Prophet as Mud-Slinger
Sort-spokenness of the Prophets
The Prophets of God and their pious followers have always been known for their graceful and decent mode of expression, patience and calm endurance, largeheartedness and magnanimity. Benevolent even to their enemies, they returned good wishes for abuses; benediction for curses; humility for insolence; and temperance and gracefulness for niggardly meanness. Their tongues were, never soiled with abusive and filthy language. To sting people by harsh satires and invidious sarcasms, to Scoff and jeer at the people, to pinch them by vulgar attacks-all these are far too low to be found in their noble lives. If they were ever forced to refute or denounce someone, they did so in clear, simple 'terms. 'They never stooped to adopt abject methods such as attacking the opponent's birth, denigerating his lineage, or ridiculing him in the manner of a court-jester. Their expressions, whether they were in favour of someone or against him, bear the mark of the decency and elegance of their natures, and the nobility of their minds. The Companions have left the following account of the Holy Prophet Mohammad's discourse:
"The Messenger of Allah-upon him be the peace and blessings of Allah-was neither brash-tongued by nature nor by will, nor did he ever indulge in undignified talk in marketplaces, (Tirmizi)
The Prophet himself laid down the norm of speech for the believers :
"The believer is not wont to attacking or cursing people nor does lie use harsh and filthy expressions. (Tirmizi)
On the, contrary, according to the Prophet, the characteristic of a hypocrite (munafiq) is that "whenever he quarrels, he resorts to abuses. (Bukhari and Muslim. )
The Mirza himself admits that those who have been endowed with religious and spiritual leadership ought to be possessed of forbearance and self-control, forgiveness and patience. He writes:
"Since the Imams encounter all kinds of wicked, lowly and filthy-tongued people, they have to have a moral calibre of the highest order so that they might not be stirred by egotistic anger or faitaticism and thus people are not deprived of their 'blessings. It is a matter of great shame that someone is called "the friend of God" yet he remains afflicted with base morals, and is incapable of: bearing obloquy with composure. As for a man who is called the spiritual Icader of his age (Imam-i-Zaman), if he is so thin-skinned that even the least provocative remark sends him into a fit of rage, -such a person can in no way be considered the Imam of his age. (Zururat al-Imam, p. 8. )
But contrary to the expectations raised by these words, the manner in which the Mirza has dealt with his critics-and these included some of the most respected religious scholars and spiritual leaders-brings him out as a person who lacked even the most elementary sense of decency and decorum. "Offsprings of harlots" seems to have been one of the, favourite nicknames which lie very often gave to his opponents. (See for example. Apna-I-Kamalat-i-Isalam, p. 547. Nur al-Haq, Vol. T p 123. Anjam-i-Atham, p. 282, etc.)
The 'best' specimens is of his abuses are round in his Arabic writings-prose as well as poetry. Here are a few of them.
"Now, since these people abuse me, I have already taken off all their clothes and have reduced them to irrecognisable carcases. (Anjam-i-,Atham, p. 158.)
"These enemies have become the swines of our wilderness, and their women are even worse than bitches. (Najm al-Huda, p. 15.)
An Arabic poem indited by the Mirza to denounce one of his opponents, Maulvi. Sa'ad Ullah of Ludhiana, is much too unseemly to be reproduced here. (Ibid. pp. 281-82, )
For such illustrious religious personages of his time as Maulan Muhammad Husain Batalawi, Maulana Sayyed Nazir Husain Muhaddith Dehlawi, Maulana 'Abdul Haq Haqqani, Mufti 'Abdullah Tonkwi, Maulana Ahmad 'Ali Saharanpuri, Maulana a Ahmad Hasan Amorhi, and Hazrat Maulana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, he used invectives, such as, 'wolves and dogs', 'accursed satan',, 'blind devil', 'the gang of abductors', 'the doomed', and the accursed' etc. (See the long letter of the Mirza in Arabic in Anjam-i-Atham, pp. 251-52.) In the same way, be composed a satirical poem about the well known scholar and spiritual leader of his time, Pir Mihr 'Ali Shah of Golra. A few of its couplets reads:
"So I said : O Land of Golra, upon thee be curse. Thou hast been accursed because of the accursed ones; and thy abode shall be the place of torment.
"This petty man, like lowly people- has addressed me in abusive terms.. Every man is tested in the time of hostility. ( Ijaz-i-Ahmadi, pp. 75-76.)
These abuses were often not enough to gratify him. On such occasions be 'would not merely curse his 'opponents but write the word 'curse' with regard to them a certain number of times. For instance, with regard to Maulana Thana' Ullah Amritsari 'he wrote the word 'accurst' ten times consecutively. In regard to Christians, he wrote this word one thousand times. (See Nur al-Haq, pp. 121-25.)
This, indeed, makes a queer reflection on his nature.
We would close this section by reproducing just a few more examples of the Mirza's vituperations against his opponents. Addressing the -'ulama he wrote:
"O debased class of Maulavis. How long will you conceal the truth? When will the time come for you to give up your Jewish habits ? - O tyrant Maulavis, pity be on you, that you made the cattle-like common folk drink from the same cup of falsehood of which you bad drunk. (Anam-i-Atham, p. 2i n)
He also wrote:
Of all animals, the filthiest and most repellent is pig. But filthier than pigs are those who, owing to their base desires, conceal the testimony of truth. O corpse-eating Maulavis ! O filthy spirits! Pity be on you for you have concealed the true evidence of Islam out of hostility. O worms of darkness ! How can you hide the radiant rays of truth ? (Ibid).
"Will these people be prepared to swear ? No, never. For they are liars and are eating the carcass of falsehood like dogs. (bid., p. 25 n.)
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