Are Ahmadis Not True Muslims? — Page 22
22 ? all his older siblings. It may happen at times that the youngest dies before the rest. However the last born is still considered as the last of the progeny. You may have heard someone say: ‘the child who died was my last. ’ ( Qadianio n aur D u srei K a firo n kei darmiy a n Farq, by Maulav i Muhammad Y u suf Ludhi a na vi , pp. 10–11) This analogy—made by Maulav i Ludhi a na vi by quoting an example of a child born first or lastccan be refuted in many ways. There are many ways to look at this, and interpreting it literally would be ridiculous. The analogy with birth order does not hold when applied to status in an office. For example, Bah a dur Sh a h was undeniably the last king of the Mughal dynasty, but it would be a foolish historian who would question this fatw a on the basis of first determining his date of birth. This would be true for other eminent offices of stature, such as the last h ak i m and physician, philosopher, or commentator. It is based with respect to when they died and not when they were born relative to others in the chain. The critical mistake that Maulav i Ludhi a na vi is making is his obsession with being last in time without placing the issue in proper context. We do not consider being last to be of any significance, honour, or glory. So the above-mentioned example of a child being born first or last or dying first or last is of no consequence. The real question would be: ‘In what sense is his time of birth or death a source of honour and distinction for him?’ Instead of dwelling upon abstract examples, let us be specific. Let us look at the Holy Prophet Muhammad saw and Hadrat ‘ I s a as