Philosophy of Rejection of Divines – A Quranic view
Submitted by Ikram.
In the religious tradition of the world, we see a repeating pattern where a prophet comes to certain people; a book is revealed; the believers reap success; then there is a gradual decline of the spirit of the message and status of the believers; future generations await the return of the same or similar prophet in the hope that he will return the believers to previous glory and in the process win battle victory over the disbelievers. And when the divine finally arrives, the same people who awaited him in the first place reject him at the door. Why?
If one follows the religious thought, one sees that over the time monotheistic traditions are diluted or distorted; some of the religions turn polytheistic; mythology takes hold; priesthood emerges which solidifies its hierarchy; organized religions take shape which soon spreads its tentacles into the socio-economic-political fabric of the society; there is constant struggle between the secular and religious wings; and then the divine arrives who is rejected. Why?
Besides Mithra for Zoroastrians, Kalki Avtar for Hindus, Meeta for Buddists, for Jews, Christians and Muslims there is a common name of Messiah.
Following quote (http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/363/viewall/) unless interpreted allegorically reflects a mythology no less than those of Greeks or Romans with the only difference that Muslims have not yet carved statues or made paintings of various characters addressed therein:
“God will send the Messiah, son of Mary, who will descend at the white minaret on the eastern side of Damascus wearing two garments, lightly dyed with saffron, his hands resting on the wings of two Angels. When he lowers his head, beads of perspiration will fall from it, and when he raises it up, beads like pearls will scatter from it. Every non-believer who smells him will die, and his breath will reach as far as he is able to see.” (Saheeh Muslim)
This kind of phenomenon is fully addressed in Quran where it clearly elucidates the metaphysical expectations of the expecting from the expected divine:
17:90. And they say, `We will never believe unless you cause a spring to gush forth for us from the earth,
17:91. `Or there be a garden of date-palms and vines for you, and you cause the streams to gush forth abundantly in its midst,
17:92. `Or, as you assert (and claim that it shall happen), cause the heaven to fall down upon us in fragments, or bring Allâh and the angels face to face with us,
17:93. `Or, there be a house made of gold for you, or you ascend into the heaven; but we will not believe in your ascending till you bring down to us a book that we can read.’…
But the fact of the matter is that a divine has to come into this world through a natural birth, childhood, adolescence, middle age, reaches his maturity before declaring his revelations in plain words and actions which might seem too simplistic to the onlookers:
17:93. … (Say), `Glory be to my Lord! I am not but a human being (sent as) a Messenger.’
17:94. And nothing has prevented the people from believing when the guidance came to them except their sayings, `Has Allâh raised a human being (like us) as a Messenger?’
Quran ridicules such mythological expectations as follows:
17:95. Say, `Had there been angels on the earth (in place of human beings) walking about secure and sound We (too) would have invariably sent down an angel from heaven as a Messenger to them.’
With the above underpinnings of myth inspired human mind and its counter reaction to a divine, any Messianic advent will naturally suffer such dogmatic rejection. I see the case of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmed as no different. For such a divine rejection:
17:96. Say, `Allâh suffices as a witness between me and you. Surely, He is Ever Aware of and sees His servants full well.’
17:97. He whom Allâh guides (to the straight and right path) is the only one rightly guided, but those whom He abandons to perish, you will find no protecting friends for them apart from Him…
[The Holy Quran – Translation by Nooruddin]
From Rashid:
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (HMGA) sahib faced most opposition on issue of Isa A.S (Jesus) death and that too from Muslims. It is not that he was first one in Islamic history to say that Isa AS is physically dead. His arguments were based on Holy Quran. Where as his opponent Muslims arguments and their leader (and arch opponent of HMGA) Maulvi Muhammad Hussain Batalvi (a leader of Al-Hadith school of thought) were based on Ahadiths. It is difficult to understand reason behind Muslims attitude to give more value to Ahadiths than Holy Quran.
Anyways now Muslims are coming around and by their beliefs and understanding are agreeing with the main purpose of HMGA mission. When we look at the prominent Muslim European translators of Holy Quran who were not intimidated by ‘Mullah-Mafia’ we see they were of opinion that Isa A.S. is dead. Muhammad Asad and Marmaduke Pickthal are such translators. With a Bosnian friend of mine I have seen translation of Holy Quran in Bosnian language done by Bosnian translator. On subject of Isa AS death, that translations says same what Hazrat Maulana Muhammad Ali said in his translations of Holy Quran.
One sign of success of HMGA mission is that Islamic scholars like Javed Ahmad Ghamdi, on television channels in Pakistan, openly supports the position taken by HMGA on subject of Isa AS death. Here are couple of his videos on you tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX-jxZaI7qY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8d2haayLdY&feature=related