Nubuwwat & Khilafat Prophethood & its Successorship — Page 68
N UBUWWAT AND K HIL A FAT 68 The Promised Messiah as writes: Since according to the definition, Nab i and Ras u l in Islam means one who brings a complete new shar i ‘ah , or abrogates some of the ordinances in the previous shar i ‘ah , and since the A ñ biy a’ are not known as the followers of a previous Nab i and instead attain relationship with God without the inter- mediation of any other Nab i , therefore, let everyone be aware lest the same meaning is applied here also. I have no book other than the Holy Qur’ a n and have no Ras u l other than the Holy Prophet sa. And I believe that our Holy Prophet sa is Kh a tam-ul-A ñ biy a’ [Seal of the Prophets] and the Holy Qur’ a n is Kh a tam-ul-Kutub [final religious Book]. (Letter of the Promised Messiah as , dated August 17, 1899, in al- H akm , vol. 3, p. 29) Because of the definition of nubuwwat prevailing among the Muslims, the Promised Messiah as could not possibly call himself a Nab i or a Ras u l. To avoid misunderstanding, he used these words with regard to himself very sparingly. When he was addressed as Nab i in the revelations from God, he inter- preted the word to mean mu h addathiyyat on the basis of the common belief that there could be no Nab i after the Holy Prophet sa. This does not mean that he did not understand the nature of his claim. Hadrat Khalifatul Masih II ( ra d i-Allaho ‘anhu ) writes: There was no time when the Promised Messiah as did not understand the stature of his claim. At all times from begin- ning to the end he fully understood the position upon which Almighty Allah had established him. However, he used great care in giving it a name—whether it should be called nubu- wwat or mu h addathiyyat. ( Haq i qat-ul-Amr , p. 10)