Intro
This entire entry is taken from the Lahori-Ahmadi newspaper, “The Hope Bulletin”, see the editions of Dec-2007 and Jan-2008.  This is obviously a cover-up-job.  The originals are in Urdu and Ahmadis are fond of mis-translating, editing or leaving out major details.

[English translation by Choudry Masud Akthar, Secretary, AAIIL, Hayward, California of Yaad-eRuftagaan (Biographies of Prominent Members of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement), Volume 1.]

Maulana Syed Muhammad Ahsan Amrohi was one of the stalwarts and leading ‘Ulama of the Ahmadiyya Movement. He was one of the favoured persons who stood in the closest circle of the supporters and followers of the Promised Messiah. During his stay in Qadian, which used to be for quite long periods, he used to be the khateeb and imam of Masjid-i-Mubarak, where the Promised Messiah used to offer his Friday prayers behind him. His khutbahs were like an ocean of Qur’anic subtleties which quenched the spiritual thirst of hundreds of those who offered their Friday prayers in that masjid. His khutbahs were published in the Ahmadiyya Movement’s newspapers and are available in the Jama‘at’s library for all those who would like to benefit from the spiritual and intellectual power of his sermons. Before joining the Ahmadiyya Movement, Maulana Amrohi was an elect member of the Majlis-i-Ulema of Nawab Siddique Hassan Khan of Bhopal State in India. Nawab Siddique Hassan Khan had a deep interest in religious knowledge and had gathered around him a majlis from amongst the eminent ‘Ulama of the time from the Indian Sub-continent by employing them on high salaries. These ‘Ulama used to provide him with research material from which he wrote and published some outstanding books on Hadith and the teachings of the Qur’an. Maulana Amrohi was one of these research scholars and was held in high esteem for his learning. The Qur’anic verse, “Allah grants knowledge to whom He likes from amongst His slaves,” applies perfectly in the case of Maulana Mohammad Ahsan Amrohi. Those who had the good fortune of seeing him or keeping company with him attest that he was one of the ‘Ulama-iRabbani whose hearts were full of the light of iman. Whatever deductions he made from the Qur’an and the Hadith was so outstanding that no opponent could ever dispute his arguments. He had not only a deep insight into the teachings of the Qur’an and Hadith but was also an accomplished scholar in Sarf, Nahve, Fasalat, Balaghat, Mantiq and Philosophy.

Sign of the truth of the Promised Messiah

When in 1891 Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad claimed to be the Promised Messiah, prophesies about whose advent were to be found in the Hadith, the ‘Ulama of India became his sworn enemies and issued a fatwa of kufr against him. The Promised Messiah received an ilham in the form of Persian verse, which reads: Az Pae aan Muhammad AhsanRa- Tariq-i-Roozgar mei Benaam (For that purpose I see Muhammad Ahsan giving up his worldly subsistence or worldly desires) This ilham of the Promised Messiah proved true when, soon after, Maulana Syed Muhammad Ahsan Amrohi quit his high-paying job with Nawab Siddique Hassan Khan and joined the Ahmadiyya Movement and settled down at Qadian. This further shows that Maulana Ahsan Amrohi was held in great honour in Nawab Siddique Hassan’s Majlis-e-‘Ulama but that was also held in great honour in the sight of Allah that He chose him for this service of the Promised Messiah and filled his heart with the light which enabled him to recognize the Truth of the claims of the Promised Messiah. At a time when joining the Ahmadiyya Movement meant not only being subjected to the worst type of ostracization but also facing all types of hardships, giving up one’s means of income and subsistence, especially when there were no other apparent means in sight of earning a livelihood, was not a mean sacrifice. But without any care for all these considerations Maulana Syed M. Ahsan Amrohi gave up quite a richly remunerated position and, acting on the Divine Command of “Kunu Ma as Sadiqeen” [Be with the truthful (or righteous ones)] he became the supporter and follower of the one who was raised by Allah as the Promised Messiah and Mujaddad of the 14th Century. He chose to exemplify preferring deen over one’s worldly gains and, giving up a life full of comforts and luxury, he preferred to become a dervish and pass his life in the state of derveshi. In recognition of the eminence in learning, righteousness and spiritual qualities of Maulana Muhammad Ahsan Amrohi, the Promised Messiah declared him to be one of those angels about whom it is prophesied in the Hadith that the Messiah will appear resting his hands on the shoulders of two angels. The proof of this being that Maulana became a great support for the mission of the Promised Messiah in that he wrote such incontrovertible answers to the objections raised by the opponents of the Promised Messiah that they were silenced. The Promised Messiah used to ask Maulana M Ahsan to write answers to these objections and his answers served to silence them. He ceaselessly wielded his pen in defense of the Promised Messiah by writing books and publishing replies in the newspapers and magazines of the Movement, thus passing his whole life in this sacred jihad. He wrote about 30 books which contain so much knowledge on the truth of Ahmadiyyat that seekers after truth can benefit from these in any era. Thus Maulana M Ahsan Amrohi shall ever remain a sign of the truthfulness of the Promised Messiah and his mission. In Al-Wassiyat (The Will) the Promised Messiah has laid down that at least two persons who are scholars of the Deen (i.e. having deep insight in the teachings of the Qur’an and Sunnah and Hadith) should always be included in the Majlis-e-Motamadeen, the body which was authorized to manage and administer the affairs of the Ahmadiyya Anjuman which was declared by him to be his successor. The other condition for being a member of the Majlis-i-Motamadeen laid down by him was that only righteous persons who in right earnest prefer Deen above their worldly concerns should be chosen as members of the Motamadeen and it was further laid down that if were discovered that any member had any mixing of his worldly concerns in his objectives then such member shall be forthwith removed from the membership of the Motmadeen. To fulfil the condition of inclusion of two eminent righteous scholars in the Motamadeen the Promised Messiah nominated Maulana Syed M Ahsan Amrohi along with Maulana Nurud-Din, who was also made the President of the Anjuman.

 

Held in great honour by Maulvi Nur-ud-Din

In his speech which he delivered at the passing away of the Promised Messiah, Maulana Nurrudin thus spoke about Maulana M Ahsan Amrohi:

“Similarly amongst those who are rendering service to Deen Allah, Syed Muhammad Ahsan Sahib is man of great learning. He is a Syed too. He has rendered such great service to the cause of Deen Allah which renders a person like me feel small. In spite of his old age he has written a lot in support of the Promised Messiah. This is such a great service which only he was capable of doing.”

A few examples from his writings

As already stated, the Promised Messiah used to ask Maulana M Ahsan Amrohi to write answers to the questions which were asked or sent in writing to the Promised Messiah. Further, very often, answering the objections of opponents was also handed over to him. A few of such answers, as an example of his learning, may be of interest to readers: 1. When, on the publication of Ek Ghalati Ka Izala (A Correction of an Error) was published in 1901, some opponents alleged that Hadhrat Sahib had laid a claim to prophethood. The Promised Messiah asked Maulana M. Ahsan Amrohi to write a reply thereto. [This reply was published in Al-Hakm in 1901 and Sheikh Yaqoob Ali, its editor, had written about it that it was written with the support of ruh-alqudus.] This reply was approved by the Promised Messiah. In it, by giving seventeen quotations from Aik Ghalti ka Azala wherein there is a denial of any claim to prophethood, Maulana goes on to explain that in that ishtahar word Nabi (Prophet) and Rasul (Messenger) had been used in the same sense in which they were used in prior books, that is, simply in their dictionary or partial meanings, and no new claim had been made (in Ek Ghalati Ka Izala). (The English translation of this reply is available in The Ahmadiyya Case.) This reply, as a matter of fact, is the final word on the differences of the Ahmadiyya sections on the matter of the Nabuwat or Mujaddiyat. 2. In 1902, someone asked the Promised Messiah whether the use of the word muhaddath only about Promised Messiah is not proper or permissible. In Al-Hakm of 24 May 1902, Maulana replied in these words: “Mujaddad, Muhaddath, and Nabi, all these words (pertaining to the Promised Messiah) are synonymous, therefore elucidation in any of the two ways is correct and both these elucidations are found in the Book and the Sunnah-e-Sahiha.

This clearly means that the Promised Messiah, according to the terminology of the Shari‘ah, is a Muhaddath and only in the dictionary meaning can he be called a Nabi.

3. In one of his articles which appeared in Al-Hakm of 21 October and 10 November 1903, Maulana wrote:

“In the hadith, ‘Lam yabqa min an nabuwat-e-illal mubashsharat’ (Nothing is left of prophethood except mubashsharat [good tidings]). Exception is continual or uninterrupted and al in al-mubashsharat is beneficial for distinction. Thus, in brief, the meanings of the hadith are that nabuwat has two parts: one pertains to commandments, whether those about fariaz o wajbat (duties and obligations), or about halal and haram (permitted and unpermitted), and the other part, which are mubashsharat (good tidings), under which all mubashsharat (good tidings), whether those pertaining to anzarak (warnings) or bashsharat (good news) are included. From these two parts, the part or type which relates to mubashsharat continues till the Day of Judgement. Evidently, when out of the two parts of nabuwat (prophethood) one part is continuous, therefore nabuwat-e-juzvi (partial prophethood) continues. Yes, nabuwat-e-kulli (complete prophethood) has been terminated.”

After the passing away of Maulana Nur-ud-Din, Maulana Muhammad Ahsan Amrohi took bai’at at the hand of Mirza Bashiruddin Ahmad. He was one of those persons who proposed Mirza Bashiruddin’s name for Khilafat. He did not know that Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud considered the Promised Messiah a full-fledged nabi and considered those who had not accepted full-fledged nabuwat of the Promised Messiah as kafir and outside the pale of Islam. When Maulana M. Ahsan’s book Mubahsa-e-Rampur was published, Qazi Akmal wrote a letter to him saying that Maulana, in his book, had supported the views of Maulana Muhammad Ali. It came as a big surprise to him as what he had written in the book was a presentation of the beliefs of the Promised Messiah. This awakened him and he conducted research on the beliefs of Mirza Mahmud Ahmad and found that they were against the beliefs and teachings of the Promised Messiah. He started correspondence with Mirza Bashiruudin Mahmud Ahmad advising him to bring his beliefs in line with those of the Promised Messiah. In view of Maulana’s views, Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad sent a deputation of ‘ulamas to Maulana Amrohi. Maulana Abdul Rahman Misri was one of the members of this deputation. He wrote that one day in a one-on-one discussion with Maulana Amrohi, he asked him when he paid attention to the beliefs of the Lahore Jama‘at. Maulana in reply mentioned the letter of Qazi Akmal which diverted his attention to research the beliefs of both sections, and that when he found out that Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad was not willingly prepared to make amends in his beliefs which ran contrary to the Promised Messiah’s then he published a declaration of the renunciation of the bai’at which he had taken at the hands of Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad, and thus he joined the fold of the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat-e-Islam, Lahore. Thereafter he also announced the dismissal of Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad from the Khilafat. Afterwards, Maulana M. Ahsan Amrohi wrote two books, Khatam-an-Nabiyin and Ismohoo Ahmad, in which he explained that the beliefs of the Promised Messiah were not contradictory to the belief of Khatam-an-Nabiyeen in any way and the prophesy of Ismohoo Ahmad in the Qur’an pertains to the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. Maulana Syed Muhammad Ahsan Amrohi passed away in Amroha when he was in his late eighties. Some of his descendants presently reside in Karachi, Pakistan.