Truth Prevails — Page 51
( 51 ) that it was not binding for him to bring a new Sharia in any case, since only he can be expected to be the bearer of a new Sharia , who is a Prophet, in the real and the true meaning of the word. Similarly, the next sentence “nor is it essential that he should not be the follower of an Apostle with a new Sharia in his hands. ” This cannot be said in regard to a mere Mohaddath , for a mere Mohaddath in any case, is subject to a Nabi who came with a new Sharia. He can never be independent of an earlier Nabi. The sentence in question conclusively bears out that the Promised Messiah, here, is talking about the real meaning of the Nabi who, possibly, could be the follower of an earlier Nabi , or not be a follower of any earlier Nabi. Thus we have here a definition of the Nabi , in the proper sense of this word, not of a Mohaddath , who must necessarily be a follower of a Nabi. Only a real Prophet can be in a position where, possibly, he is not bound to be a follower of another Nabi. We positively find the Promised Messiah holding that it is permissible for the follower of an earlier Nabi to become a Nabi himself: and in this correct and proper meaning of the expression in question, he concludes there can be no valid objection against an Ummati rising to be a Nabi. It is in the light of this true and real meaning of Nabi that he wrote: “To hold an Ummati to be a Nabi of this kind does not lead to any harm, nor does it create any real obstacle. ” It is in the light of this true and valid meaning of Nabuwwat that the Promised Messiah has called himself a Prophet. But, of course, he is not a Nabi with a new Sharia ; nor an independent Nabi : he is an Ummati first, a Nabi afterwards. If the Promised Messiah had not altered the conception of Nabuwwat in his mind, in terms of the old conception, equally acceptable for the questioner as well, he could have answered the question, briefly and convincingly, that in Muslim the Promised Messiah had been called a Nabi in the sense of Mohaddath , use of the word Nabi having been made only figuratively. Therefore, the Bokhari and Muslim were correct in calling him an Ummati ; since a bare Mohaddath , from one angle was an Ummati and from another angle he was a Nabi as well, though incomplete and only partial, only in some respect, not in others. Clear Admission on the part of the Promised Messiah of Modification in his Concept of Nabuwwat On page 148 of Haqiqatul Wahyi the Promised Messiah has reproduced a question raised by someone: “On page 157 of Taryaqul Qolub , a book of which I am the author, it has been written: ‘Let no one be misled to imagine that in this address I have held myself to be superior to Hazrat Masih, since this superiority is only in certain respects, and of a kind which a man, who was not a Nabi , could have over one who was a Nabi. ’ ” Again, in The Review of Religions, Vol. 1. No. 6, page 257, we read;