this is part of a continuing translation of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’s most ‘celebrated’ book: Braheen e Ahmadiyya, which is unique for its lack of a coherent theme and some strange claims and thoughts. We believe that this is the reason why it has not been translated by the Ahmadiyya, and is not accessible to raders. Due to its layout and footnotes, the book is extremely difficult to read, even in the original Urdu.. We pick up from Vol.4.

Fifth Preliminary

A miracle that human intellect can identify as being from God is thousands of times superior to the one that are merely quoted from stories or fables.  There are two causes of this preference:

1. firstly, quoted miracles that occurred hundreds of years ago do not command our senses or observation and being narrated news they cannot have the status that actual observations have.
2. second, those who actually observed these narrated miracles, that were beyond human explanation, still did not obtain complete satisfaction from them because there are many exotic tricks that masters of trickery can demonstrate.

Although such trickery is deceitful but how can one prove to a sceptical opponent such supernatural phenomena shown by the prophets: one of them showed the making of a snake and another the raising of the dead.  Although these are distinct from the sleights of hand that tricksters employ but this problem of proof is not only an issue in our age but it is possible that it existed even in the past.

Logical Doubts about Miracles of Jesus

For example, when we read Chapter 5, verses 2 – 5 of the gospel of John, we find written:

there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.  When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?  The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.

It is apparent that one who denies Jesus (as) as a prophet and denies his miracles, on reading this passage from John and coming to know of such a pool that existed in Jesus’ land from ancient times and which had this characteristic that one dip in it would cure any type of disease, no matter how severe, a strong thought would arise spontaneously that if the Messiah showed some miracles then doubtlessly their cause would be that the honourable person (Messiah) would use the water of that pool to show such miracles.

There have been many other similar examples in the world of the type described in this passage, and there still are, and it is quite credible that if Jesus cured the blind, the lame, etc., then certainly the Messiah would have picked up the prescription from that pool and then fools and simpletons who cannot get to the bottom of things and cannot identify the underlying truth made famous that he does such deeds with the help of a spirit.  Especially when it is proven that the Messiah used to frequent that very pool, this idea is strengthened.

In short, in the sceptic’s eyes, such miracles that the pool has been showing since ancient times creates many doubts regarding Jesus, and difficulties are created in not accepting that the Messiah was not a deceitful trickster like the Jews claimed, and that he was a righteous person who did not take any help from this pool in showing his miracles, and that he truly showed miracles.  Although believing in the Quran frees one from these doubts but as for the person who has not yet believed in the Quran and is a Jew or a Hindu or a Christian, how can he escape these doubts and how can his heart be satisfied that: despite such a strange pool in which thousands of lame (disabled) people and the congenitally blind were cured by one dip, and which with its unusual characteristics is famous among the Jews and all the residents of that country, and many people had been cured after a dip in it and were being cured every day and there was always a crowd gathered there and the Messiah also frequented that pool and was aware of its strange and unusual characteristics?

(Let us say:) “Even then the Messiah did not take any help from this pool’s soil or water in showing his own miracles which the pool was showing since ancient times and he did not create his own prescription based on it.”  Doubtlessly, such a statement is not any proof that is useful against a sceptic.  Without doubt, reflecting on the existence of this strange pool, many objections are raised against the Messiah’s position and these objections cannot be removed.  The more one thinks, the more the doubt increases, and one sees no way out for the Christians because looking at the current situation of the world, these doubts become stronger and one can find many examples of such frauds and tricks in one’s own memory and every person carries a load of such things that he himself has seen.

Why Tricksters Succeed

Such tricks that work on simpletons and ignorant people and remain unmasked – are the reason that encourages tricksters to continue.  Common people, who are like sheep, do not even think that should do a thorough investigation and reach the underlying truth.  And the duration of display of such magic is usually very small, which does not give enough time for thought and reflection, and therefore tricksters have much room for sleights of hand and there is little chance to know their hidden secrets.

In addition, the public is unaware of physical laws and philosophy, and unaware of the supernatural characteristics that the All-Wise has placed in the Universe.  Thus, they are always ready to be tricked in every age.  And why should they not be tricked?  There are things (in nature) that exhibit astonishing  characteristics and with ignorance, the astonishment is increased.

For example, the housefly and other animals have a certain characteristic: that if they die without much damage to their organs and the organs stay in their place and have not rotten yet, but are still fresh and within two to three hours of death, like flies that die in water, then if finely ground salt is poured over such a fly, and an equal amount of ashes are put over it, the fly comes back to life and flies away, and this characteristic is well-known and many young boys know of it.  But if simple people do not know about this trick and some trickster claims to be the Magi Messiah in front of the unaware person, and brings flies back to life with this trick, while reading some abracadabra to show that it is the mantra that is being used to resurrect the flies, then does that simpleton have the intellect or the time to investigate it?

Do you not see that fraudsters are destroying the world in this age?  Someone is demonstrating alchemy and claiming to create gold, and someone buries stones and brings them out as goddesses for Hindus.  Some even put a laxative in ink to write (edible) amulets for simpletons so that the amulet shows its power when the person has bowel motion.  Similarly, there are thousands of other tricks and frauds that are taking place in this very age, and some are so deep that many intelligent people fall for them.

The deep secrets of natural sciences and physics and the strange characteristics of forces that have been increasing recently due to new experiments – are the new things which false miracle-workers can use for new types of frauds and tricks.  So, it is apparent from this research that such miracles that appear similar to these tricks, though they may be true, are nevertheless hide the truth and there are great difficulties in proving them as such.

Sixth Preliminary

Just as miracles that hide the truth cannot be equal to miracles that appeal to reason, prophecies and news-of-the-unseen from past ages which are similar to the style of astrologers and fortune-tellers and rabbis and historians, cannot be equal to such prophecies and news about the unseen that are not merely news but rather a certain Divine power accompanies them.

non-Divine Prophecies that also come True

For in this world, there are many people other than prophets who tell of such things before time such as: earthquakes will happen, plagues will come, fights will occur, drought will fall, and one nation shall wage war against another – and this will happen and that will happen – and often some of their news turns out to be correct.  Therefore, to erase such doubts, only those prophecies and knowledge of the unseen will be powerful and complete with which there are such signs of Divine power in which fortune-tellers and dream-interpreters and astrologers cannot be peers and – and it is forbidden and it is impossible for them;  i.e. they do not have the passion of God’s perfect glory and great spark of His help – such help that evidentially points towards His special attention.  Also, they are composed of such news of Divine assistance about the proponent’s victory and the opponent’s defeat; one’s respect and the opponent’s disgrace; and one’s ascendancy and the opponent’s descent; all is disclosed with complete detail.

I will write at the appropriate place (in this book), and I have already said something about it (above), that such high-level prophecies are only particular to the Quran, and reading them shows a world of Divine majesty.