Which messenger (rasūl) is mentioned in the ‘Covenant of the Prophets’ verse of the Quran (ch. 3, v. 81)?
Qadiani scholar says:
It is Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad says:
It is the Holy Prophet Muhammad
In a Friday khutba published in the Qadiani community organ Al-Fazl, in its issue for 19 September 1915, shortly after the Split in the Ahmadiyya Movement, one of their prominent scholars Maulvi Mir Muhammad Saeed of Hyderabad Deccan, dealt with the meaning of this verse of the Quran. We translate below from Urdu his translation and explanation of this verse. The words in brackets below are in brackets in the original Urdu. We have highlighted some text in red.
“When Allah took a covenant from all the prophets (an-nabiyyīn includes all the prophets, with no exception, the Holy Prophet Muhammad being also included here in the word an-nabiyyīn), that whenever I give you the book and the wisdom (by book is meant the Torah and the Holy Quran, and by wisdom is meant the sunnah and the criteria of prophethood and the Hadith), then when a messenger comes to you verifying all that you have of the book and the wisdom (that is, that messenger is the Promised Messiah who verifies the Quran and Hadith, and does not bring a new shariah), ‘You will believe in him’, in which the letter nūn occurs in its emphatic form. Scholars know that it is used for great emphasis, meaning, ‘O you prophets, all of you must believe in him and consider as obligatory to help him in every way.’ (Since it is obligatory on all the prophets to believe, broadly, in the Promised Messiah and to help him, who are we to not believe in him).”
— Al-Fazl, 19 September 1915, p. 6.
It is stated here that the
messenger to come, mentioned in this verse, is Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, and
that it was obligatory on all prophets, including the Holy Prophet Muhammad, to
believe in Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in a broad sense (i.e., without knowing
any details about him).
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’s explanation
Compare this with the explanation of the same verse of the Quran given by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in his famous book Haqiqat-ul-Wahy, published in May 1907. He plainly and clearly states that that messenger to come is the Holy Prophet Muhammad.
He translates this verse into Urdu as follows:
“And remember when God took a covenant from all messengers that when I will give you the book and the wisdom, then in the last ages My messenger will come to you, confirming your books, you must believe in him and aid him. He said: Do you affirm this compact and adhere to it? They said: We do affirm. Then God said: Now be witness to your compact and I too am a witness with you.”
He then adds the comment:
“Now it is clear that the prophets died, each in his own time. So this command is for the followers of every prophet, that when that Messenger appears you must believe in him, otherwise you will be accountable for it. So now tell us, Mr Abdul Hakim, the half-baked cleric, if salvation could be attained by merely believing in the oneness of God, then why should God hold such people to account who do not believe in the Holy Prophet Muhammad, but do accept the oneness of God?”
— Haqiqat-ul-Wahy, pages 130–131; in Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 22, pages 133–134.
In translating this verse as above, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad has written: “then in the last ages My messenger will come to you, …you must believe in him”. Who is that messenger? In his comment, he says this is the Holy Prophet Muhammad, and in this covenant there was a command to the followers of the prophets before the Holy Prophet Muhammad that they must believe in him when he comes.
We display below the images of these two extracts from their original Urdu sources.
From the article by the Qadiani scholar Maulvi Mir Muhammad Saeed,
Al-Fazl, 19 September 1915, p. 6:
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in Haqiqat-ul-Wahy, pages 130–131
in Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 22, pages 133–134
|
