Haqiqatul-Wahi (The Philosophy of Divine Revelation) — Page 719
A SHINING SIGN—SIGN NUMBER 198 719 be born from the present pregnancy. As for ijtihād [interpretive judge- ment], I personally believe that no Prophet came to the world who never committed any error in interpretive judgement. So when even the Best of the Prophets sa could not avoid an error of judgement-for instance, the journey to Hudaibiyyah was an error of judgement, as was the intended migration to Yamamah—why raise objections regarding others! A Prophet can, therefore, err in his judgement; but the revela- tion of God contains no such error. Of course a Prophet can sometimes misunderstand what is outside the purview of the imperatives of the shariah. For instance, the Prophet Malachi could not understand that the descent of Ilyas [Elijah] from heaven could only be metaphorical in sense and not literal, nor could any Israelite Prophet realize that the Last of the Prophets sa would be from the House of Ismā‘il [Ishmael]. It was also an error of judgement on the part of Hadrat Īsā [Jesus] to consider himself a king; even clothes were sold to purchase weap- ons. Judas Iscariot was promised a heavenly throne. Moreover, a strong promise was made to return from heaven in that very age. In the end, all these prophecies turned out to be false. Errors of judgement, therefore, are shared by all Prophets, without any exception. So, why allow such an issue to be the basis of objection? Surely, it would be unworthy of a righteous person. God Almighty has allowed Prophets to be subject to errors of judgement lest they come to be regarded as deities, but it does not at all detract from their perfect authenticity because their truth is estab- lished through means of the abundance of miracles. The true Prophets of God can never resemble Musailimah the Liar, or other impostors due to the mere error of judgement on their part about a prophecy, because within them lies such a profusion of the light of truth, blessings, mira- cles, and the succour of God, that the sharp edge of their truth smashes the opponent into pieces and the thousands of Signs shown by them are like the rushing waters of a mighty river. If someone were to object, 'Where are the miracles you speak of?", I would not merely reply that of course I can show them, but I would