Truth Prevails — Page 49
( 49 ) of the Holy Prophet. In fact, for an Ummati , the gift of grace of Nabuwwat , formerly which came directly, was now a thing clearly ordained and promised in the verse an’amta ‘alaihim. Further proof of an Amendment in the Definition of Nabuwwat Further proof that at this time the Promised Messiah had amended his conception of Nabuwwat is furnished by the fact that before 1901 he had held that for a Nabi it was binding that he should not be an Ummati of an earlier Nabi. But towards the end of that year, and for all subsequent times, he does not hold that for a Nabi it is at all binding that he should not be an Ummati, that he should not be a follower of an earlier Prophet; nor does he consider that an Ummati, becoming in reality a Nabi, could be held objectionable in any way; and he took himself to be really a Prophet. In Zamima Barahin-i Ahmadiyya , Vol. V, page 138, he puts down the question raised by someone, as follows: “Some people say, if it is true that in Bokhari and Muslim it is written that the Jesus to come would be a member of this Ummat ; but in Muslim when it is stated in plain words that he would be a Prophet, then how can we hold that he would be belonging to this Ummat ?” This question bears witness that the man asking this question considers it impossible that an Ummati should become a Prophet, since, according to him, whoever was an Ummati , in the prevailing meaning of the term, he could not be a Prophet. On the basis of the popular term, there is confusion and an uneasiness in his mind that in Muslim when it is clearly stated that the Promised Messiah would be a Nabi , how can it be true what has been said in Bokhari and Muslim that the Promised Messiah would rise from this Ummat itself? This question indicates that in the eyes of the man who asked this question, a follower, an Ummati of the Holy Prophet could not become a Nabi , The Promised Messiah answers this question as follows: “The answer is that all this unfortunate confusion has risen from a misconception in regard to the real meaning of Nabi. The true meaning of this word is only this that he should be one who received tidings, by means of Wahyi from Allah, and have communion with Allah in considerable abundance and amplitude. That he should be the bearer of a new Sharia is not essential and binding. Nor is it necessary that he should not be a follower of an earlier Nabi , who had a Sharia of his own. Therefore, there was no harm if an Ummati should come to be a Nabi of this kind, especially where that Ummati received the blessing after loyal obedience to the earlier Nabi in question. ” Evidently, to the time when he wrote his letter of August 17, 1899, for a Prophet who brought no complete and perfect Sharia or new commandments, the Promised Messiah thought the condition binding that he