Menu
A reformer, awaited by all major religions of the world, is believed to come in the latter days. Muslims await a Promised Mahdi and Messiah(as). The Holy Prophet Muhammad(sa) himself prophesized the advent of the Promised Messiah(as). According to a tradition, the Holy Prophet(sa) was sitting among his companions, two verses from Surah Al Jumu’ah were revealed:
“He it is Who has raised among the unlettered people a Messenger from among themselves who recites unto them His Signs, and purifies them, and teaches them the Book and Wisdom though before that they were in manifest error; And He will raise him among others of them who have not yet joined them. He is the Mighty, the Wise.” (62:3-4)
One of the companions of the Holy Prophet(sa) inquired who this verse referred to. Prophet(sa) replied, his hand on the shoulder of Hazrat Salman(ra), who was a Persian,
“If faith were to go up to the Pleiades, a man from among these would surely find it.” (Bukhari).
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as) is that Promised Reformer of the later age.
More than 1400 years ago, our beloved master, Muhammad (as) made a prophecy in the following words:
Abdullah bin Amar(ra) relates that the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) said "Surely things will happen to my people as happened earlier to Israelites, they will resemble each other like one shoe in a pair resembles the other to the extent that if anyone among the Israelites has openly committed adultery to his mother there will be some who will do this in my Ummah as well, verily the Israelites were divided into 72 sections but my people will be divided into 73 sections, all of them will be in the fire except one.” The companions asked, ‘Who are they O Messenger of Allah,’ Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “They are those who will be like me and my companions."
In this hadith, there are quite a few things to be noted. Firstly, it mentions the resemblance of Muslim Ummah with the Israelites (i.e. Jews). In another hadith [Abu Daud, Vol 2, p241] this resemblance is mentioned in the words that as among the Jews a prophet was raised in every century among Muslims a reformer will be raised and as among the Jews at the end of the chain of prophets, a Messiah was raised a Messiah will be raised among Muslims. Among Jews, there were 12 tribes each divided into six sects making a total of 72 sects at the time when the Messiah (i.e. Jesus(as)) was sent to Israelites. After the appearance of the Messiah among Jewish people the list of sects increased considerably. So while talking about 73 divisions among Muslims and taking into account the resemblances of Muslim Ummah to the Jewish people mentioned in both of the above tradition, it appears that these two Ahadith relate to the time of the Promised Messiah(as).
Christianity, Judaism, and 72 of the 73 sects of Islam, all adhere to the belief of the coming of the Messiah in one form or another. What distinguishes Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, the 73rd sect of Islam is that while the others still await the arrival of the Messiah, members of this community believe that promised Messiah has already appeared. In fact, he has already passed away in the personage of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (a small town in India) leading a victorious life for the propagation of Islam.
It is only the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at which was separated out by other 72 sects collectively. It is necessary to see if the Ahmadiyya Jama’at had any resemblance with the Holy Prophet(as) and his companions(ra) as prophecized in the Hadith.
Neutrally speaking the resemblance mentioned in the hadith is reflected in all aspects of the life of the followers of this one Jama’at.
There are some actual events that surrounded the Holy Prophet(sa) and his companions and got recorded in the history and these events got repeated in the history of Ahmadiyyat:
Martyrdom Because of Beliefs: The followers of the Holy Prophet(sa) were martyred in the way of Allah. Even before the defensive wars many of the companions of the Holy Prophet(sa) were killed because of their faith in Islam. Similarly, we see that the followers of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at are also martyred in the way of Allah. So far more than 100 Ahmadi Muslims have been murdered by opponents just because of their beliefs in the Messiah and Mahdi of the time.
Similarities in Other Forms of Persecutions: The collective persecution Holy Prophet(sa) and his companions received at the hands of opponents and show the same type of persecution extended towards Ahmadis by all the 72 sections of Islam.
Hijra Because of Persecution: It is well known in both Islamic as well as non-Islamic worlds that Holy Prophet(sa) and his companions had to migrate out of their homeland and seek asylum into various foreign lands because of intense persecution in Mecca (their homeland).
Many Ahmadi Muslims in our present time in Muslim countries had to follow this Sunnah of the Holy Prophet(sa) and his companions just because of the beliefs they held and because of the ever-intensifying persecution in their homeland. More of all the Ahmadi Muslims resemble a lot with the companions of the Holy Prophet(sa) in the matter of firm faith and sacrifices whether it is the sacrifice of wealth or sacrifice of Life.
We would like to leave the readers, who may see the resemblance of one Jama’at (out of 73 sects among Muslims) with the Holy Prophet(sa) and his companions, with some Ahadith of the Holy Prophet(sa) to ponder at. Holy Prophet(sa) is reported to have said:
“One who dies without accepting the Imam (Appointed by Allah) of the time, his death is a death in disbelief”.
Regarding Imam Mahdi, our beloved master said:
“When you see him (Imam Mahdi) then certainly perform bait to him even if you have to crawl over your knees through the mountains of snow because he (Imam Mahdi) will be the Khalifa of God.”
“One who obeyed Imam Mahdi obeyed me, one who disobeyed him disobeyed me”
“One who rejected Imam Mahdi he did Kufr”
All Muslims believe that the Holy Quran is one and complete without a doubt. The Traditions of the Holy Prophet of Islam(sa) are final and both the Holy Quran and the Traditions are to continue as the Word to be Accepted, as the Word to be believed and as the Word to be followed till the end of the time. Yet, our Holy Prophet despite this knowledge that the book is complete and that he is the final prophet till the end of time, himself prophesied that a time will come when Imam Mahdi would appear from Allah and be raised by Allah.
All Muslims believe that Imam Mahdi is going to be appointed by Allah, and is not going to be elected by the Muslims. Now contrary to common sense, Muslims turn Ahmadis out of the pale of Islam because they believe the Promised Messiah to be a prophet.
The belief of the Ahmadi Muslims that the Promised Messiah will be a Prophet of Allah is based upon the Hadith of Sahih Muslim (Sahih Muslim Book 041, Hadith Number 7015).
The reason for this belief is that our Holy Prophet(sa), himself prophesied that when Jesus Christ comes, He would come as a prophet. In the book of Hadith – Muslim, the Holy Prophet(sa), himself calls Jesus Christ four times a prophet of Allah ( Nabi-Ullah) in his second coming. Thus according to the hadith of Muslim, Ahmadis believe that the Messiah will come and that he will come as a PROPHET.
Hence according to the Hadith of Sahih Muslim the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as) who proclaimed to be the Promised Messiah and Imam Mahdi according to the Divine guidance is a Prophet of Allah.
We Ahmadis believe that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as) is an Ummati Nabi (subordinate prophet). Being an Ummati Nabi is not against the finality of the Holy Prophet(sa) . We do not believe in new prophethood. We believe in an Ummati, subordinate, prophet, as prophesied, in the Holy Quran, Sura Al-Nisa where Allah says:
And whoso obeys Allah and this Messenger of His shall be among those on whom Allah has bestowed His blessing, namely, the Prophets, the Truthful, the Martyrs, and the Righteous. And excellent companions are these.
So anybody who is going to get any reward or any favour from Allah, after the Holy Prophet(sa), according to this verse, has to be SUBORDINATE to the Holy Prophet(sa) and this exactly what was claimed by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as).
© 2021 All rights reserved