Arguments in Support of the Holy Qur’an and the Prophethood of the Holy Prophet(saw)
First published in Urdu in Qadian, India in 1880First English translation published in 2012
Published by Islam International Publications Ltd.
Islamabad, Sheepatch Lane, UK
Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya was the first book published by Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as) of Qadian, the Promised Messiah and Imam Mahdi. The book elaborates upon the divine origin of the Holy Quran and truthfulness of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). It demonstrates the superiority of Islam over all other faiths with logical arguments. Here we present selected extracts from Parts I and II.
“I hereby offer a reward of 10,000 rupees to all those who can prove that their scriptures are equal to the Holy Qur’an in respect of all the arguments and incontrovertible proofs, which I have adduced from the Holy Book; or, in case their scriptures fail to provide such arguments, make an admission of this failure in their books and try, at least, to refute all of my arguments one by one” (p.46).
“Some people may harbour doubts about this book and ask, ‘Are the books that are already written on religious subjects not sufficient to refute and silence the critics? Why do we need another book?’ Let it be clear that this book is unlike any other in its effectiveness… This book, on the other hand, proves the divine origin of Islam and the superiority of the teachings of Islam over all faiths and establishes the authenticity of the Holy Qur’an through a comprehensive enquiry” (p.9).
“Holy is Allah! The Gracious and Beneficent, who gave us poor mortals, without any merit of our own, all that we needed. For our physical sustenance, He appointed the sun, the moon, the clouds and the winds. And to satisfy our spiritual needs, He sent down the Torah, the Gospels, the Qur’an and all other heavenly Books at their appropriate times. Countless thanks be to You, O Allah, for guiding us to the path that leads to You, and for saving us from errors of thought and reason by sending down Your Holy Books” (p. 25).
“This book is also intended to confound and silence, on the basis of rational arguments, all those who deny the unassailable Faith of Islam, the Holy Book [Holy Qur’an] and the Exalted Prophet, so that in future no one may have the temerity to attack Islam” (p. 46).
“The fundamental teachings of the Holy Qur’an are based on rational arguments. That is to say, the Holy Qur’an proves with logical arguments every fundamental principle of faith on which salvation depends and establishes its truth by strong and powerful philosophical arguments. For instance, it proves the existence of the Creator, establishes His Unity, advances irrefutable arguments to show why divine revelation is necessary, and never fails to prove a truth or refute a falsehood. And this constitutes a very powerful argument to prove that the Holy Qur’an is from Allah, and also to categorically establish its truth and its supremacy. For, it is impossible, without divine help and divine revelation, to purge all corrupt beliefs of every form and type of error through manifest and clear arguments, and to eradicate by means of irrefutable arguments all sorts of misgivings and doubts, which have crept into people’s hearts, and to record in one’s book a collection of such proven, true and established principles as have not been mentioned in any other scripture, nor truly discovered by any sage or philosopher on the basis of his reflection, meditation, reason, speculation, thought or understanding. What is more, no one has ever brought forward the slightest evidence that the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, ever, even for a day, attended any school or learnt rational or traditional sciences, or ever associated with philosophers or logicians, as a result of which he was able to advance philosophical arguments for each and every established principle and demonstrate the truthfulness of all the beliefs on which man’s salvation depends, with such clarity that nothing like it is to be found in the annals of history. This is such a magnificent achievement as could not be accomplished by anyone without divine support and revelation. Thus, reason is compelled to rule that the Noble Qur’an is from God, who has no associate and whose knowledge cannot be equalled by anyone”(p. 54-57).
“Gentlemen! How can you claim to be able to reject my arguments when you have not even studied them? It is blind prejudice, surely, that drives you to denounce my arguments as invalid and easily refutable. For you have neither ascertained whether the arguments and proofs I have advanced are authentic or spurious, nor whether they are based on solid premises or upon mere fallacies”
(p. 66).
“Alas, how can those who readily seek to commit injustices against God be considered equitable and fair? Some of them deny that the Lord is the Creator, some of them consider the One God to be three, some among them believe that God once dwelled in Nazareth, while others place him in Ayodhya” (p. 67).
“In short, I invite you all in the name of God, to come and take up my challenge without any reservation or delay. Argue like Plato, become the incarnation of Bacon, borrow from Aristotelian reasoning and dialectic, clasp your hands before your false gods and beseech them for help. Then will you witness whether it is my God who prevails or your false deities. And until such a time that you write a response to my book, it will be shameful and indecent of you to continue to attack Islam in public, or to preach in Hindu Temples that the Vedas alone are the work of the Almighty and true source of knowledge, and that all other Prophets are imposters and liars” (p. 67).
“It is in view of the widespread corruption and chaos prevalent in this age that I have written Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, wherein I have made the truth of Islam more evident than the shining sun with the help of 300 incontrovertible rational arguments” (p. 74).
“The new light of our age (woe if this be light) is vitiating the spirituality of the newly educated. Instead of glorifying God, they glorify themselves; instead of following His guidance, they take themselves to be the guides. Today’s youth are generally inclined towards finding rational explanations and causes for all things, but on account of insufficient knowledge and wisdom, they end up being led astray rather than being guided. Perversion of thought and perception has greatly impaired their power to draw rightful conclusions. The profusion of divergent thoughts and ideas has thrown people of lesser understanding into great confusion”(p. 78).
“Sophistic rhetoric has further confounded the minds of the youth. Things that were self-evident and perfectly rational have become dubious in their eyes and what is totally absurd is hailed as absolute truth. Actions that are inconsistent with human dignity are termed as the epitome of civilization, while true civilized behaviour is downplayed and ridiculed” (p. 78).
“Friends! In these turbulent times Islam can only stand its ground if it repels the besieging forces of misguidance with an equal force and defends itself against the enemy onslaught with the mighty power of truth. The pitch darkness that has engulfed the world will only be dispelled when a vast number of proofs in support of Islam enlighten the world and the rays of its truth spread in all directions” (p. 79).
“Firstly, with utmost respect and humility, I would like to reassure everyone who adheres to a faith or creed different from mine that my purpose in writing this book is not to injure anyone’s feelings or to provoke unnecessary controversy. My sole concern and heart-felt desire is to demonstrate the truth and rectitude and lay it bare for all to see. I would have been quite happy to confine myself to my own faith and avoid discussing the beliefs of my opponents, but the problem is that a thorough scrutiny and comprehensive discussion of true principles and arguments is not possible without exposing the falsity of all creeds opposed to the right path. I, therefore, had no choice but to mention them and to remove the doubts created by them” (preface, p.7).
“While it is true that divine revelation is the most trustworthy source of knowledge, absolute certainty being dependent on it, it is equally true that if a scripture makes a claim that is clearly in conflict with reason and logic, such a claim will have to be considered false and such a scripture will have to be regarded as fabricated or interpolated on account of its irrational teachings” (p.91).
“If it is not possible to prove the various doctrines espoused by various faiths through rational arguments—and instead, they are proven wrong, incredible or impossible—how are we to know whose doctrines are true and whose are false?” (p.91).
“I say in all truth that I undertook thorough research before writing this book. I read the scriptures of all faiths with a spirit of fairness and honesty and pondered and deliberated upon them. I compared their teachings to those of the Holy Qur’an; I held discussions with the eminent scholars of various faiths; and I strived as hard as is humanly possible to discover the truth by exploring all available avenues. Finally, I arrived at the conclusion that, of all the scriptures in the world today, the Holy Qur’an is the only one whose divine origin can be established with irrefutable arguments. It is the only one whose principles regarding salvation are based on truth and human nature; whose doctrines are comprehensive and firmly grounded in truth and are confirmed by powerful arguments; whose commandments are nothing but the dictates of truth and whose teachings bear no blemish of idolatry, human innovations and false deities. Its teachings zealously promote the Oneness, Greatness and Excellence of God; and it is filled to the brim in establishing the Oneness of the Glorious God. It does not impute to Him anything that is contrary to His Oneness or attribute to Him any blemish, shortcoming, or unworthy attribute. It does not impose any teaching upon us without first providing adequate proof in support thereof and explains each of its principles with proofs and clear arguments and leads its followers to perfect certainty and understanding” (p. 95).
“The truth is that this book is a glad tiding for those who seek the truth. It is a final and irrefutable divine argument against those who are opposed to Islam—an argument they will not be able to refute up to the end of days” (p. 97).
“Every reasonable person understands that it is the duty of a Divine Book to clearly set out its claim of being the Word of God, as well as to provide clear proof in support of its claim and in support of the principles it lays down. It must not advance empty claims or principles that it cannot uphold and has to depend on others to plead its cause” (p.107).
“This book has been written in a spirit of great civility, decency and courtesy, and does not contain any derogatory remarks about any holy personage or founder of a faith. I am personally appalled by the use of such words, either directly or by implication, and I believe that anyone who resorts to them is extremely evil and mischievous” (p.109).
“What I am trying to demonstrate by writing all this is that Tauhid, in its purest form, is not to be found among any people on the face of the earth except the followers of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. And there is no book upon the earth, other than the Holy Qur’an, that has firmly committed millions to this holy doctrine and that leads mankind so reverentially towards the One True God. People of every religion have created artificial gods for themselves, whereas the God of the Muslims is the One, Eternal, and Immutable God, whose attributes are the same today as they were before” (p.138).
“This book argues its points in a very solid, reasoned and balanced fashion, but without compromising the requirements of grace and lucidity. This manner of argumentation will prove to be an excellent means of fostering knowledge and lending maturity to thought and perception. The study and use of sound rational arguments sharpens the intellect, the understanding of subtle points helps enhance the power of comprehension, and the exercise of proper argumentation establishes one’s mind squarely upon the truth” (p.157).
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