demolition of a building which the latter had built on land belonging to our family. In the plaint, a fact had been inaccurately stated, and the proof of this rendered the action liable to dismissal, in which case not only Sultan Ahmad, but I as well, would have to suffer the loss of proprietary rights. The defendant, seizing the opportunity, cited me as a witness. I went to Batala and stayed at the residence of Babu Fateh Din, Sub-Postmaster, which was situated close to the Batala courts. The case was in the court of a Hindu judge whose name I no longer recall, but who was lame of one leg. Sultan Ahmad’s lawyer came to me and said, ‘The case is about to be called. What statement are you going to make?’ I said my statement would be in accordance with the facts and the truth, whereupon he said, ‘Then there is no need for you to go; I will go myself to withdraw the case.’ So, I ruined that case myself, with my own hands, merely for the sake of truth; I preferred truth to gain God’s pleasure and did not mind the material loss at all.
These last two examples are not without proof either; witnesses to the first are Shaikh Ali Ahmad, Lawyer, Gurdaspur, and Sardar Muhammad Hayat Khan, C.S.I. Moreover, the file must be preserved in the Gurdaspur District records. Witnesses to the second incident are Babu Fateh Din and the lawyer himself, whose name I do not remember at this time, and also the judge whom I have already mentioned and who has now perhaps been transferred to Ludhiana. The suit was brought about seven years ago. Also, I recall that Nabi Bakhsh, Patwari [Village Land Revenue Accountant] at Batala, was also a witness to what happened in this case.
Now, Hazrat Shaikh Sahib! If you also have any instance of a trial of this degree of seriousness, in which you had seen your life, honour, and property at risk in the event that you had spoken the truth, yet you stuck to the truth caring not for your property or life, I would beseech you in the name of Allah to come forward with that incident along with the full proof thereof. It is, however, my belief that most of the mullahs or maulawis of this age are just talk; they are ready to sell their faith for a single penny; for our Noble Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had declared the maulawis of this latter age as the worst of creation.
Moreover, the late Nawwab Siddiq Hasan Khan, whom even you believe to be a Mujaddid [Reformer], has acknowledged in Hijaj-ul-Kiramah that that latter age is this very period of time. Thus, to acknowledge the piety and righteousness of such maulawis without proof would mean falsifying the saying of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Therefore, let us have instances of your experience, but if you fail to present any, it will be established that you only possess a claim to piety, but no claim is worthy of acceptance without evaluation.
The state of your inner being is known only to God Almighty as to whether you ever soiled yourself with the filth of lies and fabrication, or it might be known to those who are acquainted with your affairs. The man who emerges as truthful at a time of trial and does not abandon the truth earns the seal of truthfulness. If you possess this seal, come forward and show it. Otherwise, fear God Almighty lest He may expose your flaws.’ (The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam, pp. 339-344)
His Holiness (aba) said that the Promised Messiah (as) always prioritised the truth and never went anywhere near falsehood. He enjoined the same principles on his followers. Indeed, it is included in the conditions of pledging allegiance to the Promised Messiah (as) that one will abhor falsehood and hold fast to truthfulness. His Holiness (aba) prayed that may Allah enable everyone to make such truthfulness a hallmark of their character.
