| Ulama on
Claim to be Messiah or Mahdi |
|
Here we quote Muslim ulama of modern times
to show that a claim to be Promised Messiah or Mahdi, as
that made by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, is not disallowed
in Islam. We also gives his own views to the effect that
the prophecy of the coming of the Messiah, and its
interpretation in any particular way, is not related to
the fundamentals of Islam, but is a secondary issue of
the faith. Hazrat
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad claimed to be the Promised Messiah in
whose expectation the Muslims were waiting. We show from
the Quran, Hadith, and writings of eminent Muslim
savants, that true Muslim believers can rise to spiritual
heights where they are made to receive the names `Mary'
and `Messiah' as titles of honour from God, and give
extracts from the pronouncements of many saints who
applied such titles to themselves or to other saints.
Then we present some Sayings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad
in which he has likened his eminent followers to various
prophets. Then writings of Hazrat Mirza are cited,
expressing the same ideas. All these extracts show that
to apply the title `Messiah' to a saint is quite
allowable in Islam.
Hazrat Mirza also
explained that the Hadith prophecies speaking of the
appearance of the `Messiah' do not refer to the return of
Jesus, but to the coming of a Muslim saint
who shall receive the title `Messiah', and who shall bear
a strong likeness to Jesus. Hazrat Mirza claimed to be
one of those saints who received the title Messiah, and
to be that particular one whose coming
and tasks were prophesied in Hadith. Lastly we present
extracts from his writings to explain this claim.
|