| [ BACK ] |
On
November 5th, 1901 Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad published a
three page pamphlet titled Ayk Ghalati Ka Izala
("Correction of an error"). The reason for its
publication was that someone from his followers, while
explaining the beliefs of Mirza sahib to an outsider had
denied that the words nabi (prophet) and rasul (messenger)
existed in his revelations. This was an error, as the
words did exist in abundance. Instead the correct
position was that these words indeed existed in Mirza
sahib's revelation, but as he himself had explained, they
were to be taken in the sense of fana-fir-rasul
or under the sufi concepts of Barooz and Zill. The pamphlet begins as follows:
"Some
people in our Movement who are not well-acquainted
with my claim and the arguments relating to it ---
not having had the occasion to study my books
carefully, nor having stayed in my company for a
sufficient length of time to complete their knowledge
--- in some instances in response to an objection of
the opponents give a reply which is entirely against
facts. So, despite being on the side of truth, they
have to face embarrassment.
Thus
it happened a few days ago that a person faced from
an opponent the objection that "the man whose
pledge you have taken claims to be a prophet (nabi)
and a messenger (rasul)". This was
answered by only a denial, while such an answer is
not correct. The fact is that the holy revelation of
God Almighty which descends upon me contains words
such as rasul, mursal and nabi, not
once but hundreds of times. So how can the reply be
correct that such words are not present?
The following points
should be noted:
- The title of the
pamphlet Correction of an Error referred
to an error on the part of one of Mirza
sahib’s followers (who had not only denied
their existence, but also denied the terms’
applicability in any way to Mirza sahib
instead of denying their application to him in a
full, theological sense), and not an error
on the part of Hazrat Mirza himself, as the
Qadiani interpretation of this work (namely, that
Ayk Ghalati ka Izala represents a
"turning point" in Mirza sahib’s
teachings, a point where he recanted his many
previous denials of laying claim to prophethood)
necessarily implies.
- Hazrat Mirza makes it
clear that the follower in question made this
error because he had neither studied Mirza
sahib’s previous writings nor spent adequate
time reflecting on his teachings.
- No new claim is
presented here by Mirza sahib. (To the contrary,
he emphasizes the pamplet’s continuity with
his previous works.)
- The words nabi and
rasul were indeed present in Hazrat Mirza’s
writings and claims, so it is an error to deny
their existence or deny that they have any
relevance to Hazrat Mirza.
When Mirza Sahib
summarizes his claims at the end, he writes the
following:
"Now
by all of this writing, I mean to say that ignorant
opponents accuse me of claiming to be a prophet and
messenger. I make no such claim. I am neither a
prophet nor a messenger in the sense which they have
in mind. However, I am a prophet and a messenger in
the sense which I have just explained. Hence the
person who maliciously accuses me of claiming
prophethood and messengership is a liar and
evil-minded."
And the limited sense in
which Mirza Sahib used the words nabi and rasul in his
revelations is made clear in the last few lines:
"It
is the form of burooz which has made me a
prophet and a messenger, and it is on this basis that
God has called me nabi and rasul again
and again, but in the sense of burooz. My own
self does not come into it, but that of the Holy
Prophet Muhammad, may peace and the blessings of God
be upon him. It was on this account that I was called
"Muhammad" and "Ahmad". So
prophethood and messengership did not go to another
person. What belonged to Muhammad remained with
Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him."
Throughout the rest of the
pamphlet Mirza Sahib elaborates on the sufi concepts of
Barooz, Zill and Fana-fir-rasul. He points out that when
a wali (saint) passes through different stages of
spiritual perfection and achieves the highest level of
becoming a Siddiq (truthful one), he is considered
to partake of the spirituality of the prophet Mohammad
(pbuh) with such intensely that he said to become
Fana-fir-rusul ("annihilated in [the being of] the
Prophet, pbuh"). His being becomes a perfect
reflection of the prophet Mohammad (pbuh), a state
described in sufism by the term Zill ("reflection of
the Prophet, pbuh"). Another sufi term for this
state of affinity with the Prophet is Barooz
("manifestation of the Prophet, pbuh"). At this
point, the wali is spiritually named "Mohammad"
and "Ahmad" by Allah (swt).
That is why Allah refers
to the wali as nabi and rasul in His revelations to him.
The words nabi and rasul,
in his case, are to be taken in their literal sense of
denoting someone who receives news of the unseen from
God, and a messenger or person sent, respectively.
Therefore, it is both a
mistake to deny the existence of these words in Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad's writings and to take them in the full
theological sense. They are to be understood in the light
of the sufi concepts of Burooz, Fana-fir-rasul and Zill.
|