Sri Krishna – Prophet of God

43 SRI KRISHNA – PROPHET OF GOD (Muhammad Umar, Madras) Almighty God has given the following basic teaching in the Holy Quran: And there is no people to whom a Warner has not been sent. (35:25) And there is a guide for every people. (13:8) In the light of this teaching, it is our belief that Sri Krishan Maharaj, who is regarded as an Avatar (Messiah) by millions of people, was indeed a true Messenger of God. The Holy Quran has also said: And We did send Messengers before thee, of them ‘are some whom We have mentioned to thee, and of them there are some whom We have not mentioned to thee. (40:79) The following comment has been made on the verse quoted above, in the Commentary Al-Tanzil, Vol2, page 65: Hazrat Ali (Allah be pleased with him) reports that certainly Almighty God had also raised a prophet whose colour was black and this prophet is one of those not mentioned in the Holy Quran. The same comment is also made in the Commentary Kashaf written by Allama Zamkhasari. We Ahmadis, believe in Hazrat Krishanji Maharaj (peace be on him) because our lord and master the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is reported to have said: In India there was a prophet who was of black colour whose name was Kahina (‘Kanhayya i.e; Sri Krishna) In the presence of such a clear statement of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), we are compelled to believe that this Avatar who appeared in India, is a true Prophet and Messenger of God. Therefore when we mention his name we should say peace be on him. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah, (peace be on him) 44 REVIEW OF RELIGIONS who was the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, has stated: Raja Krishna, as it has been revealed to me, was certainly such a ‘ perfect man that his parallel is not to be found among the Rishis and Avatars of the Hindus. He was the Avatar, or the true Prophet, of his time on whom the Holy Ghost had descended. He was made triumphat andglorious by God. He cleansed Arya Varta (India) from evils. He was really a Prophet of his age. Many things which he taught were corrupted afterwards. He was replete with the love of God. He was a friend of virtue and an enemy of vice. (Lecture delivered at Sialkot in 1904). Also in his book, Tohfa~e~Qaisariyya,.Razr:a.t Ahmad, peace be on him, has discussed the point that all’the spiritual leaders who ever lived on this earth, who were accepted as true prophets by millions of me,n, who won the respect of a large portion of the human race and who were held in esteem for a long period of time, were indeed true prophets of God. If they had not been sent by God, they would not have found such an acceptance. An impostor fails in his enterprise and-is destroyed, After the declaration by the Promised Messiah, peace be on’him, many Muslim leaders and divines began to acknowledge that Sri Krishna (peace be on him) was a Divine Messenger of his time. Thus Hazrat Khwaja Hasan Nizami says in his book Krishon Biti: Of all the Avatars and Reformers that appeared in India,.Sri Krishna distinguished himself by his various noble qualities, (page 39) Similarly, Syed Akhtar Mohani, writes in one of his articles: In my opinion, he (Sri Krishna) was a chosen Avatar. He was sent by God for the guidance of the World. It is incumbent on everyone to respect and honour him. I revere Hazrat Sri Krishna (peace be on him) also because the Holy Quran has given us the following guidance: And We did raise among every people a Messenger preaching: Worship Allah and shun the Evil One. (16:37) He sends down the angels with revelation by His command on whomsoever of His servants He pleases, saying: Warn people that there is no God but I, so take Me alone for your Protector. (16:3) I have studied the Bhagvad Gita (Hindu scripture). I have found that REVIEW OF RELIGIONS 45 there is clear teaching of the Oneness of God in it. For example, Sri Krishna says: Oh Arjun! Put youselfin the beam of the same One God; as a result of this you will get permanent peace and tranguility. The Holy Quran has given the same teaching. It says: And thou, 0 soul at peace! Return to thy,Lord well pleased with Him and He well pleased with thee. So enter thou among My chosen servants, And enter thou My Garden. (89:28-31) There is a famous Mantar (verse) of the Hindus which states: Brahma was also a master, Vishnu was also a master. But in the real sense the master who is worthy of worship is our guide Bram Brahma Parameshwar. Therefore I bow down my head before this one and only one God. What an excellent teaching the Hindu religion is placing before us! In an other place it is stated: He Who has many attributes, Who runs the entire world, Who has the Power over the whole world and nourishes all •—• such a God do I worship. Islam also teaches the same thing. Sri Krishna Maharaj has enumera- ted the same attributes of Almighty God whidtrare mentionedln the Holy Quran; He says: He is the aim of man’s life. He is the Nourisher. He is the Master. He is the Witness. He is the place of refuge and rescue. He is the real friend. He is the First and the Last. He is the treasure. He is the Living and He sustains all. (Bhagvad Gita 9:18) Compare this with the excellent attributes of God mentioned in the Holy Quran: And that to thy Lord do all things ultimately go. (53:43) The Nourisher of all the worlds. (1:2) To whom belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth; and Allah is Witness over all things. (85:10) There is no refuge from Allah save unto Himself. (9:118) 46 REVIEW OF RELIGIONS Allah is the Friend of those who believe. (2:258) He is the First and the Last, and the Manifest and the Hidden/ and He knows all things full well. (57:4) And to Allah belong the treasures of the heavens and the earth. (63:8) Allah – there is no god but He, the Living, the Self-Subsisting and All-Sustaining. (2:256) In short, Sri Krishna (peace be on him) has narrated the same attributes of Almighty God which are mentioned in the Holy Quran. It follows from these facts that our acceptance of Sri Krishna (peace be on him) as a Prophet of God and our love for him, is completely in accordance with the teachings of the Holy Quran. I would like to answer a question which many people have asked me. These days, the history of Sri Krishna (peace be on him) is being shown on the television network of India. In this programme, a view is also shown of some naked ladies taking a bath in a pool of water. Near the pool on a tree, Sri Krishna is seated holding the dresses of the ladies. Seeing them he plays the flute in his hand. The women keep on asking him for their dresses. It has been asked whether such a conduct is worthy of a prophet of God when even an ordinary person is ashamed to behave in this way. This objection is based on a misunderstanding. Actually this describes a situation in pictorial language. Even the Hindus who do not understand the philosophy behind it’evade this issue. Here the women represent worldly people, because it is said that the seeker of worldly things is akin to a woman. The picture therefore signifies that the people at the time of Sri Krishna (peace be on him) hankered after the material world and were spiritually naked, i.e; devoid of Godliness and righteousness. The Holy Quran has described righteousness as a garment: but the garment of righteousness – that is the best. (7:27) Hazrat Sri Krishna (peace be on him) came to give his people the garment of righteousness. The picture does not imply that Hazrat Sri’ Krishna snatched away the dresses of the women and had climbed.up the tree. It only signifies that he came to clothe the spiritually naked people of his age with the garment of righteousness. The tree symbolizes Kalima Tayyiba, i.e; good word. The Holy Quran, says: REVIEW OF RELIGIONS 47 Dost thou not see how Allah sets forth the similitude of a good word? It is like a good tree, whose root is firm and whose branches reach into heaven. (14:25) The tree also signifies spiritual system. Thus Hazrat Sri Krishna (peace be on him) was the founder of the spiritual system established by God Almighty in his time. The flute also has a deep meaning. It signifies the word of God which affects the heart and brain. It gives the same sound which the flute player desires and does not give any sound independently. In this manner, Almighty God Himself declares about the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him): Nor does he speak out of his own desire. It is nothing but pure revelation that has been revealed by God. (53:4,5) In short, all Prophets and Messengers are like the flutes of God. Hazrat Maulana Rumi says: God’s Avatars (or Messengers) are the flutes of God into which God Alimghty puts His voice so that people may go to Him after hearing the voice. I would now like to draw attention towards a prophecy of Hazrat -Sri Krishna which we hear every week on the Indian television in the Mahabharat Programme: Whenever there is decay of Dharma (i.e. religion) and there is exaltation ofAdharma (i.e. irreligion) then for the protection of the poor and the good and for the destruction of the evil doer, I shall appear from age to age. At the present time everyone is expecting that a reformer would appear according to the prophecy. This is a time of darkest vice when a reformer is greatly needed. Reviewing the present state of affairs, the renowned philosopher and the former President of India, Dr. Radhakrishnan had said: Today that time has come when we are producing the means of destroying the culture of the world which we have established through the efforts of the centuries. Today the blood of man has become very cheap and the danger of violence has increased. If we 48 REVIEW OF RELIGIONS have lost our confidence in the culture and the values of human life and we have forgotten God, then a prophet should appear to mccke us aware that these values should be restored. If we fail to head to the voice of God, then we would have the way f o r . our’ collective destruction. (Pratap Jalandhar dated 27 October 1961};. In the same way, the magazine Milap in its issue of Janam A’stami states: Ohl the flute player! We will keep entreating to you: Come! Come! Please hurry up and come! Now what has remained in India! The entire army of modern kauravas has appeared with all its might: fraudulent methods, bribes, sins of smuggling and ill-gotten wealth, the evil of prostitution; the deception of false smiles and crocodile tears, pickpocketing, gambling, drunkenness, etc. Armed with the weapons of all these evils and tortures, 0 Sudharsanl the kauravas ‘are ravaging us and striking us, leaving us weeping and crying for help. They are making us tremble and shudder. What! Does this look nice to you? 0 God, don’t you have mercy for us. Do come soon, 0 Merciful! (The Daily Milap dated 7 September 1966). Almighty God did listen to such painful and timely cries and according to His promise He sent His Messenger as the Second Advent of Sri Krishna in the person of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, India (peace be on him). He announced: I am the heavenly water which came at its appointed time, I am the light, of God which brought forth the day. Hence I appeal to my Hindu brethren that just as we, the members of the Ahmadiyya Community, believe in the first advent of Sri Krishna as a prophet of God and use the epithet peace be on him; in the same way, they should study thoughtfully the teachings of the Divine Reformer who has come in this age in fulfilment’of the prophecy of Sri Krishna (peace be on him) and accept the truth. In this way they would become believers of both the Krishnas, namely, the first Sri Krishna and the second Krishna who has appeared in our time. May God enable all to do so, Ameen. What is Islam? Islam literally means Peace, Surrender of one’s Will; and to be in amity and concord.. The. significance of the name Islam is the attainment of a life of perfect peace and eternal happiness through complete surrender to the Will of God. The Quran-—-the Holy Book of the Muslims—interprets it to be the religion whose teachings are in consonance with human nature. Islam, as the Quran has stated (5:4), is the completion of the religion inaugurated by God in the beginning of the world; on His sending the Quran through the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. As a child is taught his alphabet, so God taught the religion to the world gradually and little by little, by sending His prophets at different times and to different peoples. When the world reached that stage of understanding when it was ready for the final lesson, He. sent the last and complete Book through the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. This Book not only corrects the errors which had found their way into various religions, but preaches the truths ‘which have not been preached before, on account of special circumstances of the society or the early stage of its development. At the same time it gathers together in itself the truths which were contained in any Divine revelation granted to any people for. the guidance of men (The Quran 98:4). Lastly, it meets all the spiritual and moral requirements of an ever advancing humanity. This is Islam which is wrongly called Muhammadanism. According to Islam, the object of man’s life is its complete unfoldment. Islam, does not support the idea that man is born in sin. It teaches that everyone has within him the seed of perfect development and it rests solely with a person himself to make or mar his fortune. We created man in the best make says the Holy Quran (95:5). The cardinal doctrine of Islam is the Unity of Godhead. There is none worthy of worship but Allah, and Muhammad is His Messenger. He is free from all defects, Holy and Transcendent. He is All Good, All Mercy and AllPower. He has no partner. He neither begets nor is He begotten, because these are the traits of frail and weakhumanity. Furthermore, Islam helps us to establish a permanent relationship with God and to realise Him during our earthly Me as our Helper in all our affairs and undertakings. This Unity of God is the first and foremost pillar of Islam and every other belief hangs upon it. Islam requires belief in all the prophets, including Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, Confucious and Zoroas.ter. We regard them all (and many more not mentioned here) as heavenly teachers born to reform acsd regenerate man and lead him to God. Adherents of some other religions may consider it an act of piety to disrespectful words and heap abuse on the prophets of other religions, but if a Muslinr-twere to show the slightest djsrespecttowards the founder of any other faith, he does so at the cost of his own faith. He has to utter the respectful benediction Alaihis-Salam, peace be upon him, after mentioning the name of every prophet. Thus Islam establishes peace between all religions. The REVIEW of RELIGIONS The Review of Religions is the oldest magazine of its kind published in English language in the Indo-Pakistan Sub-Continent. Its first issue was published in 1902 and it has been continuously published since. It bears the distinction that it was initiated under the direction of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, the Promised Messiah himself. During more than eighty-eight years the message of Islam has been conveyed through this magazine to millions of readers and many fortunate persons have recognized the truth of Islam and accepted it through its study. The articles published in it deal not only with the doctrines and teachings of Islam but also set forth a comparative appreciation of the teachings of other faiths. One of its outstanding features is the refutation of the criticism of Islamic teachings by orientalists and non-muslim scholars. It also presents solutions in the light of Islamic teachings of the problems with which the Islamic world is from time to time confronted. A study of this magazine is indispensable for the appreciation of the doctrines of the Ahmadiyya Movement and the teachings of its Holy Founder. Printed by Raqeem Press Islamabad, Shsephatch Lane, THfcxd, Surrey GU10 2AQ, U.K. Published by The Review of Religions, The London Mosque, 16 Gimnnhall Road, London SW18 5QL