Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page 44
44 AHMADIYY AT traditions of the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, that today there is scarcely an enlightened divine among the orthodox sects who adheres to this concept. Those Muslims who had believed thatJeSus had been taken bodily up into heaven held that he was not put upon the cross and was taken up to heaven before someone resembling him having been mistakenly taken for Jesus was put upon the cross. Therefore, the ques- tion whether Jesus died on the cross has relevance only vis-a'-vis the Christian Church and does not concern the orthodox body of Muslims. However, the notion that Jesus had been taken bodily up to heaven and ~ould descend to earth in his physical body in the latter days was considered an effective refutation of the claim of Ahmad that he was the Promised Messiah. During Ahmad's lifetime fierce contro- versy raged around this phenomenon. His claim of being the Mahdi-Messiah aroused bitter opposition and the then Muslim divines, led by Maulvi Muhammad Husain of Batala, who, up to that time had been a great admirer and enthusiastic supporter of Ahmad, almost unanimously declared him an infidel, outside the pale of Islam. They hurled vile abuse at him, denounced him as an apostate from Islam, and some of. them went so far as to declare that his assassination would be a highly meritorious act and that whoever brought it about would be straight- away admitted to paradise. He and his followers were held up to ridicule, were vituperated, were boycotted and were per- secuted in diverse ways. He himself was prosecuted on false or untenable charges but was in each case honourably dis- charged or acquitted, according to his own previously announced revelations which conveyed to him Divine assur- ance of support and protection. The principal points of doctrinal controversy between him and his opponents were: (I) Whether Jesus had died a natural death on earth, as Ahmad affirmed, or whether he was taken bodily up to heaven as his opponents alleged. (2) Whether the Holy Prophet's being the Seal of the