In the Service of Islam

In the Service of Islam

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THE PROMISED MESSIAH

BEFORE WE discuss further Hazrat Mirza Sahib's claim to be the Promised Messiah, it is important to determine whether Jesus Christ is sitting with his physical body in heaven, awaiting his return to earth to save Islam and the Muslims, or whether he is dead. Because, if the original Jesus Christ is awaiting in heaven his second posting on earth, this time among the Muslims, then our case falls to the ground. But if he is dead, then the Promised Messiah mentioned in the Hadith must be a 'leader from among you (Muslims), as foretold by the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).

The rather long discussion on this point has been relegated by us to Chapter 11 so that it may not confuse this narrative account. A perusal of that chapter would show that the Holy Qur'an and Hadith prove conclusively that:

(a) Jesus Christ did not die on the Cross.

(b) Nor was he lifted bodily alive to heaven.

(c) Instead he was taken down alive, although in a swoon.

(d) He recovered and migrated with his mother Mary to Kashmir (India) where he died a natural death at the ripe old age of 120 years, and where he lies buried in Mohallah Khan Yar, Srinagar, under the name of Yuz Asaf-the two names being apparently the Kashmiri version of Jesus son of Yusuf (Joseph), the natural father of Jesus. Hazrat Maryam (Mary) lies buried at Murree or Mari (a hill station called after her) in the Punjab, Pakistan.

That being so, and since the most authentic two books of Hadith (Bukhari and Muslim) quote the Holy Prophet Muhammad as saying that the Promised Messiah would be an 'Imam (leader) from among you (Muslims),' why did the Promised Messiah not appear as predicted by the Holy Prophet, and hinted by the Holy Qur'an, when all other prophecies made by them regarding the timing of his appearance, namely, the rise to power of Gog and Magog (the Western nations), their all-out attempt to convert the subject nations, including the Muslims, to their religion through their missionaries, and the resulting mortal danger to Islam and the Muslims, had all been completely fulfilled?

He did appear, for the Word of Allah and the prophecies of His Prophet, could not possibly remain unfulfilled.

When Allah revealed to Hazrat Mirza Sahib that Jesus Christ had died in his own time, as provable from the Holy Qur'an and the Hadith, Hazrat Mirza Sahib gave top priority to this revelation of the true state of affairs, and left no stone unturned to prove it from the Holy Qur'an, Hadith and even the Bible. But the skeptics would still have said, 'Let us wait and see when the Promised Messiah appears whether he is Jesus Christ or somebody else,' for beliefs held for centuries cannot be given up easily, except by those blessed by Allah with the courage to accept the truth when they see it. So the All-Wise Allah did not leave any room for doubt or prevarication. And he deservedly appointed Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Sahib as the Promised Messiah, particularly as the dangers to Islam and the Muslims which he was to crush had in fact appeared, and Hazrat Mirza Sahib was fit in every way for the great task of meeting them.

The Muslim Ulema of the time were aware that all prophecies regarding the timing of the appearance of the Promised Messiah had been fulfilled, and the times and the circumstances called for his appearance. And they were preaching in mosques to Muslim audiences how and where Hazrat Isa (Jesus) would descend in person from the heavens. Hazrat Mirza Sahib's revelation that Hazrat Isa was dead and that he (Mirza Sahib) was the Promised Messiah came to them as a bolt from the blue. It shattered their life-long fancies and faiths-however incorrect and harmful to Islam they had been-and went against what they had been announcing to the Muslims. Besides, the vanity and pride of some of the critics may also have been hurt, that leaving the recognized Ulema and Pirs (hereditary religious leaders), a person not belonging to their professional group, as it were, had been selected for the high office of the Promised Messiah (who was also to be the Mahdi as prophesied by the Holy Prophet). The same reaction has been described in the Holy Qur'an on its being revealed to an orphan and unimportant person (as he then was) like Muhammad, rather than to the big people of the premier cities of Arabia. Says the Holy Qur'an:

'And they say, Why was not the Qur'an revealed to a man of importance in the two towns?' (43:31).

How could the high and mighty of the land follow an unimportant person, according to them, however outstanding he may have been in his moral and spiritual qualities which alone matter in the eyes of Allah?

Not that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was not an outstanding scholar too of languages (Arabic, Persian and Urdu) and of religions. But he had not been to a recognized school which turned out Maulvis, and he did not belong to a Pir family. He was contemptuously called a munshi (a mere scribe). The Ulema did contest, however unsuccessfully, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Sahib's arguments from the Holy Qur'an and Hadith and his appeals to reason and the Islamic sentiment. The debates are all on record. Let somebody, who wants to, look at them and decide who had the better of those debates. The Ulema realized that they were not on firm ground. But they found an issue which was to upset Muslims emotionally and thus to confuse their reason.

The Ulema charged that Hazrat Mirza Sahib had claimed to be a prophet. How? They said that he claimed to be the Promised Messiah who had been referred to as Nabi (prophet) in the Hadith (tradition) of the Holy Prophet. The Hadith did use this term. It was also true that the revelations which came to Hazrat Mirza Sahib even before he was appointed the Promised Messiah called him a Nabi or Rasool (messenger) occasionally. In the circumstances, to meet the charge that he had indirectly claimed to be a prophet, Hazrat Mirza Sahib had three options open before him:

(1) To say, Allah forbid, that the Hadith (tradition) of the Holy Prophet and his own revelations were wrong,

(2) To claim to be a prophet and a messenger of Allah (in the traditional sense in which these terms were used for the prophets before the Holy Prophet Muhammad),

(3) To explain the use of the terms Nabi (prophet) and Rasool (messenger) used in his own revelations and in the tradition of the Holy Prophet Muhammad as having been used metaphorically .

No Muslim or man of God worth the name could adopt alternative (1). Had Hazrat Mirza Sahib been a false person or an 'impostor, as alleged by his detractors, he could easily have adopted alternative (2). No matter that the Holy Prophet Muhammad was accepted as the Last Prophet by the general body of Muslims, Hazrat Mirza Sahib would have got away with a claim to prophethood, as shown by the later slip-up of many of his followers (Rabwah Jamaat), who, after his death, elevated him from the rank of Mujaddid to the rank of prophet, in the same way as Jesus Christ (whose second coming or image in the spiritual sense Hazrat Mirza Sahib claimed to be) was raised by the vast majority of his followers from prophethood to godhood. The founder of Baha'ism had recently got away with such claims. But Hazrat Mirza Sahib was too good a Muslim to even think of it.

So he adopted the third alternative, that is to say, all his life he successfully reconciled the two seemingly conflicting positions, namely, that while prophethood had come to an end with the last prophet Muhammad, his spiritual caliphs or those receiving revelation in Islam were called prophets in their revelations or by themselves, for he was not the first to be so called. He showed his critics that:

(a) Etymologically the word Nabi means one who receives news from Allah and makes prophecies accordingly. It is in this sense alone that the recipients of revelation from Allah (after prophethood proper came to an end with the Holy Prophet Muhammad) are called Nabi by Him or by themselves. The use of the word Nabi is thus purely metaphorical or etymological for those who receive revelation and make prophecies, after the Holy Prophet Muhammad.

(b) In the technical sense of the Shari'at, prophethood means the revelation of a Divine Book through the angel Gabriel. Such prophethood came to an end with the Holy Prophet Muhammad, the last of the prophets proper, and with the Holy Qur'an-the last of the revealed books of Allah.

(c) Similarly the word Rasool means, etymologically, one sent on a mission. In that sense the word is used even in the Holy Qur'an for the angel or angels sent to Mary or other prophets or persons, and even for human beings sent as messengers by a king, (e.g. 19:19, 12:50, 42:51, 11:81, 22:75, 35:1, 6:61, 7:37, 10:21, 11:69, 11:77, 29:31, 29:33, 27:35). In that general sense, a Muhaddath (a non-prophet to whom Allah speaks) is also a Rasool.

(d) But in the technical sense of the Shari'at it means a prophet proper too. That kind of Rasool cannot now come.

In spite of the rational attitude of Hazrat Mirza Sahib, his opponents persisted in the charge that he had in fact claimed to be a prophet. And so he had to issue the denials quoted earlier under 'Articles of Faith,' and many more which are reproduced in Chapter 5. But before that, it is necessary to explain in the next chapter the difference between a Muhaddath (one to whom Allah speaks) and a Prophet proper who is Divinely appointed, receives wahy an-nubuwwat (the highest form of revelation of prophethood brought only by the archangel Gabriel), is given a book and is independent of other prophets. We apologize for this digression but it is necessary to explain why Hazrat Mirza Sahib's claim to be only a Muhaddath (one to whom Allah speaks), like so many before him in Islam, was still distorted to attribute to him prophethood proper, however much he denied it.

AHMADIYYAT IN THE SERVICE OF ISLAM by N.A. Faruqui Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha'at Islam, Lahore, Inc. 36911 Walnut Street, Newark California 94560 USA Copyright© by Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha'at Islam Lahore, Inc. 1983. First published in 1983 by the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha'at Islam Lahore, Inc. (USA) 36911 Walnut Street Newark, California 94560 USA Library of Congress catalog car number: 83-71698 ISBN 0-913321-00-1 All rights reserved. Cover Design: Details of Wall Mosaics in the Mosque of El Bordeyhy (17th century) From Dover Pictorial Archive Series Arabic Art in Color (Dover 1978). Typeset by Linguatype Limited, Slough, Berks, England.

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	In the Service of Islam Indeks Islam \| Indeks Ahmadiyyah \| Indeks Lahore \| Indeks Artikel \| Tentang Pengarang ISNET Homepage \| MEDIA Homepage \| Program Kerja \| Koleksi \| Anggota
	THE PROMISED MESSIAH BEFORE WE discuss further Hazrat Mirza Sahib's claim to be the Promised Messiah, it is important to determine whether Jesus Christ is sitting with his physical body in heaven, awaiting his return to earth to save Islam and the Muslims, or whether he is dead. Because, if the original Jesus Christ is awaiting in heaven his second posting on earth, this time among the Muslims, then our case falls to the ground. But if he is dead, then the Promised Messiah mentioned in the Hadith must be a 'leader from among you (Muslims), as foretold by the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). The rather long discussion on this point has been relegated by us to Chapter 11 so that it may not confuse this narrative account. A perusal of that chapter would show that the Holy Qur'an and Hadith prove conclusively that: (a) Jesus Christ did not die on the Cross. (b) Nor was he lifted bodily alive to heaven. (c) Instead he was taken down alive, although in a swoon. (d) He recovered and migrated with his mother Mary to Kashmir (India) where he died a natural death at the ripe old age of 120 years, and where he lies buried in Mohallah Khan Yar, Srinagar, under the name of Yuz Asaf-the two names being apparently the Kashmiri version of Jesus son of Yusuf (Joseph), the natural father of Jesus. Hazrat Maryam (Mary) lies buried at Murree or Mari (a hill station called after her) in the Punjab, Pakistan. That being so, and since the most authentic two books of Hadith (Bukhari and Muslim) quote the Holy Prophet Muhammad as saying that the Promised Messiah would be an 'Imam (leader) from among you (Muslims),' why did the Promised Messiah not appear as predicted by the Holy Prophet, and hinted by the Holy Qur'an, when all other prophecies made by them regarding the timing of his appearance, namely, the rise to power of Gog and Magog (the Western nations), their all-out attempt to convert the subject nations, including the Muslims, to their religion through their missionaries, and the resulting mortal danger to Islam and the Muslims, had all been completely fulfilled? He did appear, for the Word of Allah and the prophecies of His Prophet, could not possibly remain unfulfilled. When Allah revealed to Hazrat Mirza Sahib that Jesus Christ had died in his own time, as provable from the Holy Qur'an and the Hadith, Hazrat Mirza Sahib gave top priority to this revelation of the true state of affairs, and left no stone unturned to prove it from the Holy Qur'an, Hadith and even the Bible. But the skeptics would still have said, 'Let us wait and see when the Promised Messiah appears whether he is Jesus Christ or somebody else,' for beliefs held for centuries cannot be given up easily, except by those blessed by Allah with the courage to accept the truth when they see it. So the All-Wise Allah did not leave any room for doubt or prevarication. And he deservedly appointed Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Sahib as the Promised Messiah, particularly as the dangers to Islam and the Muslims which he was to crush had in fact appeared, and Hazrat Mirza Sahib was fit in every way for the great task of meeting them. The Muslim Ulema of the time were aware that all prophecies regarding the timing of the appearance of the Promised Messiah had been fulfilled, and the times and the circumstances called for his appearance. And they were preaching in mosques to Muslim audiences how and where Hazrat Isa (Jesus) would descend in person from the heavens. Hazrat Mirza Sahib's revelation that Hazrat Isa was dead and that he (Mirza Sahib) was the Promised Messiah came to them as a bolt from the blue. It shattered their life-long fancies and faiths-however incorrect and harmful to Islam they had been-and went against what they had been announcing to the Muslims. Besides, the vanity and pride of some of the critics may also have been hurt, that leaving the recognized Ulema and Pirs (hereditary religious leaders), a person not belonging to their professional group, as it were, had been selected for the high office of the Promised Messiah (who was also to be the Mahdi as prophesied by the Holy Prophet). The same reaction has been described in the Holy Qur'an on its being revealed to an orphan and unimportant person (as he then was) like Muhammad, rather than to the big people of the premier cities of Arabia. Says the Holy Qur'an: 'And they say, Why was not the Qur'an revealed to a man of importance in the two towns?' (43:31). How could the high and mighty of the land follow an unimportant person, according to them, however outstanding he may have been in his moral and spiritual qualities which alone matter in the eyes of Allah? Not that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was not an outstanding scholar too of languages (Arabic, Persian and Urdu) and of religions. But he had not been to a recognized school which turned out Maulvis, and he did not belong to a Pir family. He was contemptuously called a munshi (a mere scribe). The Ulema did contest, however unsuccessfully, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Sahib's arguments from the Holy Qur'an and Hadith and his appeals to reason and the Islamic sentiment. The debates are all on record. Let somebody, who wants to, look at them and decide who had the better of those debates. The Ulema realized that they were not on firm ground. But they found an issue which was to upset Muslims emotionally and thus to confuse their reason. The Ulema charged that Hazrat Mirza Sahib had claimed to be a prophet. How? They said that he claimed to be the Promised Messiah who had been referred to as Nabi (prophet) in the Hadith (tradition) of the Holy Prophet. The Hadith did use this term. It was also true that the revelations which came to Hazrat Mirza Sahib even before he was appointed the Promised Messiah called him a Nabi or Rasool (messenger) occasionally. In the circumstances, to meet the charge that he had indirectly claimed to be a prophet, Hazrat Mirza Sahib had three options open before him: (1) To say, Allah forbid, that the Hadith (tradition) of the Holy Prophet and his own revelations were wrong, (2) To claim to be a prophet and a messenger of Allah (in the traditional sense in which these terms were used for the prophets before the Holy Prophet Muhammad), (3) To explain the use of the terms Nabi (prophet) and Rasool (messenger) used in his own revelations and in the tradition of the Holy Prophet Muhammad as having been used metaphorically . No Muslim or man of God worth the name could adopt alternative (1). Had Hazrat Mirza Sahib been a false person or an 'impostor, as alleged by his detractors, he could easily have adopted alternative (2). No matter that the Holy Prophet Muhammad was accepted as the Last Prophet by the general body of Muslims, Hazrat Mirza Sahib would have got away with a claim to prophethood, as shown by the later slip-up of many of his followers (Rabwah Jamaat), who, after his death, elevated him from the rank of Mujaddid to the rank of prophet, in the same way as Jesus Christ (whose second coming or image in the spiritual sense Hazrat Mirza Sahib claimed to be) was raised by the vast majority of his followers from prophethood to godhood. The founder of Baha'ism had recently got away with such claims. But Hazrat Mirza Sahib was too good a Muslim to even think of it. So he adopted the third alternative, that is to say, all his life he successfully reconciled the two seemingly conflicting positions, namely, that while prophethood had come to an end with the last prophet Muhammad, his spiritual caliphs or those receiving revelation in Islam were called prophets in their revelations or by themselves, for he was not the first to be so called. He showed his critics that: (a) Etymologically the word Nabi means one who receives news from Allah and makes prophecies accordingly. It is in this sense alone that the recipients of revelation from Allah (after prophethood proper came to an end with the Holy Prophet Muhammad) are called Nabi by Him or by themselves. The use of the word Nabi is thus purely metaphorical or etymological for those who receive revelation and make prophecies, after the Holy Prophet Muhammad. (b) In the technical sense of the Shari'at, prophethood means the revelation of a Divine Book through the angel Gabriel. Such prophethood came to an end with the Holy Prophet Muhammad, the last of the prophets proper, and with the Holy Qur'an-the last of the revealed books of Allah. (c) Similarly the word Rasool means, etymologically, one sent on a mission. In that sense the word is used even in the Holy Qur'an for the angel or angels sent to Mary or other prophets or persons, and even for human beings sent as messengers by a king, (e.g. 19:19, 12:50, 42:51, 11:81, 22:75, 35:1, 6:61, 7:37, 10:21, 11:69, 11:77, 29:31, 29:33, 27:35). In that general sense, a Muhaddath (a non-prophet to whom Allah speaks) is also a Rasool. (d) But in the technical sense of the Shari'at it means a prophet proper too. That kind of Rasool cannot now come. In spite of the rational attitude of Hazrat Mirza Sahib, his opponents persisted in the charge that he had in fact claimed to be a prophet. And so he had to issue the denials quoted earlier under 'Articles of Faith,' and many more which are reproduced in Chapter 5. But before that, it is necessary to explain in the next chapter the difference between a Muhaddath (one to whom Allah speaks) and a Prophet proper who is Divinely appointed, receives wahy an-nubuwwat (the highest form of revelation of prophethood brought only by the archangel Gabriel), is given a book and is independent of other prophets. We apologize for this digression but it is necessary to explain why Hazrat Mirza Sahib's claim to be only a Muhaddath (one to whom Allah speaks), like so many before him in Islam, was still distorted to attribute to him prophethood proper, however much he denied it.
	AHMADIYYAT IN THE SERVICE OF ISLAM by N.A. Faruqui Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha'at Islam, Lahore, Inc. 36911 Walnut Street, Newark California 94560 USA Copyright© by Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha'at Islam Lahore, Inc. 1983. First published in 1983 by the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha'at Islam Lahore, Inc. (USA) 36911 Walnut Street Newark, California 94560 USA Library of Congress catalog car number: 83-71698 ISBN 0-913321-00-1 All rights reserved. Cover Design: Details of Wall Mosaics in the Mosque of El Bordeyhy (17th century) From Dover Pictorial Archive Series Arabic Art in Color (Dover 1978). Typeset by Linguatype Limited, Slough, Berks, England.
	Indeks Islam \| Indeks Ahmadiyyah \| Indeks Lahore \| Indeks Artikel \| Tentang Pengarang ISNET Homepage \| MEDIA Homepage \| Program Kerja \| Koleksi \| Anggota Please direct any suggestion to Media Team