False Claimants Are Destroyed
The Holy Qur'an tells us:
[69:45]
وَ لَوۡ تَقَوَّلَ عَلَیۡنَا بَعۡضَ الۡاَقَاوِیۡلِ ﴿ۙ۴۵﴾
ENGLISH
And if he had forged and attributed any sayings to Us,
[69:46]
لَاَخَذۡنَا مِنۡہُ بِالۡیَمِیۡنِ ﴿ۙ۴۶﴾
ENGLISH
We would surely have seized him by the right hand,
[69:47]
ثُمَّ لَقَطَعۡنَا مِنۡہُ الۡوَتِیۡنَ ﴿۫ۖ۴۷﴾
ENGLISH
And then surely We would have severed his life-artery,'
[69:48]
فَمَا مِنۡکُمۡ مِّنۡ اَحَدٍ عَنۡہُ حٰجِزِیۡنَ ﴿۴۸﴾
ENGLISH
And not one of you could have held Us off from him.
Before we move to the conditions from this Quranic Ayat regarding claimants lets take a look at the tafsir of these ayat:
4363. Commentary: In verses 39-40 above it was claimed that all visible and invisible things prove that the Holy Prophet is God’s true Messenger and that the Quran is God’s revealed Word and not the imaginary flight of a poet’s mind or the wild conjectures of a diviner. In this and the preceding three verses another irrefutable argument is given to support his claim. The argument is to the effect that if the Holy Prophet had been a forger of lies against God, God’s strong hand would have seized him by the throat and the Prophet would certainly have met with a violent death; his whole work and mission would have gone to pieces, because such is the fate of a false prophet. The claim and arguments contained in these verses seem to be an exact reproduction of the following Biblical statement: "I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren (i.e. the Ishmaelites) like unto thee and will put My word in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. But the Prophet which shall presume to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak even that Prophet shall die" (Deut. 18:20). [Five Volume Commentary Under 69:48]
Imam B. A. Rafiq, an Ahmadi Murabbi has discussed these verses in his book Truth About Ahmadiyyat saying:
Another criterion of the righteousness of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is put forward in the Holy Quran in the following words:
If he had fabricated any saying and attributed it to Us, We would surely have seized him by the right hand, then surely We would have severed his large artery, and not one of you could have kept Us from it. (69:45-48)
This means that if the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had (God save us) been guilty of inventing a falsehood against God, he would have been destroyed by God. In other words, an impostor is frustrated in his purposes and is soon destroyed and suffers torment. On the same basis of these verses there has been a consensus in Islam that an impostor cannot survive for twenty-three years after putting forward his claim of being a recipient of revelation. When we apply this criterion to the life of the Promised Messiah we find that he was a prophet of high resolve and was highly successful and that the Movement founded by him has flourished continuously in the world. He enjoyed Divine help throughout. He was alone and was given a devoted Community. He was poor and helpless and God Almighty enriched him. He was unknown and God Almighty made him known to the ends of the earth. Every day of his life augmented his blessings and carried him forward. Has not his truth then been established according to the Quiranic criterion that we have just set out? Had he been an impostor, God Almighty, in accordance with that criterion, would have destroyed him utterly. But what happened was the reverse of it and is a clear proof of his truth [Truth about Ahmadiyya - Introduction]
Now what are the conditions that are extrapolated from these statements? I will now quote The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints by Imtiaz Ahmed Sraa.
From these words, the following conditions can be derived:
- The claimant of revelation must do so purposely. In other words, despite being fully aware that Divine revelation has not been sent upon him, he knowingly and intentionally forges a lie against the Almighty. A psychologically disturbed or mentally ill patient cannot qualify according to this condition.
- The claimant must believe in God as a separate entity and should not be someone who considers his thoughts to be revelations. This condition is found in the word "عَلَیۡنَا'Alaina” .
- The claimant should be a believer in the revelation of words and should claim his words to be those of God. It must not be someone who considers his thoughts to be revelation. This condition is found in words "بَعۡضَ الۡاَقَاوِیۡلِ Ba’dh-al-‘Aqaaweel”
- The claimant must publish or announce his claim openly and this must be a cause of leading people astray then God, Himself will punish him and no one will be able to rescue him from the punishment. This condition is found in the words "فَمَا مِنۡکُمۡ مِّنۡ اَحَدٍ عَنۡہُ حٰجِزِیۡنَ fa ma minkum min ahadin anhu haajizeen”
If a claimant of prophethood and revelation fulfills the aforementioned conditions, then that person must be killed within 23 years. This is the criterion that is used in Islam to test the claims of a prophet whether the claimant is true or false. The Founder of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, India, the Promised Messiahas, issued a challenge more than a hundred years ago saying,
If this is true that a person claims to be a prophet or a messenger or appointed from Allah or openly says words to people in the name of God, then despite being a forger, lives for 23 years, which is the duration of the era of Holy Prophetsa’s revelation, I will subsequently grant that person who shows me such an example and then proves it to me or proves it through Quran, 500 rupees in cash137
The Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at reiterates the same phenomenon in the following couplets:
The forger of lies is accursed in the Book of God;
He has not even the slightest honour in His sight.
In the Torah, as well as in the Qur’an
It is written in the form of a severe decree.
(That) whoever forges any lie against God
Shall be murdered – this is the punishment for such a crime!138
137. Arba’een No. 3, Roohani Khazain, V. 17, pg. 402
138. Durr-e-Thamin Urdu – A collection of the Urdu poems of the Promised Messiah, pg. 117-118
[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Pages Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints pages 99-100]
This sentiment is repeated in the Bible aswell and to show this, a quote will be shown from the same book that has been quoted earlier:
It has been mentioned in the Old Testament, in many verses, that the false prophet or the person who erroneously claims that God speaks to him must be killed. As mentioned above, there are many verses, but three verses should be sufficient in order to solidify this criterion. The first verse is from Deuteronomy, chapter 18: But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.132 (Deuteronomy 18:20)
The second verse is from Deuteronomy, chapter 13:
And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God. IF there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.133 (Deuteronomy 13:1-5)
Then, Jeremiah, chapter 14 also highlights this criterion:
Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart. Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.134 (Jeremiah 14:14-15)
The New Testament also present the same criterion in the following words:
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.135 (Galatians 1:8-9)
The above verses explain that a false claimant of prophethood must be killed if he:
- Openly claims to be a prophet.
- Openly claims to receive revelation from God.
- Announces his false dreams and visions to lead people astray.
132. The Holy Bible (King James Version), Deuteronomy 18:20
[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints pages 97-98]
Moving back to those Quranic Ayat, it is not just a belief of the Ahmadi Muslims that the 23 years are the criterion of truth for a claimant of revelation. Sa'ad al-Din Masud ibn Umar ibn Abd Allah al-Taftazani in his book Sharahul Aqaid has expressed a similar view:
It is also note that Ibn Qayyim(rh) believed that a false prophet would be annihilated. Hadrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad(as) explained in his book, True Insights into the Concept of Khatm-e-Nubuwwat:
Distinction between the True and the False Claimants
Now I will cite to you the statement of Imam Ibn-eQayyim. He is the same outstanding scholar and philosopher who has been mentioned in the White Paper as a great Islamic thinker. What is his view of why the claimants are opposed. He says that:
Ever since the world has been created, many false claimants to prophethood made their claims and displayed some pomp and glory in the beginning, but they could not achieve their objectives nor were they granted a long time period. The Prophets of Allah the Almighty and their followers annihilated them and rendered them totally helpless. This is the way of Allah from the beginning of times and so will it remain. (Zadul-Ma‘ad, vol. 1, p. 500–501, published in Kanpur.)
These are splendid words of wisdom. Let me pause and comment on these before going on. Ibn-e-Qayyim was really a great scholar of Islam. I am aware that some of the great scholars did make some mistakes of judgment but they certainly were great thinkers. They studied the issues with wisdom and depth and extracted pearls of wisdom. When he says that the false claimants showed some pomp and splendor in the beginning, he is describing a sign of the false claimants. The fact of the matter is, and the history of Islam bears it out, that the false claimant never made a claim without overt or covert support. Musailamah, whose name is often cited by them [White Paper], also had a nation in his support. What happened to him is exactly what happens to all false claimants. They started with splendor and with a strong supporting group. It has never happened that a false claimant should be looked upon with a great hope, that he be very popular and should suddenly lose all his popularity because of his claim. No false claimant has initiated his claim with criticism and humiliation. Imam Qayyim has analyzed the situation very closely and has aptly stated that they:
...made their claims and displayed some pomp and glory in the beginning, but they could not achieve their objectives nor were they granted a long time period. The Prophets of Allah the Almighty and their followers annihilated them and rendered them totally helpless. This is the way of Allah from the beginning of times and it will so remain. (Ibid.)
I trust that our opponents will pay heed to the words of Ibn-e-Qayyim. Ponder over the treatment that you meted out the Promised Messiahas and the way Allah the Almighty manifested His decree in his favour. Ibn-e-Qayyim states that the false claimants are not “granted a long time period.” You are well aware that more than one hundred years have passed since the claim of the Promised Messiahas. Despite vigorous opposition his community is marching forward and the opponents have been totally helpless. The opponents have themselves admitted again and again that the community of the Promised Messiahas is increasing day by day despite all opposition. '
When the Promised Messiahas made his claim, he was deserted by all, including his own children. Close relatives also opposed him. This is the way the Prophets have always started, as Imam Qayyim has described in detail. He understood the meanings of the Holy Qur’an. False prophets start with great splendor but Allah the Almighty totally annihilates their glory. On the other hand, the true Prophets start in a pitiable condition—they are deserted even by their close loved ones. Nobody stands by their side and the whole world joins together to try to destroy their mission. Yet, Allah the Almighty does not permit that to happen. The decree of Allah always prevails, as Allah the Almighty has said in the Holy Qur’an:19
کَتَبَ اللّٰہُ لَاَغۡلِبَنَّ اَنَا وَ رُسُلِیۡ'
This is what Allah the Almighty has made incumbent upon Himself—Verily I [Allah] and my Messengers will prevail.
19. Allah has decreed: ‘Most surely I will prevail, I and My Messengers.’ (Surah al-Mujadalah, 58:22) [Publisher]
[True Insights into the Concept of Khatm-e-Nubuwwat pgs. 91-93]
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