With Love to Muhammad (sa) - The Khatam-un-Nabiyyin — Page 31
Alternative Qir ā ‘ ā t of the Qur’ ā n 31 This statement is the fatw ā [i. e. , Isl ā mic legal opinion] of Hazrat ‘Al ī ra on this discussion. What he meant to say is that the qir ā ‘ah with the fatah , Kh ā tam-an-Nabiyy ī n , is superior to the qir ā ’ ā t with the kasra , Kh ā tim-an-Nabiyy ī n. Farhan Khan insists that the phrase Kh ā tam-an-Nabiyy ī n should be judged based on the inferior qir ā ’ ā t but the argument of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jam ā ‘at is that the superior qir ā ’ah should be used to judge the meaning of this phrase. If Hazrat ‘Al ī ra agreed with Farhan Khan, he should have been happy that his sons were being taught the qir ā ’ah which conveys the correct meaning but the fact of the matter is that he discouraged that qir ā ’ah and ordered that kh ā tam be recited with a fatah. Furthermore, it should be noted that in his chapter entitled Examples of Kh ā tam used in other contexts , Farhan Khan says that we should stick to the definition of a word contemporary to the speaker, not contemporary to the interpreter 13. However, when it comes to the qir ā ’ ā t , he rejects the one employed by Hazrat ‘Al ī ra , who was one of the earliest companions of and contemporary to the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa , and wants to impose his preferred qir ā ’ ā t centuries later! Finally, Farhan Khan uses this discussion to point out instances where Hazrat Maulw ī N ū r-ud-D ī n ra , the first successor [ Khal ī fa ] of the Promised Messiah as , and Hazrat Mirz ā Bash ī r-ud-D ī n Mahm ū d Ahmad ra , the second successor of the Promised Messiah as , have apparently stated that Kh ā tam-an- Nabiyy ī n means Last of the prophets. These can obviously not help him the way he intends because the argument that these great scholars and Khulaf ā ’ of Isl ā m Ahmadiyya have made is that the Hij ā z ī style of recitation is superior to the others. They have not disregarded, negated or rejected the other recitation styles. They 13 Khan, With Love , Page 43