The Conclusive Argument — Page 61
MIRZA GHULAM AHMAD 61 that Jesus has not died, but Imam Mālik said, 'Jesus died and he was thirty-three years of age. Now behold Imam Malika, what a great and honourable imam, who belongs to Khairul-Qurūn [i. e. the first three centu- ries of Islam] and has millions of followers! If he held this belief then it can be said that millions of scholars, men of knowledge, the righteous ones, and the divines-who were Hadrat Imam's sincere followers-also held the same belief that Jesus had passed away. For it is impossible that a true follower should contradict his imam, especially regarding a matter that is not merely the say- ing of the imam but also the saying of God, His Messenger, the Companions, the Tabiin, and the Tabaʻtābiʻin. ¹ One should be ashamed that when such a great imam-who appeared prior to all other imams of Hadith, and who encompassed all Prophetic traditions-held this belief, how brazen it is for someone to claim ijmā regarding this issue. Alas! The maulawīs deceive peo- ple but fail to realize that the whole world is not blind; there are also those who read books and expose their dishonesty. When these so-called maulawis find that they are unable to present tex- tual evidence from the Holy Quran and Hadith, that there is no way to escape, and that they are left with no argument in their favour, then they have no recourse but to say that there is ijmā regarding it. a maulawi is ] ملا آن باشد که بند نشود اگرچه دروغ گوید It is a true saying that one who never keeps silent even if he has to tell lies]. These people 1. The Tābiʻin are the generation of Muslims who met or saw the blessed Companionsra of the Holy Prophetsas but not the Prophetsas himself. The Taba' tābi'în are the following generation that met or saw the Tābiʻin but not the Companionsa. [Publisher]