Firstly, what is the importance of dreams?
وَحَدَّثَنِي عَنْ مَالِكٍ، عَنْ زَيْدِ بْنِ أَسْلَمَ، عَنْ عَطَاءِ بْنِ يَسَارٍ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ” لَنْ يَبْقَى بَعْدِي مِنَ النُّبُوَّةِ إِلاَّ الْمُبَشِّرَاتُ ” . فَقَالُوا وَمَا الْمُبَشِّرَاتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ قَالَ ” الرُّؤْيَا الصَّالِحَةُ يَرَاهَا الرَّجُلُ الصَّالِحُ أَوْ تُرَى لَهُ جُزْءٌ مِنْ سِتَّةٍ وَأَرْبَعِينَ جُزْءًا مِنَ النُّبُوَّةِ
(مواطا امام مالک، کتاب الرویا، حدیث ۱۷۵۳)
Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from Ata ibn Yasar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “All that will be left of prophecy after me are the mubashshirat.” They said, “What are the mubashshirat, Messenger of Allah?” He said, “The true dream which a man who is salih sees – or which is shown to him – is a forty-sixth part of prophecy.”
(Muwatta Imam Malik, the Book of Ru’ya, Hadith # 1753)
Secondly, how do dreams prove Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ) to be true? I will now proceed to quote from 'The Great Reformer'(Mujaddid-e-Azam) written by Dr. Basharat Ahmad:
Chapter 73
TESTIMONY OF SYED ASHAD-UD-DIN AL-ALAM
Testimonial letter of Syed Ashad-ud-Din
The Supplement to Anjam Atham also contained the testimony of Syed Ashad-ud-Din Al-Alam, a religious leader of Sind, who was both pious and scholarly. He was previously mentioned in Chapter 21 regarding the narrative of Alexander Webb. At the suggestion of Maulvi Abdullah Arab, he had performed Istikhara - a prayer seeking guidance from Allah in a particular matter. As a result of the Divine response he received, he decided to proceed to Qadian in person, but later changed his plan at the instigation of other people and instead sent a testimonial letter written in Arabic to Hazrat Mirza. The letter was sent with Syed Ashadud-Din Al-Alam’s son Khalifa Abdul Latif, and Sheikh Abdullah Arab. A translation of the letter follows:
I saw the Messenger of Allah in a vision. I respectfully submitted to him: “O Messenger of Allah! Is this man, who claims to be the Promised Messiah, a liar and a fraud or is he genuine?” The Messenger of Allah replied: “He is truthful and has been appointed by God.” I understood then that you are righteous, and henceforth I will entertain no doubt about your claims nor have any uncertainty about your dignity. I will do whatever you command. If you ask me to go to America, I will go there because I have given myself over to you, and God willing, you will find me obedient.
Commenting on the letter, Hazrat Mirza wrote:1
Khalifa Abdul Latif, now deceased, and Sheikh Abdullah Arab communicated these matters (mentioned in the letter) verbally to me as well. Even now, when my good friend Seth Saleh Muhammad Haji Allah Rakha visited him (Syed Ashad-ud-Din) from Madras, he found him true to his word. As a matter of fact, he stood up in a gathering and, staff in hand, declared in a loud voice: “I consider his (Hazrat Mirza’s) claim to be true and state this on the basis of information given to me in a vision.” And his son told me: “When my Father has borne testimony, then I, too, will not be of those who reject you.”
1 Supplement to Anjam Atham. Page 60
[The Great Reformer pages 609-610}
Not only did Non Ahmadis, who later became Ahmadi Muslims. have dreams proving the truth of Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ) but Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ) himself had dream with the Holy Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). This is a well known dream and I could quote from Barhin-e-Ahmadiyya but I have chosen to quote from Mujaddid Azam for the sake of consistency. In Mujaddid-e-Azam we read:
Divine sign about the book prior to its compilation
A heavenly sign shown to Hazrat Mirza also bears testimony to the importance and greatness of this book. Hazrat Mirza writes:3
In 1864 or 1865, when I was still young and busy in the acquisition of knowledge, I saw the Holy Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, in a dream. I was holding a religious book, which appeared to be of my penmanship. The Holy Prophet looked at the book and asked in Arabic, “What have you named this book?” I replied respectfully that I had named it “Qutbi” (from the Polar star). The real meaning of this name became apparent to me only at the time when the poster announcing the reward money was published. The name implies that this book is stable and fixed like the Polar star and announcing the reward of ten thousand rupees has publicized its stability and strength.
The Holy Prophet took the book from me and as soon as his blessed hands touched the book, it turned into a pleasantly colored and beautiful fruit, which looked like a guava but was of the size of a watermelon. When the Holy Prophet tried to slice the fruit, honey flowed out of it in such abundance that his arms were drenched by the honey up to his elbows. Then a dead man lying outside the door regained life through the miracle of Holy Prophet and came in and stood behind me. I stood before the Holy Prophet like a plaintiff stands before a judge and he was seated on a chair with great majesty and splendor like a powerful wrestler. The Holy Prophet handed me a slice of the fruit for the purpose of giv ing it to the resurrected person and then dropped the rest of the slices in my outstretched shirt. I gave that one slice to the resurrected person and he ate it right there. When he finished eating, I noticed that the Holy Prophet’s chair was considerably elevated from its previous position and his forehead was shining and emanating rays like the sun. This was a sign for the revival and progress of Islam. My eyes were still looking at that shining light when I woke up. All praise be to Allah for this.
In the days immediately after seeing this dream, I narrated it to about two hundred people, which included about fifty Hindus of whom several survive to this day. They know that, at the time, I had no intention of writing Barahin Ahmadiyya or any other religious book or offering a reward of ten thousand rupees to prove its mettle. It is apparent now that the dream prophesied a number of things, several of which have already been fulfilled. The stability and strength implied in Qutabi, the name given to the book in the dream, became apparent to the world when a challenge, backed by a large reward, was given to show conclusively the truth of Islam. Everyone should await the fulfillment of those parts of the dream that have not yet materialized. Certainly the heavenly decrees cannot be voided
[The Great Reformer pages 121-122]
Could these dreams be false?
They are not false because Holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ has told us that Satan can not take his appearance:
حَدَّثَنَا مُعَلَّى بْنُ أَسَدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْعَزِيزِ بْنُ مُخْتَارٍ، حَدَّثَنَا ثَابِتٌ الْبُنَانِيُّ، عَنْ أَنَسٍ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ قَالَ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم " مَنْ رَآنِي فِي الْمَنَامِ فَقَدْ رَآنِي، فَإِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ لاَ يَتَخَيَّلُ بِي، وَرُؤْيَا الْمُؤْمِنِ جُزْءٌ مِنْ سِتَّةٍ وَأَرْبَعِينَ جُزْءًا مِنَ النُّبُوَّةِ ".
Narrated Anas:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Whoever has seen me in a dream, then no doubt, he has seen me, for Satan cannot imitate my shape. [Sahih al-Bukhari 6994]
This hadith is from Bukhari and is mutawatir. This hadith solidily proves that Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ) is a true prophet. There are two options for our Non Ahmadi Muslim Friends:
Either they say that
1. Islam Ahmadiyyat is true because the Holy Prophet ﷺ has confirmed it.
2. Or all of Islam is, God forbid, false.