How did Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) die? The cholera and toilet allegation

May 1908. The city of Lahore. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) has been staying there for several weeks. All day he writes, meets people and gives talks.

On 20 May he received a revelation: “Ar-rahilu thummar-rahilu wal-mawtu qarib.” That is, “It is time to depart, again it is time to depart, and death is near.” Allah the Exalted told him in advance that the time of parting had come.

Six days later, on 26 May, he passed away. But afterwards a story was spread about his death.

What is the allegation?

Opponents say that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) caught cholera and died after falling in a toilet. By this they want to suggest that his death was a humiliating one, and so he could not have been truthful.

To answer this, we need to see what was said by those who were at his side that night. Every reliable account of his last day and last hours comes from his family and his companions, who saw everything with their own eyes.

What the last night was like

25 May 1908. That day he finished writing his last book, Paigham-e-Sulh (A Message of Peace). He offered the last prayer of the day and ate his evening meal.

All his life he had suffered from headaches and from a stomach complaint (diarrhoea or dysentery). When the pressure of work grew, this illness grew too. That night the stomach trouble began again. Before eleven o’clock he had to go to the bathroom several times. This left him very weak.

His wife related that at one point he became so weak that he had no strength to go outside. So arrangements were made inside the room. Then, returning to bed, he almost collapsed. When his wife became alarmed, he said calmly that what had been decreed was now taking place. (Seeratul Mahdi, vol. 1, pp. 10–11)

Hazrat Maulawi Nuruddin (ra) and the doctors were called. Medicine was given. His voice gave way, yet only one phrase stayed on his lips: “Allah, mere pyare Allah”, that is, “Allah, my beloved Allah.”

At dawn, when the sun came up, he asked whether it was time for prayer. On hearing yes, he began to pray lying in bed. He lost consciousness. When he came round, he began the prayer again. And so, calling on his beloved Allah, he passed away at about half past ten on the morning of 26 May, in his own room, in his own bed, among his family and companions. (Based on Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, vol. 2, pp. 538–543)

Notice that, according to the historical accounts, the visits to the bathroom took place before eleven o’clock the previous night. After that, for almost twelve hours until his death, there is no mention of him going to the bathroom. He died in bed. There is no evidence at all for the claim that he died in a toilet.

Not cholera: the doctor’s certificate and the train

Cholera is a highly contagious disease. The government of the time followed strict rules about the bodies of those who died of cholera, so that the disease would not spread.

After his death, opponents began spreading exactly this claim, so that his body could not be taken to Qadian by train. Then Sheikh Rahmatullah Sahib, Dr Mirza Yaqub Baig Sahib and some other companions went to the Civil Surgeon of Lahore, Dr Cunningham, to obtain a death certificate.

The certificate clearly stated the cause of death: a stomach illness (dysentery), not cholera. Major Dr Sutherland, the head of Lahore Medical College, approved that certificate. Only then was it possible to take his body to Qadian by train.

Think about one more simple point. From his death to his burial he was surrounded by family, friends, followers and many doctors. Between Lahore and Qadian perhaps thousands of people came close to his body. Yet not a single case is recorded of anyone catching cholera. Had it really been cholera, this would not have been the case.

Questions people ask

But the book “Hayat-e-Nasir” says he himself mentioned cholera?

Some people point to one account here. The book Hayat-e-Nasir is a biography of Mir Nasir Nawab Sahib, the father-in-law of the Promised Messiah (as), published by Sheikh Yaqub Ali Irfani (ra) in 1927. In it Mir Sahib says that when he arrived that night, Hazrat Sahib saw him and said, “Mir Sahib, I have got epidemic cholera.” (Hayat-e-Nasir, p. 14)

Let us look at it. First, in Urdu the very same sentence becomes a question just by changing the tone of voice: “Have I got cholera?” In a state of severe weakness, it is natural for such a question to come to mind. Second, even if it was said as a statement, it was a sick man’s passing fear. What the illness actually was, the physicians decided, and their certificate said: not cholera.

The third point is the most important. The man who gave this account, Mir Nasir Nawab Sahib, was himself an eyewitness. He was a man who, even after his daughter’s marriage, at first did not accept his son-in-law’s claim, because for him truth came first. That same man, after seeing this night with his own eyes, remained a devoted follower of the Promised Messiah (as) until his own death. Had the death truly been a disgrace, his faith would have been the first to be shaken. So this account does not prove cholera.

Is it a disgrace to have toilet arrangements made inside the room during illness?

In a final illness the body becomes weak and one needs the help of others. This is a normal human condition, and there is nothing shameful in it. It was so in the lives of prophets too. A vessel for the night was kept under the bed of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) as well:

Not only that: describing the passing of the Holy Prophet (sa), Hazrat Aishah (ra) said that before the final moment he asked for a vessel and relieved himself, and then he passed away. (Shama’il al-Tirmidhi, chapter on his passing, narration 369) Would anyone look for disgrace in this? Never.

In those final moments the Holy Prophet (sa) rested his head in the lap of Hazrat Aishah (ra). He lost consciousness, then came round again, and his last words were:

Now place the two deathbeds side by side. The last words of one were “O Allah, the Highest Companion”; the last words of the other, “Allah, my beloved Allah.” Both, even in their final hours, were anxious about prayer. This shared love for their Lord says a great deal. The ordinary state of illness does not lower anyone’s dignity.

Is death from a stomach illness a cursed death?

On the contrary, the Holy Prophet (sa) called death from a stomach illness an honourable death:

So how can an illness to which the Holy Prophet (sa) gave the rank of martyrdom be called a disgrace? The Promised Messiah (as) himself laid down a principle: a fair objection is one that stands up to the standard of the Book of Allah, not one that would also catch all the prophets and messengers. (Ruhani Khazain, vol. 9, Anwarul Islam, p. 41)

Allah told a man of his death in advance. He finished his last book in defence of Islam. He spent his last night with the name of Allah on his lips, was anxious for prayer at his last dawn, and departed amid the prayers of his loved ones. This is not a death of disgrace; it is the death of a beloved servant of Allah.