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The Truth About the Alleged Denial of Jehad

he Holy Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama‘at conducted such a momentous Jehad by pen, against Christianity and in support of the religion of truth brought by his lord and master, Muhammad, the chosen one^sa, the like of which is not seen anywhere else.

He was such a General as was ever destined to be victorious; for whose fate, on every front, ascendency was pre-ordained, causing his friends and foes alike to exclaim their warm accolades.

Some candid admissions of others concerning this momentous Jehad by him are presented below:

Hadhrat Khwaja Ghulam Fareed, Sajjadah Nasheen of Chachrhan Sharif

"Hadhrat Mirza Sahib spends all his time in worshipping God, the Exalted and the Majestic: either he is engaged in the daily-prayer, or recitation of the Holy Quran, or keeps himself occupied in other religious tasks. And he has set about to defend Islam with such high resolve that he has invited even the Empress of the British Empire to accept Islam. Similarly, he has sent the message of Islam to the monarchs of Russia, France and other kingdoms. All his efforts and endeavours are geared towards ensuring that people must abandon the doctrine of Trinity and the Cross—which is unequivocal disbelief—and accept the Oneness of God. But look at the predicament of contemporary religious divines that they have completely overlooked the actions of all the other false religions and have rallied against such a righteous man who hails from Ahle Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah, adheres to the straight path and guides others to it. And they issue edicts of heresy (fatwa-e-kufr) against him! Look at his Arabic works which surpass human contrivance: all his works are permeated with profound perceptions, truths, and spiritual guidance. He is certainly not a disbeliever in the essentials of the practice of Ahle Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah and of the Faith." [Isharaat-e-Fareedi, vol. 3, pp. 69-70. Translated from Persian]

Newspaper Wakeel, Amritsar

"That man—a colossal man—whose pen was magic and diction enchanting, the man who was a paragon of the marvels of mind—whose glance would cast a spell, and whose voice the clarion call of resurrection; one whose fingers were connected with the live wires of revolution, and whose fists were the two charged batteries of electricity, the man who, for thirty years, was like the earthquake and storm to the world of religion; who sounded like the trumpet of doom and continued to awaken those who were deep in the slumber of mortal existence—he departed this world all by himself.... The death of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Sahib Qadiani is not something from which one may not draw any lesson and just consign it to the ever-receding time, and be content. Such personages who bring about revolutions in the religious or intellectual world, do not always visit this world. They are the pride of human history; their rare appearance on the world scene is very rare, and they depart only after having wrought  revolutions in the world.

“In view of his hallmark, that he continued to perform his duty as the General who was destined to be victorious against the opponents of Islam, compels us to register our feelings with full candour, so that the grand movement which, for long, has kept our enemies lying low and trampled over, may continue even in future.

“The literature produced by Mirza Sahib during his confrontation with the Christians and the Aryas bears the seal of popular acclaim—and he needs no introduction in this speciality. We have to heartily acknowledge the value and greatness of that body of literature, now that it has accomplished its task. This is so because we can never efface from the template of our hearts, the time when Islam was surrounded by the incursions of its enemies, and the Muslims whose duty it was to safeguard it—they being in the nature of instruments which constituted the objective world of resources, created by God, the Genuine Protector—they lay sobbing helplessly, after being punished for their own blunders, and they were not doing anything—nor could they do anything—for Islam. On the one hand, the range of onslaughts indicated that the entire Christian World wanted to snuff out the candle which guides one to God, viz. Islam, perceiving it to be an outpost of resistance, getting in the way of their own destination. And the powerful forces of mind and wealth were vying with each other to provide the backing of this assailant. But, on the other hand, the feebleness of defence was such that there did not exist even arrows to fight against the cannons. Neither did the capability to launch an offensive exist, nor was there any potential for self-defence.... Then the Muslim resistence began, of which Mirza Sahib’s contribution forms part. It not only blew to pieces the initial influence secured by Christianity—which was due to the tutelage of the British Government and was, in fact, its mainstay—causing hundreds of thousands of Muslims to escape its much more dangerous and likely-to-succeed attack, but even the magic of Christianity itself started to blow up in smoke.... In short, this service by Mirza Sahib will keep future generations weighed down under debt for having led from the front those engaged in Jehad by the Pen and for having performed the duty of defending Islam and leaving such a vast body of literature that as long as blood courses in the veins of the Muslims, and the defence of Islam remains the hallmark of their national character, this literature will endure." [Quoted in Al-Badr, 18 June, 1908, pp. 2-3, cf. Daily Millat, Lahore, 7 January, 1911, pp. 13-15]

Saadiq-ul-Akhbar, Rewarhi

"Through his forceful declamation and splendid writings, Mirza Sahib has delivered a coup de grace to the lecherous objections raised by the opponents of Islam, and has silenced them forever. He has demonstrated that the truth is, after all, the truth. And there is no doubt that Mirza Sahib left no stone unturned in the service of Islam by himself being the paragon in the defence of Islam. Justice demands that we must mourn the sudden and untimely death of such a stalwart Defender of Islam and a helper of the Muslims, who was a scintillation of erudition—an irreplaceable scholar." [Quoted in Al-Badr, 20 August, 1908, p.6, col. 1-2]

Curzon Gazette, Delhi

The editor of Curzon Gazette, Mirza Hairet Dehlvi wrote:

"The sterling services rendered by the deceased in favour of Islam, against the Aryas and the Christians, are indeed worthy of effusive praise. He completely transformed the style of religious debate, and laid the foundation of modern literature in India. As a Muslim, and also as a researcher, I acknowledge that even the greatest among the great Aryas, or the greatest among the great padres did not have the courage to open his mouth in opposition to the deceased…. Although the deceased hailed from the Punjab, yet his pen possessed such power that there is no writer in contemporary Punjab or northern India who could write with such forcefulness…. His forceful literature is unique in its majesty, there is no doubt that by reading some of his writings one is thrilled in raptures of ecstacy…." [Quoted in Silsila-e-Ahmadiyya, p. 189]

Chaudhary Afzal Haq, Mufakker-e-Ahraar

"Before the inception of Arya Samaaj, Islam was a lifeless body which had lost all sensation of the need to proselytise ... among the various sects of the Muslims, no organization devoted to preaching could be created. But, of course, there was one man with a heart who rose up in anguish at the neglectful behaviour of the Muslim. He created a small group of adherents around him and leaped forward for the propagation and dissemination of Islam.... He created such a consuming passion for proselytising outreach in his community which should serve as an example for not only all the Muslim sects but also for all the preaching communities of the world." [Fitna-e-Irtidaad aur Political Qalabaziyan, sic. "The Menace of Apostasy and the Political Somersaults," second edition, p. 24]

Maulana Sayyed Habib, editor "Siyasat"

"At the time the Aryas and the Christian priests were launching unrelenting attacks against Islam, whatever few religious scholars existed they were sporadically engaged in defending the integrity of the Islamic Shariah, but none achieved any mentionable measure of success. Then Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Sahib entered the arena, and he resolutely positioned himself as the shield of Islam against the Christian padres and Arya preachers. I have already exposed the nature of Mirza Sahib's claim to Prophethood etc., but, as some [sic. poet] has said:

My faults were all spoken by thee,
Do thou express my skill as well

So I would mince no words in saying that Mirza Sahib performed this duty with great capability and dexterity, and defanged the opponents of Islam. Some of his writings about Islam are matchless." [Tahreek-e-Qadian, pp. 208-209]

At the conclusion of this section we must note that the life of this great and noble Champion of Islam was fully devoted to performing Jehad for the Faith brought by Hadhrat Muhammad^sa. His world-renowned religious combats against Christianity had created upheavals in the world of Christianity. Yes, indeed, he was the same Victorious General whose followers are constantly engaged in this sublime Jehad upto this day and are remarkably defeating the Christians on new fronts, day in and day out. These maniacally-devoted servants of Islam are locked in combat with Christianity in every part of the globe: Europe, the United States, the African continent—in every arena of activity, the Church is reeling under their attacks, and the world of Christianity seems to be quivering. The movement of their lips breaks the Cross, the sound of whose advancing footsteps spells command for Christianity. Alas! Alas!! some cruel tongues taunt this Victorious General, saying (God forbid) that he was an agent of Christian governments!

We entrust this matter to our All-Knowing, All-Aware, God of Honour and Dignity, albeit we add only this much:

O triumphant one! benedictions be to you. Your rank is inaccessibly above the vile taunts and imputations of your malicious detractors. O ye who was the Moon of the Fourteenth Century—inspired by the Divine light of Hadhrat Muhammad^sa—the spit of your detractors cannot reach the celestial heights of your exalted abode.