25 DIVINE PROTECTION OF ISLAM (Muhammad Safi Ahmad) The Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) was raised by God to convey to all mankind the final Divine law of guidance which abrogated earlier Divine laws which had been revealed by God through His Prophets for particular tribes and nations only, according to the needs of those times. God says in the Holy Quran: This day have I perfected My religion for you and completed My favour upon you and have chosen for you Islam as religion. (5:4) It is a fact that during the passage of time people deviate and go astray from the original teachings of their faith. They also sometimes misinterpret passages of scripture. In order to protect.Islam in letter and spirit the Holy Prophet of Islam foretold on the basis of Divine revelation as reported in the following hadith: Verily Allah will appoint for my Ummat (community) one who will revive their faith for them at the beginning of every century. (Abu Dawood) In addition to these Reformers the Holy Prophet also foretold the advent of a special Reformer, the Mahdi or Promised Messiah, who would appear in an age of spiritual darkness and degeneration. His advent was also foretold by Jesus in the form of his second coming. The Holy Prophet prophesied: I swear by the Lord Who holds my life in His hands, the Messiah, son of Mary, shall certainly rise among you as Justice and Judge and he wiZZ break the cross and kill the swine and abolish jazia How will you be when the son of Mary appears among you and he will be your Imam from among you. (Bukhari) God has said in the Holy Quran that He would be the Guardian of the Holy Quran. That is to say He would protect its text from corruption and its correct interpretation from being lost. He also promised that Islam would prevail over other religions on account of its truth: Surely the true religion with Allah is Mam. (3:20) Also, in order to achieve this obj ect He would establish the institution of Khilafat. Concerning these points God says: 26 REVIEW OF RELIGIONS Verily it is We Who have sent down this exhortation and most surely We are its Guardian. (15:10) He it is Who has sent His Messenger with the guidance and the Religion of truth, that We may cause it to prevail over religions, however much those who associate partners with Allah may disRke it. (61:10) Allah has promised to those among you who believe and do good works that He witt, surely, make them Successors in the earth, as He made Successors from among those who were before them; and that He will, surely establish for them their retigion which He has chosen for them; and that He will, surely, give them in exchange security and peace after their fear; They will worship Me, and they will not associate anything with Me. Then whoso disbelieves after that, they Witt be the rebellious. (24:56) The protection and preservation of the Holy Quran has been so clearly fulfilled that in itself it is a dazzling sign of the Divine origin, of the Holy Book. This prophecy was revealed at Mecca at a time in the early days of Islam when the Holy Prophet and his small flock of followers were in great danger of being crushed by their opponents. It was in those precarious times that it was proclaimed that the disbelievers would never destroy the Holy Quran; nor would anyone interfere with it in the future. God would frustrate all their designs. This distinction is recognised even by critics of Islam. The Rev. Sir William Muir writes in the introduction of his book The Life of Muhammad: We may upon the strongest presumption, affirm that every verse in the Quran is the genuine and unaltered composition of Muhammad himself. There is otherwise every security, internal and external, that we possess the text which Muhammad himself gave forth and used. To compare their pure text with the various readings of our scriptures, is to compare things between which there is no analogy. The German orientalist, Prof. Noldeke, writes:- Efforts of European scholars to prove the existence of later interpolations in the Quran have failed. (Enc. Brit.) The names of Mujaddids (Reformers) who have appeared at the beginning of every Islamic century have been listed in the famous book Hijajul Kiramah by Nawab Siddiq Hasan Khan of Bhopal. 1st Century Hazrat Omar Bin Abdul Aziz REVIEW OF RELIGIONS 27 2nd Century 3rd Century 4th Century 5th Century 6th Century 7th Century 8th Century 9th Century 10th Century llth Century 12th Century 13th Century Hazrat Imam Mohammad Bin Idrees Shafi and Hazrat Imam Ahmad Bin Hambal. Hazrat Abu Hassan Sharh and Hazrat Abu Ashaie Hazrat Abu Obedilla Neshapuri and Qazi Abu Bakr Baqlani Hazrat Imam Ghazali Hazrat Sayyed ABdul Qadir Jilani Hazrat Imam Ibne Taimiyya and Hazrat Khwaja Mueenud Din Chishti Hazrat Hafiz Ibne Hajar Asqalani and Hazrat Saleh Bin Omar Hazrat Imam Suyuti Hazrat Muhammad Tahir Gujrati Hazrat Mujaddid Alf Sani and Hazrat Al-sheikh Ahmad Hazrat Shah Waliullah Mohaddis Dehlvi Hazrat Sayyed Ahmad Barelvi The important question is who was the Promised Reformer of the 14th century which ended on Nov 7, 1980? As far as the Muslim world is concerned he has not appeared; but that is not the case. His advent was fulfilled in the person of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, India, who not only claimed to be the Promised Reformer of the 14th centrury but also, in the same person, the Mahdi and Promised Messiah. He declared: When the 13th century of the Hegira drew to a close and the beginning of the 14th century approached, I was informed by God Almighty, through revelation, that I was the Mujaddid (Reformer) for the 14th century. (Kitabul Bariyya) A few years thereafter, it was made clear to me through Divine revelation that the Messiah, whose advent among the Muslims had been promised from the beginning, and the Mahdi whose advent had been Divinely decreed at the time of the decline of Islam and the spread of error, and who was to be guided directly by God, and who was to .invite people to partake of the heavenly banquet, and whose coming had been foretold by the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, thirteen hundred years in advance, was myself. (Tazkaratush Shahadatain) The holy and pure revelation of God has informed me that I have been 28 REVIEW OF RELIGIONS sent by Him as the Promised Messiah and the promised Mahdi and as Arbiter for the internal and external differences. (Arba’een) Once somebody presented a note to the Promised Messiah requesting him to confirm on oath that he was, indeed, the Promised Messiah. He was given a piece of paper and a pen and wrote down: 7 have said this thing even before, in my books, with an oath, and I say it again that I swear by Allah Who has my life inHis hands that I am the same Promised Messiah who has been mentioned by the Holy Prophet in the Hadith which are contained in the Sahih Eukhari and Muslim as well as other books of Hadith. Allah is sufficient as a witness. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad has explicitly claimed on the basis of Divine revelation that he was the expected Reformer and Messiah of the 14th century. He made the claim on oath before God. It should be well known that the Holy Quran and the Bible testify that those who falsely claim to be Messengers of God will wreak upon themselves the severe punishment of God. God, however, showered His blessings in abundance upon Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad — the Promised Messiah — all through his life; and in the meantime the holy Community which he founded has been spreading and growing all around the world and the Holy Quran has been translated into nearly one hundred languages. Again the Promised Messiah had foretold the sweeping spread of his mission which would reach and be accepted by people of all nationalities in the four corners of the world. Let us ponder over the significance of the words of the Holy Prophet who announced fourteen centuries ago: When you hear about the advent of the Mahdi it is then enjoined upon you to enter his fold even if you have to crawl over snow to reach him. (Kanzul Ummal) He who dies Without recognising the Imam of the age dies a death of ignorance. (Masnad Ahmad Bin Hanbal. vol 4) May Allah be our Guide – Amen.
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