Invoke Durood
      on Mirza

Abdul Shakoor Abro, Atlanta

I hail from a small village in District Larkana, Sindh, Pakistan called Misn Badah. In the 1920s, my great-grandfather, respected Muhammad Saleh, went to perform Hajj. He traveled on foot all the way across Balochistan, Iran, and other areas. It took him five years to return, with a long beard and swollen feet.

Upon his return, when he knocked on the door of his home and a 6-year old girl opened the door, thinking of him as a beggar, she went inside and got some rice and flour to give to him. She then went back inside to tell her mother that the "beggar" would not take the charity. Her mother then went to the door to see why the “beggar” had refused their offerings. She looked at him and told the girl that the man standing in their doorway was her husband and the little girl’s father, who had come back from Hajj.

Subsequently, my great-grandfather was guided through dreams and vision (Kashf) over a three-day period to “Invoke Durood on Mirza.” He gathered his friends and relatives and told them the details of his dreams and vision that he had been hearing for three days to invoke Durood on Mirza. No one knew who Mirza was, but they decided that it was a great blessing to recite Durood Sharif so they would indeed recite Durood Sharif on Mirza even though they did not know who he was.

In order to fulfill the dream, the whole village gathered one hundred thousand small pebbles and started reciting Durood Sharif on Hazrat Mirza Sahib. It took them 3 or 4 days to complete it one hundred thousand times, after which a silent prayer was said for its acceptance.

The morning after, a companion of the Promised Messiah (may peace be on him), Hazrat Maulawi Muhammad Ibrahim Baqapuri (may Allah be pleased with him) arrived at the train station. He could have gone to the city or to the other towns; instead, he looked eastward and decided to come to our village. Our elders were busy in their work as he arrived. He greeted them with As-Salamu ‘Alaikum. They shook his hand and took him to our mosque so that he could get some rest.

In the evening, everyone gathered at the mosque for Maghrib Prayer. Hazrat Maulawi Baqapuri stood up and addressed them: “Friends, I have come to you from Qadian, Punjab to tell you that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad has claimed that he is the Promised Messiah and Imam Mahdi. As soon as they heard “Mirza,” they were all amazed and told Hazrat Maulawi Baqapuri about the vision of my great-grandfather and how they had all recited Durood Sharif one hundred thousand times on Hazrat Mirza Sahib. The whole village said Alhamdulillah, and three hundred souls accepted Ahmadiyyat right then and there.

Since the Promised Messiah has repeatedly referred to himself as a “Burooz” or shadow of the Holy Prophet (may peace and blessings of Allah be on him), invoking Durood on him is nothing but glorifying the excellence of the Holy Prophet. So, let us close by offering Durood on the Holy Prophet—Allahumma salli ‘ala Muhammadin wa barik wa sallim innaka Hamidun-Majid (O Allah, bless Muhammad and prosper him and grant him peace; Thou art Praiseworthy and Glorious).