What Qadianis believe about Ayk
Ghalati Ka Izala
In any discussion of the booklet Ayk Ghalati Ka Izala it is important
to bear in mind what the Qadianis believe about it and what significance
they attach to it.
The Qadiani belief is that it was by the publication of this booklet,
in November 1901, that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad first announced to
the world that he was claiming to be a prophet.
Both the Qadianis and the Lahore Ahmadis agree that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam
Ahmad laid claim to be the Promised Messiah in 1891. They also agree
that, having made that claim, he denied and kept on denying that he
was claiming to be a prophet, and wrote again and again that his claim
was that of a muhaddas (a non-prophet who receives revelation
from Allah) and mujaddid.
The difference is that the Qadianis believe that after about ten years
he changed his position and declared to the world in Ayk Ghalati
Ka Izala that he was in fact a prophet. But the Lahore Ahmadis believe
that his position never changed, and remained the same as it was in
1891 to the very end of his life.
To show that the Qadianis do indeed hold this belief, we quote below
from the book Haqiqat an-Nubuwwat by Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud
Ahmad, the second Khalifa of the Qadianis, published in March 1915:
"The books in which he has denied being a prophet in
clear words, and has called his prophethood as partial and imperfect,
and as the prophethood of saints (muhaddas), are all without
exception books from before the year 1901 . . . It is definitely found
that in 1901 the Promised Messiah certainly made a change in his belief,
that is to say, previously he considered his prophethood as being sainthood
(muhaddas) but afterwards he only called it prophethood."
- p. 120.
"The issue of prophethood became clear to him in 1900 or 1901,
and as Ayk Ghalati Ka Izala was published in 1901, in which
he has proclaimed his prophethood most forcefully, it shows that he
made a change in his belief in 1901. . . . It is proved that the references
dating prior to the year 1901 in which he has denied being a prophet,
are now abrogated and it is an error to use them as evidence."
- p. 121.
"The Promised Messiah during two different periods defined
'prophet' in two different ways. Before the year 1901 he used one
definition of 'prophet.' Afterwards, ... he discovered a different
definition of 'prophet.' According to the previous definition of 'prophet'
in his mind, he was not a prophet, and therefore while all the characteristics
of prophethood were found in him, he refrained from calling himself
a prophet. ... But afterwards he had to change his belief. He discovered
from the Holy Quran that the definition of prophet was different from
what he had thought... and so he declared his prophethood" -
p. 122
"The first evidence of the change in this belief is found in
the announcement Ayk Ghalati Ka Izala, which is the first written
evidence." - p. 124.
According to the Qadiani belief expressed in these extracts, Hazrat Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad, having become the Promised Messiah in 1891, did not know
what makes a man into a prophet. Therefore, while being a prophet he did
not consider or call himself a prophet; indeed he denied being a prophet.
This state of affairs, according to the Qadiani belief, lasted for some
ten years. In the year 1901, they assert, he discovered the right definition
of a prophet, and realized that he had been a prophet all along, and so
he wrote Ayk Ghalati Ka Izala to announce that he was a prophet.
The question to be determined is, therefore:
- Has Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad changed his belief in this booklet
as claimed by the Qadianis,
- or has he reaffirmed the beliefs he expressed previously as claimed
by the Lahore Ahmadis?
It is not sufficient for the Qadianis just to point out that Hazrat Mirza
has called himself a prophet in this booklet, because they agree that
he had been using this word for the past ten years but in a metaphorical
sense and without claiming to be a prophet. What the Qadianis must
show is that in this booklet Hazrat Mirza made a change in his
belief from his previous position, and they must prove their contentions
that:
- He now "discovered a different definition of 'prophet' ",
according to which he was a prophet.
- His previous denials of prophethood "are now abrogated".
- This booklet is "the first evidence of the change in his belief".
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