TRUE PROPHETHOOD
HIS LATE EMINENEC MUHAMMAD ABDUL ALEEM
SIDDIQUI AL-QADERI
The point enumerated by His Eminence regarding the qualification
and requirements of True Prophethood will not be lost by those who may have
perhaps been impressed by the propaganda of the Qadianis and their agents
regarding the claim to Prophethood by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani.
Just as the knowledge of a Nabi is of a gifted and revealed
character and not acquired, similarly the office of Prophethood, too, is
bestowed by God of His own accord and is not acquired by man through some form
of labour.
Prophethood is not a post or a job which one might obtain by
passing examinations or by gradual promotions. It is a gift which God bestowed
upon certain persons of His choice and according to His eternal plan without
asking. And it is plainly understandable that prophethood had been an office
attainable through intellectual or spiritual acquisitions, the guidance which
a Prophet would have given in that case, could not be regarded as pure and unadulterated
Divine Guidance. Moreover, once Divine Guidance is there, the faulty and
imperfect acquired human knowledge becomes superfluous for the Prophet.
In the present age of materialism, when ill advised persons put on
the theological robes to gain their material ends, and thought of gaining
wealth and fame by deceiving the world, in the name of religion, they found it
necessary to deny this rationally sound and unanimously accepted principle to
clear the way for their evil ambition.
One of them, Muhammad Ali Qadiani, while commenting on the
Qur'anic verses, had the audacity to say: "The blessings that were
bestowed upon the righteous, prophethood being one of the chief of them, can
still be bestowed upon those who follow the right way."
In the face of such a confusion which is being deliberately spread
under the name of Islam, 1 would like to thoroughly grasp it once and for all
that prophethood is not an acquisition but a Devine gift. The Holy Qur'an and
the sayings of the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) and
consensus of Muslim belief during the past centuries, all uphold this truth
without ambiguity and beyond any shadow of doubt. Among the many Qur'anic
verses which refer to it, I may quote here only one short verse. The Holy
Qur'an says:
"God chooses Messenger from angels and from men.” (22:75)
There are some who have coined the word "metaphysical
prophethood". I feel I should say a word here in this connection also.
"Collector" is a word of the English language and means "one who
collects or gathers any thing as, for instance, money." But, the
government of India and Pakistan use this word as the official title of the
person who acts as the chief officer of the revenue collectors.
Now suppose a beggar, who does the work of collecting charities,
adopts this title for himself, saying that he is using this word in its general
sense or in a metaphorical way, the Governments of India and Pakistan will not
accept his plea and will punish him for infringing an important official title
which carries with it a high form of authority and status.
In the light of this, what would you say about a person who
acquired some education from imperfect human teachers, whose intellect was of
such a caliber that he could not pass an ordinary law examination instituted by
the government, who spent his life in feeding his mind with the literature
written by other human beings, who wanted to become wealthy and when he could
find no other way of success in that aim, he made religion his commerce and
started claiming that he was a prophet. Such a person was Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
Qadiani, who, when he found himself in
a tight corner at the hands of the learned men of Islam, tried to
come out of the grip by means of all sorts of excuses, saying that he had used
the word "prophet" for himself in the general or the metaphorical
sense.
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani's high-sounding claims continued to
shoot up high and low like the hallucinations of a mentally-deranged person.
Had he uttered that claim in a country governed by the law of God, he would
have been punished for his blasphemy. He was, however, enjoying the patronage
of a secular non-Islamic government, namely the British Government, and had,
therefore, a fine time. His status in God's revealed law is, nevertheless, the
same as that of the false "collector" in the eyes of the Indian or
the Pakistani Government.
Once you have understand rightly and thoroughly that a Prophet is
he who receives his knowledge direct from God, you will be able to grasp, in
its true perspective, the fact that miracles are those "Signs" which
a Prophet or Apostle puts forward in support of his Prophethood. Those Signs
demonstrate his direct relation with God. Those Signs show that he receives his
knowledge directly from God, the All-knowing.
For those who doubt a prophet's claims, in spite of all the
rational and circumstantial evidence, those Signs provide the proof of the
truth of his claim by demonstrating practically that though totally uneducated,
he can use the material substances for producing those wonderful results which
are beyond the reach of combined learning of the experts of physical sciences,
which, in its turn, proves that the source of his knowledge is higher than theirs.
These two quotations from the Holy Qur'an clearly substantiate
these points:
It is He Who has sent amongst the unlettered an apostle from
themselves, to rehearse to them His Signs, to sanctify them, and to instruct
them in Scripture and wisdom — although they had been in manifest error
before; — as well as (to confer all these benefits upon) others of them, who
have not already joined them; and He is Exalted in Might, Wise. Such is the
bounty of God, which He bestows on whom He will: and God is the Lord of highest
bounty."
"It is He Who has sent His Apostle with Guidance and the
Religion of Truth, to proclaim it over all religions and enough is God for a
Witness. Muhammad is the Apostle of God: and those who are with him are strong
against unbelievers, (but) compassionate amongst each other. Thou wilt see them
(in prayer), seeking Grace from God and (His) Good Pleasure. On their faces are
their marks (being) the traces of their prostration. This is there similitude
in the Taurat, and their similitude in the
Gospel is like a seed which sends forth its blade, then makes it
strong; it then becomes thick, and its stands on its own stem, (filling) the
sowers with wonder and delight. As a result it fills the Unbelievers with rage
at them. God has promised those among them who believe and do righteous deeds
forgiveness and a great Reward."
In the domain of physical facts, the Prophet demonstrates his
knowledge of those higher physical laws which are beyond the reach of the most
learned men of physical sciences. And he employs that God-given knowledge in
the performance of miracles, with the aim of inducing conviction in those
around him about the absoluteness of his guidance in the domains of the
spiritual and moral laws. His main function, let it be remembered, is that of a
spiritual and moral teacher.
Parallel to his knowledge of the higher physical laws is his
knowledge of the higher laws governing the spiritual and moral life of man. The
concepts to which those higher laws have reference are all of a metaphysical
character, for instance, God, the Universal Moral Order and the Hereafter. Only
he can be accepted as the true teacher of these higher truths about whom one
can be convinced that possesses that knowledge of the higher laws which can be
taught only by God Himself. Hence the performance of miracles by the Prophets.
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