Intro
In 1907, MGA gives an exhaustive explanation as to why only he was given the title of prophet in the entire ummah of Islam. This is a contradictory position, since we know that Ahmadis argue that prophethood is open and available for all. Further, Ahmadis from the Qadiani sect believe that their Khilafat will last til the day of judgement. Moreover, they secretly believe that only a Khalifa of Ahmadiyya will ever be able to claim prophethood.
Further, in 1916, Mahmud Ahmad vehemently wrote that even 1000 prophets can come and etc etc etc. However, that is a cleverly crafted double-statement. Since, in the depths of his heart, Mahmud Ahmad wanted to secure a Khilafat for him and his family.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________The Quote
[RK, v. 22, pp. 406-407; starts at 4th line from top of p. 406, skips some lines below middle of p. 406, then goes on
till about middle of p. 407; Haqeeqat-ul-Wahee; published May 1907]”””
“”From one aspect I am an ‘ummatee’ [follower] and from another aspect, due to the beneficence of the prophethood of His Holiness [Muhammad], blessings of Allaah and peace be upon him, [I] am also a prophet. And the intent of [the term] prophet is only [to connote] that I receive abundant converse and address from God Almighty. The point is that, as Mujaddid Saahib Sarhindee [Sarhindee the Reviver] has written in his books, even though some individuals of this [Muslim] nation have [received or do receive] the special [treatment of] Godly converse and address and will remain special [receiving this treatment] till Resurrection but the person who is honored abundantly with this converse and address and who is abundantly made aware of matters of the unseen, that [person] is called a prophet. Now let it be clear that it
has been prophesied in the Prophet’s hadeeths that, from among the followers of His Holiness [Muhammad], blessings of Allaah and peace be upon him, a person will appear [or be born] who will be referred to as E’esaa [Jesus] and ibn-e-Maryam [son of Mary] and will be known by the name of [i.e., known as] a prophet. … And this thing is a proven matter that the extent to which God Almighty has made converse and address with me and the extent to which matters of the unseen have been made known to me, no person besides myself has been granted this favor in thirteen hundred Hijree [calendar] years. If some person denies this, the burden of proof is on his neck [i.e., on him]. The point is that in this abundant portion of Godly revelation and unseen matters, from this [Muslim] nation, I am the only special individual and all the ‘auliyaa’ [saints or friends of God] and ‘abdaal’ [saints who move from place to place to hide from public view] and ‘aqtaab’ [religious mendicants, holding a special title of rank] who have gone by before me in this [Muslim] nation – they were not given this abundant portion of this favor/blessing. Hence, for this reason, only I was specially selected for getting the name [i.e., title] of prophet and all the other people are not deserving of this name [i.e., title] because abundance of revelation and abundance of [perception of] unseen matters is a condition of this and that condition is not found in them. And it was necessary that it should have been so, so that the prophecy of His
Holiness [Muhammad], blessings of Allaah and peace be upon him, could have been fulfilled with clarity. Because, if other righteous ones who have preceded me, [if] they too, to the same extent, had received a portion of Godly converse and address and unseen matters, they would have become deserving of being known as prophets [and] then in that case a crack [or fault] would have occurred in the prophecy of His Holiness [Muhammad], blessings of Allaah and peace be upon him. That is why the wisdom of God Almighty prevented those respected people from obtaining this favor in a complete manner, just as it appears in authentic hadeeths that such a person will be one only [so that] that prophecy be fulfilled.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
1960’s
1908 Quote
“””This word ‘nabuwwat’ [prophethood] that has been adopted [i.e., adopted by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad] is entirely from God Almighty. A person to whom some thing [some item of information] is abundantly conveyed by God Almighty, by way of prophecy, [such a person] is referred to as a ‘nabee’ [prophet]. … Remember that the chain [or system] of prophethood will remain established till Resurrection [‘silsilah-enabuwwat qayaamat tak qaa-im rahay gaa’]. [MALFOOZAAT, v. 10, p. 451; recorded under the date May 25, 1908]””””
______________________________________________________________________________________________Some conclusions
It seems that MGA was looking to deter Ahmadis from claiming prophethood. This is the argument that him and his team came up with. MGA claimed prophethood in 1901, and claimed that anyone could become a prophet, however, just a few years later, he changed him mind.
MGA and his team also forget that in the 1898 era, MGA wrote that:
“”””It is written in Prophetic Ahadith that at the time of the advent of the Promised Messiah, this dispersal of spirituality will be such that women will begin to receive revelation, juveniles will prophecy and common people will speak with the Holy Spirit.””” See here.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Links and Related Essay’s
Why did Mirza Ghulam Ahmad claim to be the Khatam-ul-Khulafa?
In the Ahmadiyya Movement, only the Khalifa can claim prophethood
https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPd9mdrac/
“Anwar-i Khilafat” a speech by Mirza Basheer ud Din Mahmud Ahmad at the Jalsa of 1915
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Tags
#ahmadiyya #ahmadiyyafactcheckblog #messiahhascome #ahmadiyyat #trueislam #ahmadianswers #ahmadiyyamuslimcommunity #ahmadiyya_creatives #ahmadiyyatthetrueislam #ahmadiyyatzindabad #ahmadiyyatrueislam #ahmadiyyamuslim #ahmadiyyatrueislam
October 30, 2016 at 4:04 pm
I’m a former Ahmadi. In fact, I’m now ex-Muslim. While I disagree with Ahmadiyyat overall because I don’t believe the underlying Islamic foundation makes sense, that doesn’t mean that everything written from Ahmadiyyat is suspect or contradictory.
I won’t find fault with something on every point just because I reject aspects of it. And so I’ve never really had an issue with the prophethood claims of MGA — even though I reject Islam in general and the Ahmadiyya interpretation of it in specific.
Note: My own knowledge of Ahmadiyya Islam is limited to what I can access in English.
I’m not sure what your argument actually is here. Here’s the Ahmadi position as I see it, which I don’t see any problems with (as a self-consistent doctrine):
1. Prophethood of the follower-type can and will continue.
2. Since a Mahdi/Messiah figure is prophesied, this will be the first (next) occurrence of this phenomenon.
3. Yes, this leaves a gap of ~1300 years in retrospect, of no follower-prophets. It puts more oomph behind the sails of the eventual Mahdi/Messiah; creating a greater juxtaposition between that figure and more everyday saints and Mujaddideen.
4. Since the door to follower prophets are open, we should expect that this will continue in the future.
5. It makes sense that if God appoints the Khalifa in the system of Ahmadiyyat, the most natural candidate for reaching prophethood would be someone already of the caliber to Khalifa within Islam-Ahmadiyyat.
To me, it would seem illogical that someone claimed to be an Ahmadi Muslim, and a follower-prophet, and yet the current Ahmadi Muslim Khalifa of the time, was just a mere Khalifa.
But I could see the Ahmadi Khalifa of the future being given follower-prophet status, and another Ahmadi Muslim simultaneously a prophet as well. Since we have long gaps between follower prophets, I would say this dual manifestation would seem unlikely to actually occur (speaking from the Ahmadi Muslim worldview).
Again, I’m not sure where the issue is here.
October 30, 2016 at 4:57 pm
@ Reason
Thanks for the input my bro. Obviously, you haven’t read as much as me on Ahmadiyya. I can’t read urdu fluently, however, I understand it very well as well as Punjabee. Nor do I recommend anyone to waste their time with the writings of a team of writers that were addicted to opium and young women.
1. The concept of the follower-prophet is alien to the Quran, Bible and Torah. In all abrahamic faiths, only God appoints prophets.
2. In Islamic thought, the Mahdi is not a prophet. He is a separate person from esa (as).
3. I understand this point..however, what about after MGA?? That is the question.
4. However, Ahmadis dont actually believe that follower-prophets will come, they believe that their khilafat is forever. This contradicts the sahih hadith on the return of Esa (as)…Esa (as) will cause peace to spread into the world in just 40 yers. Ahmadis are obviosuly in overtime.
5. The Lahori-Ahmadis have a major gripe with you here. MGA didnt even sanction for a Khilafat after him. He appointed an anjuman.
In conclusion, all of the Ahmadis beliefs contradict each other in one way or the other. Ahmadiyya was developed as a job creator for the close friends of Mahmud Ahmad. The Ahmadi-family business has fed many of its clerics quite well over the years and educated their sons for free.
October 30, 2016 at 10:12 pm
@Bashir, I may not have read as much as you on this topic, true.
But I have read a fair amount — evening providing editorial input to the Jama’at in the past on such books covering the Split.
1. The follower-prophet door being open is well argued by Ahmadiyyat, IMHO, from no less than the Qur’an itself. Could it be way more clear? Sure. That’s a criticism I have of the Qur’an generally, not just on this issue. Who says a follower Prophet wouldn’t be appointed by God? In Ahmadi Muslim doctrine, the follower-prophet doesn’t just declare it on their own. They would have been given (non-law bearing) revelation (ilham) advising them of their stature.
2. In Islamic thought, you have a hadith in Ibn Maja: “La Mahdi illah Isa” (there is no Mahdi, but Isa, sourced here: https://mysticscientist.wordpress.com/2014/06/28/signs-of-mirza-ghulam-ahmad-as-as-the-mahdi-and-messiah/). The Ahmadi argument that they are two titles/roles for one and the same person, makes a lot of sense to me.
3. Ahmadiyyat doesn’t deny future follower prophets after MGA. Their theology leaves that open.
4. Even Sahih hadith are disputed based on isnad, such as the one about killing apostates who leave Islam. But lets assume these aren’t disputed. From time immemorial, religious literature, including from Islam, have always used numbers for periods of time that are never literal; they are meant to imply abundance.
Now, I as a former Muslim think the attribution of ‘metaphor’ to days of creation in the Qur’an, Bible etc. are all convenient post-hoc rationalizations to cover up embarrassing disconnects with the real world. But if you accept this distortion of time in the Qur’an, I would think you’d accept it in Hadith too.
But think about it. How would Isa spread peace in 40 years? Are we going to strip away people’s free-will? Is he going to show amazing, super-natural miracles? If so, I would think that would social media, he’d command world power and attention in a matter of days. Why would it take 40 years?
5. The Lahori Ahmadi Muslims accepted Nooruddin as the first Khalifa as the spiritual head, and they, the Anjuman, as the administrative, consultative body. I actually wished they won out, b/c there were a lot of smart folk in the Anjuman and the Lahori Jama’at in general. However, I totally can grasp that MGA originally thought more prophets would be blasphemy, and gradually changed his mind on that over time, as the “revelations” came. That explains the changed position in prophethood issue. And I believe it is a cogent explanation.
I am not privy to the sources you perhaps are, to make accusations about the “job creator” and “family business” claims.
My recommendation would be to only make such claims if you can point to a slam dunk, well sourced article, where sources are not disputed. It’s not my area of study, so I have no such knowledge here.
My focus is really with the theology, and taking religions at their word given the sources they have publicly available. Otherwise, we risk drifting into the realm of conjecture and hearsay.
Peace.
October 31, 2016 at 4:27 am
@ reasononfaith
1. most Ahmadis, from the Qadiani branch are unaware of the books by Muhammad Ali, and have thus never conducted the full range of research that is required.
1.a. I claim to have read almost everything on the topic. Haqiqatun Nubuwwat(1915) and Qaul-al-fasl (1915) remain out of my reach, since they are still urdu only publications, with minor snippets available.
1.b. The follower-prophet is no where in the Quran or hadith, or in the Bible or the Torah. In all abrahamic faiths, only GOd appoints a prophet. Thats called independent prophethood. EVEN MGA admitted that it ended. He then created a new level of prophet and called it the “follower-prophet”. SMH.
2. That is a false hadith. In fact, almost all scholars on Islam have doubted its authenticity.
3. Ahmadis secretly believe that only MGA will be called a prophet, and that MGA was the final Khalifa of god, aka prophet/messenger. I have the refs bro.
4. The time-frame was given…who knows of the exact meanings…we can only guess.
5. The Lahori-Ahmadis accused the Qadiani-branch of being a family business since 1914….see all the books of Muhammad Ali on the topic.