The Truth of the Burning of the Library of Alexandria (Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih I’s (ra) Narration)

Hazrat Khalifatul Masih I (ra) has replied to this allegation in his book, Tasdiq Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya by stating:

“[It is alleged that] Upon the request of Philoponus Hakeem and Fazal Ajal, the Muslim commander-in-chief, Amr (ra) bin al-Aas enquired about what to do with the library to the Second Khalifa, Leader of the Faithful, so the Khalifa replied stating it ought to be burned down immediately and that this furnace burnt continuously for six months.”

This is what the people allege.

Hazrat Khalifatul Masih I (ra) continues:

“This allegation is as a result of spite on part of the priests and has no truth behind it. If people ponder over this, firstly, if this was part of the Islamic injunction [i.e. to burn books] then during the blessed era of Hazrat Umar’s (ra) Khilafat, he ought to have ordered the burning of Christian and Jewish holy books, because it was these two religions with holy scriptures that were the primary addressee of Islam. Then, Islam ruled over the Magians, but there is not a single instance in history that mentions the burning of their books. If this was the practice of the Khalifas of Islam, then the means of this act ought to have been found in Islam, and also nothing would stop Islam from doing this.”

Hazrat Khalifatul Masih I (ra) further states:

“Secondly, if the burning of religious books was the practice of Muslim sovereigns and the Muslim people, then it would be impossible to find books on Greek philosophy, Greek medicine, and Greek sciences in the Arabic language. Thirdly, if the burning of books was the habit of Muslims, then the one refuting Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya ought to have presented an example from his own country.”

Hazrat Khalifatul Masihra in this book was replying to a person who was refuting Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya. [He continues,]

“He would not need to cross the sea to Alexandria to find an example. Which books were burned in India? Fourthly, Islam ruled in India for over 700 years; during this time and even until today the Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana, Mahabharata, and other renowned religious books such as Linga Puran and Markandeya still exist today and are considered to be their holy scriptures. Has anyone ever heard about the burning of any of them? In fact, some of these books have even been translated. It is a wonder therefore, just how did the Hindus assume that the Muslims would burn their holy books? Ponder over this with justice.”

(Tasdiq Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, Vol. 1, pp. 203-204)