Ghulam Ahmad died in Lahore on the 26th of May 1908. Eyewitness accounts of his final night were collected by his son, Mirza Bashir Ahmad, in his book Seeratul Mahdi. For anyone interested, they can read those accounts here.
There is a bigger picture surrounding Ghulam Ahmad's death, and I will attempt to look at it through the lens of his writings, prayers, and prophecies.
Smyth-Pigott
Smyth-Pigott was a contemporary of Ghulam Ahmad, who also claimed to be the second coming of Jesus. You can read more on Smyth-Pigott here. Ghulam Ahmad heard of Pigott's claims and had a letter sent to him:
"I, therefore, warn him through this notice that if he does not repent of this irreverent claim, he shall be soon annihilated, even in my life-time… God has borne witness to my truth with heavenly signs shown in thousands… The death of Mr. Pigott within my life-time shall be another sign of my truth. If I die before Mr. Pigott, I am not the true Messiah nor am I from God…"
Ghulam Ahmad would die in 1908. Pigott died around two decades later. Ghulam Ahmad's death during the life of Pigott proved Ghulam Ahmad was not the true Messiah, nor was he 'from God'.
Final decision with Sanaullah Amritsari
Ghulam Ahmad had an opponent named Mawlana Sanaullah Amritsari. They had been going back and forth for many years. In the end, Ghulam Ahmad had a three-page advert titled ‘Maulvi Sanaullah Sahib Amritsari ke saath aakhri faisla’ printed. A translation of the entire advert can be found here.
In the advert, he supplicated to Allah and asked for divine judgement between him and the Mawlana. Below is the supplication (It is important to note that this was NOT a prayer-duel/mubahila, but a supplication/dua) he made:
"If I am such a liar and fabricator as you have oftentimes referred to me as in each of your publications then I will be destroyed in your lifetime because I know that a fabricator and liar does not have a long life span and in the end, after degradation and languish, he becomes destroyed in the lifetime of his staunch opponents. And it is better for him to be destroyed so he does not misguide God’s people.
And if I am not a liar and fabricator and I am honoured by God’s dialogue and address and am Maseeh Maud then with the Grace of God I am hopeful that according to the Practice of Allah you will not escape from the punishment received by liars.
Hence if you are not inflicted with such punishment which is not from the hands of human beings but is only in the Hands of Allah like plague or cholera or such illness in my lifetime then I am not from God Almighty.
This is not a prophecy on the basis of any revelation or inspiration but is merely a Verdict which I have asked from God in the form of a prayer. And I pray to God that O my Master Baseer and Qadeer Who is Aleem and Khabeer and Who is Aware of the condition of my heart. If this claim of being Maseeh Maud is from my own nafs (mind) and if I am corrupt and a liar in Your Eyes and if I forge lies against You day and night then O my Beloved Master I humbly pray to You that destroy me in the lifetime of Molvi Sanaullah Sahib and make my death a source of happiness for him and his Jamaat. Aameen.
But O my completely Truthful God. If Molvi Sanaullah is not truthful in the slanders he attributes to me, then I humbly pray to You to annihilate him in my lifetime. But not from the hands of human beings, in fact from plague or cholera or such diseases with the exception of such a case that he openly and face to face in front of me and my Jamaat, repents from his swearing and bad language which he considers as obligatory and always hurts me. Aameen O Lord of the Worlds."
— (Majmua-e-Ishtaharat, Vol. 3, pp. 578-580, older print)
It would take 14 months for divine judgement to pass and Ghulam Ahmad would die first. The Mawlana outlived Ghulam Ahmad by four decades, dying on March 15, 1948. Based on the supplication and the consequential outcome, Ghulam Ahmad was a corrupt liar who forged lies against Allah, and whose claims of being the Messiah were from his own nafs.
80-year prophecy
You can read more on this prophecy here. The prophecy was originally for Ghulam Ahmad to live till around the age of 80. The age range changed over the years, and the largest range found in all the versions is for him to live between 74 and 86:
"The actual words of the Revelation that pertain to this promise, however, fix the age between 74 and 86."
— (Brahin-e-Ahmadiyya, Part 5, p. 347)
In his own words, he was born in either 1839 or 1840:
"I was born around 1839 or 1840, during the latter part of the Sikh rule."
— (Essence of Islam, Vol. 4, p. 8)
1908 - 1839 = 69 (69 is in solar years, if converted to lunar years, it is under 72 years). He should have lived to a minimum age of 74. He died aged 69. This was a clear failed prophecy. You can read more on what he said in relation to failed prophecies here.
Dr Abdul-Hakeem Khan
Dr Abdul-Hakeem Khan had been a follower of Ghulam Ahmad for around 20 years, and his name was also included at number 159 in the list of Mirza's 313 followers. Abdul-Hakeem would then leave the community and issue prophecies against Ghulam Ahmad. He predicted Ghulam Ahmad would die 14 months from July 1, 1907. In response to Abdul-Hakeem's prophecies, Ghulam Ahmad was given revelation saying God would lengthen his days:
"I will lengthen your days also"
— (Tadhkirah, p. 1009)
Despite this promise from his God, Ghulam Ahmad could not live past 14 months after July 1907.
Cholera
Mullah Abdul-Latif was an Afghan follower of Ghulam Ahmad. He was murdered in Afghanistan, and shortly after, cholera broke out in Afghanistan. He saw this cholera outbreak as the 'sword of God's fury':
"Since I was grievously humiliated by the assassination of this ill-treated martyr, the wrath of God drew the sword of His fury against Kabul. A severe epidemic of cholera broke out in the city after the assassination of this ill-treated martyr, and most of those who took part in the assassination conspiracy against this ill-treated martyr fell victim to it."
— (The Philosophy of Divine Revelation [Haqiqatul Wahi], p. 443)
Not only did he see the cholera outbreak as a form of God's wrath, but he also prayed for Sanaullah to die of cholera or the plague. Based on this, it's clear he didn't see dying of cholera as an honourable death, and saw it more as some sort of divine punishment.
There's no evidence to suggest Sanaullah died due to any such disease. There is plenty of evidence to suggest Mirza himself died due to it:
1. Ghulam Ahmad was suffering from excessive loose motions (diarrhoea) the night before he died. To remedy this, he took drops of a medicine called 'Chlorodyne'. This was a medicine which was used to treat cholera:
View Urdu Transliteration
"(778) Peer Manzoor Muhammad sahib ne ba'wasta Maulvi Abdur Rahman sahib Mubashir bazariya tehreer mujh se bayaan kiya. Lahore mein ghaliban wafat se ek din pehley Hazrat Masih Ma'ood alaihis-salaam andar se bahar tashreef laye aur farmaya ke aaj mujhe dast ziyada aa gaye hain. Chunancha main ne teen qatrey chlorodyne ke pee liye hain."
Translation:
"(778) Peer Manzoor Muhammad Sahib narrated to me in writing through Maulvi Abdur Rahman Sahib Mubashir. In Lahore, probably a day before his passing, the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) came outside and said, 'Today I have had excessive loose motions (diarrhoea). Therefore, I have drunk three drops of chlorodyne.'"— (Seeratul Mahdi, Vol. 3, p. 721, Narration 778)
2. There was an obituary posted in the newspaper 'The Vakil' wherein cholera was stated as the cause of death. This was a pro-Ahmadi newspaper with an Ahmadi editor. You can read more on this here.
3. In narration 12 of Seeratul Mahdi, Nusrat Jehan tells how her husband was suffering from excessive loose motions and vomiting whilst he was on his deathbed. These are both symptoms of cholera and are the reason why he was taking drops of Chlorodyne.
4. Finally, there is a deathbed testimony which Ghulam Ahmad gave to his father-in-law, Mir Nasir, wherein he acknowledged that he had been struck with cholera:
View Urdu Transliteration
"Ab bari aur sakht tabdeeli mere haal mein paida hui aur aisi sakht museebat nazil hui ke jis ki talafi bohat mushkil hai. Allah Ta'ala ke siwa meri takleef ko koi nahi jaan sakta. Hazrat Sahib jis raat ko beemar huay us raat ko main apne maqam par ja kar so chuka tha. Jab aap ko bohat takleef hui to mujhe jagaya gaya. Jab main Hazrat Sahib ke paas pohncha aur aap ka haal dekha to aap ne mujhe mukhatib kar ke farmaya. 'Mir Sahib mujhe wabayi haiza ho gaya hai.' Is ke baad aap ne koi aisi saaf baat mere khayal mein nahi farmai. Yahan tak ke doosray roz das baje ke baad aap ka inteqal ho gaya."
Translation:
"Now a great and severe change occurred in my condition, and such a severe calamity befell me that its reparation is very difficult. Except for Allah the Exalted, no one can know my pain. The night Hazrat Sahib became ill, I had gone to my quarters and fallen asleep. When he felt a lot of pain, I was awakened. When I reached Hazrat Sahib and saw his condition, he addressed me and said, 'Mir Sahib, I have contracted epidemic cholera.' After this, to my mind, he did not say anything else so clearly. Until the next day after 10 o'clock, he passed away."
This is a highly problematic testimony for the Ahmadis. It was a testimony of their prophet admitting he had the disease which he prayed for his opponents to die of. Additionally, it was narrated by his father-in-law, and collected by a prominent follower (Yacub Ali Irfani) of Ghulam Ahmad and printed by an Ahmadi press. Various attempts were employed to limit the damage caused by this deathbed utterance, including briefly removing the incriminating part from newer prints, before having to reinstate it. After reinstating it, they added a disclaimer in the footnote stating that this was just an opinion of Ghulam Ahmad, thereby implying that it was merely an unqualified opinion. They neglected to mention the fact that his father was a respectable physician and Ghulam Ahmad had studied some books of medicine with him:
"My father was an expert physician and under him I studied some books on medicine."
— (The Essence of Islam, Vol. 4, p. 10)
As well as studying books of Greek medicine:
"On 5 August 1906, the lower half of my body became numb and I could not move one step. Since I had systematically studied books on Greek medicine, I apprehended that these were symptoms of stroke."
— (The Philosophy of Divine Revelation [Haqiqatul Wahi], p. 300)
Furthermore, Ghulam Ahmad was highly familiar with the realities of cholera, having lost his own daughter, Ismat Bibi, to the disease in 1891. Therefore, when he self-diagnosed on his deathbed, he knew exactly what the symptoms looked like.
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View Urdu Transliteration
"Dr. Mir Muhammad Ismail Sahib ne mujh se bayan kiya ke Hazrat Maseeh Mawood alaihis salam ki aulad mein aap ki larki Ismat hi sirf aisi thi jo Qadian se bahar paida hui aur bahar hi faut hui. Us ki paidaish Ambala chhaoni ki thi aur faut Ludhiana mein hui. Usay haiza hua tha."
Translation:
"(879) Dr. Mir Muhammad Ismail Sahib narrated to me that among the children of the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him), his daughter Ismat was the only one who was born outside of Qadian and passed away outside as well. She had cholera."— (Seeratul Mahdi, Vol. 3, p. 775, Narration 879)
Even if we accept that it was just his opinion and he was wrong with his diagnosis, it still means that whilst on his deathbed he believed he had been struck by the sword of God's wrath. It would also appear that Ghulam Ahmad had a rare correct prediction when he predicted his own downfall through cholera the year before:
"Cholera is about to break out"
— (Tadhkirah, p. 991)
Transport from Lahore to Qadian
Beyond the cause of his death, the immediate aftermath also contradicted established prophetic tradition. Aisha (ra) narrated:
"When the Messenger of Allah died, they disagreed over where to bury him. So Abu Bakr said: 'I heard the Messenger of Allah saying something which I have not forgotten, he said: "Allah does not take (the life of) a Prophet except at the location in which He wants him to be buried."' So they buried him at the spot of his bed."
Rasulullah (ﷺ) passed away in the room of Aisha (ra), and that is where he was buried. Ghulam Ahmad's body was transported from Lahore to Qadian.
Conclusion
Mirza set the standard for his own claims, and based on those standards, his prophecies failed. He stated that if he died before Pigott, he wasn't from God. Pigott outlived him. He prayed for the liar between him and Sanaullah to die first. Ghulam Ahmad died first. He claimed a revelation guaranteed he would live to be between 74 and 86, but he died at 69. Instead, it was his former follower, Abdul-Hakeem Khan, who had a correct prediction when he said Ghulam Ahmad would die within 14 months.
The cause of his death is equally problematic for his claims. Ghulam Ahmad viewed cholera as a divine punishment and the 'sword of God's fury'. He even prayed for his opponents to die from it. The evidence shows he ended up catching this exact disease. By taking Chlorodyne and admitting to his father-in-law that he had epidemic cholera, he suffered the very fate he wished upon his enemies. According to his own writings, dying this way was a sign of divine wrath.
Finally, the transportation of his body from Lahore to Qadian goes against established Islamic tradition. As narrated by Aisha (ra), a prophet is buried exactly where they pass away.
In the end, if we judge Ghulam Ahmad by the metrics he gave his followers and critics, the events of May 1908 finalise the verdict. Based on his own writings, prayers, and the outcome of his death, his claims of being the Promised Messiah were false.
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