Claims Of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani And The Second Coming Of Jesus Christ

July 10, 2024

4 min read 4 min

Question

I have started to watch your show lately and I am very impressed by the depth of your knowledge and a very rational interpretation of The Holy Qur’ān. I have passed through many religious states during my journey to find the Truth. Nowadays I am reading about Mirzā Ghulām Ahmad Qādiyānī and his claims as Imām Mahdi. Would you please kindly shed some light on the advent of Imam Mahdi in the light of Qur’ānic verses and the second coming of Haḍrat Isa? I understand it is a very touchy issue and I don’t want you to answer this on air rather you can respond back to me via email or whatever is convenient for you. Thanks for my intellectual satisfaction. We need more scholars like you to present a better image of our religion and society.

Answer

The only source of our beliefs as Muslims is the Qur’ān and the Qur’ān is absolutely silent about the generally believed concept of Mahdi or return of Jesus (sws). The Qur’ān introduces itself as the clear explanation of everything with regard to our guidance (Qur’ān, 16:89). It is only rational to expect our book of guidance to give us clear indication of such extra ordinary and important events (if they have to do anything with regard to our guidance as Muslims). There are verses in the Qur’ān about Jesus and his life and even about him in the hereafter; these could be perfect places to also mention the return of Jesus before the end of the world. Similarly there are verses in the Qur’ān about the signs of the end of the world and there are many verses about who to follow as leader and who not to follow. Again these were best places to refer to a phenomenon called Mahdi. The fact of the matter is that there is not even a remote reference to any of these two events among these verses or other verses in the Qur’ān.

You might be interested to know that according to Mr. Ghamidi the Qur’ān has made it clear that Jesus (as) died before ascending to heaven (3:55). Accordingly return of Jesus (as) means that he needs to be returned to life from death. You would agree that this even more extraordinary event does deserve some attention in the Qur’ān.

We can therefore safely conclude that either of these events is not going to take place or that belief in them is not part of our religious obligations as Muslims.

The above should be sufficient for a Muslim, however for your interest, as for Mahdi narrations that directly and explicitly refer to the concept are not included in the more reliable books of Ḥadīth that are Bukhārī and Muslim. Ibn Khuldūn in his Muqaddama has considered Aḥādīth about Mahdi to be weak. When it comes to the beliefs of the followers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, even relying on weak Aḥādīth does not help here because the specifications of Mahdi and the events surrounding him in these Aḥādīth do not fit with the features of Mirzā Ghulam Ahmad and the events surrounding him.

As for the return of Jesus (as) it is very strange that the first significant collection of Ḥadīth that was made in only about a hundred years after the death of the Prophet (sws) (that is, Mu’atta of Imam Malik) does not refer to this extra ordinary event at all.

It is quite likely that both the above events are the products of Muslims’ thoughts perhaps being influenced by some of the beliefs of the followers of other religions and religious sects.

Hope this answers your question.

Answered by: Farhad Shafti

Date: 2015-03-28