When we preach to non-Ahmadis, they say that, yes, we accept that Hazrat Mirza Sahib was a great man and he was a pious man and he has done a lot of service, but when he says that I am a prophet of God, then we cannot accept that because Hazrat Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam has very categorically mentioned that there will be no prophet after me. Alright, I’ll explain this. First of all, this statement is wrong in itself. It is impossible for a pious man to falsely allege that Allah has made him a prophet while Allah has decided never to send any prophet of any sort.
So in itself the statement is contradictory. A pious man making a claim and attributing wrong things to God and completely defying the orders of his master, Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, and yet he is called a pious man, this is absurd. He would be the most unholy man, the most wicked person. So this contradiction should be resolved by the people who indulge in these things. They should be honest with themselves. They should find this riddle facing them that if to all the best of their knowledge he was a really pious man, a righteous person, who was given the opportunity to serve the cause of Islam to a degree, that they not being his followers, they have to admit it. He couldn’t have indulged in such a thing as attributing false things to Allah.
The second part of the answer is this, that Hazrat Masih Maud A.S. made two claims. Initially they are the claims. He was a Messiah and he was a Mahdi. So one should not permit the non-Ahmadis to confuse this issue. Make it very clear that whatever status he held was not an iota more than what Rasul-Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam gave to Hazrat Masih, the Messiah of the future. Nor an iota less, it was not a jot more than what he envisaged for the Imam Mahdi in his second capacity, nor a jot less. So on this you must agree first. Then the debate would be entirely of a different nature. The debate would be that what is the status of Messiah to come in the words of Rasul-Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
And what is going to be the status of Imam Mahdi, if it is proved from the holy book and from the traditions of the holy prophet of Islam, that the Messiah of the future, who was to come in the future, he had to be a prophet, and no less than a prophet. But at the same time totally subordinate to Rasul-Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and the holy Qur’an, then the issue is already resolved then. We don’t have to give explanations about what Khatm-e-Rabuwat means. This word, this term was far better understood by Rasul-Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam himself than any living or non-living man on earth.
So why to occupy the position of a defensive position for something for which you are incapable of defence anyway. The moment you become a party they will be at your necks and they will be at your throats. So just get out of this. Tell them and bring them to this position. That Huzoor-e-Akram Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is the only person on earth who has the most reliable knowledge of what God meant by Khatm-e-Rabuwat and despite that promise made to him, he is the only person who knows what would be the position occupied by the future reformer to whom he is referring. That point understood. We read in one tradition of the Muslim, which is accepted by all authorities, which is beyond doubt.
It is a very strong tradition in every respect and the book is Muslim, which refers to the future Messiah who would do this and do that and do that and do that and repeatedly four times the word Prophet Messiah would do this and Prophet would do that and Prophet would do this and the Prophet would do that. And it is related to the future not to the old Messiah. They say, all right, this is the old Messiah who has come again. The Ahmadiyya position is, regardless of whatever he is, if he is a Messiah, it is impossible for him to say that I am not a Prophet.
A claimant to Messiahhood according to this tradition has also to make the claim of Prophethood. Whether old or new, this debate would come later on. But Messiah without the claim of Prophethood is un-inconceivable. What has Hazrat Masih Maud Ali A.S. done? He has claimed to be a Messiah. You can debate this issue. You can try to prove that he is wrong in his claim, okay. But this is an untenable position that you know that he has made the claim of being a Messiah and yet you expect him to declare that he is not a Prophet.
The moment he does it, you will produce the book of Muslim before him and say now you have proved yourself to be a Pakalaj. Because you claim you are the Messiah who was prophesied. And you also know, and if you didn’t know, we are going to show you, that in the Muslim, Rasul-e-Akram S.A.W. himself has predicted that the Messiah to come would be a Prophet. And because you deny Prophethood, so you are a false man, totally and positively. There is no way out but for the Messiah to make the claim that he is a Prophet.
In exactly the same sense, as Rasul-e-Akram S.A.W. has referred, when he calls the future Messiah to be a Prophet, he knows that is not contradictory to Khatm-e-Nabu. So whatever he means, that is what we mean exactly. And we can swear to God, by all his names, that according to us, the status of Rasul-e-Akram S.A.W. is not an atom more than the one mentioned in the Muslim tradition as Messiah. So forget about this dispute, there is no such dispute. You agree as well as we agree that the Messiah to come has to be a Prophet. What sort of Prophet? Allah knows best and his Prophet knows best, Muhammad M.S.S. Whether he is a Messiah or not, this issue is dependent on the issue of the old Messiah’s life and death.
So that is a completely different domain of debate. When we enter there, then we can positively prove from the Holy Quran and from the traditions and from history and from the Bible, Old Testament, New Testament and the modern scientific evidence, that that Messiah is dead. So the only Messiah left is the Messiah of the future. As far as Imam Mahdi is concerned, that is his second claim. You throw the onus of proof upon your opponent, instead of taking a position about him. And this is what I have repeatedly done and I know from experience that once you put your opponent to that position, he simply becomes indefensible.
Forget about Hazrat Mirza Sahib for a while. For the sake of argument, let’s say that he is non-existent, both for you and for us, for the time being. And let us look with hope to the future, when an Imam Mahdi would appear. According to your concept, that is the concept of the opponents of Imam Mahdi, how would he be made? Will he be appointed by God, in so many words, or will he be a psychic who would think he has become Imam Mahdi? Or will he be elected to the office of Imam Mahdi? What would be the position?
He would come, no doubt, but he would be made somehow. And he has to make a claim. What would he tell the people? That I am Imam Mahdi because I think I am Imam Mahdi. Or will he say, no, Allah has appointed me in so many words, categorically told me that you are the Mahdi, so I am Imam, made by God himself. And that is exactly what the Imam means. The term Imam does not imply here the Imam of a mosque. That Imam is nowhere close to the Imam of this tradition. Here the term Imam is the term used by the Holy Qur’an, where always these Imams are referred to as having been made by God, appointed by God. Mentioning the names of the prophets, the Holy Qur’an says, we made them Imams.
And made them Imam Mahdi, for that matter. It says, they led people not from themselves, but after receiving message from us, after receiving order from us. Then they led, so they were not Hadi, but they were Mahdi first. The one who leads from himself is called Hadi in Arabic. One who is first led and taught by someone, he becomes the Mahdi. So exactly this is the Imam Mahdi which is being discussed here in the Holy Qur’an with reference to all the prophets. Repeat, in more than two places, three places as I remember, the Holy Qur’an has used the same term, always applicable to the prophets and never to a non-prophet.
So, what would be that Mahdi? Let’s begin. How would he be made? If appointed by God, then also this issue is resolved once and for all, that he would receive a revelation from God and those Mullahs who claim that revelation is finished, Wahi is no longer operative since the time of the Prophet, they are proved to be false. The Imam Mahdi would be told by God in so many words and this is Wahi. And Wahi-e-Imamat, not an ordinary Wahi. And after Allah has made him, what would Allah expect of the Muslims and non-Muslims? Should they accept him or should they reject him?
What would be the expectation of God from the people from then on? After having appointed him an Imam, will Allah permit the Muslims to call him a liar, to reject him and to do whatever they please with him and yet they would remain Muslims and they would be declared as Momineen? Or something else is expected then? Once an Imam is created by God, has anyone on earth the authority to reject him and yet claim that he is perfect in his faith? No sane man can say that this would be the position taken by God as regards to the Imam Mahdi whenever he comes according to them. And this is exactly what they themselves admit. They say no.
All the Ulema on the earth, they say that when the Imam Mahdi comes, whoever refuses to believe in him will not be a Momineen. And everybody is bound to believe in him. All right. These two become prerequisites or requisites of the Imam. Okay? Then, let’s turn to the Quran and find out the position. Anyone who is directly appointed by God and on whom faith is essential, what is he? A prophet or something else? These are the two most important conditions met with in all prophets, without variation, without exception. And not a single non-prophet can be quoted from the Holy Quran or from elsewhere in whom these two important conditions of prophethood are met.
To believe in someone is an article of faith of every Muslim. He has to believe in God according to the Holy Quran and it is made so clear that there is no debate between Shia and Sunni or any such. Every Muslim must believe in God, in angels, in books, in prophets and in the day of resurrection. Five. Is that not right? Is God a human? No. Are angels human? No. Are books human? No. Is the day of resurrection human? No. The only human being mentioned in these five musts is a prophet. So the only human being in whom everyone is obliged by God to believe is a prophet. And all these maulvis believe that this would be the status of Imam Mahdi.
Every Muslim and non-Muslim must willingly believe in Imam Mahdi or he will be rejected by God. So they don’t call him a prophet, only they believe in him to be a prophet. The difference is only in name, application of name, of which they are afraid. But in truth, in essence, their belief and our belief are exactly the same about the status of the Imam Mahdi. Show me the difference, where it lies. So all this debate about Khatm-e-Nabuwat is complete fake and there is no truth in this. In fact, their belief about the future Imam and our belief about the future Imam is exactly the same, both vis-a-vis the Messiah and vis-a-vis the Imam Mahdi. Only they don’t have the courage to call the Imam Mahdi a prophet, though they have to believe that he is a prophet.
Many, many delegations used to come and this was one of the reasons why the mullahs and the government became so penitent. When I told them these things, they started becoming Ahmadis in large numbers and the government could not stop them coming, could not stop them from being influenced. In the last days, in the same month, when I had to come ultimately to England and when the ordinance was passed, in Islamabad, these sessions became so popular that busloads used to come from as far as Peshawar, Mardan, full of Ahmadis, but more than their number, non-Ahmadis came to ask questions and listen to these things. And the government cordoned off Islamabad and posts were set at all roads so that these buses were not permitted to enter and reach us.
This was the extent of panic, because when ordinary Muslims, scholarly as well as otherwise, with normal, sane attitude, when they listened to these arguments, they immediately knew that this hue and cry about difference of opinion on Khatm-e-Nubut is totally wrong, completely baseless. The only issue of debate is what would be the status of the Messiah and the status of the Imam Mahdi and that is all. There is no other difference whatsoever.
So this is exactly the position of the Imam Mahdi. When they came, by way of a joke, I used to make them realise their position, I used to illustrate something, I used to tell them a joke in fact, to relax them, to relax the attitude of animosity and hostility, so that they could understand things in a better mood. I used to tell them a joke about a horse which was so dear to a king, a very powerful and also rather a cruel king. He had a very dear horse who fell ill, and the king did not want that horse to die. But it was the will of God, he had to die, nobody could prevent it.
So the king issued an order that whoever would come to report the death of that dear horse, himself will be beheaded. So there was a panic, and they were bound also to report the matter every half hour or so, the state of that horse. And also there was a despotic order that whoever tells the king that the horse is dead, he would also be made dead. So he died, most unfortunately for the people. And the vizier and all the important people, the courtiers, they said, well this matter has to be reported to the king, but who is going to lose his head? Only such a man who has already lost his head would appear to the king with this news.
So they got hold of a poor man, and he said, look here, if you don’t go to the king, we are going to behead you anyway. So why not go and deliver the message? He said, all right, I’ll do that, leave it to me. So he went to the king and said, look here, oh my lord, your horse has completely recovered. Completely. The king became so happy and said, yes, tell me more about it, how did it happen? He said, you know, when I saw the horse first, it was so restless, it was jumping, thumping the ground that you could hear him from a mile away. But this time when I went to see him, he was completely quiet and still. Not a disturbance, not a ripple.
So he was so calm and so still, he was completely recovered. What else? He said, you know, I could hear the heartbeat of that horse, at a rate that it was as if it was an earthquake going on, and the noise of it, and the rate, which was so rapid. And this time when I approached the horse from close, I couldn’t hear the heartbeat, even when I applied my ears to the chest, to the point of the heart, absolutely no noise. And then the breathing was so difficult and, you know, so, so restless and wheezing.
The very sound of it, you know, was so obnoxious. And now the breathing has completely stopped. No problem. So the king said, you know, calling him something, he said, why don’t you say he’s dead? He said, no, no king, you are saying he’s dead. It is you who should be killed, you know. I don’t say that he’s dead, I’m just describing him. So this is what the mullahs do to us. They say, we’ll describe the Imam Hadee exactly your way. But you are going to say he’s a prophet so we can behead you.
We are not going to say he’s a prophet. Only we’ll describe him as a prophet. That’s no crime. The difference is only that of honesty and courage. We say what we see. And they don’t say what they see. They are afraid of it and they are hypocrite in this regard.
