Question
I think there are a lot of contradictions in your beliefs. In an answer to a question regarding the progress of Ahmadiyya, you gave reply in your ‘question and answer section’ on your website that the worldly progress is not a justification that a Jama‘at is on the right path. In short this is against Quran. It says that: “We surely help our messengers in this world and the hereafter” (AL-Momin-52).You only talk about THE NUMBER GAME, which doesn’t matter. Can you give a single example of a false prophet prospering and progressing in this way?
You know that Allah clearly states in Qur’an that one who says that Allah send a revelation to him but in reality He didn’t, will face disaster in first place. How can you justify your answer after above clarification?
Second thing is this you send me an article in which some hadiths have been mentioned. Ahmadiis prove the ‘FAIZAAN OF KHATM-E-NABUWAT’ according to the Holy Quran. You know they argue with ayaat of Sura al-NISA and other aayats proving that the finality means The FINALITY OF SHARI’AH. The real blessing of this Khatm means that messenger will come but with the stamp of HAZRAT MUḤAMMAD (SWS). You don’t believe in the Nuzul of Jesus as it is not mention in Holy Quran but you believe in the same detail as other molvis (religious clerics) do regarding Khatm-e-Nabuwat but you argue with Hadiths only? How can you justify this?
Answer
I don’t think there are contradictions in the answers given.
The verse you are referring to is not in the Sura Mu’minun. I think you are referring to the verse in Sura Al-Ghafir (40:51) which says:
Surely we help our Messengers and those who believe in this world and the Day when the witnesses will stand up. (Q 40:51)
The above verse means that when there is a Messenger, God will help him and his followers.
The verse does not mean that when some people are having some success in this world this is because they had a true Messenger and were helped by God.
I hope you see the difference between the above two statements.
To make it simpler, we can always say “every apple is round” but this does not mean that “everything that is round is apple”. A causing B does not necessarily means that every B is caused by A.
You wrote:
Can you give a single example of a false prophet prospering and progressing in this way?
I am not sure what you mean by “in this way”, as far as I see, 100 years after Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the progress of his followers is nothing in comparison to the progress that the followers of Prophet Muhammad (sws) for instance had 100 years after him. The definition of “progress” and the measurement for it are both subjective and a matter of opinion.
However since you asked, I can give you a couple of examples of what you may consider as false prophets of our time whose followers had a reasonable progress:
– Bahayees, who follow Baha’Ullah (1817 – 1892) as their prophet has more than 5 million followers all over the world according to the Encyclopedia Britannica (2002). The same source says: “The Bahāʾi faith underwent a rapid expansion beginning in the 1960s, and by the late 20th century it had more than 150 national spiritual assemblies (national governing bodies) and about 20,000 local spiritual assemblies.” http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/48930/Bahai-faith
– Mormons, who are the followers of Joseph Smith (1805 – 1844) as their prophet and have a chain of prophets after him. The man who they believe is their current prophet is Thomas S. Monson. They have more than 10 million followers.
There are also a number of “false prophets” at present propagating their beliefs in different parts of the world and looking at the history, it will not be surprising to see some of them enjoying a large population of followers in 100 years time.
What I am trying to explain here is that we should not confuse the extra ordinary success that a Messenger and his followers achieve as God has promised, and the natural development and progress of a system of belief and people who are ascribed to that system.
To give you an example, the growth of Muslims and their territories only a few decades after the Prophet (sws) was such an amazing and extra ordinary fact that itself could convinced people about the truth of their message. I honestly do not see such an extra ordinary growth in Ahmadiyah movement (even after 100 years) or in any other religious movement in the past century.
You wrote:
You know that Allah clearly states in Qur’an that one who says that Allah send a revelation to him but in reality He didn’t, will face disaster in first place. How can you justify your answer after above clarification?
Well we can ask the same question with regard to the above false prophets as well. How come instead of them facing disaster we are only seeing them progressing and getting larger in population year by year? I encourage you to find the verse you are referring to and to look at it within the context to understand its true meaning.
As for the issue of Khatm-e Nabuwwah (end/completion of prophethood), we are not bringing any Hadith to prove the concept. The verse of the Qur’an is very clear about this (33:40). When you read the verse you will not find any specifications about the completion being for Shari‘ah only, etc. If you believe that the verse is actually referring to the completion of prophethood only from a specific aspect, then the burden is on you to prove this from this verse and other verses of the Qur’an and to explain why the verse does not explicitly say what you are saying.
I also want to draw your attention to the fact that the reason one who adheres to the Qur’an cannot believe in any prophets after Prophet Muhammad (sws) is not only because the Qur’an has announced Prophet Muhammad (sws) to be the last prophet. It is also because the Qur’an has not given us news and warnings about the coming of a new prophet. It is only obvious that such important news should be included in the book that describes itself as “clear explanation of everything (in terms of guidance)” (16:89), just as the news about the coming of Prophet Muhammad (sws) was given to the previous scriptures.
Answered by: Farhad Shafti
Date: 2015-03-18
