One sign in regards to the Mahdi which was prophesied by the Holy Prophet Muhammad(saw) was two heavenly eclipses. The Holy Prophet Muhammad(saw) stated:
For our Mahdi (Spiritual Reformer) there are two Signs which have never occurred before since the creation of the heavens and the earth, namely, the moon will be eclipsed on the first night in Ramadhan (i.e., on the first of the nights on which a lunar eclipse can occur) and the Sun will be eclipsed on the middle day of Ramadhan (i.e., on the middle day on which a solar eclipse can occur) and these Signs have not happened since the creation of the heavens and the earth (Dar Qutni Vol.1, p.188)
First point to keep in mind is that Lunar eclipses only occur on the 13th, 14th, and 15th while the solar eclipses only occur on the 27th, 28th and 29th. This tells us that according to this prophecy the eclipses for the truthful mahdi would occur on the 13th of Ramadhan while the Solar eclipse would be on the 28th of Ramadhan.
It is clear that eclipses only happen on the dates even according to the Non Ahmadi Muslims. Here is a fatwa from the Non Ahmadis:
“Thus Allah decreed that the sun is eclipsed only in dark nights, and the moon is eclipsed only in moonlight nights. These are the nights when the moon is full and during which days the keeping of optional fasts is preferable. These nights are the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth. Hence, the moon is eclipsed only on these nights”(Fatawa Sheikh Ul Islam Taqi Ud Din, Chapter Khasuf Ul Qamar, Volume 1)
The Promised Messiah, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as) of Qadian claimed that he is indeed the Imam Mahdi so it is obvious that if he was indeed the true mahdi than these signs would occur for him. These heavenly signs did indeed occur. The lunar eclipse occurred on March 21st 1894, which is the 13th of Ramadhan 1311 Hijri while the solar eclipse occured on Friday April 6, 1894 which is the 28th of Ramadhan. Ahmad(as) wrote the book Nur Ul Haq in which he included these heavenly signs. Sadly just like all other signs of prophets there also had allegations against them which will now be answered.
The first allegation that the non Ahmadi’s raise against this hadith is that it is not authentic. Firstly during the time of the Messiah(as) this is the main sign the people were seeking but as soon as it was fulfilled they started to mock the authenticity of this hadith. The Qur’an also prophesied in regards to the Eclipses. Allah states:
He asks: When will be the day of Resurrection? When the eye is dazzled, And the moon is eclipsed, And the sun and the moon are brought together, On that day man will say, whither to escape? (Chapter 75 Verses 7-11)
These ayahs make it clear that the eclipses are a sign of the resurrection and are also referring to the eclipses for the Mahdi. When a prophecy is fulfilled and it is attributed to the Prophet Muhammad(saw) the authenticity itself does not matter to us one bit as it proves the truthfulness of our master Muhammad(saw).
The compiler of the hadith however was an extremely respected saint and widely trusted. They also ask whether this is narrated by Imam Baqir. Allama Shaikh Shahabuddin Ibn Hajar Al Hashimi stated: Muhammad Bin Ali, an elite among the Ahle-Bait, narrates that there will be two signs for Imam Mahdi which have never been shown to mankind since the creation of the heavens and the earth. One of these is the eclipse of the moon on the first of its nights in the month of Ramadhan, and the eclipse of the sun on the middle of the days. (Kitabul Fataw Al Hadeesiyya, p.31, Egypt)
The sign of these eclipses are not only mentioned by the sunnis rather the Shias as well. Many are still waiting for this sign sadly and I have personally met many who ask if Ahmad(as) had the eclipses from Allah for his claim.
Ahmad(as) has said in regards to an allegation that eclipses have happened before that:
We are not concerned with how often solar and lunar eclipses have occurred in the month of Ramadhan from the beginning of the world till today. Our aim is only to mention that from the time man has appeared in this world, solar and lunar eclipses have occurred as Signs only in my age for me. Prior to me, no one had this circumstance that on the one hand he claimed to be Mahdi Mauood (Promised Reformer) and on the other, in the month of Ramadhan, on the appointed dates, lunar and solar eclipses occurred and he declared the eclipses as signs in his favor. The Hadees of Darqutani does not say at all that solar and lunar eclipses did not occur ever before, but it does clearly say that such eclipses never occurred earlier as Signs, because the word ‘Takoona’ is used which denotes feminine gender; this implies that such a Sign was never manifested before. If it was meant that such eclipses never occurred before, ‘Yakoona’ which denotes masculine gender was needed and not ‘Takoona’ which denotes feminine gender. It is clear from this that the reference is to the two signs because signs are feminine gender. Hence if anybody thinks that lunar and solar eclipses have occurred many times before, it is his responsibility to show the claimant to Mahdi who declared the solar and lunar eclipses as his signs and this proof should be certain and conclusive and this can only happen if a book of the claimant is produced who claimed to be Mahdi Mauood and had written that the lunar and solar eclipses which occurred in Ramadhan on the dates specified in Darqutani are the Signs of his truth. In short, we are not concerned with the mere occurrence of solar and lunar eclipses even if they had occured thousands of times. As a sign this has happened at the time of a claimant only once and the Hadees has proved its authenticity and truth through its fulfillment at the time of the claimant to Mahdi. (Chashma-e-Marifat, Roohani Khazain, Vol.23, pp. 329 – 330)
After the eclipses Ahmad(as) stated:
O servants of God, ponder and think. Do you consider it permissible that the Mahdi should be born in the countries of Arabia and Syria and his Sign should be manifested in our country; and you know that the wisdom of God does not separate the sign from the person for whom the sign is meant. Then how could it be possible that the Mahdi should be in the East but his sign should be in the West. And this should be sufficient for you if you are really seekers after truth. (Noorul Haq, Part-II)
There is not a single claimant who had these signs fulfilled for them.
Ahmad(as) further states:
n my age only, in the month of Ramadhan, eclipses of the sun and the moon occurred; in my age only, in accordance with the authentic sayings of the Holy Prophet saw and the Holy Quran and earlier Books, there was the plague all over the country, and in my age only, a new mode of transport, namely railways came into existence and in my age only, as per prophecies, terrible earthquakes came. Does not then righteousness demand that one should not be bold in denying me. Look! I swear by Almighty God and say that thousands of signs for establishing my truth have been manifested, are being manifested and will be manifested. If this were a man’s plan, never would he have enjoyed such support and help. (Haqiqatul Wahi, p.45,. Roohani Khazain), Vol. 22. p.48
And:
And I also swear by Almighty God that I am the Promised Messiah and I am the same person who was promised by the prophets. There is news about me and my age in the Torah and the Gospel and the Holy Quran. It is stated that there will be eclipses in the sky and severe plague on the earth. (Dafiul Balaa, p.18, Roohani Khazain, Vol.18, p.238).
He further states:
I swear by God in Whose Hand is my life that He has manifested this Sign in the sky to testify my truthfulness, and He manifested it at a time when the Maulvis (theologians) named me Dajjal (Anti-Christ), the biggest liar, infidel and even the biggest infidel. This is the same Sign regarding which twenty years ago I was promised in Braheen-e-Ahmadiyya, namely, Tell them I have with me testimony from Allah, will you believe it or not? Tell them I have with me testimony from Allah, will you accept it or not? It should be remembered that although there are many proofs from Almighty God for vindicating my truthfulness and more than a hundred prophecies that have been fulfilled to which hundreds of thousands of people are witnesses, but in this revelation, this prophecy has been mentioned specifically, i.e. I have been given such a Sign which was not given to anybody else from the time of Adam to the present time. In short, I can stand in the sacred precincts of the Ka’aba and swear that this Sign is to testifying to my truth. (Tohfa-e-Golarviyya; Roohani Khazain, Vol.17, p.143)
He (as) also stated:
“If anyone from among the great Muhaddithin have declared this Hadith to be Mawdhu then present an action or statement of any Muhaddith who has written that this Hadith is Mawdhu‘. If then you are able to prove this Hadith to be Mawdhu‘ from any book of an illustrious Muhaddith then we shall immediately present to such a person a reward of 100 Rupees.” (Tuhfah Golarviyyah, Ruhani Khazainn of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Volume 17, pp. 133-134)
Now some quote a saying of Ahmad(as) out of context to claim that he said all ahadith of the mahdi are incorrect. This is false. In reality The Promised Messiah(as) said:
Regarding Mahdi and Promised Messiah, it is my belief and the belief of my Jamaat that all Hadiths of this kind in which the coming of the Mahdi is foretold are not verifiable and cannot be relied upon.
Ahmad(as) here is referring to the statements which claim things like the Mahdi killing all of the Christians.Another statement of Ahmad(as):
That Hadith is quite correct and is recorded not only in Dar Qutani but also in other books of Hadith of both Shia and Sunni sects. Furthermore, this principle has been accepted by the scholars of Hadith that if a prophecy of any Hadith has been fulfilled, then even if, for the sake of argument, that Hadith was earlier considered as false, the Hadith will be regarded as true after the prophecy has been fulfilled because God has borne witness to its truth since except God nobody has power over the unknown. The Holy Quran says: i.e. only the Messengers of Allah can narrate the unseen in a perfect way; others cannot be of this rank. Here Messengers include Rasool Nabi, Muhaddath and Mujaddid. (Aiyamus Suleh, Roohani Khazain Vol.14 p. 419).
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