Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part V — Page 521
Reply to the doubts raised by rashĪd a H mad gangohĪ 521 the argument to prove that Hadrat ‘ I s a, may peace be upon him, was human. Namely that, like other human beings, he too was dependent on food, without which his body could not have sustained itself, and that it required replacement for what was being consumed. The people who raise Hadrat ‘ I s a to heaven with his elemental body, hold the belief that his body can continue to exist without food, and in this manner they present an argument for the divinity of ‘ I s a in contradiction to Almighty Allah’s purport. It is shameful that these people disrespect the argument that God has presented with the purpose of proving that Hadrat ‘ I s a was human. While Almighty God refutes that the Messiah had the attribute on the basis of which he could be deified, these people assert that he does pos- sess that attribute. This is disrespect of the consummate argument that God puts forth with regard to Hadrat ‘ I s a being human. If it is true that Hadrat ‘ I s a , despite possessing his elemental body, does not require food, and that his body is able to continue to exist on its own, like the person of God, then this would be an argument for his divinity, which that the Christians have put forth since ancient times. It is not enough to say, in response to this, that he used to eat food while he was on earth though he does not eat in Heaven, as the opponents can say that his eating while on earth was by his own volition and that he was not dependent on food as human being are, otherwise if he was dependent on food on earth he would also be dependent on it in heaven. I deplore these people who, time and again, while God cites the eating of food as evidence that Hadrat Mas ih was human, believe that though Hadrat Mas ih did eat food for thirty years while on earth, he is subsisting with- out food in heaven for 1,900 years. Yet another argument for the death of Hadrat ‘ I s a as is the following verse of the Holy Quran, where God says: