Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page 59
THE REN AISSANCE OF ISLAM 59 based upon the following verses of the Holy doctrine is Quran: We cite in evidence all that which you see and all that which you see not, that the Quran is surely the Word brought by a noble Messenger; and is not the word of a poet; little it is that you believe. Nor is it the word of a soothsayer; little it isthat you heed. It is a revelation from the Lord of the worlds. If he had fa,bricated any saying and attributed it to Us, We would surely have seizedhim by the right hand and then surely We would have severed his large artery; and not one of you could have kept Us from it [69:39-48]. This is an awesome warning to every daring impostor. A person, wholly misguided or out of his mind, might claim that he is God and may not come to any visible harm. The Divine mercy might be pleased to overlook his aberration, inasmuch as such a claim is not likely to mislead or to confuse any sensible person. The case is entirely different where a person claims to be the recipient of Divine revelation. If his claim is false and he persists in it deliberately, he might become the cause of the error and misguidance of a large number of people. God Almighty has, therefore, set forth in these verses His firm and clear warning that an impostor would not escape God's chastisement and His wrath. Muslim divines and scholars have specified that if a clai- mant of the receipt of Divine revelation persists in his claim over a period equal to the period of the prophethood of the Holy Prophet, peace be on him (23 years), his claim must be accepted as true. This does not mean that an impostor would in all cases be granted immunity over such a long period. He is bound to be overtaken by Divine wrath much earlier. The period of 23 years is, in the opinion of the Muslim divines, the maximum limit which is treated as decisive. Since the time of the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, there have been many false claimants of Divine revelation and in no single instance has any of them been spared the doom that is pronounced in these verses. In every such case divine judgment has overtaken the offender and he has been visibly ruined.