Three in One — Page 180
passage in Seeratul Mahdi, a few lines of which he has extracted and cited out of context, also read Hadhrat Mirza Bashir. Ahmad's as statement to the effect: 'I also state that when in the beginning, Hadhrat Masih e. Mawoods began to get attacks of headache and cold syndrome, then in those days he become very weak and his health used to be generally poor. That is why when he used to stop fasting, it would appear that he may not be able to recover his strength sufficiently to complete these fasts before the next Ramadhan. But when the next Ramadhan would commence, he would gladly become engaged in this form of worship and begin to observe the fast. '243. One is aware of the naive argument by the proponents of the abrogation theory that the Quranic verse which affords this concession to people suffering ill health has been subsequently abrogated. However, although Ahmadi Muslims do not subscribe to this naive theory of the abrogation of Quranic verses, yet, if for the purposes of an academic discussion it was accepted to hold any water, even then there would be sufficient evidence in Hadeeth literature to establish that this concession remains a part of Islamic injunctions. For instance, the famous. Tabi'un 'Ata reports that he heard Hadhrat Ibn 'Abbas state that this concession has not been abrogated 244 and he declared: 'One may stop fasting if one is suffering from any kind of illness. 1245. Hadeeth literature indicates that there are several reasons for which the earliest Muslims considered it permissible not to fast during Ramadhan and none objected to it. For instance, it states: 'Ibn Abbas used to say. "Allah's Apostles [sometimes] fasted and [sometimes] did not fast during journeys, so whoever 243. Ahmad, [Hadhrat] Mirza Bashir. Seeratul Mahdi, vol. 1, 244. Sahih Bukhari 60. 25 245. Ibid. 180. P. 52