How can a pious Muslim be hostile to the Promised Messiah (as)?

The foundation of true piety is the fear of God. Whoever truly fears God does not speak ill of someone God may have commissioned, nor even of a person he does not know.

Sometimes we meet a Muslim who prays, fasts and thinks wisely and openly about many questions of faith. Yet as soon as the conversation turns to Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as), the Promised Messiah, he becomes hostile. Often this comes from the surroundings he lives in. How does that fit with his piety?

Piety has a foundation, and that foundation is the fear of God, called taqwa in Arabic. The first verse above names it as the real measure of honour before God. Fear of God means being aware in every word that God is listening and that we will have to give account.

A person who thinks like this is careful. He would not speak ill of someone who says that God has commissioned him to renew the faith, even if he does not accept him as a prophet. For if that person is telling the truth, one would be standing against God Himself. More than that, a God fearing person does not even speak ill of someone he does not know at all. The second verse above warns against following that of which we have no knowledge.

If someone seems pious in everything, but here judges without knowledge and without restraint, then his piety is, at least at this point, only outward. It shows in his actions but has not yet fully reached his heart. That is no reason for contempt. It is a reason to invite him kindly to read for himself and form his own judgement.