This is again wrong allegation and I am happy that you brought this up.
Here the opponents say that whilst the Promised Messiah(as) conveyed to the world, by means of revelation, that he would pass away at the age of 80 years, or thereabouts, he in fact fell well short of this (1908-1835 = 73 years), thus highlighting the falsity of this particular revelation which, they purport, calls into question his entire claim to be the Imam Mahdi and Promised Messiah. For people of sincere intent, the below information will make clear, and come as no surprise, that it is in fact the opponents who are incorrect.
The reality is that it was conveyed to the Promised Messiah(as), by means of revelation, that he would die within a certain span of years and that is exactly what took place. The three principle revelations received by the Promised Messiah(as) were:
‘‘Eighty years or thereabouts, or a little more, and you will witness your distant progeny’’
(Arbayeen, No.3, 1900, pp.29-30; Zameema Tohfae-Golarviyyah).
In another place the Promised Messiah(as) is again given a similar revelation:
‘’…eighty years or thereabouts.’’
(Izala Auham pp. 632-635)
And finally the Promised Messiah(as) is more specifically told in an Urdu revelation that he would pass away at the age of:
‘‘Eighty and four or five more, or four or five less.’’
(Haqeeqatul Wahi pp. 70-108)
On the subject of the date of his birth, the Promised Messiah(as) writes in his book ‘Tohfa Ghowladiyya’
that he was born on Friday 14th of the Lunar calendar. Further clarifying this, Hadhrat Mufti Mohammad Sadiq(ra), a close companion of the Promised Messiah(as), relates to us in his book ‘Dhikr-e-Habib’ (Seerah of the Life of the Promised Messiah (as) ), that the Promised Messiah(as) said that he was born, using the lunar calendar, on Friday 14th of the month of Phaalgun (Hindi: phaagun or phaalgun is a month of the Hindi calendar. In India’s national civil calendar, Phaalgun is the twelfth month of the year, beginning on 20 February and ending on 21 March).
Upon further research there appear to be only two occasions upon which the above three common denominators (1.Friday, 2.14th day of a Lunar month, 3.the Indian month of Phaalgun) occurred simultaneously:
- 17th Shubat (February) 1832AD = 14th Ramadhan 1247 AH = 1st
Phaalgun 1888 - 13th Shubat (February) 1835 AD = 14th Shawwal 1250 AH = 1st
Phaalgun 1891
The Promised Messiah(as) wrote in his book ‘Haqeeqatul Wahi’ that he received his first revelation from Allah(swt) in the year 1290 AH. Then writing in his book ‘Taryaqul Qulub’ he writes that when he reached the age of 40 years he began to receive revelation. In assessing these two figures we come to the understanding that the Promised Messiah(as) was most likely born in the year 1250AH/1835AD (1290 – 40 = 1250).
Furthermore, if we calculate the age of the Promised Messiah(as) upon his death, applying the AD calendar, we conclude that he passed away roughly at the age of 73 years old (1908-1835=73). However, when we, as Muslims and followers of the Islamic calendar, more appropriately apply the Hijri calendar we find that he lived for roughly 76 years (1326 – 1250 = 76)
The calculation for converting a date from the Gregorian calendar into the equivalent Hijri date is as follows: Gregorian date (i.e. 2000AD) minus the Hijri date (i.e. 600AH) multiplied by 33 and divided by 32 (In this example the calculation would be as follows 2000 – 600 x 33 / 32 = 1443).
The calculation regarding the Promised Messiah’s(as) Hijri age would be as follows:
Birth: 1835 - 622 x 33 / 32 = 1250 AH
Death: 1908 - 622 x 33 / 32 = 1326 AH
1326-1250 = 76 years
**In light of this, the Promised Messiah’s(as) revelations mentioned at the outset of this article were properly fulfilled. **It is worth mentioning that it is remarkable that the opponents of the Promised Messiah(as), a group of ‘Muslim’ intellects (‘Ulema), chose to discredit him by almost instinctively turning to the non-Islamic calendar. Perhaps there exists some ‘logical’ reason for this! Indeed, whilst there is no wrong in applying the Gregorian calendar, they should have realised that it was more befitting of the Imam of the Age(as) to discuss his age in reference of the Islamic Hijri calendar.