THE RED DROPS

THE RED DROPS (A. R. Dard) It was in May or June, 1884, that Hazrat Ahmad, after offering the Fajr prayer one morning, retired into a tiny room on the East (now north-eastern corner) of the Masjid Mobarak. It was a cool place on account of the fresh plaster on the walls. He lay down on a charpai (an Indian bedstead) which used to be kept there. There was no mattress or pillow on it. He lay facing the north, with his head to the west. One arm was pillowed underneath and other was resting over his head. M. Abdullah Sanauri began to press his feet—an eastern custom of massaging to show respect and devotion; and he says it was a Friday, the 27th of Ramazan. He was meditating upon the manifold blessings of the moment upon himself when he saw that the whole body of Hazrat Ahmad suddenly trembled. Hazrat Ahmad looked at M. Abdulla Sanauri, who saw that Hazrat Ahmad’s eyes were filled with tears. A little later, he saw a drop of red liquid on one of his feet, just under his ankles, and it appeared to have just dropped there at that moment. “I touched it with a finger of my right hand, ” he says and then smelt it, but there was no smell of any kind. Then I noticed another big drop on his shirt, over his ribs. It was also fresh. I got up quietly and looked all round, to find out the source or cause of these drops. It was a very small and low-roofed room and I searched every nook and corner in order to satisfy myself thoroughly but could not trace anything visible which could have caused the red drops. Therefore I sat on the charpai again and began to press the feet of Hazrat Ahmad. After a while he got up, went out and sat in the Mosque. I followed him there and sat behind him to press his shoulders. I then asked him about the drops. He answered with indifference, but I asked him again the same question. Thereupon Hazrat Ahmad inquired as to what drops I meant. I pointed out the one on his shirt. He looked at it, and then explained to me by a few illustrations the phenomenon of Kashf by which certain things seen in vision actually materialise in the physical world. What had happened was related by Hazrat Ahmad as follows:- “Whilst in a waking vision, I saw a beautiful big building. There was a couch in it on which sat an imposing figure. He was God Himself. I thought myself to be a humble officer of the Divine Court. I had written certain decrees which I placed before the Almighty for His signatures. I was asked to sit on the couch with deepest fatherly affection and love. Then He dipped His pen in the red inkstand, shook it a little, and then signed the papers. REVIEW OF RELIGIONS 9 The red drops you see are those that fell from His pen whilst He shook it.” Hazrat Ahmad asked M. Abdullah Sanauri to see if any of the drops had fallen on his clothes or cap; and to his boundless delight he found one on his own cap also. M. Abdullah Sanauri was deply moved and impressed by this mysterious phenomenon; and, being a personal witness of this little act of Divine creation, he requested Hazrat Ahmad to give him the shirt which bore the red drops. Hazrat Ahmad imbued with the same spirit as the Holy Prophet Mohammad, peace and blessings be upon him, hesitated a little, fearing that in the future his followers might begin to worship his shirt; but when M. Abdullah Sanauri pressed him for it Hazrat Ahmad gave it to him on condition that it should be buried with him when he died. M. Abdullah Sanauri was at that time twenty years of age. He had come to Qadian for the first time two years previously. He remained a most devoted disciple of Hazrat Ahmad for the rest of his life. He passed away on October 7, 1927, on a Friday. He was buried clothed with the same memorable shirt bearing the divine ink which he had carried with him day and night, at home and abroad, for 43 years. He never parted with it. It was a veritable sign of God and the most precious gift that a man could receive from on high. He treasured it, prized it and loved it as the greatest memento of his most beloved Master, whom he loved with all his soul and with all his heart. He had put it in a wooden box, specially made for it, with a glass top and had so folded the shirt as to show the red drops. I have myself seen it many a time. Under the orders of the Khalifatul Masih II, he showed it to a great number of people so that the witnesses of this divine sign might be numbered by thousands. Often would he look at it himself with eyes full of mixed feelings of sadness and joy. His face would glow at the sight of the priceless gift only to make him sadder at the painful idea of the gulf that separated him physically from one whom he had served every moment of his life. How interesting is this attitued when compared with both the belief and practice of early Christians concerning the so called holy relics of Jesus and the saints. According to the authorities, these were said to be endowed with many miraculous powers, which emanated from them. Tradition asserts that many miracles were actually wrought merely by touching these relics; and in the end this became so widespread that there is little doubt that the whole of the church relapsed into a form of paganism not far removed from the vicious superstitions of animistic customs. 10 REVIEW OF RELIGIONS Materialistic unbelievers will laugh and mock at the incident of the drops mentioned above. “In 1926 there died the author of a once famous book called Flat Land. It described a world of two dimensions in which everything was flat. The flat inhabitants of this world were in no way impressed with the strangeness of their condition for they had no conception of the possibility of a third dimension. One of their number,a square, did become enlightened, but he was put in prison for life lest his heresy should disturb the minds and excite the curiosity of his fellow citizens. From their own point of view his judges were perhaps justified. They had no senses by which they could perceive three-dimensional space, for their eyes were in their sides, and it seemed preposterous to allege the existence of that which could never be perceived”. So unbeleiving materialists live in a kind of Flat Land. Their senses enable them to perceive only certain aspects of the world. They have no reason to suppose that their knowledge is exhaustive or complete. They should not therefore forget that there may be other “dimensions” of which they are quite unconscious. They do not possess the eyes which open up vast vistas of spiritual world has its own system of laws. It would be idle for materialists to deny facts which belong to it. Before a man can claim knowlege of a thing, he must have some experience of it. An expert biologist or a chef, for instance, would only make a fool of himself if he interfered with a wireless set without knowing anything about radioactivity. It is impossible, however, to argue with the arbitrary. The sceptics will doubt because they have always grovelled in the darkness of doubt. They are incapable of seeing the light. They are intellectually blind and bankrupt. They are not sure even of their own existence. Honest seekers after truth will require proof. Proof they can have if only they are able to recognise it as such. Experience is a proof by itself and observation is the greatest reason. Seeing is believing. Here are two most truthful persons who have never been accused of falsehood in any shape or form. They are not insane or feeble-minded. There is no ulterior motive behind what they actually saw. One of them sees the vision without knowing that the drops had actually materialised in this world, and the other simultaneously finds the drops without knowing anything about the vision. The drops were then seen by thousands of people. A search into the possible causes was immediately made on the spot and no explanation was found. What else, therefore, is required to give the occurence the positiveness REVIEW OF RELIGIONS ” 11 of proof ? I maintain that in everything else we generally form our opinons only on such data; why, then, should people hesitate to believe in the happening just related ? Ahmad was surrounded by all kinds of enemies and they could easily have raised all kinds of objections and have destroyed the significance of the sign; but, in spite of its repeated and emphatic publication, no one seriously tried to refute it. The only demand that was made was for a declaration of facts by M. Abudllah Sanauri, under a most solemn oath, the words of which were proposed by the enemies; and they were all stunned into complete silence when, in accordance with their wishes, he took the oath at Amritsar in 1919 amid a bitterly hostile gathering. Muslims cannot object to these drops because they believe that Hasan Basri once dreamt that Shamoon had returned to him the certificate which he had given to Shamoon. When Hasan Basri woke up, he found that he had actually got the certificate with him. (TazkiratulAuliya, p.40). Similarly, Abdullah bin Jala dreamt that the Holy Prophet Mohammad had given him a loaf of bread of which he ate one half. When he woke up he found the other half of the loaf still with him (Tazkiratul Auliya, p.498). Christians believe that “about five thousand men, besides women and children” were fed with “five loaves, and two fishes”. “And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets “full.” (Math. 14:17-21). DEMEANOUR OF THE HOLY PROPHET His politeness to the great, his affability to the humble and his dignified bearing to the presumptuous, procured him respect, admiration and applause. His talents were equally fitted for persuasion or command. His simple eloquence rendered impressive by the impression of a countenance wherein awfulness of majesty was tempered by an amiable sweetness, excited emotions of veneration and love, and he was gifted with that authoritative air of genius which alike influences the learned and commands the illiterate. As a friend and a parent, he exhibited the softest feelings. With all that simplicity, which is so natural, to a great mind, he performed the humbler offices. (Thomas Carlyle)