Truth about Khatm-e-Nabuwat — Page 17
After stating the difference between the views of the Ahmadiyya Community and of other Muslims on Khatm-e-Nabuwai, I w o u Id now deal with the methods of resolving these differences and of judging which of the two view-points. that of the Ahmadiyya Community or that of the other Muslims, is correct. It must be borne in mind that there are only four possible methods of resolving religious differences, open to a Muslim. The first and foremost is by a reference to the Holy Quran which is the most reliable and paramount authority for discriminating truth from falsehood and about which Allah the Supreme Himself says: ,,I,. ~ • I ;, _,,,. . . . . . . ,_ ~,. , c:WI'. . . . . •. . ~. . w 0 l!)~Y,. '. . . . ~. ,, ~ ·;•. :. . , '-! ~ And what evidence shall ye believe in preference to Allah and His verses". 1 The second place of reliability is held by the Hadith which, though not as authoritative and highly placed as the Word -of Allah, nor even a tradition can be said to have been handed down as a word to word version of the Holy Prophet's 11peech, nevertheless, after the Holy Quran, it is a fairly accurate judge of the differences of opinion in respect of Islamic postulates, notwithstanding the standards we must neces11arily observe in clas1;ifying the authentic traditions as dis- tinct from the doubtful ones. The third place of precedence must go to the past reformers and Imams, for even though being subject to human errors, this august. body. is deserving of a position or reliability far greater than that held bv the general body of Muslims. Also because the vie~•s of these wor~hies have been expressed much earlier in point of time than the present differences and current controversies and are definitely free from the bias I. Al-Quron Suro Jasia ve,,, 7. 1,