12. Answers: 2
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In other detailed statements, at a later time, he has also
explained the use of ‘prophet’ and ‘messenger’ for a non-prophet:
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In a book in January 1897 (Ref)
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In a letter written and published in August 1899 (Ref)
Slide References
Extracts from statements of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
RK = Ruhani Khaza’in, the 23 volume collection
of books of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
MI = Majuma Ishtiharat, collection of published announcements
of Hazrat Mirza.
Rabwah editions.
1. A man calling himself insaf talb
(‘seeker of justice’ or ‘fair-minded’) raised
the objection that although Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was a Muslim
and it was wrong to call him kafir, yet his followers had
also gone to the extreme of regarding him as a prophet. Hazrat Mirza
replied to him as follows:
“There is a contradiction in his statement. On the one hand
he says very kindly that it is wrong to call a Muslim as kafir,
and on the other he says about me that my followers really believe
me to be a messenger of Allah and that I have claimed prophethood
in fact. If his first view is right, that I am a Muslim and
believe in the Holy Quran, then this second view is wrong in
which he says that I myself claim prophethood. And if his second
view is right, then the first is wrong in which he says that
I am a Muslim and believe in the Holy Quran.
“Can a wretched imposter who claims
messengership and prophethood for himself have any belief in
the Holy Quran? And can a man who believes in the Holy
Quran, and believes the verse ‘He is the Messenger of Allah
and the Khatam an-nabiyyin’ to be the word of God, say
that he too is a messenger and prophet after the Holy Prophet
Muhammad?
“Insaf Talb should remember that I have never, at any
time, made a claim of nubuwwat or risalat [prophethood
or messengership] in the real sense. To use a word in a non-real
sense, and to employ it in speech according to its broad, root
meaning, does not imply heresy (kufr). However,
I do not like even this much, for there is the possibility that
ordinary Muslims may misunderstand it.
“However, by virtue of being appointed by God, I cannot conceal
those revelations I have received from Him in which the words
nubuwwat and risalat occur quite frequently. But
I say repeatedly that, in these revelations, the word mursal
or rasul or nabi which has occurred about me is
not used in its real sense. (Author’s Footnote: Such
words have not occurred only now, but have been present in my
published revelations for sixteen years. So you will find many
such revelations about me in the book Barahin Ahmadiyya.)
The actual fact, to which I testify with the highest testimony,
is that our Holy Prophet, may peace and the blessings of God be
upon him, is the Khatam al-anbiya and after him no prophet
is to come, neither an old one nor a new one. ...
“But it must be remembered that, as we have explained here, sometimes
the revelation from God contains such words about some of His
saints in a metaphorical and figurative sense; they are not meant
by way of reality. This is the whole controversy which
the foolish, prejudiced people have dragged in a different direction.
The name 'prophet of God' for the Promised Messiah, which is to
be found in Sahih Muslim etc. from the blessed tongue of
the Holy Prophet, is meant in the same metaphorical sense as that
in which it occurs in Sufi literature as an accepted and common
term for the recipient of Divine communication. Otherwise, how
can there be a prophet after the Khatam al-anbiya?”
— Anjam Atham, footnote, pages 26 - 28, published
January 1897; RK 11: 26-28. [TOP]
2. In a letter written by Hazrat Mirza,
which was also published at the time of writing, he said:
“The situation is that, although for twenty years I have been
constantly receiving Divine revelation, often the word rasul
or nabi has occurred in it. For example, there is the revelation:
‘He it is Who sent His messenger (rasul) with guidance
and the true religion’, and the revelation: ‘the champion of God
in the mantle of the prophets’, and the revelation: ‘A prophet
came into the world but the world accepted him not’. (Author’s
Footnote: Another reading of this revelation is: ‘A warner
(nazir) came into the world’, and this is the reading which
was given in Barahin Ahmadiyya. To avoid causing trouble,
the other reading [which says ‘prophet’] was not given.)
“However, that person is mistaken who thinks that by this prophethood
and messengership is meant real prophethood and messengership,
by which the man concerned possesses authority over the Shariah.
In fact, by the word rasul is only meant ‘one sent by
God,’ and by the word nabi is only meant ‘one who makes
prophecies,’ having received intimation from God, or one who
discloses hidden matters.
“As these words, which are only in a
metaphorical sense, cause trouble (fitna) in Islam, leading
to very bad consequences, these terms should not be used in
our community’s common talk and everyday language.
It should be believed from the bottom of the heart that prophethood
has terminated with the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace and the
blessings of God be upon him, as God Almighty says: ‘He is the
Messenger of God and the Khatam an-nabiyyin.’ To deny this
verse, or to belittle it, is in fact to separate oneself from
Islam. The person who exceeds the limit in rejection is in the
same dangerous condition as the one who, like the Shiahs, exceeds
the limit in acceptance. It should be known that God has ended all His prophethoods and
messengerships with the Holy Quran and the Holy Prophet.
I have come into the world, and have been sent into it, merely
as a servant of the religion of Islam, and not to discard Islam
and create some other religion. One must always protect oneself
from being waylaid by the devil, and have true love for Islam,
and must never forget the greatness of the Holy Prophet Muhammad.
“I am a servant of Islam, and this is the real reason for my
coming. The words nabi and rasul are figurative
and metaphorical. Risalat in the Arabic language is applied
to ‘being sent’, and nubuwwat is to expound hidden truths
and matters upon receiving knowledge from God. So, bearing in
mind a significance of this extent, it is not blame-worthy to
believe in the heart in accordance with this meaning.
“However, in the terminology of Islam, nabi and rasul
mean those who bring an entirely new Law (shariah), or
those who abrogate some aspects of the previous law, or those
who are not called followers of a previous prophet, having a
direct connection with God without benefit from a prophet. Therefore,
one should be vigilant to see that the same meaning is not taken
here, because we have no Book but the Holy Quran, and no religion
but Islam. We believe that our Prophet,
may peace and the blessings of God be upon him, is the last
of the Prophets, and the Holy Quran is the last of the Books.
Religion should not be made into a children’s game, and it should
be remembered that I make no claim contrary to that of being
a servant of Islam. The person who ascribes to me the contrary
is making a fabrication against me. We receive grace and blessings
through our Holy Prophet, and receive the benefit of knowledge
from the Quran.
“It is, therefore, pertinent that no person should entertain
anything in his heart contrary to this direction; or else he shall
be answerable for it before God. If we are not servants of Islam,
then all our work is in vain and rejected, and shall be called
to account.”
— Letter dated 7 August 1899, published in Al-Hakam,
vol. 3, no. 29, 17 August 1899. [TOP]
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