When Hazrat Mirza's Muslim critics objected that he could not be the like of a prophet because he was not himself a prophet, he gave the following reply:

"Objection: Only a prophet can be the like of a prophet.

"Answer: The entire Umma is agreed that a non-prophet takes the place of [or deputises for] a prophet by way of burooz. This is the meaning of the hadith report: 'The ulama of my Umma are like the Israelite prophets'. Look, the Holy Prophet has declared the ulama to be like prophets. One hadith says that the ulama are the heirs of the prophets. Another hadith says: Among my followers, there will always be forty men who take after the heart of Abraham. In this hadith, the Holy Prophet has declared them to be the likes of Abraham." (Ayyam as-Sulh, August 1898, p. 163)

He clearly states here that it is a non-prophet who becomes the burooz of a prophet. Then he quotes various hadith reports to show that the great and eminent ulama of the Muslims are in the likeness of prophets, and says that these hadith reports refer to the concept of burooz.

Explaining the concept of burooz, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad writes:

1. "Sometimes the coming of a soul into this world, which resembles the soul of some righteous person of the past, and not only has a connection with that soul but derives benefit from it as well, is considered as the coming of the original soul itself. In the terminology of the Sufis this is known as burooz." (Sat Bachan, December 1895, p. 49)

2. "The Sufis believe that the nature, disposition and moral qualities of a person from the past come again in another. In their terminology, they say that so and so is in the footsteps of Adam, or the footsteps of Noah. Some also call this as burooz." (Malfuzat, vol. i, p. 444, speech on 28 December 1899)

This definition of burooz is borne out by the writings of the great spiritual men of Islam.

1. In an Urdu translation of Fusus al-Hukam, the famous Sufi work written by the great Shaikh Muhiy-ud-Din Ibn Arabi, the translater Maulana Muhammad Abdul Qadeer writes in an introductory note:

"Burooz means that the nature of some of the saints resembles the nature of a particular prophet. Many saints are made to journey through the attainments of the great prophets, and the saints become dyed with the colour of the prophets. To put it another way, the image of the attainments of the prophets is cast upon them. Or one could say that the special characteristics of the prophets are manifested and projected (burooz) through them. But after the completion of the journey, each of them remains at his original position of natural affinity. For instance, the saint who aids the cause of the faith is known as having the nature of Noah, or being in the footsteps of Noah, or one who manifests Noah, or the burooz of Noah. The saint who accepts the will of God is known as one having the nature of Moses, he who annihilates himself is known as one having the nature of Jesus, and he who is a perfect servant, combining all these, is known as one having the Muhammadi nature. Sometimes it is said that such and such a saint is the burooz of such and such a prophet, just as the moon is the burooz of the sun. In short, the prophet is the original, and the saint is his copy." (Urdu translation of Fusus al-Hukam, published by Nazir Sons, Lahore, 1979, p. 24)

2. Khawaja Ghulam Farid of Chachran (d. 1904), the famous saint who lived in the Bahawalpur area (in present-day Pakistan), gives the following definition:

"Burooz is that a soul gains benefit from another one which is perfect. When it receives the benefit of Divine illumination, it becomes its manifestation, and says: I am that one." (Isharat Faridi, Collection of Sayings of the famous Punjabi saint, Khawaja Ghulam Farid, Islamic Book Foundation, Lahore, p. 418)