This allegation against the Promised Messiah(As) is said because the Promised Messiah(as) explained the jihad against the British. Firstly this allegation was raised against other prophets as well which further shows the truthfulness of Ahmad(as). Allah States:
They replied, ‘O Shu‘aib, we do not understand much of that which thou sayest, and surely, we see that thou art weak among us. And were it not for thy tribe, we would surely stone thee. And thou holdest no strong position among us.’ He said, ‘O my people, is my tribe mightier with you than Allah? And you have cast Him behind your backs as neglected. Surely, my Lord encompasses all that you do.(Chapter 11 Verses 92-93)
Allah Further States:
And those who disbelieve say, ‘It is naught but a lie which he has forged, and other people have helped him with it.’ Indeed, they have brought forth an injustice and an untruth.And they say, ‘These are fables of the ancients; and he has got them written down, and they are dictated to him morning and evening.’(Chapter 25 Verses 5-6)
The people putting forth the allegations also say the Promised Messiah(as) said he is a tree planted by the British and praised the British a lot, therefore it was the mission of the British to use him to cause division in Islam. This is nonsense and has no proof. Yes the Promised Messiah(as) did say tree planted by the British but never in the context of his prophethood rather in reference to his family and what they got from the British.
The Messiah(as) says:
It is not possible to silence those people who seek to cover up the devoted services rendered by my father Mirza Ghulam Murtaza and my brother Mirza Ghulam Qadir, extending over half a century, which are mentioned in Government letters and in Sir Leppel Griffin’s book ‘Chiefs of the Punjab’, and the service rendered in my writings extending over eighteen years and to create a misunderstanding in the minds of the British authorities and to raise a doubt concerning a family that has been loyal to the Government and has wished it well. Some people are determined to convey to the Government false allegations on account of religious differences, or out of jealousy, or spite, or some personal motive. It is requested that the authorities should act with wisdom and caution and after due investigation and attention towards a family whose loyalty and devotion have been well established and concerning whom high officials of Government have always expressed the view in their letters that its members are the well wishers and loyal servants of the British Government and which is a tree planted by itself. (Tabligh Risalat, Vol. VII, pp 19-20)
He used the expression “a tree planted by the British” in concerning the services which his family received by the British Government which was ruling over India during his time.Nothing at all to do with his claim of prophethood, or anything to do in regards to religion.
Why would an agent of British end Christianity through arguments?Ahmad(As) put out the most beautiful arguments from Quran and Bible to prove that Isa(as) was not crucified nor did he die for anyones sins, rather went and continued his journey to the lost tribes and died a natural death. Why would a agent of the British invite the Queen of England to Islam?
Ahmad(As) states:
Honoured Queen and Empress of India, with humble respect we submit that in this time of joy, which is the time of your Diamond Jubilee, you should endeavour… to rescue the honour of Jesus from the stain that has been put upon it.-Tohfa Qaisariyah
Whenever Ahmad(As) praised the British it was out of love for the Holy Prophet(saw) who said who is not grateful to man is not grateful to Allah. To call a government a government who is loving, since it allows religious freedom is an Islamic action.
A beautiful Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad(saw) states:
حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ، أَخْبَرَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ الْمُبَارَكِ، حَدَّثَنَا الرَّبِيعُ بْنُ مُسْلِمٍ، حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ زِيَادٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم “ مَنْ لاَ يَشْكُرِ النَّاسَ لاَ يَشْكُرِ اللَّهَ ” . قَالَ هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ .
Abu Hurairah narrated that the Messenger of Allah said :
“Whoever is not grateful to the people, he is not grateful to Allah.”(Jami’at Tirmidhi #1954)
It makes no sense to accuse Ahmad(as) of praising some qualities of what the British government has done. Never did he claim he is from the British. Some have raised the allegation that the British paid him and its documented in a library however this is false as well. There are people who have went to this library and nothing of that sort exists nor will they provide something of its likeness, till qiyamah.
The Promised Messiah(as) states:
“Some ignorant people have raised the objection, among them the editor of al Manar, that as I live in a country ruled by the British, I therefore, forbid Jihad. These stupid ones do not consider that if I had wished to please the Government with false declarations why should I have affirmed repeatedly that Jesus, Son of Mary was delivered from the cross and died a natural death in Srinigar and that he was neither God nor Son of God. Would not such of the British who are devoted to their religion be disgusted by this affirmation of mine? Then attend to this, ye stupid ones, that I offer no flattery the Government. The truth is that according to the Holy Qur’an it is forbidden to go to war against a government which does not interfere in any way with Islam or its practice, nor uses force against us in order to promote its own religion. (Kishti Nuh, pg 68)
He further states:
“This government safeguards the lives and the properties of the Muslims and provides them with security against the attack of every wrongdoer… I have not embarked upon this idea of enterprise out of any fear of Government or in the hope of any reward from it. All I have done is in accordance with the divine command and the command of the Holy Prophet(saw) (Nurul Haq, Part 1 page 30)
He also states:
“I have never desired that I should mention my continuous services to the government officials, for I consider it my duty to declare the truth, not out of my desire for any return or award (Tableegh e Risalat, Volume VII, page 10)
Again he(as) states:
“I do not flatter the government as some ignorant ones imagine because I desire a return from the government. On the contrary, I consider it just and a duty on account of my faith to express gratitude to the government (Tableegh-e-Risalat, Volume X, page 123)
Another beautiful statement of Ahmad(as) is as follows:
“The world does not recognize me, but He Who has sent me does know me.It is an error on the part of those – indeed it is their misfortune – who wish to see my destruction. I am the tree which has been planted by the Lord God with His own hands… O, ye People! You must understand this for sure that I am accompanied by that Hand which shall remain faithful to me till the end of time. If your men and your women, and your young and your old, and your insignificant ones and your notables all commit themselves to praying for my destruction – so much so that your noses get withered and wasted away due to your endless prostrations, and your hands become numb, even then God would certainly not accept your prayers, and he would not stop until He fulfills His decree…So, do not wrong your souls. The faces of liars can be discerned as something different altogether, and the countenances of the truthful ones are quite distinguishable. God does not leave any matter undecided…Just as God eventually decided at one time to another, between the previous Divinely appointed ones and the false claimants, similarly He will decide upon this matter presently at hand. There are seasons apposite to the advent of the Divinely appointed ones, and there are seasons apposite to their departure: do mark it for sure, that I have neither made an appearance out of season, nor shall my exit be out of season. Do not be pitted against God! It is not in your mettle to compass my ruin. (Tohfa-e-Golarviyyah, Ruhani Khazain Volume 17 page 12-13)
There is an allegation on this that a library has a document that the government paid Ahmad(as). This is a complete lie as I know of someone who himself went to the library for this document and they had no clue. Ahmad(as) was a prophet of Allah and during his time many of your own scholars said the same in regards to jihad.
The only reason the non Ahmadi Muslims raise this false allegation is because Ahmad(as) did not consider it correct for the Muslims to do violent jihad with the government.
Another important point to note is that in 1869 Ahmad(as) was working under supervision of his father with the land of his family and had not made any claim at that time. Nor did he have a single follower so why would the British come to him and find him suitable? It was in 1889 when he first announced the initiation of Islam Ahmadiyya which was twenty two years after 1869. The non Ahmadis believe he was chosen in 1869 as a agent for the British but have no basis for this either. Now another question they bring up is why was the Promised Messiah(As) supporting the British government? The truth is that the non Ahmadis are ignorant in regards to the persecution the Muslims were facing under the Sikh rule. When we look at the scholars themselves of their ummah, we see similar praises. For example one of the most famous scholars of the Ahle Hadith named Maulvi Nazir Husain Dehlvi stated:
“God Almighty has decreed that the British rule India” (Delhvi, Maulvi Nazir Hussain. Majmu’a Lectures, 1890, p.54)
He also stated:
“British rule in India is an act of God Almighty’s mercy” (Delhvi, Maulvi Nazir Hussain. Majmu’a Lectures, 1890, p.19)
He even gave preference to the British over his own parents:
“‘Having examined all the monarchies surrounding India, including those of Burma, Nepal, Afghanistan and also Persia, Egypt and Arabia, and having searched from one end of the world to another, I could not find one emperor who was worth of being the monarch of India. There is not one amongst these prospective candidates who deserves to be the emperor of this country. It is my conclusion that the British alone deserve, nay, have the right to rule India and may they continue to rule the domain”(Delhvi, Maulvi Nazir Hussain. Majmu’a Lectures, 1890, p.62)
Their own scholar named Shurush Kashmiri who was an anti Ahmadi stated:
“‘amongst those people who expressed an opinion that the authority of the British in India is lawful and in accordance with the Quranic injundion: 0 ye who believe, obey Allah and His Messenger and those in authority among you.'”
He also stated:
“Unlawful to wage war against the British”(Kashmiri, Shurush. Ata Ullah Shah Bukhari, p.135)
A leader of the Wahabi Movement in India named Maulvi Muhammad Jaffar was also grateful to the British government and stated:
“‘Before I thank the British government under which we can publicly, and with the beat of drums, teach the religious doctrines of our pure faith without interference whatsoever, and we can pay back our Opponents whether they be Christians or others in their own coin. Such liberty we could not have seen under the Sultan of Turkey”(Jaffar, Maulvi Muhammad. Barakat ul Islam. p.2)
The leader of Ahrar, Maulvi Zafar Ali Khan stated:
“‘Muslims cannot for a minute contemplate being cynical of the British and if any bad natured Muslim did dare show cynicism towards it then he would affirm that that Muslim was not a Muslim”(Khan, Zafar Ali. Zamindar, Lahore, 23 November 1911)
He also stated:
“For every drop of our Emperor’s sweat, we are prepared to shed our blood and these sentiments are shared by the entire Muslim populace”(Ibid, 11 November 1911)
This is a baseless allegation and if they want to call Ahmad(as) a British agent for following the Qur’an and sunnah, the same would be the allegation against countless of their scholars who said similar statements in regards to the government.