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Books
Section
> The
Last Prophet (Akhri Nabi) by Maulana Muhammad
Ali
> Mian Sahib Explained Khatam an-Nabiyyin as the
Last of the Prophets in 1910 Mian
Sahib Explained Khatam an-Nabiyyin as the Last of the
Prophets in 1910: Finally as conclusive proof against him and his disciples I would like to quote from a writing of Mian Sahib to show that he himself, not long ago, believed that the Holy Prophet was the Last Prophet and he also understood the term Khatam an-Nabiyyin in the same sense. In the newspaper Al-Hakam, Mian Sahib wrote under the heading of KHATAM AN-NABIYYIN: "As a result God, the Most High, appointed him Khatam an-Nabiyyin and brought all kinds of prophethood to an end. " [AI-Hakam, 14th March, 1911.] Probably these meanings were also written in lexicons at that time! Mian Sahib could say about the Founder that he remained in error till the end of his life, or that after his claim of being the Promised Messiah for twelve years he did not know the meaning both of nabi and muhaddath, ["In short, because the Promised Messiah, in the beginning, thought that the definition of a prophet was that he should bring a new Shariah, or should abrogate some commands, or should be raised directly, therefore, in spite of the fact, that all the conditions which were really essential for being a prophet were found in him, he declined to accept the title of prophet for himself, and although he professed a claim in those very things wherewith a man could become a prophet, nevertheless since he took these conditions to be the conditions of a muhaddath, and not of a prophet, he always called himself a muhaddath, not knowing that the nature of his claim as propounded by him was such as could not be found in anyone but a prophet" (Haqiqat an-Nubuwwat, Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad, p. 124, 1915 edition, Qadian). -- Tr.] but about himself he would not dare use such words. There was a time when he wrote that Khatam an-Nabiyyin meant one who brought all kinds of prophethood to an end and now this very term acquired a different meaning, as, one by following whom, prophets will be made in future. As compared to the above statement in Al-Hakam Mian Sahib has expressed his views with further clarity in an article entitled Najat (Salvation) in 1910. There he writes: "Then the fourth verse which mentions the period of the Holy Prophet's office that is, how long his religion will last, is: "Muhammad is not the father of any of your men but he is the Messenger of Allah and Khatam an-Nabiyyin and Allah is ever Knower of all things (33:40). Now, in this article, two points are clear. Firstly, where it has been mentioned, ‘and none shall come after him who may be raised to the dignity of prophethood,’ and later it has been added, ‘nay, whatever auliya Allah (saints) there are,’ which show that at that time Mian Sahib truly believed in the appearance of only saints (auliya Allah) after the Holy Prophet and he accepted the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement from among the category of saints only, and not of the prophets. And if the Founder had ever used the word nabi or rasul for himself, it was only in the sense in which he had accepted other (Muslim) dignitaries obtaining the rank of prophethood by way of metaphor and simile about which he has argued from the hadith: "the learned of my nation will be like the Israelite prophets." This means that there are only auliya after the Holy Prophet and not anbiya. And this is absolutely correct and on all fours with the views of the Founder who wrote in Tiryaq al-Qulub: "It has been my belief right from the beginning that no one can become a kafir or dajjal on account of denying my claim." [Tiryaq al-Qulub (28th October, 1902), p. 120.] Under this a footnote is added: "It is to be remembered, that to call a denier of one's claim a kafir is the privilege of those prophets alone who bring from God, Law (Shariah) and new commandments, but as for all the inspired ones (mulham), and the ones spoken to by God (muhaddathin), other than the possessors of the Shariah, however great their dignity may be in the sight of God, and how even much they may have been honoured by being spoken to by God, no one becomes a kafir by their denial." The words ‘the inspired ones’ and ‘the ones spoken to by God other than the possessors of the Law’, should be particularly noted. The other point is that at the time of writing his article about Najat, Mian Sahib did not regard the Promised Messiah as a true claimant to prophethood, because he clearly says: "During the thirteen hundred years that have passed since the Holy Prophet's claim, no one who laid claim to prophethood has been successful" and, about the future the same is true that "God has made the Holy Prophet Khatam an-Nabiyyin and God knows that no prophet would appear after him and that even a liar would not lay claim to this office whom We (God) would not destroy." It has been clearly admitted here by Mian Sahib that neither can there be a true prophet after the Holy Prophet nor can a false prophet become successful after laying claim to this office and he has issued a big challenge that ‘this is a historical prophecy which no one can deny, and if there is any one who denies it, produce him before us!’ I hope Mian Sahib will find his own argument sufficiently strong enough to nullify his own convictions on the subject.
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