Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page 55
THE REN AISSANCE OF ISLAM 55 accept him. He will be a man of medium height, of fair complexion. He will fight on behalf of Islam, will break the Cross, will kill swine and will abolish the poll-tax' (Abu Daud, Book Al-Malaham, Ch. 'Khurujuddaijal'). This tradi- tion is clear that there would be no prophet in Islam after the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, till the appearance of the Promised Messiah. This finds support from another tradition mentioned in Muslim where the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, has described the Promised Messiah repeatedly as a prophet of Allah. In the course of this long tradition the Holy Prophet said: 'The Prophet of Allah, Isa, and his companions will be besieged. . . then Isa, Prophet of Allah, and his companions will turn to Allah. . . then Isa, Prophet of Allah, and his companions will invade the camps of the enemy. . . , and again, Isa, the Prophet of Allah, and his companions will turn to Allah. . . ' (Muslim, Ch. 'Zikruddaijal'). This tradition makes it absolutely clear that the status of the Promised Messiah will be that of a Prophet. We shall now advert to some of the traditions of the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, which are relied upon by the opponents of the Promised Messiah in support of their con- tention that no type of prophet can appear in Islam after the Holy Prophet, peace be on him. The first of these is: 'There is no Prophet after me. ' The Holy Prophet, peace be on him, is reported to have expressed himself in this manner on an occasion when he was about to depart on an expedition and appointed Hazrat Ali, his cousin, to be in charge at Medina during his absence therefrom. Hazrat All was distressed that he would thus be deprived of the opportunity of serving at the front under the command of the Holy Prophet. To reassure him the Holy Prophet said to him: 'You are to me in the position in which Aaron was to Moses, except that there is no Prophet after me. ' It is perfectly clear that in this context the expression 'after me' means during my absence and does not mean, and cannot mean, after my death, for the simple reason that Aaron had died in the lifetime of Moses and,