Ahmadiyyah (part 3 of 3): In the Scale

Description: Concluding part of the Ahmadiyyah article, includes a quick overview of the fallacies of Mirza Ghulam Ahmed, and the stance of mainstream Muslims towards Ahmadiyyah.

By Abdurrahman Murad (© 2008 IslamReligion.com)

Fallacies of a 'so-called' Prophet
Every Messenger and Prophet sent by God was aided with a number of miracles. Knowing this, Mirza had to settle for 'prophecies' which he said would materialize in his life; this was done as a bid to cement his call to Prophethood. Now the tricky part with making a prophecy, on the part of a quack, is that you have to convince people. Mirza wrote: "God revealed to me that frequent rains will come down. Due to their frequency villages will be destroyed. After them, severe earthquakes will follow."

Some of his followers were ecstatic, their leader had spoken! In fact, this does not qualify as a 'prophecy' He didn't say where and when this torrential rainfall would occur… of course, logically speaking; this is bound to happen just about anywhere on the face of earth!!

With prophecies like these, he wasn't able to bring 'on-board' the followers he was looking for. So he had to 'upgrade' the prophecies he was supposedly receiving from God, so on February 20, 1886 he declared that indeed God revealed to him that he would marry blessed women and would have numerous children from these new wives. At the time of this prophecy he was 46 years old, he did not marry anyone despite his desperate bid to marry 'Muhammadi Begum'.

Muhammadi Begum was the daughter of Ahmad Beg, who was one of his followers. Mirza Ghulam Ahmed asked her father to marry her to himself which he refused. Out of desperation, Mirza proclaimed that he would marry her because this was the decree of God. He offered bribes and great amounts of wealth to Ahmad Beg, but it didn't work. He thereafter begged him to marry his daughter, but when this failed, threats were issued against him. Ahmad Beg did not budge from his position and married his daughter to an ordinary soldier. At this, Mirza proclaimed that the husband of Muhammadi would die soon afterwards and that he would marry her. He fixed a period of three years for this to materialize…Twenty two years later Ghulam Ahmad died but the soldier lived for another forty years and she lived even longer!!

An example of another failed prophecy was with the Christian, Abdullah Atham. A debate ensued between this individual and Mirza in the year 1893. Neither of the two succeeded in this debate, but Mirza was very insulted. On June 5, 1883 he announced that he had been informed by God that Abdullah Atham would die within fifteen months, i.e. by September 5, 1894. The deadline came and went and Abdullah Atham lived for a long time after.

Dr. Abdul-Hakim, a Sunni Muslim, entered into a discussion with Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and then challenged him to an open debate, in which he called him a liar. Mirza didn't take this too well, so he prophesized that Abdul-Hakim would die during his life. On May 4th, 1907 Dr. Abdul Hakim responded with his own prediction that Ghulam Ahmad would die before him. Ghulam Ahmad died within a year on May 26th, 1908, at the age of 68 and Dr. Abdul Hakim lived for many years after him.

After two disappointments and proving himself to be a false prophet, he announced again that God had given him the news, "Verily, We give you tidings of a meek boy." He announced the date of the birth of the boy to be September 16th, 1907 which was never fulfilled. On October 1907 he pronounced yet another revelation from God, "I shall soon bestow upon you a righteous boy" and his name was announced to be Yahya. This son never came, proving beyond doubt that he was never a Prophet!

Muslims Position Towards the Qadiyanis
The Qadiyanis also known as Ahmadis and Mirzais, have been declared as non-Muslims by thousands of Muslim scholars. The following statement was issued by the Islamic Fiqh Council:

The claim that Mirza Ghulam Ahmed was a Prophet and that he received revelation makes him and anyone who agrees with him an apostate, who has left the folds of Islam. As for the Lahoris, (Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement for the Propagation of Islam) they are like the mainstream Qadiyanis. The same ruling of apostasy applies to them as well, in spite of their claim that Mirza was a 'shadow and manifestation of Prophet Muhammad'.[1]

This was also mentioned in the World Muslim League Conference, held in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, from the 14th to the 18th of Rabi al-Awwal 1394H (April 1974) wherein the members unanimously reached the conclusion that the Ahmadi/Qadiyanis are not Muslims.[2]

Conclusion
In the end, it can be concluded, without a shed of doubt, that Mirza was a liar who wanted sudden fame. At times, it seems, that he wasn't 'all there'. He said in poetry written by him: "I am an earthworm!, Not a human being, I am the obscene part of man and the shameful place of humans." (Braheen-e-Qadianism V, Roohani Khazain vol.21 p.127).

God says: "And who can be more unjust than he who invents a lie against God, or says: "I have received inspiration," whereas he is not inspired in anything; and who says, "I will reveal the like of what God has revealed." And if you could but see when the wrong-doers are in the agonies of death, while the angels are stretching forth their hands (saying): "Deliver your soul! This day you shall be recompensed with the torment of degradation because of what you used to utter against God other than the truth. And you used to reject His signs (revelations) with disrespect!" [Quran 6:93], {وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ افْتَرَىٰ عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا أَوْ قَالَ أُوحِيَ إِلَيَّ وَلَمْ يُوحَ إِلَيْهِ شَيْءٌ وَمَنْ قَالَ سَأُنْزِلُ مِثْلَ مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ ۗ وَلَوْ تَرَىٰ إِذِ الظَّالِمُونَ فِي غَمَرَاتِ الْمَوْتِ وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ بَاسِطُو أَيْدِيهِمْ أَخْرِجُوا أَنْفُسَكُمُ ۖ الْيَوْمَ تُجْزَوْنَ عَذَابَ الْهُونِ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَقُولُونَ عَلَى اللَّهِ غَيْرَ الْحَقِّ وَكُنْتُمْ عَنْ آيَاتِهِ تَسْتَكْبِرُونَ}, Transliteration: Wa Man 'Ažlamu Mimmani Aftará `Alá Allāhi Kadhibāan 'Aw Qāla 'Ūĥiya 'Ilayya Wa Lam Yūĥa 'Ilayhi Shay'un Wa Man Qāla Sa'unzilu Mithla Mā 'Anzala Allāhu Wa Law Tará 'Idhi Až-Žālimūna Fī Ghamarāti Al-Mawti Wa Al-Malā'ikatu Bāsiţū 'Aydīhim 'Akhrijū 'Anfusakumu Al-Yawma Tujzawna `Adhāba Al-Hūni Bimā Kuntum Taqūlūna `Alá Allāhi Ghayra Al-Ĥaqqi Wa Kuntum `An 'Āyātihi Tastakbirūna



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Footnotes:
[1] Majma' al-Fiqh al-Islami, p. 13

[2] http://alhafeez.org/rashid/rabita.html