Regarding the concept of zill, Hazrat Mirza writes elsewhere :

"I firmly believe that our Holy Prophet Muhammad is the Khatam al-anbiya, and after him no prophet shall come for this Umma, neither new nor old. Not a jot or iota of the Holy Quran shall be abrogated. Of course, muhaddases will come who will be spoken to by God, and possess some attributes of full prophethood by way of reflection (zill), and in some ways be coloured with the colour of prophethood. I am one of these." (Nishan Asmani, May 1892, p. 28)

In this extract Hazrat Mirza first affirms the ending of prophethood with the Holy Prophet Muhammad in the clearest words, and then writes that saints will arise among the Muslims who will be the reflections, or zill, of the prophets. This establishes that anyone who is referred to as receiving the mantle of prophethood by way of zill is not a prophet, but a saint or muhaddas.

He further writes:

"Sainthood (wilayat) is the perfect zill of prophethood." (Hujjat-Ullah, May 1897, p. 24)

"The prophet is the real thing, and a saint is the zill." (Karamat as-Sadiqeen, August 1893, p. 85)

These two quotations show that the zill or reflection of prophethood is through a saint (who is known as wali or muhaddas), and no matter how perfect that reflection may be he still remains a saint and does not become a prophet.

Again, Hazrat Mirza writes:

"Corresponding to the issues of every age, for the resolving of those issues, spiritual teachers are sent who are the heirs of the messengers [rusul, plural of rasul] and who attain the qualities of the messengers by way of zill. And the mujaddid whose work bears striking similarity to the appointed task of one of the messengers, is called by the name of that rasul in the sight of Allah." (Shahadat al-Quran, September 1893, p. 52)

Here the spiritual teachers or mujaddids who arise among the Muslims are described as the zill of prophets. And it is mujaddids who are given the names of various prophets. They do not become prophets thereby, but remain as mujaddids.

Hazrat Mirza has explained the significance of the concept of zill in detail as follows:

"God Almighty says: 'Whatever thing benefits mankind, it remains in the world' [the Quran, 13:17]. Now it is obvious that the group most benefitting mankind are the prophets who, by signs, miracles, prophecies, truth, knowledge, and their own example of righteousness, strengthen the faith of people and give religious benefit to seekers of truth. It is also obvious that they do not remain in the world for a great length of time, but are taken from this world after spending a short life here. However, this does not go against the contents of the verse, nor is it possible that the word of God be against facts. So, when applied to prophets, the meaning of this verse would be that they continue to exist in terms of zill, and at every time of need God raises some servant of His in their likeness and similitude, as a reflection, who causes them to have perpetual life by being in their mould. For the continuation of this existence in terms of reflection, God has taught His servants the prayer: 'O our Lord, show us that right path which is the way of those servants of Thine upon whom are Thy favours' [the Quran 1:5,6]. And it is obvious that God's favour to the prophets, for the seeking of which there is a command in this prayer, is not of monetary form but it is the favour of light, blessings, love, faith, miracles, heavenly assistance, recognition, perfect knowledge, revelation and visions. God had commanded this Umma to seek this favour precisely because He had decided beforehand to grant it to them. So this verse too proves openly that God has made this Umma the heir to the prophets, in the sense of reflection (zill), so that the prophets continue to exist forever by way of zill, and the world is never deprived of their presence." (Shahadat al-Quran, September 1893, p. 53)

It is clear from this that, because prophets have stopped coming, this is why those persons arise who are their reflection or zill, to give the prophets continued existence. If the zill of prophets were themselves prophets, it would be absurd to say that they come because prophets no longer come.

Hazrat Mirza has also referred to Umar, the second Khalifa of Islam, who was obviously not a prophet, as being a zill of the Holy Prophet:

"An example is the prophecy of our Holy Prophet Muhammad that the keys to the treasures of the Qaisar and Kasra have been placed in his hand, whereas it is clear that the Holy Prophet had died before the fulfilment of this prophecy, seeing neither the treasures of the Qaisar and Kasra, nor the keys. But as it was destined that Hazrat Umar receive those keys, and the person of Hazrat Umar was, as it were, the person of the Holy Prophet Muhammad by way of zill, therefore in the realm of revelation the hand of Hazrat Umar was considered to be the hand of the Messenger of God, the Holy Prophet." (Ayyam as-Sulh, August 1898, p. 35)

The greatest of Muslim religious scholars, who are household names in the Islamic world, have elaborated on the concept of zill. We give some examples below.

1. Shaikh Abdul Haqq (d. 1642), the famous scholar of Hadith of Delhi, wrote:

"Wilayat [sainthood, or being a wali] is the zill of prophethood." (Sharh Futuh al-Ghaib, Lucknow, India, 1918, p. 23)

2. Shaikh Ahmad of Sirhind (d. 1624), known as the Mujaddid Alif Sani, and recognized in the Indian subcontinent as mujaddid of the eleventh century hijra, wrote:

"In short, the station of wilayat is the zill of the station of prophethood, and the attainments of wilayat are the zill of the attainments of prophethood." (Maktubat, Daftar II, Letter no. 71, p. 236, published in Lahore)

3. Sayyid Ismail Shaheed (d. 1831), the religious leader and scholar who died in a battle against the Sikh rulers of North-West India, wrote in his books:

(a) "There will be many pure and holy souls who shall bear a likeness to the prophets, and shall be the zill of messengership. ... In short, these persons are of such a rank that, if there had not been an end to prophets, they would have held the office of prophethood. To conclude, such persons will continue to exist till the Last Day." (Preface to Sirat-i Mustaqim, p. 1, Urdu translation by Abdul Jabbar)

(b) "It should be known that the Imam is the deputy of the Messenger, and Imamat is the zill of messengership." (Mansab-i Imamat, p. 125, Ainah Adab, Lahore, 1969)