Wisdom of a Man of the Pharaoh
The Holy Quran has preserved the wisdom of a follower of Hadhrat Musa(as):
[40:29]
وَ قَالَ رَجُلٌ مُّؤۡمِنٌ ٭ۖ مِّنۡ اٰلِ فِرۡعَوۡنَ یَکۡتُمُ اِیۡمَانَہٗۤ اَتَقۡتُلُوۡنَ رَجُلًا اَنۡ یَّقُوۡلَ رَبِّیَ اللّٰہُ وَ قَدۡ جَآءَکُمۡ بِالۡبَیِّنٰتِ مِنۡ رَّبِّکُمۡ ؕ وَ اِنۡ یَّکُ کَاذِبًا فَعَلَیۡہِ کَذِبُہٗ ۚ وَ اِنۡ یَّکُ صَادِقًا یُّصِبۡکُمۡ بَعۡضُ الَّذِیۡ یَعِدُکُمۡ ؕ اِنَّ اللّٰہَ لَا یَہۡدِیۡ مَنۡ ہُوَ مُسۡرِفٌ کَذَّابٌ ﴿۲۹﴾
ENGLISH
And a believing man from among the people of Pharaoh, who concealed his faith, said, “Will you slay a man because he says, ‘My Lord is Allah,’ while he has brought you clear proofs from your Lord? And if he be a liar, on him will be the sin of his lie; but if he is truthful, then some of that which he threatens you with will surely befall you. Certainly Allah guides not one who is a transgressor, and a liar.
The Following is taken from With Love to the Muslims of the World by Hadrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad(rh):
GUIDANCE FROM THE HOLY QUR’AN
The Holy Qur’an is very specific about it. When Moses addressed Pharaoh and his people and claimed to be the vicegerent of God, their immediate reaction was to attempt to have him murdered for this ‘false’ claim.
This situation provides us with a very interesting study. If anyone claims to be a Messenger of God and the people believe him to be definitely false, do they have the right to murder or otherwise punish such a claimant?
The same question is raised by the Holy Qur’an in relation to the situation mentioned above and it is categorically answered once and for all.
When the elders of the people and Pharaoh were plotting to murder Moses, a wise man from amongst them—who had secretly believed in Moses—strongly counselled them to refrain from such a folly.
The powerful argument he gave was this: Either Moses is false in his claim or not. There is no third option. If he is false, then he has committed a crime against God and hence, it is for God to punish him. He will be punished for his crime, and not you; so why should you bother?
But also remember this: If he happens to be right, then God's wrath which he has been promising, is bound to befall you.
What a wise counsel indeed! How logical and how just! A counsel which was considered worthy of being recorded in His Eternal Book, the Holy Qur’an.
This advice is as good today as it was in the time of Moses.
The case of Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's claim belongs to this category and should be treated alike by all those who have any regard for the Word of God.
[With Love to the Muslims of the World pages 19-20]
Now why does this quote matter? Firstly, it shows the Goverment of Pakistan that they should follow the wisdom of the man and consider how this in the Holy Qur'an, they should also follow the Qur'an. The second importance of this quote is how claimants to prophethood should be treated by the people. Now this quote has huge ramifications and to illustrate this I will quote a quote attributed to Imam Abu Hanfiah from an anti-Ahmadi website. It states:
Imam Mufiq bin Ahmad al-Makki (d. 568 A.H.) narrates:
وتنبأ رجل فى زمن ابى حنيفة رحمه الله وقال امهلونى حتى اجئ بالعلامات فقال ابو حنيفة رحمه الله من طلب منه علامة فقد كفر لقوله عليه السلام « لا نبى بعدى »
A man in the time of Abu Hanifah claimed to be a prophet and said, ‘Allow me to present proofs of my prophethood.’ Abu Hanifah – may Allah have mercy on him – ruled: ‘Anyone who demands a proof of prophethood from him will also turn a disbeliever, for the Messenger of Allah has said: ‘There is no prophet after me.’[al-Makki, Ibn Ahmad Mufiq, Manaqib al-Imam al-‘Azam Abi Hanifah, (Hyderabad: Da’ira al-Ma’arif al-Nizamia, 1321 AH) Vol.1, 161]
Firstly, it should be noted that Imam Abu Hanifa is not infallibe nor is any scholar infallible. Secondly, early muslims did have our beliefs, other scholars had our beliefs, and it is recommend to read this article as it explains the Ahmadiyya Position [LINK WILL BE ADDED]. Thirdly, this goes against the wisdom of the Man of the Pharaoh as Hadrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad(as) explained in his book, True Insights into the Concept of Khatm-e-Nubuwwat:
Liar, on Him Will be the Sin of His Lie
I now draw your attention to the directive in the Holy Qur’an about the attitude we should adopt towards a person who claims to be from God and therefore a Prophet. Citing an incident from the time of Hadrat Musa as, the Holy Qur’an tells us that when Hadrat Musa as made his claim to prophethood, the government of his time and the people opposed him and planned to put an end to his life.
Thereupon, a believing man from among the people of Pharaoh, who had kept his faith hidden, sought to dissuade them. He pleaded:17
...وَ اِنۡ یَّکُ صَادِقًا یُّصِبۡکُمۡ بَعۡضُ الَّذِیۡ یَعِدُکُمۡ...
That is to say that if Hadrat Musa as is an impostor, he would be punished for his falsehood. The people need not worry about it. God alone knows the truth and He knows best how to punish the liar. However, if he (Hadrat Musa as) is speaking the truth and you oppose him, then you are bound to be afflicted with some of the chastisements described by him. This is the attitude one should adopt towards a claimant to prophethood.
The Holy Qur’an has honoured the statement of a common man and has preserved it as a reminder for all times to come. The Holy Qur’an affirms the correctness of the position which he took against those who opposed Prophet Musa as. He was a weak man, who was keeping his faith secret. Yet he said something really lovely. Unfortunately, the attitude of the Government and the maulavis of Pakistan is just the opposite.
In making the above assertion, the Government of Pakistan has inadvertently made a statement which provides a strong support to the truthfulness of the Promised Messiahas. In their naivety, they have not realised the natural conclusion of their statement. They say that the ummah has totally ignored all false claimants and have not entered into any debate with him. But they themselves have launched a campaign of opposition against the Promised Messiahas and have treated him as the true claimants have always been treated by their false opponents. They did not treat the Promised Messiahas according to their confessed method of treating the liars—to totally ignore them. The Promised Messiah was confronted in debates, prayer duels and everything else that a true Prophet faces. The voice whereby the opponents of true Prophets told them that their mutual debates have reached their climax was heard loud and clear.18
فَاَکۡثَرۡتَ جِدَالَنَا
To reiterate: the treatment that is given to all true Prophets was given to the Promised Messiahas. But your treatment has no value; because Allah the Almighty is also granting the same favours as He has always conferred upon the true Prophets.
17. …And if he be a liar, on him will be the sin of his lie; but if he is truthful, then some of that which he threatens you with will surely befall you... (Surah al-Mu’min, 40:29). [Publisher]
18. Surah Hud, 11:33 [Publisher]
[True Insights into the Concept of Khatm-e-Nubuwwat pgs. 88-90]
