Signature of God?

Let us first look at the entire passage in context:

I remember that on one occasion I saw in a state of vision that I had written certain divine decrees with my own hand setting out events in the future and then presented the paper to Allah the All-Powerful, Gloried be His name, for His signature. (It should be remembered that it often happens in visions and divinely inspired dreams that some divines attribute of Beauty or Majesty are beheld by the recipient of the vision in the form of a human being and the person seeing the vision thinks, by way of symbolism, that he is actually beholding God, the Absolutely All-Powerful. Among those with experience of spiritual visions, this matter is well-recorded, known, and accepted as an established fact. It cannot be denied by anyone with experience of visions.) To the same Peerless and Self-Sufficient Being—Who manifested His attribute of Beauty to my mind in the state of vision and appeared to be God, the All-Powerful—I presented the document containing divine decrees for attestation. And He, Who was manifesting Himself in the form of a Ruler, dipped His pen in red ink and first flicked it in my direction and with the rest of the red ink which remained at the point of the pen He put His signature( As this Sign was shown in view of the opposition of Aryas, I consider that it presaged the assassination of Pandit Lekhram and it also had reference to the plague. [Nasim-e-Da‘wat, p. 62 footnote, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 19, p. 427] )to the document. Thereupon, the state of vision came to an end and when I opened my eyes to look at the material world around me, I witnessed several red drops falling on my clothes. Two or three of the drops also fell on the cap of one ‘Abdullah of Sannour (Patiala State) who was at the time sitting close to me. Thus, the red ink which was part of the vision materialized externally and became visible. Many other such manifestations have been witnessed which it would take too long to relate. ([Surmah Chashm-e-Aryah, pp. 131–132 footnote, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 2, pp. 179–180 footnote] )

Firstly this was indeed a vision and a beautiful one. We also have a note in regards to this incident which states:

Note by Hadrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad(ra): Maulavi ‘Abdullah of Sannour(ra) had the following statement published in al-Fadl, volume 4, number 24, September 26, 1916 by way of attestation of this event: It was the month of Ramadan on the 27th day of which was Friday. I had the honour of being in attendance upon the blessed presence. After offering the Fajr Prayer, the Promised Messiah[as], as was his wont, retired into the chamber (i.e., the small room to the east of Masjid Mubarak) and lay down on a cot. Sitting near him, my humble self started massaging his feet as usual. This continued till the sun came out and the chamber was lit up. The Promised Messiah(as) was lying on his side and his forearm covered his face. I was thinking with great joy how fortunate I was and what a blessed opportunity had been afforded to me by Allah, the Holy and High, that it was the blessed month of Ramadan and it was the blessed 27th day, the blessed period of the last ten days [of Ramadan], a blessed Friday and I was in the company of the blessed personage. I thought to myself how many blessings combined for me that day; it would not be strange if God Almighty were to show me some Sign of the Promised Messiah(as). I was deep in these delightful thoughts as I was massaging his foot near the ankle when suddenly I perceived a slight trembling of his body, whereupon he removed his forearm from his face and looked at me. His eyes were wet and were possibly running with tears. He covered up his face again and continued in that posture. When I looked at his ankle I noticed a red drop which was round and had not spread out. I put the tip of my forefinger on the drop and it spread out and it coloured my finger also. I was surprised and the verse passed through my mind:



(Arabic: [The colouring of Allah and who is better than Allah in the matter of colouring.)

Then I thought that if this was Allah’s colouring may be it had a fragrance. I smelt my finger but there was no fragrance. Then I started massaging his back and observed a few wet red stains on his shirt which made me wonder, and I got up and examined the whole chamber but did not find any red stain anywhere else. I was very puzzled, and resumed massaging his feet. The Promised Messiah(as) continued lying down with his face covered with his forearm. In a short while he sat up and then went to the mosque and sat there. My humble self continued massaging his back. It was then that I asked him: ‘Hudur, where did these red drops fall from?’ At first, he put me off; but on my persisting he related the whole incident as he has set out in detail in his books. Before describing the incident, he expounded to me in detail the matter of beholding God Almighty and the external materialization of elements observed in a vision. He drew upon the experiences of Hadrat Mohy-ud-din Ibn-e- ‘Arabi to make me fully comprehend how perfect individuals are vouchsafed the experience of the personification of divine attributes of Beauty and Majesty. Then the Promised Messiah(as) asked me: ‘Did any drop fall on your clothes?’ I looked at my clothes and answered: ‘There is no drop on me.’ He asked me to look at my cap (which was of white muslin.) I took off my cap and looked at it and saw that there was a drop on it also. I felt very happy that a drop of the divine ink had fallen on me too. I begged the Promised Messiah(as) persistently to bestow upon me the shirt on which the red drops had fallen.. He agreed on the condition that I should give a direction in my will that on my death it should be buried along with me. His hesitation in bestowing it upon me was due to his apprehension that after the death of both of us, people might convert it into an object of worship; and he gave it to me after a good deal of discussion between us. It is still with me and bears the red stains exactly as they were then.This is my true eye-witness testimony! Suffice to say that if I have lied, may I be subject to the warning of: [Curse of Allah be upon the liars.] Taking Allah as Ever-Present, All-Seeing, I declare on oath in the name of Allah that whatever I have stated is the truth in its entirety. If I have forged a lie I call down upon myself the curse! curse!! curse!!! and wrath! wrath!! wrath!!! of Allah. Humbly, ‘Abdullah of Sannour.

What the anti Ahmadis in reality accuse is the fact that Ahmad(as) saw Allah with human qualities in a vision. Such allegations would never be raised by a sincere person who has,even a minute knowledge on the Qur’an and Ahadith. The reason they are confused on such issues are because of their misunderstandings of visions always being taken literally.

Allah states in the Qur’an:



So you killed them not, but it was Allah Who killed them. And thou threwest not when thou didst throw, but it was Allah Who threw, that He might overthrow the disbelievers and that He might confer on the believers a great favour from Himself. Surely, Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.(Chapter 8 Verse 18)

Such statements are never taken literally. Allah also states



Verily, those who swear allegiance to thee indeed swear allegiance to Allah. The hand of Allah is over their hands. So whoever breaks his oath, breaks it to his own loss; and whoever fulfils the covenant that he has made with Allah, He will surely give him a great reward.(Chapter 48 Verse 11)

Now here it states the hands of Allah but we all know the hands of Allah are nothing like our hands nor are they taken literally. We also have a hadith Qudisi in which Allah states:

” إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ يَقُولُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ: يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ، مَرِضْتُ فَلَمْ تَعُدْنِي(1) قَالَ: يَا رَبِّ كَيْفَ أَعُودُكَ وَأَنْتَ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ؟ قَالَ: أَمَا عَلِمْتَ أَنَّ عَبْدِي فُلَانًا مَرِضَ فَلَمْ تَعُدْهُ؟ أَمَا عَلِمْتَ أَنَّكَ لَوْ عُدْتَهُ لَوَجَدْتَنِي عِنْدَهُ. يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ: اسْتَطْعَمْتُكَ فَلَمْ تُطْعِمْنِي، قَالَ: يَا رَبِّ وَكَيْفَ أُطْعِمُكَ وَأَنْتَ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ؟ قَالَ: أَمَا عَلِمْتَ أَنَّهُ اسْتَطْعَمَكَ عَبْدِي فُلَانٌ فَلَمْ تُطْعِمْهُ؟ أَمَا عَلِمْتَ أَنَّكَ لَوْ أَطْعَمْتَهُ لَوَجَدْتَ ذَلِكَ عِنْدِي. يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ: اسْتَسْقَيْتُكَ فَلَمْ تَسْقِنِي، قَالَ: يَا رَبِّ كَيْفَ أَسْقِيكَ وَأَنْتَ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ؟ قَالَ اسْتَسْقَاكَ عَبْدِي فُلَانٌ فَلَمْ تَسْقِهِ، أَمَا إِنَّكَ لَوْ سَقَيْتَهُ لَوَجَدْتَ ذَلِكَ عِنْدِي”

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: 

Allah (mighty and sublime be He) will say on the Day of Resurrection: O son of Adam, I fell ill and you visited Me not. He will say: O Lord, and how should I visit You when You are the Lord of the worlds? He will say: Did you not know that My servant So-and-so had fallen ill and you visited him not? Did you not know that had you visited him you would have found Me with him? O son of Adam, I asked you for food and you fed Me not. He will say: O Lord, and how should I feed You when You are the Lord of the worlds? He will say: Did you not know that My servant So-and-so asked you for food and you fed him not? Did you not know that had you fed him you would surely have found that (the reward for doing so) with Me? O son of Adam, I asked you to give Me to drink and you gave Me not to drink. He will say: O Lord, how should I give You to drink when You are the Lord of the worlds? He will say: My servant So-and-so asked you to give him to drink and you gave him not to drink. Had you given him to drink you would have surely found that with Me.(Sahih Muslim #2569) 

Now here Allah has also been given human qualities but this not mean that Allah physically eats nor does he need to eat. Allah does not physically drink either and nor does he need to drink. 

In addition to this we cannot forget that visions are not taken literally.Allah states:

 

Remember the time when Joseph said to his father, ‘O my father, I saw in a dream eleven stars and the sun and the moon, I saw them making obeisance to me.’ He said, ‘O my darling son, relate not thy dream to thy brothers, lest they contrive a plot against thee; for Satan is to man an open enemy. (Chapter 12 verse 5-7)

Now will these anti Ahmadi also blame Joseph (As) for this vision? The stars and sun do not prostrate to humans rather to Allah alone. He narrated this dream to his father and he even had no objection to this vision. So were they lying? Did Joseph(as) lie to us God forbid? Will the anti Ahmadis raise this Allegation on Joseph(as) also?

In the same Surah, Allah states:



And with him there entered the prison two young men. One of them said, ‘I saw myself in a dream pressing wine.’ And the other said, ‘I saw myself in a dream carrying upon my head bread of which the birds are eating. Inform us of the interpretation thereof; for we see thee to be of the righteous.’(Chapter 12 verse 37)

These two people ask for the interpretation of the dream. They were in jail how can their dreams be physical? Yusuf(As) did not reply by saying no you are lying where is the bread or wine rather he interpreted the dreams by saying you will be saved and the bird one would be hanged. Even after he would be hanged the birds would not eat from his head. Allah explains this interpretation in the Quran and shows us don’t take these things physical.

In the same Surah in Verses 44-45 Allah states:





And the King said, ‘I see in a dream seven fat kine which seven lean ones eat up, and seven green ears of corn and seven others withered. O ye chiefs, explain to me the meaning of my dream if you can interpret a dream.’ They replied, ‘They are confused dreams, and we do not know the interpretation of such confused dreams.’ (Chapter 12 Verses 44-45)

The king also saw a vision where seven fat cows were being eaten by seven lean and seven green spikes of grain. Cows are not eaten by plants rather eat plants. Now do we say the king lied? Yusuf(As) heard this dream and did not say you lied rather he explained the dream. Allah did not mention the dream and say the king lied rather he explained the dream.

Allah also states:



When Allah showed them to thee in thy dream as few; and if He had shown them to thee as many, you would have surely faltered and would have disagreed with one another about the matter; but Allah saved you. Surely, He has full knowledge of what is in your breasts.(Chapter 8 Verse 44)

Allah showed the greatest prophet that these people were few in number. Now God forbid the ones who accused the vision of Ahmad(As) will they also accuse this? Allah has told us this dream in Quran that the things Allah shows in visions are not necessarily physical.

Another Hadith of Bukhari states: 

حَدَّثَنَا سَعِيدُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ الْجَرْمِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا يَعْقُوبُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبِي، عَنْ صَالِحٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ عُبَيْدَةَ بْنِ نَشِيطٍ ـ وَكَانَ فِي مَوْضِعٍ آخَرَ اسْمُهُ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ ـ أَنَّ عُبَيْدَ اللَّهِ بْنَ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عُتْبَةَ قَالَ بَلَغَنَا أَنَّ مُسَيْلِمَةَ الْكَذَّابَ قَدِمَ الْمَدِينَةَ، فَنَزَلَ فِي دَارِ بِنْتِ الْحَارِثِ، وَكَانَ تَحْتَهُ بِنْتُ الْحَارِثِ بْنِ كُرَيْزٍ، وَهْىَ أُمُّ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَامِرٍ، فَأَتَاهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَمَعَهُ ثَابِتُ بْنُ قَيْسِ بْنِ شَمَّاسٍ، وَهْوَ الَّذِي يُقَالُ لَهُ خَطِيبُ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَفِي يَدِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَضِيبٌ، فَوَقَفَ عَلَيْهِ فَكَلَّمَهُ فَقَالَ لَهُ مُسَيْلِمَةُ إِنْ شِئْتَ خَلَّيْتَ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَ الأَمْرِ، ثُمَّ جَعَلْتَهُ لَنَا بَعْدَكَ‏.‏ فَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏”‏ لَوْ سَأَلْتَنِي هَذَا الْقَضِيبَ مَا أَعْطَيْتُكَهُ وَإِنِّي لأَرَاكَ الَّذِي أُرِيتُ فِيهِ مَا أُرِيتُ، وَهَذَا ثَابِتُ بْنُ قَيْسٍ وَسَيُجِيبُكَ عَنِّي ‏”‏‏.‏ فَانْصَرَفَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم‏.‏ قَالَ عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ سَأَلْتُ عَبْدَ اللَّهِ بْنَ عَبَّاسٍ عَنْ رُؤْيَا، رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم الَّتِي ذَكَرَ فَقَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ ذُكِرَ لِي أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏”‏ بَيْنَا أَنَا نَائِمٌ أُرِيتُ أَنَّهُ وُضِعَ فِي يَدَىَّ سِوَارَانِ مِنْ ذَهَبٍ، فَفُظِعْتُهُمَا وَكَرِهْتُهُمَا، فَأُذِنَ لِي فَنَفَخْتُهُمَا فَطَارَا، فَأَوَّلْتُهُمَا كَذَّابَيْنِ يَخْرُجَانِ ‏”‏‏.‏ فَقَالَ عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ أَحَدُهُمَا الْعَنْسِيُّ الَّذِي قَتَلَهُ فَيْرُوزُ بِالْيَمَنِ، وَالآخَرُ مُسَيْلِمَةُ الْكَذَّابُ‏.‏
 

Narrated Ubaidullah bin `Abdullah bin `Utba:

We were informed that Musailima Al-Kadhdhab had arrived in Medina and stayed in the house of the daughter of Al-Harith. The daughter of Al-Harith bin Kuraiz was his wife and she was the mother of `Abdullah bin ‘Amir. There came to him Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) accompanied by Thabit bin Qais bin Shammas who was called the orator of Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ). Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) had a stick in his hand then. The Prophet (ﷺ) stopped before Musailima and spoke to him. Musailima said to him, “If you wish, we would not interfere between you and the rule, on condition that the rule will be ours after you… The Prophet said, “If you asked me for this stick, I would not give it to you. I think you are the same person who was shown to me in a dream. And this is Thabit bin Al-Qais who will answer you on my behalf.” The Prophet (ﷺ) then went away. I asked Ibn `Abbas about the dream Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) had mentioned. Ibn `Abbas said, “Someone told me that the Prophet (ﷺ) said, “When I was sleeping, I saw in a dream that two gold bangles were put in my hands, and that frightened me and made me dislike them. Then I was allowed to blow on them, and when I blew at them, both of them flew. Then I interpreted them as two liars who would appear.’ One of them was Al-`Ansi who was killed by Fairuz in Yemen and the other was Musailima Al-Kadhdbab.”(Sahih Bukhari Vol. 5, Book 59, Hadith #662)

Now we know that according to Islam wearing Gold is haram in Islam. Now will anti Ahmadis say that Muhammad(saw) did something haram God forbid? When Muhammad(saw) said this dream not a single sahabi mocked this dream or accused it. Rather Muhammad(saw) explained the vision and he explained the dream and interpreted it.

This vision has also been interpreted as well and the non Ahmadis should read what actually took place. This story itself was a miracle and a proof of a living God. There is no room for accusing such a vision or the same accusations would be against the Qur’an, and no sincere Muslim would accuse something which the Qur’an has allowed. Allah has revealed to Ahmad(as) in the exact same way He revealed to Muhammad(saw). In the Hadith Qudsi mentioned, Allah has been given the attributes of eating and drinking and in this vision of flicking a pen. Both are not literal. Can a sincere Muslim really think that Allah in reality needs food and drink? Of course not.