Fateh Masih, a Christian missionary, was posted at Fatehgarh, District Gurdaspur. He wrote two letters to Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) in which he poured abuses on the Holy Personage of the Founder of Islam. He wrote in a scurrilous manner concerning his marriages, character and the Islamic conception of paradise. In answer to these letters, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) wrote the second issue of the Nurul-Qur’an. It was priced eight annas (equal to a nickel) and covered about 80 pages.
Magazine Number II
This was originally planned as a quarterly magazine. This was the second issue. Christians had maligned the Holy Prophet (sa) for a long time by means of the press and the platform. Now, in writing such foul letters, they were certainly going too far. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) had repeatedly tried to stop it with reasons and persuasion but to no avail. So, he was compelled to retort in defence and retort he did with such crushing effect that the Indian Church was creaking under the overpowering weight of his reprisal. The Literary Secretary of the National Council of the YMCA of India and Ceylon had to say in anguish:
“Ahmad and his editors seem to have surpassed the literature of all ages and nations in so far as it was accessible to them in order to make one mighty and virulent attack to besmirch and belittle the character of Jesus of Nazareth.”
In his preface to the Nurul-Qur’an (Number II), Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) observed:
"We are sorry to have declared that this issue of the Nurul-Qur’an has been published in reply to a man who, instead of observing decency, used abusive language with regard to our master, the Holy Prophet (sa) and on account of his own foul nature, he has, through clear fabrication, heaped such slanders upon the head of a leader and a pure hearted person, that one shudders to hear them. Hence, we have had to retort in defence only to stop people doing this. The Christians have presented such a Yasu‘ (Jesus) who claims divinity and with his own exception he regards everyone (Prophet) from the first to the last as accursed and he found them of committing evil acts as are punishable with condemnation. The Holy Quran has not informed us of such a rude and foul-mouthed Yasu‘ and we were amazed at his character. Yasu‘, who himself claims to be God and those who are thousand times better than him, abuses them profusely. So in our writing wherever we referred to Yasu‘ is the one presented by Christians and this absolutely did not refer to Jesus son of Mary who is respectfully mentioned in the Holy Quran. We adopted this course after listening to an unceasing flow of vituperation and abuses of Christian missionaries. As a matter of reality, Christian missionaries have surpassed all norms of decency in their books, which are packed with vituperation and filthy abuses against the Holy Prophet and Islam."
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) assured those Christian missionary who adopt politeness and decency, they would be treated in different manner.
"The Quran has not informed us of such an impertinent and foul-mouthed Yasu‘. We wonder very much at the person who himself laid claim to divinity and abused such pure people as were with him. So in our discourse we mean everywhere the imaginary Jesus of the Christians and not the humble servant of God, as mentioned in the Holy Quran, ‘Isa Ibn Maryam who was a Prophet and who, as mentioned in the Holy Quran, is not at all meant, nor intended to be addressed in these harsh words. We have adopted this form after continuously listening to abuses from Christian missionaries for no less than 40 years." (Nurul-Qur’an (Number II), An Important Note for the Reader, pp. 1-2, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 9, pp. 374-375)
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) also wrote a letter to Fateh Masih on February 1, 1895, in which he said that the harsh words in his answer were not used in any fit or temper but only to teach the Christian missionary how to behave decently in such matters.
(Taken from An Introduction to the hidden Treasures of Islam)
