Claims and status of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad PRINTED VERSION OF A SLIDE PRESENTATION by Zahid Aziz Claims of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. ● Page 2 ● This material is available at the weblink: www.ahmadiyya.org/claims/slides/ Summary In this presentation it is explained by extensive references from the writings of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad that he claimed to be a mujaddid (reviver of faith) and muhaddas (one spoken to by God who is not a prophet) of the Umma of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, like such figures who had arisen before him among the Muslims. He did not claim to be a prophet; in fact he vehemently denied the allegation of claiming to be a prophet and reiterated his belief that no prophet, new or old, can come after the Holy Prophet Muhammad. The true significance of certain terms which cause misconceptions about his claim is explained, and it is shown that he has not claimed prophethood in his much misrepresented booklet Ayk Ghalati Ka Izala (‘Correction of an Error’). Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad says about followers who exaggerate the status of their religious leader: “In this Sura [Fatiha] Muslims have been taught by way of indication that they should not, like the Jews, hasten to deny the Promised Messiah, and issue fatwas against him based on pretexts, and call him ‘accursed’; otherwise that same curse will overtake them. Similarly, they should not, like the Christians, become foolish friends and ascribe unjustified attributes to their spiritual leader.” — Tuhfah Golarwiya, page 16 (RK 17:111) “At this delicate point most of the ordinary people stumble and slip, and it is exactly as a result of these errors that thousands of saints and holy men and prophets have been elevated to the position of God. The fact is that when spiritual and heavenly talks reach the public, they cannot understand their true significance. Ultimately, they distort their meaning somewhat and take metaphor to be reality, and become involved in serious error and misguidance.” — Government Angrezi aur Jihad, p. 4, 5 (RK 17:26, 27) Claims of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. ● Page 3 ● 1. Mujaddid of 14th century hijra He was a mujaddid like the mujaddids who appeared in Islamic • history (Ref: 1) He reaffirmed claim of being mujaddid: • In last major book, one year before death o (Ref: 9) In statement made just one day before death o (Ref: 10) Promised Messiah is no more than a mujaddid • (Refs: 2–8) References 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. “Then, when the thirteenth century came to a close and the fourteenth century was about to dawn, God the Most High informed me by revelation: You are the Mujaddid of this century.” — Kitab al-Bariyya, 1898, p. 183. RK 13: 201. Promised Messiah is a Mujaddid: 2. “The question remains as to what is the evidence in support of this claim of mine to be the Messiah? Let it be clear that it is confirmed by the authentic reports that, at the time of the mischief spread by Christianity, the man who would appear as the Mujaddid at the head of the century, in order to uproot the evil of the worship of Jesus, he is the Mujaddid who has been called ‘Messiah’. Afterwards, by misunderstanding the Hadith reports, people came to believe that Jesus himself would descend from heaven to become the Mujaddid of the century, and would come at the head of the century, the majority of the Ulama holding that it would be the fourteenth century [Hijra]. But the error of this view is that the real intent of the Holy Prophet Muhammad was that the Mujaddid, from among the mujaddids of this Umma, who would have to come to the aid of Islam to defend it against the Christian onslaughts, shall have the name ‘Messiah’ because of his work of the reformation of the Christian religion.” — Kitab al-Bariyya, 1898, p. 198. RK 13: 216. 3. “Among the arguments in decisive Hadith reports which confirm the authenticity and truth of the claim of this writer is also the report regarding the appearance of mujaddids which Claims of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. ● Page 4 ● finds a place in Abu Daud and Mustadrik, i.e. for this Umma a mujaddid would appear at the head of every century, and would reform the faith according to the needs of the Muslims. The words ‘he will reform for them’ in this report show clearly that at the head of every century a mujaddid will come who will reform the prevailing evils. Now when a fair-minded man ponders carefully as to what were the most dangerous evils prevailing at the head of the fourteenth century, for whose reform the Mujaddid had to have the powers, then it is clearly found that the very great evil which destroyed hundreds of thousands of people is the evil of the Christian preachers. No intelligent man and sympathiser of Islam will deny that it should be the main duty of the Mujaddid of this century to break the cross and destroy the arguments of the Christians. When the breaking of the cross is the duty and work of the Mujaddid of the fourteenth century, then it has to be admitted that he himself is the Promised Messiah, for according to the Hadith reports it is also the sign of the Promised Messiah that he will be the Mujaddid of the century and his work would be to break the cross. In any case, if the present-day Muslim religious leaders reflect, while adhering to honesty and religion, then they will most certainly have to admit that the work of the Mujaddid of the fourteenth century is the breaking of the cross. And since this is the work which is reserved for the Promised Messiah, hence it follows, of necessity, that the Mujaddid of the fourteenth century must be the Promised Messiah.” — Kitab al-Bariyya, 1898, p. 263-264. RK 13:302, 303. 4. “At this point, the critic also writes that God has stated, ‘This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favour to you’ (5:3), and he raises the objection that since religion has reached perfection and the favour has been completed, there is then no need of a mujaddid, or of a prophet. But it is regrettable that, by believing this, the critic has raised an objection against the Holy Quran itself, for the Quran has promised the appearance of khalifas among the Muslims, as has just been mentioned, and said that in their times the faith shall be consolidated, uncertainty and trepidation shall depart, and security shall be established after fear. ... When have we said that mujaddids and saints (muhaddases) come into the world to remove something from the religion or to add to it? On the contrary, we say that when, after the passage of a period of time, the dust of corrupted notions settles upon the holy teachings, and the face of the pure truth is hidden, then to show that beautiful face there come mujaddids, Divinely inspired saints and spiritual khalifas. ... they do not come to abrogate the religion, but to display its shine and brilliance.” — Shahadat-ul-Quran, 1893, p. 43-44. RK 6: 339-340. 5. “The Quran is certainly a reservoir of all knowledge, but that does not imply that all the knowledge in it should be disclosed in just one age. On the contrary, corresponding to the kinds of problems that are faced the appropriate Quranic knowledge is disclosed, and corresponding to the issues of every age, for the resolving of those issues spiritual teachers are sent who are the heirs of the messengers and who attain the qualities of the messengers by way of image (zill). And the mujaddid whose work bears striking similarity to the appointed task of one of the messengers (rasul), is called by the name of that messenger (rasul) in the sight of Allah.” — Shahadat-ul-Quran, 1893, p. 52. RK 6: 348. Claims of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. ● Page 5 ● 6. “The fact is that God Almighty sends a prophet or a mujaddid according to the nature of every prevailing trouble. Thus, just as in the time of Jesus the Jews had lost all their qualities, and had nothing left but cunning, deceit and mere verbosity, and had come under the sway of the Roman empire due to their own wickedness and disorganisation, the Romans not being blamable for conquering the country, precisely this is the condition of the Promised Messiah’s time given in the Holy Quran. ... For this reason, the mujaddid of this century came in the likeness of Jesus, and was called the Promised Messiah because of intense similarity. This title is not a fabrication, but was required because it was so appropriate in the prevailing circumstances.” — Shahadat-ul-Quran, 1893, p. 64-65. RK 6: 360-361. 7. “Secondly, the perfect and complete likeness between the khilafat to the Holy Prophet Muhammad and the successorship to Moses renders imperative the coming of the Promised Messiah, as is understood from the following verse: ‘God has promised to those of you who believe and do good that He will surely make them successors (khalifas) in the earth as He made those before them to be successors’ (24:55). This clearly conveys that a mujaddid must come bearing the name of the Messiah in the fourteenth century (Hijra), ... the coming of a mujaddid at such a time, who has the name Promised Messiah and who restores the original state of faith.” — Shahadat-ul-Quran, 1893, p. 67-68. RK 6: 364-365. 8. “Besides this, all the characteristics of the present age are loudly proclaiming that the mujaddid of this century should be the Promised Messiah because all the signs of his age, as fixed by the holy word of God, have been fulfilled in this time.” — Shahadat-ul-Quran, 1893, p. 77. RK 6: 373. 9. In Haqiqat-ul-Wahy, written and published one year before his death, he wrote: “First sign: [Having quoted hadith about mujaddids], God will raise for this umma at the head of every century a man who will revive for it its religion. The 24th year of this century is now passing and it is not possible that the saying of the Holy Prophet Muhammad should fail. If someone says that if this hadith is true then tell us the names of the mujaddids of 12 centuries, the answer is that this hadith has always been accepted by the learned men (ulama) of the umma. and if it is declared fabricated at the time of my claim then these Maulvis should be asked that it is true that many of the great scholars of hadith have themselves claimed to be mujaddid in their times, and many have declared someone else as mujaddid, so if this hadith is not true then they were not being honest. It is not necessary for us to know the names of all the mujaddids. That comprehensive knowledge belongs only to God the Most High. ... Tell us how many prophets have come in every nation from Adam to the Holy Prophet Muhammad. If you can tell us that, we will tell you about the mujaddids. ... So until, in the face of my claim, another claimant can be presented fulfilling the same characteristics, my claim stands proved that the Promised Messiah who is the Mujaddid of the Last Days is none other than myself.” — Haqiqat-ul-Wahy, May 1907, pp. 193-194; RK 22: 200-201. Claims of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. ● Page 6 ● Claims to be mujaddid one day before death. 10. This statement was reported in the Ahmadiyya newspaper Badr under the title: “Need for a Mujaddid ”. “A man from the North West Frontier Province asked the question: ‘What shortcoming had remained in the religion [of Islam] which you came to complete?’ Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad replied: ‘There is no shortcoming in the commandments. Prayer, Qibla, Zakaat, and Kalima are the same. After the lapse of some time, laxity creeps into the fulfilling of these commandments. Many people become oblivious of the perfect Unity of Allah. So He raises a servant who makes the people adhere to the Shari‘ah anew. Listlessness sets in after a hundred years. About a hundred thousand Muslims have already turned apostate, and you think no one [i.e. a Reformer] is needed yet? People are forsaking the Holy Quran. They have nothing to do with the Sunna of the Prophet. They consider their customs to be their religion. Still you think, nobody is needed’.” Then, answering a later question by him, as to what reformation he had brought about, he said in his answer: “To correct these errors and to draw attention towards Allah, it has been promised that a mujaddid will arise at the head of every century. If a mujaddid was not required in every century, but, as you think, the Holy Quran and the Ulama were enough, then this is an objection upon the Holy Prophet Muhammad. People perform hajj, give zakat, keep fasts, yet despite this the Holy Prophet still said that a mujaddid will come after a hundred years. Even my opponents admit this. If there was no need in my time, then this prophecy becomes false.” — 25 May 1908; RK no. 2, 10: 451-453. Claims of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. ● Page 7 ● 2. Muhaddas Muhaddas is term used by Holy Prophet for one of those “to whom • Allah speaks, but are not prophets” (hadith in Bukhari). Hazrat Mirza claimed to be muhaddas as opposed to claiming to be a • prophet. (Ref: 1–6) Promised Messiah is no more than a muhaddas • (Ref: 7, 8) References from statements of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad 1. “I have not claimed prophethood, nor have I said to them that I am a prophet. ... I did not say anything to the people except what I wrote in my books, namely, that I am a muhaddas and God speaks to me as He speaks to muhaddases.” — Hamamat al-Bushra, 1894, p. 79; RK 7: 296-297. 2. “O brothers, I have been sent as a muhaddas from God, to you and to all those on earth. ... and He has sent me at the head of this century” — Ainah Kamalat Islam, 1893, p. 367; RK 5: 367. 3. “I am not a prophet but a muhaddas from God, and a recipient of Divine revelation so that I may re-vitalise the religion of the Holy Prophet, and He has raised me at the head of the century.” — ibid., p. 383; RK 5: 383. 4. “There is no claim of prophethood. On the contrary, the claim is of sainthood (muhaddasiyyat) which has been advanced by the command of God.” — Izala Auham, 1891, pp. 421–422; RK 3: 320. 5. “I firmly believe that our Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is the Khatam al- anbiya, and after him no prophet shall come for this nation (umma), neither new nor old ... Of course, muhaddases will come who will be spoken to by God, and possess some attributes of full prophethood by way of zill (reflection), and in some ways be coloured with the colour of prophethood. I am one of these.” — Nishan Asmani, 1892, p. 28; RK 4: 390-391. 6. “If it is said that in the Mosaic order those who were raised for the advocacy of the faith were prophets, and Jesus was also a prophet, the reply is that the prophet (nabi) and the saint (muhaddas) are on a par in terms of being sent (mursal). Just as God has called prophets as mursal, so has He termed saints as mursal. … … by ‘messengers’ are meant those who are sent, whether such a one is an apostle (rasul), prophet (nabi) or saint (muhaddas). As our Master and Apostle, may peace and the blessings of God be upon him, is the Khatam al-anbiya’ (Last of the Prophets), and after him there Claims of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. ● Page 8 ● cannot come any prophet, for this reason saints have been substituted for prophets in this Shariah.” — Shahadat-ul-Quran, 1893, p. 27-28. RK 6: 323-324. Promised Messiah no greater than muhaddas 7. “It must be remembered that the claim of being the Promised Messiah is no greater than the claim of being a recipient of revelation from Allah and a mujaddid from Allah. It is obviously clear that whoever holds the rank that God speaks to him, he can be named from Allah as ‘like of Messiah’ or ‘like of Moses’; all these titles are allowed for him.” — A’inah Kamalat Islam, 1893, p. 340; RK 5: 341. 8. “God has promised that no rasul shall be sent after the Holy Prophet Muhammad, and the students of Hadith have surely made an extremely grave error in believing, by just seeing the word ‘Jesus’ or ‘son of Mary’, that the very same son of Mary, who was a rasul of God, shall descend from heaven. It did not occur to them that his coming is tantamount to the departure of the religion of Islam from this world. In Sahih Muslim there is a hadith about this, namely, that the Messiah shall come as a nabi of God. Now if, in a symbolic sense, by ‘Messiah’ or ‘son of Mary’ is meant a member of the Muslim community who holds the rank of muhaddas, then no difficulty arises.” — Izala Auham, 1891, p. 586; RK 3: 416. Claims of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. ● Page 9 ● 3. Wahy Nubuwwat versus Wahy Wilayat – 1 Wahy Nubuwwat is revelation exclusive to prophets. A man cannot be • a prophet unless he receives wahy nubuwwat. Wahy Nubuwwat is closed after Holy Prophet Muhammad: not even • one word of it can come. So no rasul (messenger) or nabi (prophet) can come after him. (Refs below) References from statements of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad 1. “According to the explanation of the Holy Quran, rasul is he who receives the commands and tenets of the religion through Gabriel. But a seal has been put upon wahy nubuwwat since thirteen hundred years ago. Will this seal then break?” — Izala Auham, 1891, p. 534; RK 3: 387. 2. “After the Khatam an-nabiyyin, the Holy Quran does not allow the coming of any rasul, whether he is a new one or a former one, because a rasul receives knowledge of religion through the agency of Gabriel, and the coming of Gabriel as bringing wahy risalat has been closed. It is self-contradictory that a messenger (rasul) come into the world, but not be accompanied by wahy risalat.” — Izala Auham, 1891, p. 761; RK 3: 511. 3. “It is obvious that if it is supposed that the angel Gabriel can now descend with even one sentence of wahy nubuwwat and remain silent thereafter, this would still contradict the finality of prophethood, for when the seal of finality is breached and wahy risalat again starts to descend, it matters not whether the amount is little or much. Every wise person can understand that if God is true to His promise, and the promise given in the Khatam an- nabiyyin verse, which has been explicitly mentioned in the Hadith, that now, after the death of the Prophet of God, peace and the blessings of God be upon him, Gabriel has been forbidden forever from bringing wahy nubuwwat — if all these things are true and correct, then no person at all can come as a messenger (rasul) after our Prophet, peace be upon him.” — Izala Auham, 1891, p. 577; RK 3: 411-412. 4. “If we allow the appearance of a prophet after our Holy Prophet, we would have to allow the opening of the door of wahy nubuwwat after its closure. And this is wrong, as is not hidden from the Muslims. How can a prophet come after our Holy Prophet, when revelation has been cut off after his death, and God has ended the prophets with him?” — Hamamat al-Bushra, 1894, p. 20; RK 7: 200. Claims of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. ● Page 10 ● 4. Wahy Nubuwwat versus Wahy Wilayat – 2 Hazrat Mirza claimed only to receive wahy wilayat, not wahy • nubuwwat. (Ref: 1) Placed his revelation in same category as that of the non-prophets, • e.g. Moses’ mother, Mary, Companions of Holy Prophet. See his book written in 1902, published 1909. (Ref: 2) References from statements of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad 1. “Let it be clear to him that we also curse the person who claims prophethood. We hold that ‘there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah’, and believe in the finality of prophethood of the Holy Prophet Muhammad. And it is not wahy nubuwwat but wahy wilayat received by the saints (auliya) through the Prophethood of the Holy Prophet Muhammad due to their perfect following of him, which is what we believe in. If anyone accuses us of going beyond this, he departs from honesty and fear of God. In brief, there is no claim of prophethood from my side either, only the claim of sainthood (wilayat) and reformership (mujaddidiyya).” — Reply to Maulvi Ghulam Dastgir, January 1897; MI 2: 297-298. 2. “Then considering that the mother of Moses received sure revelation, and by fully believing in it she cast her baby in the place of destruction, and she was not considered by God to be guilty of the crime of attempted murder, is the Muslim Umma inferior to the women of the Israelites? Likewise, Mary also received sure revelation, and by trusting in it she cared not for (the criticism of) her people. Pity, then, on this forsaken Umma which is inferior to these women. In these circumstances, this Umma could not be the ‘best of nations’, but the worst of nations and the most ignorant of nations. Similarly Khizr, who was not a prophet, was granted Divine knowledge. If his revelation was doubtful, and not sure, why did he kill a child unjustly? And if the revelation of the Companions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, to the effect that his dead body ought to be washed, was not sure and definite, why did they act upon it? To conclude, if a man, due to his blindness, denies my revelation, then if he is nonetheless called a Muslim, and is not a secret atheist, it should be part of his belief that there can be sure and definite Divine revelation, and that just as in previous religious communities many men and women used to receive God’s revelation, even though they were not prophets, in this Umma too it is essential that sure and definite revelation should exist, so that it does not become the least of the nations instead of the best of the nations.” — Nuzul al-Masih, written 1902, published 1909, p. 89; RK 18: 467.