Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part V — Page 524
B AR Ā H Ī N-E-A H M ADIY YA — PART F IV E 524 in Heaven free from old age and its accompanying debility for such a long period of time, which is also something no other human shares with him; and possesses a fourth distinction, that he is the only one acknowledged to descend from Heaven in the company of angels after a protracted period, and not a single human shares this quality with him either. Given this, one should ponder these four distinctions—which are assigned solely to his person, and he is considered to be unique and without any co-sharer in them—just how much of a trial this doctrine can prove to be for the masses. 1 ٭ Moreover, consider how many rea- 1. ٭ In addition to this, my opponents from among the Muslims unfortunately and ignorantly assign a fifth distinction to Hadrat ‘ I s a and it is that, out of all the Prophets, he is the only one who is free from the touch of Satan—to the exclusion of all other Prophets. A sixth distinction is that the Holy Spirit accompanied him at all times and the Holy Spirit did not accord such con- stant company to any other Prophet. But all these are their fallacies. Little do they realize that all Prophets are free from the touch of Satan. Moreover, when God, through the saying of His Messenger, speaks of Hadrat ‘ I s a as and his mother being free from the touch of Satan, the wisdom in it is that the inauspicious Jews accused Hadrat Maryam S idd i qah [Mary the Truthful] of adultery and considered Hadrat ‘ I s a to be an illegitimate child—God for- bid—and God desired to exonerate them of these charges. Accordingly, He exonerated them in this way, that the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said that both of them were free from the touch of Satan. In other words, fornication is a satanic act, and both Hadrat ‘ I s a and Maryam are free from this satanic act. It does not, however, mean that only they are free from it, and other Prophets are afflicted. Likewise, the Jews be- lieved that, being an unlawful child, Satan was the companion of Hadrat ‘ I s a , and this was their belief on the basis of the Torah. And it was to refute them that Hadrat ‘ I s a ’s companionship of the Holy Spirit was mentioned. It is also not correct that Hadrat ‘ I s a possesses the distinction that he was conceived through the influence of the Holy Spirit, because it has been established from the Holy Quran and the Torah that some people are born in the shadow of Satan and have satanic qualities, while some are born in the shadow of the Holy Spirit and have virtuous qualities. As for those who are unlawfully be- gotten, they are conceived in the maternal womb in the shadow of Satan. It was, therefore, essential to refute that Hadrat ‘ I s a ’s birth was unlawful, and so the Gospel also speaks of the shadow of the Holy Spirit to make it known that he was not born in the shadow of Satan and that he was not unlawfully begotten. (Author)