This theme occurs several times in this booklet. Again, it is a non-prophet who receives or is awarded the name of some prophet. He is not, and does not become, a prophet. Hazrat Mirza writes in this connection:

"Here it is worth remembering that the spirituality of our Holy Prophet has always manifested itself at times when the internal crises of Islam became overwhelming, and the 'essence of Muhammad' has always made its appearance through some perfect follower. If those statements in Hadith are authentic which say: The Mahdi will arise, and he shall bear my name, and he shall have my morals, then it is a reference to precisely this descent of spirituality. But this descent is not confined to any particular sect. There have been hundreds of persons in whom the 'essence of Muhammad' was established, and with God they had the names 'Muhammad' and 'Ahmad' by way of reflection (zill)." (Ainah Kamalat Islam, February 1893, p. 346)

These "hundreds of persons" who had the names Muhammad and Ahmad by way of zill were all saints in Islam, and did not become prophets by receiving these names.

Hazrat Mirza also writes on this point as follows:

1. "There are some servants of God from among the saints who are given, in heaven, the names of the prophets because they resemble them in nature and qualities, and take light from their light, and are created with their character. So God makes them their inheritors, and calls them by the names of their forbears. ... God sends some saints who follow in the footsteps of certain of the prophets. He who is sent following in the footsteps of a certain prophet, is named by the name of that prophet among the high heavenly angels." (Ainah Kamalat Islam, February 1893, p. 375)

2. "Of all the leaders of Tasawwuf [Sufi-ism] that there have been till the present day, not even one has disagreed with the point that in this religion the path to become the likes of prophets is open, as the Holy Prophet Muhammad has given the glad tidings for spiritual and godly learned persons that 'the Ulama of my Umma are like the Israelite Prophets'. The words of Abu Yazid Bustami [famous Muslim saint, d. 874 C.E.] given below, which are recorded in Tazkirat al-Auliya by Farid-ud-Din Attar, and are also found in other reliable works, are on this basis, as he says: 'I am Adam, I am Seth, I am Noah, I am Abraham, I am Moses, I am Jesus, I am Muhammad, peace be upon him and upon all these brothers of his.' ... Similarly, Sayyid Abdul Qadir Jilani, in his book Futuh al-Ghaib, refers to this point, i.e. that man, by leaving his ego and annihilating himself in God, becomes the like, rather the very form, of the prophets." (Izala Auham, September 1891, pp. 258-260)

3. "It is necessary that a muhaddas should be the like of some prophet, and in the sight of God he must receive the same name which is the name of that prophet." (ibid., p. 569)

4. "Remember well that the fruits of perfect obedience [to the Holy Prophet] are never wasted. This is a teaching of Tasawwuf. If the rank of zill had not existed, the saints of the Umma would have died. It was exactly this perfect obedience, and the rank of burooz and zill, due to which Abu Yazid was called 'Muhammad'. Upon his so saying, the verdict of heresy was pronounced against him seventy times over, and he was exiled from the city. In brief, the people who oppose us are unaware of these facts." (Malfuzat, vol. 8, p. 64, from talk given on 24 September 1905)

5. "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)

All these extracts show that it is saints who receive the names of prophets, and those receiving such names are not prophets.